First Independent Mena Newspaper
The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, has announced this Tuesday he was stepping down and naming his son, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, 33, as his successor. During the past weeks, there were some swirling rumors circulating in the media and diplomatic spheres that the 61-year-old emir was preparing to step down […]
Over 40 nations from the five continents have participated earlier this month in mine-warfare exercises in the Gulf not far from Iranian coasts. The some 35 ships, 70 aircraft, and 6,500 personnel from 41 countries which participated in the exercises practiced not only mine warfare and minesweeping, but also tested the ability to command and […]
Saudi authorities have caught 18 people having direct link to Iranian intelligence services, exacerbating secret war and tensions between the Sunni Arab monarchies and Shiite Persian Iran accused of seeking to destabilize the Gulf countries by inciting their indigenous Shiite communities to stage demonstrations during the Arab Spring. According to Saudi Interior ministry, the spy […]
In the past ten years, North African countries progressed in liberalizing their trade relations with the EU as well as Korea. As part of the Euro-Mediterranean (Barcelona Process) Partnership, North African nations and the EU entered association agreements with provisions for free trade in industrial goods. This opened doors for European manufacturers to new export and investment markets. Most recently, North African nations and the EU launched initiatives to extend their agreements to trade in agricultural products, trade in services, government procurement, and trade harmonization. Trade between North Africa and Korea also exploded in the past five years. As latecomers to North Africa, […]
A Turkish company will invest $700 million in an Iraqi steel plant to upgrade its production capacity to 1 million tons per year. Under the 18-year deal with the Iraqi ministry of Industry and Minerals, the Turkish company will rehabilitate and develop the iron and steel plant located in the Khor Al-Zubair, in Basra, that […]
The King of Morocco has urged Muslim nations to address the endogenous reasons behind the crises facing the Muslim world rather than justify these crises by external factors. The Islamic world should stop justifying crises by casting all the blame on external reasons or factors, instead of addressing endogenous causes, underlined King Mohammed VI in […]
“Today, Emirati women are a model for Gulf or Arab women” said Dr Amal Al Qubaisi while making her first speech as the Federal National Council Speaker. As Deputy Speaker, Dr Amal Al Qubaisi, took the FNC Speaker’s chair, last week in Abu Dhabi, making history as it was the first time ever that a […]
The west bank and gaza are on the alert after Israel launched a campaign of air strikes. It has assassinated Ahmed Al-Jaabari, the head of the military wing of the Islamist group Hamas in a missile strike on the Gaza Strip and its foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, is vying for the “toppling” of Mahmoud Abbas […]
In a large scale military training destined at sending strong signals to those who might be threatening Iran’s security will be presenting new missiles and artillery systems. The head of Iran’s air defense headquarters, Farzad Esmaili, said the three domestically-built missile and artillery systems would be a significant boost to Iran’s military defenses. One of […]
The country’s sectarian crisis seems to be deepening as clashes broke out again between the sunnis and shite. Recent events took place in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh on the edge of Sidon where majority of the habitants are Sunnis and most of them followers of Sheikh Ahmed al-Aseer. Reports claim that clashes […]