MIDDLE EAST: Israeli forces storm Beit Hanoun

Israel forces, supported by tanks and helicopter gunship, stormed Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza Strip destroying the home of Hamas activist Mohammed Zuweidah.

YEMEN: Accused for killing three US missionaries sentenced to death

A Yemeni court on Saturday sentenced a Yemeni national to death for killing three US missionaries, according to his lawyer.

IRAQ: Shias Rise to Split Power

The Shia majority in Iraq has been flexing its muscles since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime and the arrival of the U.S. forces. Their militias now keep the order at many hospitals and other institutions around Baghdad. But the leadership remains divided.

IRAQ: Elderly man shot dead in Baghdad, reports Al-Jazeera.

An elderly Iraqi man was shot dead in his car by US soldiers in the streets of Baghdad today, Al-Jazeera satellite channel reported.

IRAQ: Ammunition explodes atop Ministry of Information

Remnants of ammunitions, left behind by the Iraqi army atop the Ministry of Information, exploded when a fire erupted presumably due to high temperature.

MIDDLE EAST: UAE presents new study on Syria and the march of peace

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Zayed Centre for Coordination and Follow-up (ZCCF) has published a new study under the title "Syria and the March of Peace".

IRAQ: Sanctions reprieved for whom? asks UAE paper

A United Arab Emirates (UAE) newspaper has said that US endeavors to put its hands in all emerging business opportunities in Iraq in favor of US firms will create great "anxiety and animosity internationally."

UAE-WOMEN: Law-making role for national women soon

United Arab Emirates (UAE) national women would be involved in the process of law-making and their presence would be strongly felt in parliamentary life very soon, a local daily quoted Noura Al Suweidi, Director of the UAE Women's Federation, as saying.

SAUDI ARABIA: Smuggler of narcotics executed

Sultan Khan Osman Amrah, an Afghani national, was executed in Wadi al-Dawaser, Riyadh region, today after being convicted of smuggling - narcotics" into Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Interior announced today.

MIDDLE EAST: Israeli occupation forces demolish ten Palestinian houses

Israeli occupation forces demolished, in the early hours of Friday, ten houses in Al-Mahatta neighborhood in the eastern part of Deir el-Balah city, Gaza Strip.

IRAQ: She Must Have Been Crazy to Oppose Saddam

Lahib Kishmesh had seemed headed for the good life. Her wealthy parents sent her to Paris in the seventies to train as a lawyer. Her success was to prove her undoing.

KUWAIT: False bomb threat at bank

The headquarters of the Khaleej Bank in Kuwait today received a false warning about the presence of a bomb.

MIDDLE EAST: One Palestinian killed in Nablus

Israeli troops killed today one Palestinian.

MIDDLE EAST: Autopsy reveals British photographer was killed by Israeli fire

Autopsy of the body of the British photographer who was shot dead in the southern Gaza Strip last week showed that he was killed by Israeli gunfire.

MIDDLE EAST: Israeli demolitions leave 12 thousand Palestinians homeless

More than 12,000 Palestinians have been made homeless during the current uprising against Israeli occupation, which erupted in September 2000, but the largest number of homes destroyed was during the first quarter of this year.

IRAQ: UAE to turn public building into hospital

Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the UAE Red Crescent Society (RCS), today ordered setting up a new hospital in one of the public buildings in the town of Ratba in Iraq.

IRAQ: Museum looters must be brought to justice

A prominent Arab archaeologist has held the occupation authorities in Iraq responsible for the looting and stealing of ancient antiquities from the Baghdad National Museum.

IRAQ-CONFLICT: What freedoms does the US stand for?

Two major United Arab Emirates (UAE) English dailies today commented on two major Iraqi issues, including the devastating looting which wiped out in a blink of an eye Iraq's valuable artifacts and the desperate situation in Iraq for lack of basic amenities, which are yet to be restored now that the war is over for the past two weeks.

LEBANON: Defense minister hails UAE’s demining overture

Lebanese Defense Minister Mahmoud Hamoud has said that tremendous achievements have been made in Southern Lebanon and life has returned to normal by virtue of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) initiative to clear the mines left over by Israeli troops before they pulled out two years ago from the once occupied lands.

GULF: Investments worth $60 billion in next five years

More than $60 billion is to be invested over the next five years within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Easa Abdulfattah Kazim, Director General of Dubai Financial Market (DFM), told the International Investment Summit which concluded in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) yesterday.

UAE-ECONOMY: GDP growth highest in the region

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to enjoy the highest growth in GDP among all Middle East and North African (Mena) countries this year, along with Iran, Mauritania and Sudan.