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Christians, Druze gather for #reconciliation at Mount #Lebanon village
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/christians-druze-gather-reconciliation-mount-lebanon-village

Hundreds gathered in a Mount Lebanon village Tuesday for a ceremony marking reconciliation between Druze and Christians whose relations where battered during the 1975-1990 civil war. Christian residents, who at the time of the war overwhelmingly backed the fascist-styled Lebanese Forces militia, fled the Chouf town of #Brih after losing out to Druze fighters two decades ago. But Saturday’s ceremony was meant the bury the hatchet between the two as Christians reportedly began to return to their homes in the mixed Maronite - Druze village, located about 23 kilometers southeast of Beirut. read more

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Death toll reaches 299 in Turkish mine disaster
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/death-toll-reaches-299-turkish-mine-disaster

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People mourn in a graveyard on May 16, 2014 in the western town of Soma. (Photo: AFP - Bulent Kilic) People mourn in a graveyard on May 16, 2014 in the western town of Soma. (Photo: AFP - Bulent Kilic)

The death toll in Turkey’s worst ever mining disaster rose to 299 on Saturday as a new fire hampered rescue attempts, the energy minister said. Taner Yildiz told reporters that three miners were still thought to be underground based on families’ testimonies while 485 miners have either escaped or been rescued since Tuesday’s mine blast and fire in the western town of Soma. A new fire broke out Saturday in another section of the mine, about 250 meters (820 feet) away from where the miners are trapped, creating further (...)

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#MERS kills another three in #Saudi_Arabia
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/mers-kills-another-three-saudi-arabia

Health authorities in Saudi Arabia have reported three more fatalities from the MERS respiratory virus, taking the death toll in the world’s worst-hit country to 163. The health ministry website also revealed on Saturday that 520 cases have been recorded in the country since Middle East Respiratory Syndrome first appeared in Saudi Arabia in 2012. It said three women died on Friday, including one in Riyadh, 48, and a 67-year-old in the western city of Taif. read more

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#Venezuela to send Palestinians quarter million barrels of #Oil
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/venezuela-send-palestinians-quarter-million-barrels-oil

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Venenzuelan President Nicolas Maduro (R) and #Palestinian_Authority leader Mahmoud #Abbas, sign agreements at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on May 16, 2014. (Photo: AFP - Juan Barreto) Venenzuelan President Nicolas Maduro (R) and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, sign agreements at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on May 16, 2014. (Photo: AFP - Juan Barreto)

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pledged Friday to send oil and diesel to the Palestinian Authority, as part of agreements signed with its leader Mahmoud Abbas during his visit to Caracas. Venezuela, which sits atop the world’s largest oil reserves, said it would provide an initial shipment of 240,000 barrels of oil, but gave no (...)

#Madura #Palestine #Top_News

Thousands mourn #Palestinian youths shot dead by #Israel
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/thousands-mourn-palestinian-youths-shot-dead-israel

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Relatives carry the body of Palestinian youth Nadim Siyam Nawara, 17, a day after he was shot dead by Israeli forces outside the Israeli-run #Ofer prison, on May 16, 2014. (Photo: AFP - Thomas Coex) Relatives carry the body of Palestinian youth Nadim Siyam Nawara, a day after he was shot dead by Israeli forces outside the Israeli-run Ofer prison, on May 16, 2014. (Photo: AFP - Thomas Coex)

Several thousand mourners attended the funerals on Friday of two Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces in the #west_bank, as soldiers renewed attacks on protesters at the site of Thursday’s killings. “We will sacrifice ourselves for you, o martyrs,” mourners chanted as the bodies, draped in Palestinian flags, were taken through the (...)

#funeral #Palestine #Top_News

#police fire #tear_gas at Turkish #mine mourners
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/police-fire-tear-gas-turkish-mine-mourners

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People mourn in a graveyard on May 16, 2014 in the western town of Soma after an explosion and a fire in a coal mine killed at least 284 workers three days ago. (Photo: AFP - Bulent Kilic) People mourn in a graveyard on May 16, 2014 in the western town of Soma after an explosion and a fire in a coal mine killed at least 284 workers three days ago. (Photo: AFP - Bulent Kilic)

Turkish riot police fired tear gas Friday at thousands of protesters at the scene of a #Disaster that killed nearly 300 miners, as the government faced a worsening political backlash. Police used tear gas, water cannon and plastic bullets to attack demonstrators chanting anti-government slogans in the western town of Soma, where at least 284 people (...)

#funeral #Top_News #turkey

#Algeria pulls diplomats from #Libya embassy after threat
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/algeria-pulls-diplomats-libya-embassy-after-threat

Algeria has closed its embassy and its consulate in Tripoli because of a “real and imminent threat” to its diplomats, the foreign ministry announced on Friday. The decision was taken in coordination with the Libyan authorities, after information was received “about the existence of a real and imminent threat targeting our diplomats and consular staff.” read more

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Syrian rebel rocket fire kills 13 in #Aleppo
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syrian-rebel-rocket-fire-kills-13-aleppo

Syrian rebel rocket fire hit a government-held neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo Friday, killing at least 13 people, state television said. “The toll in #rockets fired by terrorists on Ashrafiyeh district has risen to 13, including women and children,” the report said. Earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least seven people killed and five hurt in the attack on the western neighborhood. Once the country’s economic hub, control of Aleppo has been divided between the government and opposition since shortly after fighting began there in mid-2012. read more

#rebels #syria #Top_News

#Hezbollah advises Maronite Patriarch against Jerusalem visit
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/hezbollah-advises-maronite-patriarch-against-jerusalem-visit

Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah movement said Friday it had warned the Maronite patriarch of the “negative repercussions” of his plan to accompany Pope Francis to Israeli-occupied Jerusalem this month. “We presented our perspective and point of view and laid out what we see as the negative repercussions of this visit,” Ibrahim Amin al-Sayed, head of the group’s political council, said after meeting Patriarch #Beshara_al-Rai. Sayed said the group hoped “that this perspective is taken into account.” read more

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Jewish #settlers to increase by 50% in five years: Israeli minister
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/jewish-settlers-increase-50-five-years-israeli-minister

The number of Jewish settlers in the Israeli-occupied #west_bank could grow by as much as 50 percent by 2019, #Israel's ultra-nationalist construction minister said on Friday. Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel, a member of the hardline Jewish Home party in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative coalition government, said the negotiations on Palestinian statehood were in their “dying throes” and predicted the settler population would spiral. read more

#occupation #Palestine #Top_News

#Abbas visits #Venezuela to seek observer status
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/abbas-visits-venezuela-seek-observer-status

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Venezuela on Thursday to seek backing from Caracas for observer status in three Latin American regional organizations. During his stay, which ends Saturday, Abbas will meet with socialist President Nicolas #maduro. He arrived around 0230 GMT at Maiquetia airport for his third visit to the oil-producing country in five years. Maduro’s government has faced three months of deadly street protests, which have claimed at least 42 lives since February, in what many observers agree have been driven by the United States in a coup attempt. read more

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Fierce clashes erupt in #Benghazi
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/fierce-clashes-erupt-benghazi

Fierce clashes erupted in #Libya's eastern city of Benghazi Friday between Islamists and forces led by a retired general seeking to purge it of “terrorists,” an AFP journalist and witnesses said. The witnesses said a group led by Khalifa Haftar, a former rebel chief in the 2011 uprising that helped NATO topple Muammar Gaddafi, was backed by warplanes that pounded a barracks occupied by the Islamist “February 17 Brigade” militia. (AFP)

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Turkish mine operator denies negligence in disaster
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/turkish-mine-operator-denies-negligence-disaster

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A woman cries during a funeral ceremony for miners who died in an explosion, on May 15, 2014, in the western town of Soma in the Manisa province. (Photo: AFP - Bulent Kilic) A woman cries during a funeral ceremony for miners who died in an explosion, on May 15, 2014, in the western town of Soma in the Manisa province. (Photo: AFP - Bulent Kilic)

The operator of a Turkish mine where an explosion has claimed more than 280 lives said on Friday the disaster was not due to negligence on its part. “There is no negligence on our part,” Akin Celik, the general director of Soma Komur, told reporters at a press conference. “We have all worked very hard. I have not seen such an incident in 20 years.” Energy Minister Taner Yildiz (...)

#mine_disaster #Top_News #turkey

#Netanyahu to #Hagel : Don’t let « terrorist » #Iran win
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/netanyahu-hagel-dont-let-terrorist-iran-win

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel Friday that world powers must deny “terrorist” Iran any possibility of developing a nuclear weapon as the search for a deal intensifies. “I think that, while the talks with Iran are going on, there is one thing that must guide the international community and that is not to let the ayatollahs win,” Netanyahu’s office quoted him as saying at the beginning of their meeting in Jerusalem. read more

#Israel #Top_News #united_states

Dozens dead in #syria border #blast near #turkey
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/dozens-dead-syria-border-blast-near-turkey

A massive car bomb killed dozens of people on the Syrian side of the Bab al-Salama border crossing with Turkey on Thursday, a monitoring group and online activists said. Gruesome photographs posted online by witnesses showed shocked men standing over charred, blackened bodies, some missing limbs. A video of the scene posted on YouTube showed smoke rising from the tangled remains of a blown-up car and luggage lying abandoned amid the chaos.

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Twin #suicide blasts kill 10 at #Baghdad courthouse
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/twin-suicide-blasts-kill-10-baghdad-courthouse

An assault on a Baghdad court that included twin suicide bombings killed 10 people Thursday, the latest in a spate of explosions in #Iraq's capital since an election last month. The blasts, one of which involved an attacker setting off a car bomb, came minutes apart during morning rush hour in the commercial district of Karrada, near a crossroads that is the site of a hospital, police headquarters and the court building. read more

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Five new #MERS deaths in Saudi
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/five-new-mers-deaths-saudi

Saudi Arabia announced Wednesday five new deaths from MERS, raising the death toll in the country worst-hit by the mysterious coronavirus to 157 since it appeared in 2012. The health ministry also reported 16 new infections with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome raising the total so far to 511. Three women, all over 60, died in Riyadh, while two men, aged 56 and 57, died in the port city of Jeddah, the ministry said on its website. read more

#Saudi_Arabia #Top_News

#Algeria's Bouteflika proposes amendment limiting presidential term
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/algerias-bouteflika-proposes-amendment-limiting-presidential-term

Algerian President #Abdelaziz_Bouteflika proposed a two-term presidential limit and delegating more authority to the prime minister’s post as part of constitutional amendments after his re-election, a government source said on Thursday. Bouteflika, 77, offered reforms to strengthen democracy after winning an April ballot to secure his fourth five-year term in office despite suffering a stroke last year that raised questions over his ability to govern. read more

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Three dead in #Benghazi shootout
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/three-dead-benghazi-shootout

Gunmen killed a moderate Muslim cleric and two soldiers in #Libya's second city, Benghazi Thursday as violence showed no let-up in the cradle of the 2011 uprising. Sheikh Mansour Abdelkarim al-Baraassi, was well known for his opposition to the hardline Islamists who are a powerful force in the eastern city. He was gunned down as he left a central mosque, medical and security sources said. The two soldiers from the special forces were shot dead as they left their barracks. read more

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Sisi calls for US military and economic aid to #Egypt
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/sisi-calls-us-military-and-economic-aid-egypt

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A file picture taken on May 4, 2014 shows Egypt’s ex-army chief and leading presidential candidate Abdel Fattah al-Sisi giving his first television interview since announcing his candidacy in Cairo. (Photo: AFP)

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general who ousted elected Islamist president Mohammed Mursi and is set to become Egypt’s next head of state, called on the United States to help fight “terrorism.” In his first interview with an international news organization in the run-up to the May 26-27 vote, Sisi called for the resumption of US military aid, worth $1.3 billion a year, which was partially frozen after a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood. Asked what message he has for US President Barack Obama, Sisi said: “We are fighting a war against terrorism.” read (...)

#Abdel_Fatah_al-Sisi #Top_News

Israeli forces attack #west_bank #Nakba rally
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/israeli-forces-attack-west-bank-nakba-rally

A Palestinian woman takes a picture of participants taking part in a commemoration on the eve of the 66th anniversary of the “Nakba” on May 14, 2014 in the West Bank city of Ramallah. (Photo: AFP - Abbas Momani) A Palestinian woman takes a picture of participants taking part in a commemoration on the eve of the 66th anniversary of the “Nakba” on May 14, 2014 in the West Bank city of Ramallah. (Photo: AFP - Abbas Momani)

Israeli forces attacked Palestinians in the West Bank marking the 66th anniversary of the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” when Jewish militias drove 760,000 Palestinians from their homes. About 150 people demanding the release of thousands of Palestinians held by #Israel protested near Ofer prison, outside (...)

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Suicide bombings kill six in #Baghdad neighborhood
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/suicide-bombings-kill-six-baghdad-neighborhood

Twin suicide bombings in the center of Baghdad killed at least six people on Thursday, the latest in a spate of explosions in the Iraqi capital since elections last month. The blasts went off minutes apart during morning rush hour in the commercial district of Karrada, near a crossroads that is the site of a hospital, a police headquarters and a court building. Each blast killed three people, security and medical officials said. Among the fatalities was at least one policeman. read more

#Iraq #Top_News

#Iran and world powers on second day of “intensive” #nuclear negotiations
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/iran-and-world-powers-second-day-intensive%E2%80%9D-nuclear-negot

Negotiators from Iran and six world powers hunkered down Thursday for a second day of talks aimed towards what could be a historic deal on Tehran’s controversial nuclear program. Indications of how the talks were progressing in rainy Vienna were thin on the ground, however. Both sides warned on arrival on Tuesday that the negotiations would be hard. A spokesman for Catherine Ashton, EU foreign policy chief and the powers’ lead negotiator, said only that the first day’s discussions were “intensive and useful” and that the “hard work” would continue Thursday. read more

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#Morocco jails six men accused of homosexuality
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/morocco-jails-six-men-accused-homosexuality

A Moroccan court has jailed six men for up to three years on various charges including “homosexuality,” a rights group told AFP on Wednesday. The Moroccan government is led by a moderate Islamist party. Gay sex is illegal, punishable by a maximum three years in prison in the North African country. The six defendants were convicted on Monday of accusations ranging from “homosexuality, inciting prostitution, mediating in prostitution and being drunk in public,” said Ahmed Amin Chaabi, from the Moroccan League for the Defense of Human Rights. read more

#gay_rights #Top_News

#Cairo clashes kill one
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/cairo-clashes-kill-one

One person was killed during clashes in Cairo overnight between supporters and opponents of deposed Islamist president #Mohamed_Morsi, Egyptian security officials said Thursday. Four people were also arrested during the violence that broke out on the sidelines of a pro-Morsi gathering, the officials said. Since the Egyptian army ousted and detained Morsi on July 3 last year, the security forces have waged a crackdown on protests by his supporters. read more

#Abdel_Fatah_al-Sisi #Egypt #Top_News