Features International

Syria: Jordanian businesses begin to feel collateral damage

Syrian rebels’ seizure of the main frontier crossing with Jordan has begun to have an impact on the government in Damascus and regional countries that are engaged in trans-frontal trade. The Nasib crossing point fell to the rebels at the beginning of the month and some Jordanian businessmen have already started calling for the Assad […]

Business Features

Lebanon: World Bank official urges for reforms in Lebanon  

Eric Le Borgne, lead economist at the World Bank, has urged Lebanese policy makers to focus on the country’s longstanding and worsening structural challenges because they are becoming more binding if the international ranking among key investment climate assessments is taking into consideration. Regional conflicts and the influx of refugees increased pressure on the country’s […]

Egypt Features Headlines

Egypt: “We have committed a mistake,” Muslim Brotherhood leader  

The newly appointed head of the recently formed Muslim Brotherhood Bureau in Exile, Ahmed Abdul-Rahman, has acknowledged that the Muslim Brotherhood committed errors and a “radical review” of the group’s charter has begun. In the same vein, he apologized to Egypt and her people for the “mistake” that the Brotherhood committed even though he didn’t […]

Features Headlines Libya

UN Expert Urge Rich Countries to Act to Halt Boat Deaths offshore Libya

A UN expert has called on rich Western countries to take in some thousands of the Syrian and sub-Saharan migrants to end the tragedies of boat disasters occurring in the Mediterranean Sea. The call was made as the EU leaders are convening an emergency summit in Brussels to discuss the migration crisis and consider all […]

Features International

Iraq: Abu Alaa Afri, ISIS new leader  

After several media outlets reported that the caliph of the Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was injured in a coalition airstrike in western Iraq last month, Iraqi government adviser Dr Hisham al Hashimi confirmed that the caliph has temporarily handed over power to Abu Alaa Afri due to the injuries he sustained from the bombings. […]

Egypt Features Headlines

Egypt: Elections only after Ramadan, Minister

Parliamentary election will not be held until after July if the comments of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ibrahim El-Heneidy are anything to go by. The Minister also heads the government-appointed drafting committee tasked with reviewing the electoral law after the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) ruled that some articles were unconstitutional. The news could come as a […]

Business Energy Features

UAE: $25 billion investment to reach 3.5m bpd by 2017-2018  

Qasem Al-Kayoumi, manager of ADNOC’s offshore division of the exploration and production directorate has revealed that Abu Dhabi has a $25 billion investment plan for the next five years in order to boost the oil production capacity of its offshore fields.  The United Arab Emirates (UAE) produces around 2.8 million barrels of crude oil per […]

Features International

KSA: Operation Restoring Hope begins after successful airstrikes  

Saudi Arabia has announced the end of Operation Decisive Storm after coalition airstrikes “successfully removed threats to Saudi Arabia’s security and that of neighboring countries” but a new one dubbed “Operation Restoring Hope” will kick-off on Wednesday, according to a statement from the defense ministry. Brigadier-General Ahmed Assiri, the coalition’s spokesperson, said Operation Decisive Storm […]

Features International

Syria: US-led coalition “not serious” and unhelpful, President Assad

President Assad has labeled the US-led coalition against ISIS as unserious because they have been ineffective. He said “IS was created in Iraq in 2006 under the supervision of the Americans.” Assad acknowledged that he called on Hezbollah to help his forces fight against the different rebel groups in Syria but refuted claims that there […]

Features International

Palestine: Hamas and Fatah disagree in Gaza

Palestinian cabinet ministers from the West Bank were in Gaza for a week-long visit but their stay barely lasted 24hours before they headed back. The Ministers are part of an 11-member West Bank delegation working towards developing the region following last’s year war and resolving the salary crises after Israel froze the tax revenues that […]