http://www.mail.com/int/locations/1520-middle-east.html Mail.com - the best personalized free web-based Email en en http://sec-s.uicdn.com/mail.com/2.28/img/mailcom_logo_rss.png http://www.mail.com/int/locations/1520-middle-east.html http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2107628-syrian-regime-oks-peace-talks-amid-skepticism.html BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's government has agreed to attend a U.S.-Russian-brokered peace conference, according to Moscow. While this development might seem at first glance to be a step toward ending the civil war, strong skepticism persists on both sides. Doubting that Damascus is serious and may be stalling while government forces make battlefield gains, the ... Fri, 24 May 2013 19:38:34 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2107628-syrian-regime-oks-peace-talks-amid-skepticism.html 2013-05-24T19:38:34Z http://www.mail.com/int/business/economy/2108488-greeces-nbg-lifted-strong-turkish-performance.html ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The National Bank of Greece has reported first-quarter profits of 27 million euros ($35 million) with a strong performance by its Turkish unit, Finansbank, keeping the group profitable. NBG, Greece's largest bank, on Friday said Finansbank had earned 155 million euros ($200 million) in the first three months of 2013, a 23 percent inc... Fri, 24 May 2013 18:47:29 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/business/economy/2108488-greeces-nbg-lifted-strong-turkish-performance.html 2013-05-24T18:47:29Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2108134-iran-presidential-candidate-vows-to-resist-west.html TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's top nuclear negotiator, a candidate in next month's presidential elections, vowed Friday he will pursue a policy of resistance against the West if elected. Addressing his first campaign rally in Tehran, Saeed Jalili said his priority in foreign policy will be to expand Islam's influence in the world and counter "arrogance," a re... Fri, 24 May 2013 18:14:33 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2108134-iran-presidential-candidate-vows-to-resist-west.html 2013-05-24T18:14:33Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2108364-syria-targeted-israeli-jeep-going-to-rebel-village.html UNITED NATIONS (AP) — UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Syria said it targeted an Israeli vehicle that crossed a ceasefire line into its territory earlier this week because it was heading toward a village with a large rebel presence. In a letter to the U.N. Security Council circulated Friday, Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari said his country exercised its righ... Fri, 24 May 2013 17:55:09 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2108364-syria-targeted-israeli-jeep-going-to-rebel-village.html 2013-05-24T17:55:09Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2107708-egypt-3-women-killed-suspected-honor-crime.html LUXOR, Egypt (AP) — A mother and two daughters were allegedly killed by male relatives in southern Egypt who believed they'd had affairs, the latest apparent example of so-called "honor killings" in which women are slain for violating traditional morals in the conservative region, a security official said Friday. Police believe the 10 men stormed the hous... Fri, 24 May 2013 16:39:49 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2107708-egypt-3-women-killed-suspected-honor-crime.html 2013-05-24T16:39:49Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/europe/2108158-france-libyan-security-measures-tap.html PARIS (AP) — France's foreign minister says Libya is poised to announce new security initiatives in coming weeks, amid recent instability in the North African country and concerns that its vast south could become a haven for al-Qaida-linked terror groups. Laurent Fabius said Friday he spoke with Libya's prime minister following deadly, simultaneous terror... Fri, 24 May 2013 16:16:37 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/europe/2108158-france-libyan-security-measures-tap.html 2013-05-24T16:16:37Z http://www.mail.com/int/entertainment/lifestyle/2107760-qa-turkeys-proposed-alcohol-restrictions.html ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A look at legislation passed in Turkey's parliament early Friday that would ban all alcohol advertising and tighten restrictions on the sale of such beverages, and how such a law could affect tourists and liquor companies in the mainly Muslim but secular country. Q: What happened? A: Tempers flared and scuffles broke out during an al... Fri, 24 May 2013 15:14:43 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/entertainment/lifestyle/2107760-qa-turkeys-proposed-alcohol-restrictions.html 2013-05-24T15:14:43Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2108016-3-al-qaida-members-2-soldiers-dead-yemen-clash.html SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A security official says al-Qaida gunmen attacked a military position in a southern province, touching off fighting that left three militants and two soldiers dead. The official said the Friday attack in the mountainous al-Thalib region in the militant stronghold of al-Bayda province was repulsed, and nearby army positions responded wi... Fri, 24 May 2013 14:59:59 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2108016-3-al-qaida-members-2-soldiers-dead-yemen-clash.html 2013-05-24T14:59:59Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2107664-austria-wants-eu-arms-embargo-to-syria-extended.html VIENNA (AP) — The European Union's arms embargo to Syria should be extended while a political solution is sought in its civil war and to maintain the safety of U.N. peacekeepers in the Golan Heights, Austria's foreign minister said Friday. Austria's 377 soldiers make up the largest contingent of the approximately 900 U.N. peacekeepers posted to the Golan ... Fri, 24 May 2013 14:32:03 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2107664-austria-wants-eu-arms-embargo-to-syria-extended.html 2013-05-24T14:32:03Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/uk/2107620-attack-casts-spotlight-radical-preachers.html LONDON (AP) — The slaying of a British soldier in southeast London cast a spotlight on radical preachers that influenced Michael Adebolajo, the attacker seen in videos with bloody hands holding a butcher knife. It also raised questions about the reach of the terrorist group al-Shabab, after a British government official said one of the two men tried to go to Somalia to train... Fri, 24 May 2013 13:02:59 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/uk/2107620-attack-casts-spotlight-radical-preachers.html 2013-05-24T13:02:59Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2107744-un-nuke-agencys-iran-probe-driven-us-led-intel.html VIENNA (AP) — The U.N. nuclear agency responsible for probing whether Iran has worked on a nuclear bomb depends on the United States and its allies for most of its intelligence, complicating the agency's efforts to produce findings that can be widely accepted by the international community. Much of the world looks at U.S. intelligence on weapons developme... Fri, 24 May 2013 12:29:42 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2107744-un-nuke-agencys-iran-probe-driven-us-led-intel.html 2013-05-24T12:29:42Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2107644-kerrys-focus-peace-talks-settlements.html TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Israel's government on Friday to prevent further settlement construction where possible to help revitalize Middle East peace hopes, but stressed that the Jewish state and Palestinians alike should remain focused on the larger goal of restarting direct negotiations. Explaining part of the str... Fri, 24 May 2013 12:08:05 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2107644-kerrys-focus-peace-talks-settlements.html 2013-05-24T12:08:05Z http://www.mail.com/int/entertainment/lifestyle/2107356-turkey-passes-bill-restricting-alcohol-sales-ads.html ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's parliament has passed legislation to ban all advertising of alcohol and tighten restrictions on sales in the mainly Muslim but secular country. The legislation, adopted on Friday, bans the sale of alcoholic drinks between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. It also prohibits alcohol sales anywhere close to mosques and educational centers. Th... Fri, 24 May 2013 07:22:56 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/entertainment/lifestyle/2107356-turkey-passes-bill-restricting-alcohol-sales-ads.html 2013-05-24T07:22:56Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2106484-un-china-offers-peacekeepers-mali.html UNITED NATIONS (AP) — China has offered to contribute troops to the new U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali, where Islamist jihadists controlled the country's north until French-led troops launched an offensive in January to oust them, a U.N. official said Thursday. Andre-Michel Essoungou, a spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping department, told The Associate... Thu, 23 May 2013 22:58:39 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2106484-un-china-offers-peacekeepers-mali.html 2013-05-23T22:58:39Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2104722-muslim-hard-liners-suspect-london-attack.html LONDON (AP) — A man seen with bloody hands wielding a butcher knife after the killing of a British soldier on the streets of London was described as a convert to Islam who took part in demonstrations with a banned radical group, two Muslim hard-liners said Thursday. Police raided houses in connection with the brazen slaying of the off-duty soldier, identi... Thu, 23 May 2013 21:57:37 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2104722-muslim-hard-liners-suspect-london-attack.html 2013-05-23T21:57:37Z http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/health/2105274-who-scientific-red-tape-mars-efforts-vs-virus.html GENEVA (AP) — International efforts to combat a new pneumonia-like virus that has now killed 22 people are being slowed by unclear rules and competition for the potentially profitable rights to disease samples, the head of the World Health Organization warned Thursday. Dr. Margaret Chan, in a blunt warning to the U.N. agency's annual global assembly, port... Thu, 23 May 2013 21:46:28 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/scitech/health/2105274-who-scientific-red-tape-mars-efforts-vs-virus.html 2013-05-23T21:46:28Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2106126-israel-to-discuss-military-draft-reform-proposal.html JERUSALEM (AP) — An official Israeli committee on Thursday handed the government its proposal for ending a contentious system that grants Jewish ultra-Orthodox seminary students automatic exemptions from military service, setting the stage for what could become the first major conflict in the new Israeli coalition government. These exemptions have generat... Thu, 23 May 2013 19:38:21 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2106126-israel-to-discuss-military-draft-reform-proposal.html 2013-05-23T19:38:21Z http://www.mail.com/int/entertainment/lifestyle/2105030-west-bank-romance-prominent-omar.html CANNES, France (AP) — One of the more buzzed-about films at the Cannes Film Festival, "Omar," is set in the West Bank, and the Palestinian conflict is a key part of the plot. But the film's lead actor, Adam Bakri, says the location or political motif isn't that important. "The fact is that it is an international story, it happens in the West Bank but it d... Thu, 23 May 2013 19:28:15 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/entertainment/lifestyle/2105030-west-bank-romance-prominent-omar.html 2013-05-23T19:28:15Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2104668-clashes-lebanon-feed-fear-syria-spillover.html BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad fired heavy machine guns and lobbed mortar shells at each other Thursday in some of the worst fighting in the port city of Tripoli in years. The battles raised the five-day death toll to 16 and fed fears of the Syrian civil war spreading to Lebanon and other neighboring count... Thu, 23 May 2013 19:16:30 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2104668-clashes-lebanon-feed-fear-syria-spillover.html 2013-05-23T19:16:30Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2105974-israel-iran-unaffected-world-pressure.html JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's prime minister says a new report by the U.N. atomic agency shows that international pressure is having no effect on halting Iran's suspect nuclear program. In a confidential report, the International Atomic Energy Agency said this week that Iran has upgraded its uranium enrichment facilities and advanced in building a plutonium-p... Thu, 23 May 2013 17:54:38 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2105974-israel-iran-unaffected-world-pressure.html 2013-05-23T17:54:38Z http://www.mail.com/int/entertainment/lifestyle/2105366-turkey-debates-alcohol-sales-ad-restrictions.html ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish lawmakers on Thursday began debating a bill that bans all alcohol advertising and tightens restrictions on sales of such beverages — a proposal the government insists is aimed at protecting the young from the ills of spirits but which secularists say is an example of the Islamic-based ruling party's encroachment on personal freedoms. ... Thu, 23 May 2013 17:36:18 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/entertainment/lifestyle/2105366-turkey-debates-alcohol-sales-ad-restrictions.html 2013-05-23T17:36:18Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2105906-s-sudan-leader-intl-court-humiliates-africa.html JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan's president is criticizing the International Criminal Court, saying the court is designed to humiliate African leaders. Salva Kiir spoke Thursday during a visit by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who faces ICC charges related to Kenya's post-election violence in 2007-08 that killed more than 1,000 people. Kiir said th... Thu, 23 May 2013 17:32:18 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2105906-s-sudan-leader-intl-court-humiliates-africa.html 2013-05-23T17:32:18Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2104844-irans-rafsanjani-blasts-clerics-report.html TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Banned from upcoming elections, Iran's former president has leveled harsh criticism at the Islamic Republic's clerical rulers, saying they are doing a poor job running the country, an Iranian pro-reform website reported late on Wednesday. The remarks by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani come days after a constitutional watchdog disqualified him... Thu, 23 May 2013 17:31:37 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2104844-irans-rafsanjani-blasts-clerics-report.html 2013-05-23T17:31:37Z http://www.mail.com/int/entertainment/lifestyle/2105530-banned-iranian-director-rasoulof-coming-to-cannes.html CANNES, France (AP) — Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, whose movies are banned in his country and who has been sentenced to jail by the Islamic regime there, is coming to Cannes for a screening of his latest film, publicists for the movie said Thursday. "Manuscripts Don't Burn" tells the story of an Iranian author secretly writing his memoirs — and au... Thu, 23 May 2013 17:17:04 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/entertainment/lifestyle/2105530-banned-iranian-director-rasoulof-coming-to-cannes.html 2013-05-23T17:17:04Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2104732-us-israel-raise-hopes-mideast-peace-restart.html JERUSALEM (AP) — The United States and Israel raised hopes Thursday for a restart of the Middle East peace process, despite little tangible progress so far from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's two-month-old effort to get Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. As they met in Jerusalem, Kerry praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne... Thu, 23 May 2013 17:12:41 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2104732-us-israel-raise-hopes-mideast-peace-restart.html 2013-05-23T17:12:41Z http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2104980-gunmen-kill-7-iraqi-soldiers-central-iraq.html BAGHDAD (AP) — Gunmen killed at least seven soldiers in central Iraq on Thursday, officials said, in the latest episode of violence to hit the country in a particularly bloody month. The first skirmish took place in the early hours of Thursday when militants attacked an army check point in the town of Taji, killing four soldiers and wounding four others, ... Thu, 23 May 2013 15:54:07 GMT http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/2104980-gunmen-kill-7-iraqi-soldiers-central-iraq.html 2013-05-23T15:54:07Z