ENNISKILLEN, United Kingdom (AFP) G8 leaders on Tuesday threw their weight behind calls for a peace conference on Syria to be held in Geneva "as soon as possible", after a summit dominated by the country's civil war. At the end of two days of talks in Northern Ireland, the leaders also called for agreement on a transitional government in Syria "with full executive powers, formed by mutual consent". British ...

 CAIRO, June 18, 2013 (AFP) An Egyptian court on Tuesday ended the detention of Hosni Mubarak in one corruption case, judicial sources told AFP, but the ousted president will remain in custody on other charges. The North Cairo misdemeanour court ordered Mubarak's release but said it will continue to investigate accusations that he and his family acquired wealth illegally, the sources said. Investigators fro ...

BRUSSELS, June 18, 2013 (AFP) A billion euros of EU aid channelled to Egypt before and after the January 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's reign was ineffective, failing to improve human rights or reduce corruption, auditors said Tuesday. European Union support for improved governance in Egypt overall was "well-intentioned but ineffective," said a highly critical report by the European Court of Audit ...

June 18, 2013 Two Arab TV stations that allegedly broadcast pirated content have been taken off air by a major satellite provider, as legitimate media firms step up a campaign for better copyright enforcement in the region. Panorama Comedy is no longer broadcasting via the Nilesat satellite, while a related channel Panorama Action also came off the air this weekend. Industry figures allege that both channel ...

KUWAIT CITY, June 18, 2013 (AFP) Authorities in Kuwait hanged a 33-year-old Egyptian man dubbed a "monster" for the abduction and rape of 17 children under the age of 10, the public prosecution said. Hajjaj Saadi, who was handed five death sentences, complained shortly before his execution that had not been given any assistance from the Egyptian government, a witness said. Saadi strongly denied in court tha ...

ADDIS ABABA, June 18, 2013 (AFP) Ethiopia and Egypt have agreed to hold further talks on the impact of an Ethiopian dam to quell tensions between the two countries, the foreign ministers of both nations said on Tuesday. "We agreed that we will start immediately on consultations at both the technical level and the political level," Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr told reporters, after meetings in ...

CAIRO, June 17, 2013 (AFP) President Mohamed Morsi has replaced 17 of Egypt's governors, including the choice in Luxor of a member of an Islamist party linked to a deadly attack on tourists in the ancient temple city, reports said Monday. Among the new appointees were members of the Muslim Brotherhood from which Morsi hails, the reports said, in a move that tightens the group's grip on key administrative an ...

June 17, 2013 Republican former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin criticized U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration, including his policy on the Syrian conflict. “We’re talking now more new interventions,” said Palin, who is also former governor of Alaska. “Until we have a commander in chief who knows what he’s doing... I say let Allah sort it out.” She was addressing attendees of the Faith and ...

June 17, 2013 Republican former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin criticized U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration, including his policy on the Syrian conflict. “We’re talking now more new interventions,” said Palin, who is also former governor of Alaska. “Until we have a commander in chief who knows what he’s doing... I say let Allah sort it out.” She was addressing attendees of the Faith and ...

June 17, 2013 A Saudi cleric has sparked controversy when he issued a fatwa (religious edict) this week barring travel to Dubai because of the spread of “immoralities” there. Sheikh Mohamed al-Shanar used his Twitter account to answer a question by a woman on whether a woman can visit Dubai without a male guardian. “A woman asks me if it she may go to Dubai without a guardian. I answer her saying: going to ...

June 17, 2013 A famed Lebanese singer, who has turned into a self-proclaimed Sunni Islamist, will put his home up for sale to back the Free Syrian Army (FSA) battling the Syrian regime, he said during an interview with a Lebanese TV channel this week. “I would rather sleep on the ground just for the Syrian revolution’s sake,” Fadhel al-Shaker told the al-Jadeed TV channel, adding “whoever attacks us (Sunnis ...

by Haitham ELTABEI CAIRO, June 16, 2013 (AFP) Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi, in severing ties with Damascus, aims to show solidarity with Western and fellow Arab states opposed to Syria's regime and also boost his under-fire image at home, analysts said. Morsi, an Islamist from the Muslim Brotherhood, told supporters in a Cairo stadium for a "Support for Syria" rally on Saturday that he was going to "defi ...