Ukraine in arabic News
Egyptian shares fall after plane’s disappearance
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- Egyptian shares fall after plane’s disappearance
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- News of the EgyptAir plane’s disappearance caused a sharp sell-off of shares on the Cairo stock exchange.
Trading ended on Thursday with the main share index down 1.8 percent which wiped around four billion Egyptian pounds (400 million euros) off the value of stocks.
Analysts said investors were concerned about the potential impact on tourism and on the wider economy given that the industry is one of Egypt’s biggest sources of foreign currency.
Around Europe shares of airlines and tourism companies fell. Air France KLM, Lufthansa and IAG which owns British Airways’ and Iberia were all down around one percent.
Aeroports De Paris, from where the plane took off, saw its shares decline 1.88 percent on Thursday.
The Egyptian pound’s value was unchanged.
The financial markets were already depressed because of concerns that interest rates in the United States could rise perhaps as soon as June.
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- Israeli divers discover Roman treasure in ancient sunken cargo ship
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Archaeologists in Israel have recovered bronze statues and thousands of coins from a merchant ship that sank off the Mediterranean coast some 1,600 years ago during the late Roman period.
The vessel was probably hit by a storm as it entered the harbour and drifted before striking rocks and the sea wall.
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said two amateur divers had made the discovery several weeks ago in the ancient harbour of Caesarea in the eastern Mediterranean.
Successive dives recovered a haul including a bronze lamp depicting the image of sun god Sol, a figure of moon goddess Luna, fragments of life-size bronze cast statues as well as two lumps of thousands of coins.
The range of items recovered reflects a “period of economic and commercial stability” in the late Roman Empire. The sand-protected statues were in “an amazing state” of preservation.
The sea certainly still has yet more mysteries and hidden ...
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- French and Egyptian authorities vow solidarity over missing aircraft
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- French and Egyptian authorities have been reacting to the disappearance of EgyptAir flight MS804 with 66 people on board.
The French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault spoke the world’s media in Paris:
“Obviously, we can only imagine the anguish of the families. There are 15 French citizens on board. So, our top priority is to inform the relatives. A crisis management unit has been set up at the Foreign Ministry. A hotline number has opened, and the families have already started to call, relatives are also welcomed in a hotel near the airport . Another crisis unit is at work in our embassy in Cairo”
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- Soccer star Mesut Ozil has kickabout with young Syrian refugees
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Young Syrian refugees in Jordan have been having a kickabout with Germany and Arsenal soccer star Mesut Ozil.
He has dropped into Jordan’s largest camp – Zaatari – to have a look at the conditions.
It is hoped it will boost morale and motivation among the children here.
“I learned some moves from him. This is the first time I’ve played with a famous star. I hope to become a star too,” said Abdul Raouf Khaled.
Enfal Emad al-Jallam, a 13-year-old girl, added: “My hobby is football, I love it so much. I hope I’ll always be able to play football and then become great at it. I thank my teachers for training me.”
Ozil helped Germany win the World Cup in 2014 and he is among the country’s preliminary 27-man squad for Euro 2016.
A big name in the game, who seems to have left a lasting impression on the young refugees at Zaatari.
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- Turkey’s AKP wins initial support over controversial immunity bill
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Turkey’s ruling AK Party has won initial support in the first round of a controversial ballot to strip politicians of their immunity from prosecution.
For the constitution to be changed, a second ballot on Friday (May 20) will need to gain the support of 367 of the 550 MPs. At least 330 votes are needed to put the motion to a referendum.
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- Saving Syria: massive air drops of aid planned
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Diplomats have described the latest round of talks on Syria in Vienna as “serious and engaged”.
No date was set for a fresh round of peace talks for the conflict-torn country – but that was never the aim.
Russia and the US did agree, however, to work together to monitor the shaky ceasefire signed in February.
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- Aid and political transformation on agenda at International Syria Support Group meeting
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Representatives from 17 countries backing peace talks on Syria are in discussions in Vienna in the latest effort to reach an agreement on how to manage the crisis in the country.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the meeting of the International Syria Support Group would aim to encourage opposition groups to attend fresh negotiations in Geneva.
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- Divers uncover shipwreck treasure trove in Israel
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Archaeologists have uncovered a haul of treasures while diving in Israel.
Statues and thousands of coins are among the haul, located in an ancient harbour in Caesarea National Park.
They are reported to be from the cargo of a merchant ship that sank around 1,600 years ago.
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- Houthis defending Yemen from US and Israel, leader tells
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- America and Israel are the sworn enemies of the Ansar Allah Movement, the Houthis.
The armed political-religious group is based in the city of Saada in northern Yemen. But in September 2014 the Houthis seized power in the capital Sanaa.
With Sanaa captured the group took control of the country but only until an alliance of Arab powers forced them to withdraw from the southern cities. That limited the Houthis’ sphere of influence to the capital and the cities in the north.
The group, with its motto “Death to America! Death to Israel! Victory to Islam!”, believes it is leading a popular revolution against what it sees as the corrupt regime of the President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. But some Arab and European countries describe the Houthis’ actions as a “coup” against the legitimacy of the elected president.
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- Turkish police block opposition congress
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Turkish police on Sunday (May 15) prevented dissidents in the nationalist opposition party from holding an extraordinary congress in Ankara.
Hundreds of party members seeking to reach the hotel where the meeting was scheduled were blocked by barricades and water cannons, according to media reports.
The congress aimed to unseat the MHP’s longtime leader, Devlet Bahceli, whom they blame for the party’s dwindling popularity.
“Bahceli resign, resign”, the crowd chanted.
Bahceli’s main challenger, former interior minister Meral Aksener, accused the ruling AK party of intervening to try to block the congress.
“Those who changed the Prime Minister in an hour are now displaying every unlawful and anti-democratic behaviour to prevent us from holding this congress,” she said.
The AK party needs the MHP’s support to change the Turkish constitution and give president Recep Tayyip Erdogan more powers. The ...
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- ISIL suicide attack kills at least 30 in Yemen
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- At least 30 people have been killed in a suicide bombing at a police compound in Yemen.
The ISIL militant group have claimed responsibility for the attack which also wounded 60 others, among them the Hadramout chief of police.
The bomber reportedly detonated their device as recruits lined up at a police headquarters in the coastal city of Mukalla.
It is the second deadly blast in four days to hit the city, which acted as a hub for al Qaeda before they were pushed out by government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition.
The growing threat posed by Islamist militant groups has led Yemen’s warring factions to enter into peace talks underway in Kuwait.
Concern is growing among international organisations about the humanitarian crisis in the country.
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- Turkish soldiers, PKK militants die in clashes after latest bombing
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Eight Turkish soldiers and 21 militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were killed on Friday (May 13), according to the military and media reports, a day after yet another explosion rocked the country’s mainly Kurdish southeast.
Four suspected bomb makers were killed and 17 people wounded in the explosion that rocked a village in the Sarikamis district on Thursday night, according to officials. Two of those wounded were said to be a in a critical condition.
The Turkish Interior Ministry said it happened as militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (or PKK) were loading explosives onto a truck that they planned to use for an attack on security forces.
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- Top Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine killed in Syria – group confirms
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Top Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine has been killed in Syria, the Lebanese Shia militant group confirmed.
Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen TV said he had died in an Israeli airstrike at one of the group’s bases near the Lebanese-Syrian border on Tuesday.
Badreddine was indicted by a UN-backed special tribunal for the assassination former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.
On a US sanctions list he was assessed as being responsible for Hezbollah’s activities in Syria, where they supporting the forces of Bashar al-Assad.
Badreddine’s death marks the biggest blow to the group since their top military chief Imad Mughniyah was assassinated in 2008.
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- UN accuses Syrian opposition groups of blocking aid
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Fighting has flared up again, just hours after a ceasefire ended in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
It is claimed Syrian government forces have been battling rebels north of the city.
The fighting was apparently focused around the rebel-held Handarat area.
There was no immediate word on an extension of the truce, brokered by the US and Russia.
Meanwhile, it is reported that an aid convoy has been refused entry to Daraya, a suburb of Damascus besieged by pro-government forces.
The United Nations has expressed dismay about the lack of access to such areas – and says opposition groups are to blame too.
“It is not just the government which are creating problems,” said Jan Egeland, UN humanitarian aid coordinator for Syria.
“We have had an assessment mission, our plan to go in the besieged areas, Foua and Kafraya, besieged by armed opposition groups. The mission was not allowed in. A number of excu...
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- Blast near military barracks in Istanbul
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- A suspected car bomb has exploded close to a military barracks in Istanbul.
At least five people have been injured,
according to reports from the scene.
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- EU visa-free travel for Turks on hold as Turkey refuses to budge on anti-terror law
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- A deal on visa-free travel for Turks within Europe was looking less likely on Wednesday.
The visa-free deal is supposed to be in place by the end of June. However, Turkey has still to meet five of 72 criteria set by the EU, including how it uses its anti-terror legislation.
The EU wants Turkey to change its anti-terrorism laws so that they can’t be used to stifle dissent and intimidate journalists. Ankara says they won’t change the law as its needed to battle Kurdish militants.
“This change in a anti-terror law is completely impossible, plus we thinks that our law is relevant to the European standard,” said Turkish Minister for EU Affairs, Volkan Bozkir at a press conference at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
European Parliament president, Martin Schultz said: “The interpretation is so far-reaching that we think that some of the measures are touching not directly fight against terrorism but for example the freedom of ...
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- Syrian city of Palmyra faces new ISIL threat – reports
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- It is reported that ISIL militants are advancing towards the Syrian city of Palmyra for a second time.
It comes several weeks after the government took it back from the self-proclaimed Islamic State group.
The reports emerged on Wednesday in the final hours of a ceasefire in Aleppo, which was extended by 48 hours earlier this week.
There have been a number of short-term local truces in place. But fighting has continued between rebels and government forces.
The US and Russia have said they will work to revive a February “cessation of hostilities” agreement, that has reduced violence in parts of Syria.
It – and the local truces – do not include ISIL or al Qaeda’s Syrian branch, the Nusra Front.
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- Turkey: car bomb kills three in Diyarbakir
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- At least three people have been killed and 45 wounded when a car bomb struck a bus carrying Turkish police officers.
The state-run news agency reported that the attack in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir was carried out by the Kurdistan Worker’s Party or PKK.
Five of the wounded were prisoners being moved under police custody, according to a security source. A senior official said some of them had been members of the outlawed PKK party and may have been targeted for being suspected informants.
Kurdish rebels have been targeting police and military targets since the collapse of a fragile truce in July 2015.
The PKK has been waging a 30-year-long insurgency against the Turkish state to push for autonomy in the southeast of the country.
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- Israel hopes to normalise ties with Turkey soon, say officials
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Israeli officials say efforts to restore full diplomatic ties with Turkey must now wait until a new government is formed in Ankara.
Relations were badly damaged after a deadly raid by Israeli forces on a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza in 2010.
The on-going sea blockade of Gaza by Israel still remains a key sticking point, but Israel’s top diplomat in Turkey is hopeful a deal will be struck.
“We have something like eight or nine hundred trucks coming into Gaza on a daily basis and this number can be extended if needed and we are more than willing to enable Turkey to play that role. So the sea blockade is actually a non issue in our eyes, in our view. And I believe that we already are beyond this point of disagreement with the Turkish authorities,” said Shai Cohen, Israel’s Consul-General in Istanbul.
In 2013, Israel apologised for the raid by its naval commandos on the Mavi Marmara.
It has also promised to compens...
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- Aleppo truce extended as foreign ministers meet
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Against a backdrop of intense international diplomacy, a fragile truce continues to hold in the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo.
The fragile ceasefire, announced by Syrian state media, is set to hold until midnight on Wednesday.
Despite that, residents still reported sporadic rocket attacks.
“This is the fifth or sixth time I have seen a rocket attack. We have gotten used to it. The situation this week is better. We were hit many more times last week, as they fired more than 20 homemade bombs at us. The whole neighbourhood was under rocket fire attack, ‘’ said one local business owner.
Aleppo is seen as key to bolstering a nationwide truce in Syria and in Paris foreign ministers continued their push to find a more lasting cessation to the hostilities.
France’s top diplomat Jean-Marc Ayrault said: “Our common goal is to implement this declaration, there is no point simply having another declaration. It has to be ...
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- US-Russia agreement to restore truce in Syria
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- US Secretary of State John Kerry announced on Monday that a new agreement between the US and Russia had been agreed which would.restore a nationwide truce in Syria.
Kerry spoke to reporters in Paris after a meeting of heads of nations supporting the Syrian opposition.
The announcement came as Syria’s military announced a 48 hour extension of a local cease-fire, in the city of Aleppo.
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- Challenges ahead for Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s new energy minister
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- The new man in charge of Saudi Arabia’s energy policy is Khalid al-Falih, the chairman of the state-owned oil company and former health minister.
He immediately made it clear he is a believer in low oil prices talking about “meeting existing and additional demand… backed by our current maximum sustainable capacity”.
He has replaced veteran oil minister Ali al-Naimi, the 80-year-old who held that extremely powerful position for 20 years.
Analyst Graham Griffiths with Control Risks doesn’t think there will be major policy changes: “I think Khaled al-Falih was part of the consensus that Ali al-Naimi created around Saudi Arabia’s current production policy, so I see him as a figure of continuity with Ali al-Naimi.”
His appointment is part of the Saudi government’s Vision 2030 plan – the economic reform programme unveiled by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who is seen as controlling energy policy even as al-Falih...
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- Incredible scenes in the Turkish parliament
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- There have been scuffles between politicians in the Turkish parliament for the second time in a week.
The meeting of the constitutional commission, which had already been postponed from last Thursday due to fighting, was held to discuss lifting lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution.
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- Kerry arrives in Geneva to push for Syrian ceasefire to include Aleppo
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Attempts are being made to include the city of Aleppo in a temporary lull in fighting declared by the Syrian army in some western parts of the country.
The US says stopping the bloodshed in the city, which has been at the centre of an escalation in violence that has all but destroyed a wider ceasefire deal and broken up peace talks.
Full control of Aleppo would be a huge prize for Syrian President Bashar al Assad. Russia’s military intervention has helped turn the war Assad’s way, reversing some gains rebels made last year.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived on a hastily arranged visit to Geneva for talks with the UN and his Jordanian and Saudi counterparts.
“We are talking directly with the Russian, even now, the hope is that we can make some progress. But the United Nations Security Council Resolution calls for a full country, countrywide cessation and also for all of the country to be accessible for humanitarian ass...
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- Syria: Russia ‘seeks truce for Aleppo’ after wave of deadly bombings
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Russia says talks are taking place to include Syria’s Aleppo province in the latest temporary truce – as once again the diplomatic machine cranks into gear, shaken by a series of bombardments carried out by both sides in the conflict.
Saturday saw a ninth day of deadly bombardments in the city. A foreign-based monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said at least five people were killed in what are believed to have been government airstrikes on rebel-held districts.
Two-thirds of the estimated 250 civilian casualties – including at least 40 children – in nine days of bombing are thought to have died in government airstrikes. Rebels have also shelled government-held areas.
“At present, there is an active negotiation process taking place to establish a regime of calm also in Aleppo province,” Interfax news agency cited General Sergei Kuralenko, in charge of Russia’s ceasefire monitoring centre in Syria, as saying.
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- Turkey: Police officers killed by deadly car bomb near Syria border
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Two police officers were killed in a car bomb explosion in southeast Turkey on Sunday.
The blast targeted police headquarters in the city of Gaziantep.
At least 22 people were wounded, 18 of them police and four civilians.
Some reports say automatic weapons were fired as two vehicles approached the police station on Sunday morning, one of which blew up.
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- Fatal airstrikes destroy hospital in the Syrian city of Aleppo
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- At least 30 people have been killed after a series of airstrikes hit a hospital in the rebel-held area of the disputed Syrian city of Aleppo.
The dead included one of the few pediatricians remaining in the city’s opposition-held areas and a dentist, activists said.
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- MEPs warn Turkey over visa deal
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- MEPs have warned Turkey that they won’t just rubber-stamp a deal to give the country’s citizens visa-free travel in Europe.
The debate took place on Thursday at the European Parliament in Brussels.
The offer formed part of an EU migration deal with Turkey to stop migrants reaching Europe’s shores.
Brussels offered money for refugees in Turkey and to scrap visas for Turkish citizens.
But EU governments still need to give the final green light.
“Visa liberalisation (can) come when the conditions are met. Full stop. And when the conditions are not met anymore. It will be canceled again,” said Elmar Brok, a centre-right German MEP.
“My group is in favour in principle of visa liberalisation but do not expect rubber-stamping exercise from our side. Because if the Turkish government intends to convince parliament to vote for visa liberalisation, cracking down on journalists is not a very good strategy,...
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- Tough times for tourism in the Middle East
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- These are difficult times for the travel and tourism industry in the Middle East, but despite that the Arabian Travel Market trade show in Dubai has actually expanded this year.
Countries like Saudi Arabia are looking to diversify away from oil earnings by welcoming tourists but only on what it calls “a selected basis”.
That would mean reviving a short lived programme from 10 years ago which saw 25,000 visitors annually.
Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, Head of the Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, told Euronews: “We have written to the government to re-ignite, to re-introduce the programme that used to be, which is ‘Discover Saudi Arabia’, where we had fantastic tours. Saudi Arabia is a big surprise to a lot of people that hear, maybe, some of the press, negative press. Saudi Arabia is in the eye of the hurricane, if you like, regional issues, international issues… And we have always been under the microscope, if you like...
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- Home hope Mohamed Elshorbagy through to semis of El Gouna International
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- World number and home hope Mohamed Elshorbagy is through to the semi-finals of the El Gouna International Open in Egypt.
He sealed victory against Germany’s Simon Rosner.
Elshorbagy took the first two games, before losing the third – and dominating the final clash.
Colombia’s Miguel Rodriguez is also through to the semis – his first time – after wiping out third seed Omar Mossad from Egypt.
Rodriguez bounced back from a game down, to take the second and third – before recouping losses in the fourth and sealing victory.
The third match of the night was an all-Egyptian affair, but it was not an easy one.
Marawan Elshorbagy and Fares Dessouki’s duel lasted 91 minutes – the referees had to make 72 decisions.
But Dessouki powered home, winning 3-2.
And world champion Gregory Gaultier kept his hopes of a place in the final alive.
The Frenchman beating Aly Farag...
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- Outrage at call for secular Turkey to adopt a ‘religious’ constitution
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Police clashed with protesters outside Turkey’s parliament on Tuesday, amid outrage at a call for the secular country to adopt a religious constitution.
Demonstrators gathered in Ankara to express their fury at the controversial proposal from
parliamentary speaker Ismail Kahraman, a leading member of the ruling Islamist-rooted AK party.
Security forces broke up the rally. Dozens of people were detained.
Kahraman’s call for a religious constitution contradicts the founding principles of the modern republic.
“For one thing, the new constitution should not have secularism,” he said late on Monday.
“There are three countries in the world with secularism in their constitution – France, Ireland and Turkey…
Our constitution should not avoid the concept of a religious constitution. It should discuss religion.”
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- “Be cheerful, enjoy your life,” ancient mosaic advises
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- A new archeological find in Turkey has surprised scientists by giving surprising prescriptive advice. The 2,400 year-old skeleton mosaic found in Hatay reads “be cheerful, enjoy your life”. The discovery, said to be unique, belonged to the dining room of a house from the 3rd century BC.
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- Saudi Arabia responds to low oil prices with economic reform plan
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Saudi Arabia, having forced down oil prices to try to push US shale oil producers out of business, is now having to address the problems of much less money flowing into its state coffers.
Its answer is an economic reform plan including selling off as much as five percent of its state energy giant Saudi Aramco and using the cash raised for a massive global investment fund.
After approval by the country’s rulers, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who oversees Saudi Arabia’s economy explained Saudi Aramco will be transferred to the existing Public Investment Fund.
Key to the success of the plan is the valuation of Aramco, which the prince said will be more than $2 trillion. He believes other assets – such as government land and monetary reserves – worth around $300 billion will be added to the fund, which is currently valued at close to $200 billion, and that will create a public investment fund of up to $3 trillion.
Low o...
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- Tear gas used to disperse protests in Cairo
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Egyptian security forces have used tear gas to disperse crowds protesting against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Videos uploaded to social media show anti-regime protesters chanting and marching in the affluent Dokko neighbourhood.
Thousands of police and soldiers were deployed across the Egyptian capital.
Security services moved quickly to block roads leading to popular central Cairo meeting points.
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- Russia completes demining of archeological site in Palmyra, Syria
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- The Russian military said on Thursday (April 21) it had completed the demining of the ancient part of the Syrian city of Palmyra, recaptured by Syrian and Russian forces in late March from militants.
“Comrade commander-in-chief! As of today, the task of demining the architectural and historical part of Palmyra has been fully completed,” Russian engineer troops commander Yuri Stavitski told President Vladimir Putin via video link from Palmyra.
He said Russian troops would continue demining Palmyra’s residential area.
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- Syria is an example of UN Security Council’s failure, says OHCHR chief
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- “He is the UN High Commisssioner for Human rights. A tremendous responsibility in such troubled times. In the midst of the refugee crisis, five years after the start of the war in Syria, with new forms of war pushing western democracies to the edge, how does he defend human rights? This is what we will try to find out. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, welcome to The Global Conversation.”
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- Yemen peace talks set to start on Thursday
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Talks to end the war in Yemen are set to get underway in Kuwait later on Thursday (April 21).
The UN-backed talks were supposed to start on Monday, but representatives of the Iran-allied Houthi movement and former Yemini President Ali Abdullah Saleh did not turn up.
“They [the delegation] are expected to develop a framework that paves the way for a peaceful and orderly process based on the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative and the outcomes of the National Dialogue Conference,” saidUN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
For over a year, a Saudi-led coalition has been fighting Houthi rebels and their allies who control much of the country.
Both sides have accused each other of violating a temporary ceasefire.
“As long as aggression continues, the army and the people’s militias need to be careful, because they’re not committed to the ceasefire despite pledges we received from many countries,” said official Houthi spok...
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- Obama arrives in Saudi Arabia amid US ‘terror bill’ debate
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- US President Barack Obama arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday (April 20) to meet Saudi King Salman.
They will attend a summit with leaders from nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The summit, focusing on stability, counter-terrorism and Iran, was due to open on Thursday. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain are also attending.
Many GCC leaders see Tehran as a threat to their security and say its involvement with Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen has fuelled conflict and deepened divisions.
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- Kuwait oil workers end strike, crude prices fall
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Oil prices slipped again on Wednesday as energy workers in Kuwait ended a three-day strike that had cut the country’s production of crude by nearly half.
The union involved said they were calling off the industrial action after Kuwait’s oil minister ruled out negotiating with them until the strike ended.
“In honour of his highness the Emir … we have decided the following. First, the cancellation of the general strike and the attendance of all oil sector workers at their places of work beginning at seven in the morning on Wednesday 20 April 2016,” the Oil & Petrochemicals Industries Workers Confederation wrote.
The union further pledged “to make every effort to immediately return production to its previous level”.
In reaction Brent crude fell 2.8 percent at one stage.
The walk out was over fears of cuts in pay and benefits and layoffs by the government as part of an overhaul of the payroll system in the publi...
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- Cairo feels the beat at contemporary arts festival
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Contemporary dance, theatre, music, film and literature – it’s all come to Cairo for the Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival.
The festival is billed as the largest international event of its kind in Egypt.
A dance performance by Nagham Salah, created with Egyptian choreographer Shaymaa Shoukry, has been among the highlights of the fifth edition.
:
“My dance represents an endless circle. Like my whole life seems repeated. I’m trying to get out of this circle. I fall, I rise again and I feel drained. Yeah, that’s life,” said Nagham Salah.
Shaymaa Shoukry added: “We’re trying to see the human-being from different perspectives, to say that a person can’t be described based on one feature, he’s way deeper than that, regardless of what he shows and what we get from first impressions. Things aren’t always black or white, men or women.”
She continued: “It’s also about expressing the circles in a person...
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- Flashy cars take over Dubai for Gulf Car Festival
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- More than 300 custom-made cars were on display at the latest edition of the“Gulf Car Festival in Dubai”:http://carculture.ae/gulf-car-festival-2016/.
It was a chance for enthusiasts to admire some of the region’s most exotic and expensive cars, as well as brand new models hitting the market for the super rich.
The festival is also a platform for car collectors to show off their latest acquisitions. Australian-born Tim proudly showed off the Chevrolet he bought six years ago: “It’s a 1941 Chevy Master Deluxe, it was one of the last cars that General Motors made before they closed down for the war effort in 1942. Bodywise, everything has been modified, down to the French headlamps and air suspensions,” he told our reporter, Rita Delprete.
She was also shown a customized car belonging to Dubai-based airbrush artist, Hilal. The design was inspired by a cult horror movie, and clips of the film run on a screen in the trunk of the car.
...
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- Jerusalem fears return of dark days of bombings
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- After a period when Jerusalem commuters were again at ease with public transport that had been targeted in suicide attacks in the past, people went to work on Tuesday with the fear that violence had returned.
Monday’s small bomb killed no-one, but public confidence has been hit hard.
“This morning, like everybody else in Jerusalem, I’m afraid. The buses aren’t safe again, there’s a problem but I think this is common to me and to my Arab neighbours as well. We’re all afraid,” said Micha, a resident.
“There were more explosions before in Jerusalem but there were less in the last few years. I think it’s bad that it’s happening again and it makes me more safety-minded,” said Avraham, another local.
Palestinian suicide bombers at the start of the century targeted buses, bus stops and transport hubs and crowded public areas, until Israel clamped down hard on security and began building its as-yet uncompleted wall divid...
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- Israeli PM vows to hunt down Jerusalem bus bombers
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Israel’s Prime Minister has vowed to track down those responsible for a bus bombing in Jerusalem on Monday.
At least 21 people were injured in the explosion. Many of those hurt were on the vehicle but others were in a passing car. That caught fire along with a second bus that was empty.
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- Israel police say Jerusalem bus blast was a bomb
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Israeli police have confirmed that a small bomb exploded on a bus in Jerusalem on Monday during the evening rush hour.
Eye witnesses said an empty bus caught fire and exploded as a second bus was nearby, injuring at least 15 people, at least two of them seriously. Police at first said the incident bore all the hallmarks of a militant attack, and their initial fears have been confirmed.
The bus was travelling to Hebron at the time of the explosion, which eye-witnesses described as large. Both vehicles caused traffic chaos as they burned in the middle of the busy road until fire crews could put them out.
No-one had yet claimed responsibility by Monday evening.
Attacks on buses were common in Israel from 2000 to 2005 when they were a target of choice for Palestinian extremists, but have been all-but eliminated since Israel tightened security and began building its concrete wall around Jerusalem.
- Title
- Government and rebel forces launch new attacks in Syria
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- The upsurge in fighting in Syria that has cast a huge cloud over peace talks has involved attacks from both government and rebel forces.
Pictures uploaded onto social media websites are said to show the aftermath of government airstrikes on Rastan and Houla in Homs province on Monday. Those injured in the attacks are shown being rushed to hospital. A monitoring group claimed four people had been killed and the death toll was expected to rise.
Meanwhile rebels have responded to what they call government ceasefire violations with advances in Hama and in Latakia province. Fighting has also increased recently around Aleppo.
In Latakia’s northern countryside, a number of insurgent groups launched a fierce attack on government forces and their allies in the early morning, and had made advances by midday, according to the monitoring group.
In Hama insurgents, including factions that did not commit to the truce, were reported to have almost...
- Title
- No crude freeze deal, what does it mean for the oil industry?
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- OPEC and non-OPEC producers on Sunday failed to reach a deal to freeze oil output. For background and analysis euronews’ reporter Natalia Marshalkovich spoke with Spencer Welch, a director with IHS Energy in London.
- Title
- Disappointment over oil supply cap failure pushes crude prices down
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Oil price tumbled on Monday and OPEC’s credibility has been seriously undermined with the failure of talks to try to freeze the production of crude.
A prospective deal involving 18 oil exporting countries fell apart when Saudi Arabia said that Iran must be a part of it. The agreement was supposed to stabilise output at January levels until October 2016.
The host for the meeting, Qatar’s Energy Minister Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada, said more time was needed: “Fundamentals are improving now and oil is heading in the right direction: how long will it [take to] balance itself, we are yet to see, but it is certainly [heading] in the right direction”
But it is not happening fast enough for the producers as the low, low prices hit their economies.
The lack of a deal does though increase the financial pressure on US shale oil producers whose increased output has been a major factor in the supply glut and price slump.
“On...
- Title
- Petrol bomb attack kills police officer in Bahrain
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Attackers have thrown petrol bombs at a police patrol north of Bahrain’s capital, killing one officer and critically wounding two others, according to the country’s interior ministry.
It said the incident happened in the neighbourhood of Karbabad outside Manama, calling the unknown assailants a “terrorist group.”
- Title
- French President kicks off middle east tour in Lebanon
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- The French President has arrived in Lebanon for the start of his four-day trip to the Middle East.
Francois Hollande will spend the first two days of his tour in Lebanon, before travelling on to Egypt and Jordan.
Security is tight.
Hollande was met on arrival by Deputy Prime Minister, Samir Mouqbel.
- Title
- Hollande and Abbas discuss the Middle East conflict
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- French President Francois Hollande said that an international conference to tackle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the best way to bring peace.
He made the comments after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of a four-day trip to the Middle East.