Peaceful protest to boost Palestinian statehood bid
RAMALLAH: Faced with tough opposition to their UN membership bid, the Palestinians hope their case will be bolstered by a strictly non-violent protest campaign, officials say. In the run-up to…
ElBaradei calls for end to military trials, emergency law in labor meeting
CAIRO: Presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei called on Field Marshal Hussein Tantawy to cancel the emergency law, implement the treachery act and put an end to military trials for civilians at…
Fighting, air strike kill 16 in Yemen
SANAA: Mortar fire killed two Yemenis and wounded six in Sanaa on Tuesday in what appeared to be fresh fighting in the capital between soldiers loyal to President Ali Abdullah…
Indian TV soap operas step out of the closet
The saturated colors, shrill background music and over-dramatic dialogue are the hallmarks of any ordinary Indian television soap opera. What happens next is a lot less typical. "I can never…
Egypt sees new Israel gas deal soon, says report
CAIRO: Egypt will soon finish drafting a new contract for gas exports to its neighbor Israel that includes a big increase in prices, a newspaper cited the petroleum minister as…
Sri Lanka hopes movies are ticket to better times
Once a location of choice for directors shooting World War II classics and big 1980s adventure films, Sri Lanka is hoping to make a comeback on the movie trail as…
Baghdad film festival reopens after four years
Baghdad's third international film festival, and first in four years, opened on Monday, with the aim of reviving an industry hammered by decades of violence and sanctions. More than 150…
A sincere visual record of the revolution in ‘The Road to Tahrir’
Having heard of the latest book release by the American University in Cairo Press titled “The Road to Tahrir,” I was sceptical and already exhausted at what I was about…
Egypt re-arrests Hezbollah ‘spy’
CAIRO: Egyptian security authorities on Monday detained a man suspected of spying for the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah after he escaped detention during the January uprising, the official MENA agency…
Panetta visiting Egypt amid spy suspense
CAIRO: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, America's former top spymaster, is meeting with Egyptian leaders to urge them to release a US-born man being held for allegedly being an Israeli spy.…