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MENASource

Mar 19, 2015

Top News: Battle for Aden Airport Forces Closure

By MENASource

Forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh stormed the international airport in the southern port city of Aden on Thursday, triggering an intense, hours-long gunbattle before security forces loyal to President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi repelled them.

MENASource

Mar 19, 2015

Top News: Mubarak-Era Interior Minister Acquitted of Corruption, Set for Release

By EgyptSource

A Cairo criminal court on Thursday acquitted Mubarak-era interior minister Habib al-Adly of corruption charges, paving the way for his release. Adly was cleared of charges of using his political influence to acquire illicit gains amounting to 181 million Egyptian pounds ($23.72 million). 

MENASource

Mar 19, 2015

EconSource: Slightly firmer oil may help Gulf stabilise

By EconSource

Oil’s overnight rebound and a dovish statement from the US Federal Reserve may help Gulf stock markets stabilize on Thursday after falling sharply earlier this week, although crude prices remain volatile and unpredictable. Gulf equities dropped in panic sell-offs on Wednesday after US crude futures slid to a fresh six-year low and Brent oil also […]

MENASource

Mar 18, 2015

A Russian Role in Egypt’s $12 Billion BP Deal

By Rachel Williamson

For the first time, a Russian-owned company has taken a key position in Egypt’s critically important natural gas sector, and it’s a powerful message that the rekindled relationship runs deeper than promises and trade deals.

North Africa

MENASource

Mar 18, 2015

Top News: Egypt to Require Pre-obtained Visas for Foreigners; 380 NGOs Dissolved in 2015

By EgyptSource

Egypt is tightening rules for visas by requiring individual visitors to obtain them at embassies instead of on arrival at Egyptian airports, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

MENASource

Mar 18, 2015

Top News: At Least Eight Killed as Gunmen Attack Tunisian Parliament and Museum

By MENASource

Gunmen opened fire on Tunisia’s parliament building and an adjacent museum on Wednesday, killing at least eight and wounding six people including foreign tourists.

MENASource

Mar 18, 2015

EconSource: Libyan government planning oil export program to weaken rival

By EconSource

Libya’s internationally-recognized government asked companies buying oil from ports under its control to deal with its administration, a move seen as an effort to weaken its rival Islamist-backed cabinet. Any sales of the country’s oil should now be arranged through a state firm based in Benghazi in order to prevent fraud. The chairman of the […]

MENASource

Mar 17, 2015

Is Assad’s Departure a “Legitimate Concern?”

By Frederic C. Hof

CIA Director John Brennan told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Friday, March 13 that the near-term collapse of Syria’s Assad regime raises “a legitimate concern” about the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) and other jihadist extremists capitalizing on it.

Syria

MENASource

Mar 17, 2015

Top News: Six Dead in Apparent Gas Attack in Syria

By MENASource

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday that government forces carried out a poison gas attack that killed at least six people in the northwest, and medics posted videos of children suffering what they said was suffocation.

MENASource

Mar 17, 2015

Top News: Egypt Charges Muslim Brotherhood, Ultras Over Soccer Violence Deaths

By EgyptSource

Egypt’s public prosecutor said on Tuesday members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and Zamalek supporters, the Ultras White Knights, were charged with killing and inciting violence in connection with the deaths of twenty-two soccer fans who clashed with security forces last month.