BBC – It follows official Iranian calls for demonstrations against a proposed union between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. A summit of the Gulf states discussed the proposal on Monday but did not reach any decision on the matter. Bahrain’s Sunni royal family has accused Iran of supporting mass protests by the nation’s Shia majority. The proposed union was presented as a first step in a larger integration between all six Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) members. Read article
NYTimes – Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails ended a hunger strike on Monday that had lasted for weeks, signing an agreement with the Israeli authorities that promised improved conditions, according to officials. The end of the strike calmed fears of widespread unrest in the event of a prisoner’s death. Read article
Guardian – Demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza in support of about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike are escalating amid efforts by Egyptian mediators to broker a deal to avoid protests spiralling out of control if a detainee dies. Two prisoners, who have refused food for 77 days, are thought to be close to death with another six in a critical condition, say Palestinian groups. The Israeli prison service (IPS) says no one’s life is at risk. Read Article
BBC – At least 30 people – including 23 soldiers – have died in heavy overnight clashes in the central Syrian city of Rastan, according to activists. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of others were wounded in the city, in the restive Homs province. Three troop carriers were destroyed in fighting, the UK-based group said. If confirmed, the attack would be one of the deadliest suffered by security forces in the 14-month-long uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. Read Article
Reuters – Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are expected to announce closer political union at a meeting of Gulf Arab leaders on Monday, a Bahraini minister said, a move dismissed by the opposition as a ruse to avoid political reform. Read article
Reuters – One policeman dies and four are wounded after a man wearing an explosives belt attacks a police checkpoint in the Iraqi capital. Sunita Rappai reports.
Reuters – Militants clash in Lebanon leaving three dead and sparking fears of more sectarian strife between Alawite and Sunni Muslims. Andrew Raven reports.
BBC – A video posted online in the name of an Islamist group, al-Nusra Front, says it carried out two bomb attacks in the Syrian capital Damascus on Thursday. The attacks took place near a military intelligence building during the morning rush hour, killing 55 people. Opposition activists have accused the regime of orchestrating the explosions. The al-Nusra Front emerged in January and has said it was behind previous attacks, including one in March on a police HQ and airforce Intelligence. The video says the bombings were in response to attacks on civilian areas by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Read Article
Reuters – Activists say Syrian troops backed by tanks shot dead seven civilians when they overran a rebellious Sunni Muslim village west of Hama. Deborah Lutterbeck reports.
Reuters – Two apparent U.S. drone attacks killed at least 10 suspected al Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen on Saturday, while Yemeni government forces killed 15 others in a new offensive against insurgents, local and military officials said. U.S. officials said this week they had thwarted a plot by the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to arm a suicide bomber with a non-metallic device, an upgraded version of the “underwear bomb” carried onto an airliner on Christmas Day 2009. Read Article
BBC – The US State Department says the shipment will help Bahrain “maintain its external defence capabilities.” Arms sales were frozen last year after the Bahraini government suppressed pro-democracy demonstrations. Amnesty International says 60 people have been killed since the protests began in February 2011. Read article
Reuters – An explosion hit Syria’s northern city of Aleppo on Friday, close to the ruling party headquarters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The activist group said no one was killed by the blast itself but one guard at the headquarters died, apparently in a round of gunfire that followed the explosion. “Initial details indicate that the Aleppo blast was targeting the local branch of the ruling Baath party and there is no information until now on the number of victims that fell in the explosion,” the British-based group said in an email. Read Article
PressTV – Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa has met with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Washington amid Manama’s continued repression of anti-regime protests in the sheikdom. Read article
Defense News – The U.S. military said May 9 that 12,000 troops from 17 countries are taking part in this month’s military exercises in Jordan, seeking to enhance their abilities to meet “security challenges.” “The tactical execution of Eager Lion 2012 exercise will officially start on May 15,” said Maj. Robert Bockholt, public affairs officer at U.S. Special Operations Command Central. Read Article
BBC – The United States is resuming sales of some weapons to Bahrain, but says it will not supply the Gulf state with any crowd control equipment. The US State Department says the shipment will help Bahrain “maintain its external defence capabilities.” Arms sales were frozen last year after the Bahraini government suppressed pro-democracy demonstrations. Read Article
Defence Web – Algeria has signed a contract with China Shipbuilding Trading Company for three light frigates, after ordering two Meko A-200N frigates from Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. The three light frigates will be built either at Guangzhou or the Shanghai Huangpu Shipyard. The vessels will displace around 2 800 tons fully loaded, and will be powered by MTU diesel engines. The Algerian Navy has been undergoing expansion in recent years as it faces problems such as smuggling, illegal migration and indigenous terrorism. These threats mainly affect Algeria’s harbours and maritime communication routes and ships passing through the Straits of Gibraltar. Consequently, the Algerian Navy maintains a well-trained and well-equipped fleet to provide security to more than 1000 km of coastline. Read Article
NY Times – Twin suicide car bombs that targeted a notorious military intelligence compound shook the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Thursday, killing and wounding hundreds of people and raising the likelihood of extremist elements propelling the conflict to a more treacherous phase. It was the largest such terrorist attack since the uprising began 14 months ago, with the Health Ministry putting the toll at 55 dead and nearly 400 wounded — civilians and soldiers. The dual explosions forged a hellish landscape of incinerated corpses, burning vehicles and a billowing plume of smoke visible throughout Damascus. Read Article
Newser – An Iranian cartoonist has been sentenced to 25 lashings for drawing a member of parliament wearing a soccer jersey, reports MSNBC’s Cartoon Blog. Mahmoud Shokraiyeh illustrated a caricature of the politician as part of a news story involving the relocation of a soccer team to a different city. It could be the sign of a heightening of Iran’s already strict censorship. Read Article
BBC – South Sudan has accused Sudan of bombing within its territory, in violation of a UN Security Council resolution to end hostilities. Juba’s information minister told the BBC several areas had been targeted in air raids in the last 48 hours. But Khartoum said it had the right to respond to acts of aggression. Disputes over oil stemming from South Sudan’s secession in July led to clashes last month and fears of a return to all-out war. The UN has threatened sanctions if both sides fail to negotiate. Following the UN Security Council’s resolution a week ago, the neighbours agreed to follow a African Union roadmap under which they must restart negotiations and reach an agreement on outstanding disagreements within three months. Read Article
NPR – In a remarkable shift, Iraq’s oil exports jumped by 20 percent since January, and the country exported more oil in April than in any month since Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990. Energy expert Daniel Yergin discusses how Iraq’s oil wealth is driving the Iraqi economy and reshaping the global oil market. Read Article
Reuters – Syrian rebels killed at least seven pro-government militiamen in a Damascus suburb on Wednesday, activists said, and an explosion wounded eight soldiers escorting U.N. ceasefire observers in the southern province of Deraa. The Damascus attack with rocket-propelled grenades on a bus carrying the fighters through the suburb of Irbin prompted the army to seal off the area and respond with shelling, activist Mohammad Saeed said. Read Article
Financial Times – Iran is accepting renminbi for some of the crude oil it supplies to China, industry executives in Beijing and Kuwait and Dubai-based bankers said, partly as a consequence of US sanctions aimed at limiting Tehran’s nuclear programme. Tehran is spending the currency, which is not freely convertible, on goods and services imported from China. Read Article
Reuters – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a unity government on Tuesday in a surprise move that could give him a freer hand to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and seek peace with the Palestinians. Read article
BBC – Former Libyan rebels have launched an attack on the prime minister’s office in the capital Tripoli, leaving at least one guard dead, officials say. They said about 200 armed men, some carrying mortars, tried to storm the building but were repelled by security. Four others were wounded in the clashes, which lasted several hours. The attackers – ex-rebels who fought to topple Col Gaddafi last year – were demanding pay-outs promised under a reward scheme suspended last year. Prime Minister Abdurrahim al-Keib is safe, one of his advisers, Ashur Shamis, told the BBC. Sources said he had been in the building at the time. Read Article
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