April, 2016

• 20 April

  Obama arrives in Riyadh on fence-mending visit

  

    Riyadh / AFP US President Barack Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia for a two-day visit on Wednesday hoping to ease tensions with Riyadh and intensify the fight against extremists. He also seeks to focus discussions on efforts to end wars in Syria and Yemen. Dressed in a grey suit, Obama emerged at 1:14 pmand descended the steps of Air ...

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• 20 April

  Egypt blasts UN chief over case of rights groups

    CAIRO / AP Egypt has blasted the UN chief for calling for a fair trial for two prominent rights activists accused of illegally receiving foreign funds for their NGOs. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid says in a statement on Wednesday that comments by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are an attempt to intimidate Egypt’s judiciary and meddle in its affairs. ...

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• 20 April

  Al-Sadr appeals for solution to Iraq’s political crisis

    BAGHDAD / AP An influential Iraqi Shiite cleric has called on the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Countries to help find a solution to the country’s simmering political crisis “even through holding early elections.” In a handwritten statement issued on Wednesday, cleric Muqtada Al Sadr, ordered Sadrist lawmakers to withdraw from a parliament sit-in that demands the country’s ...

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• 20 April

  Yemen rebels to join delayed talks

  

    Sanaa / AP Yemen’s Houthi rebels and their allies have agreed to join delayed peace talks in Kuwait after the United Nations assured them that pro-government forces would abide by a ceasefire. The UN-brokered talks were set to open in Kuwait on Monday but were put off after the Iran-backed insurgents failed to show up over alleged Saudi violations ...

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• 20 April

  South Sudan rebel’s return delay fans fears for peace

  

    Juba / AFP Fragile hopes for an end to South Sudan’s civil war are being tested by the rebel leader’s failure to return to the capital to form a unity government. International pressure is growing after Riek Machar, a former rebel leader turned deputy president who was fired, became a rebel leader again and has now fought his way ...

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• 20 April

  Battle over campaign to boycott Israel goes global

  

    Jerusalem / AFP When word spread that the Ahava cosmetics firm would move its factory from the occupied West Bank, it set off alarm bells among Israelis for reasons nothing to do with its products. There were suspicions that Ahava, which sells Dead Sea minerals and mud around the world, had made the decision because of mounting pressure to ...

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• 20 April

  Don’t give up on the Arabs

  

    As President Obama visits Saudi Arabia, here’s a surprising snapshot of what young Arabs think: They’re scared about the IS and terrorism; they yearn for more freedom and gender equality; they fear that the Arab Spring has made life worse; and they’re increasingly sceptical about the role of traditional religious values. If these Arab reactions seem similar to what ...

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• 20 April

  Signing of Paris accord vital to tame warming

    The world is holding its breath ahead of epochal event on April 22 at the United Nations in New York, where global leaders are expected to sign the landmark Paris accord adopted at a UN summit in December last year to limit global warming. The day, interestingly, is also World Earth Day. The event will be closely watched by ...

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• 20 April

  The growing cost of being poor in America

    Mark Whitehouse Being poor in the U.S. can be expensive. Judging from the latest inflation data, it’s becoming more so. Overall, inflation isn’t much of a problem in the U.S. For the past several years, the Federal Reserve has been struggling to get its preferred measure of consumer-price inflation up to its target of 2 percent — and many ...

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• 20 April

  The trouble with Cambodia’s new law on trade unions

    Cambodia’s National Assembly has adopted a Law on Trade Unions but labor groups, human rights advocates, and opposition politicians warn that it could be used to stifle the workers’ movement in the country. Despite the delay in its passage caused by protests, the bill was unanimously approved by the members of the ruling party without amendment. The draft law ...

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