"Khalid bin Laden's statement accused Iranian authorities of mistreating about 30 siblings, saying they had been "beaten and repressed." The letter, which was dated early January, appeared to have been written shortly after news reports surfaced about of one his sisters who escaped from her Iranian guards and reportedly is taking refuge in the Saudi Embassy in Tehran. It has long been believed that Iran has in custody a number of bin Laden's children who fled Afghanistan in 2001 following the Sept. 11 terror attacks....."
The Iranians should just release them. After all, they must ... << MORE >>

"a Bahraini citizen (a male, the women have more sense) is suing Queen Elizabeth II (the real Queen not the ship) for insulting the symbols of the “Kingdom of Bahrain”. He is suing the queen for 120 million Bahrain Dinars to be equally distributed among himself, the royal family (of tiny Bahrain not Great Britain)...." ... << MORE >>

"“Egypt bourse falls on Mubarak health worries. Share prices fell in Egypt on Monday over what analysts said were concerns about the health of President Hosni Mubarak who has not appeared in public since surgery in Germany on March 6. Egypt's benchmark EGX 30 index fell 3.84 percent by the close, after a fall of 2.40 percent on Sunday....."
Now Mubarak is the awaited Messiah and the vanished Mahdi both rolled in one mummy......... ... << MORE >>

"The Israeli Defence Force has barred Israelis and foreigners from two West Bank villages, the scene of protests against Israel's "separation wall". Soldiers have posted flyers declaring areas around the villages of Bilin and Nilin are...."
Likud seems to get more Arab, more Middle Eastern in its policies.... ... << MORE >>

"A 2009 measure allows Hezbollah to maintain an armed resistance to deter an Israeli threat, though opponents argue Israel would have no need to threaten Lebanon if Hezbollah disarmed……. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri didn't attend the March 14 talks because of an official visit to Germany during the weekend…...."
When even Saad Hariri avoids attending their meeting and anniversary, you know that March 14 is..... ... << MORE >>

"Journaliste, féministe et blogueuse chevronnée, l'iranienne Parvin Ardalan (lauréate, en 2007, du Olof Palme Prize) vient de recevoir le premier Prix du « net-citoyen » au nom des cyberféministes iraniennes. Ce nouveau trophée, conçu par Reporters sans Frontières et Google, a voulu récompenser le site www.we-change.org que cette femme engagée anime depuis trois ans et demi......"<< MORE >>

Hypocrisy on the Nile. "Citing press reports, Hawass said in a statement that the cancellation comes after "provocative" acts during the March 7 ceremony in Cairo's ancient Jewish quarter. He referred to "dancing and drinking alcohol in the synagogue, as reported by several newspapers," and said such acts "were seen to provoke the feelings of millions of Muslims in Egypt and across the world."...."
I speculated once that if King Tut were found to have been Jewish, they may not announce it.... ... << MORE >>

""Chaharshanbeh Souri is a national and ancient tradition for Iranians," Zahra Rahnavard said of Tuesday night's upcoming celebration in an interview with Kaleme.com (Persian). "It is an occasion for festivity. The Green Movement...." ... << MORE >>

"Al-Alam has announced that it is ready to provide the Saudi-based Arabsat satellite operator with technical assistance, as the company blames technical problems for dropping the Arab-language network. Al-Alam management has so far sent several letters to the satellite operator's officials, urging them to give a clear response....." ... << MORE >>

South of the Border, Down Yemeni Way….. The Yemen war has vanished as suddenly as it erupted. All withing one month or so. There were battles, bombings, refugees, regional noises, international conferences, media coverage 24/7. Now all has vanished, except for the poor refugees.... ... << MORE >>

"Egypt rejected on Saturday a report issued by the U.S. Department of State which criticized human rights condition in the country, state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported. "The report released by the U.S. State Department on human rights conditions in Egypt is not new...."
Human rights vs. rulers rights.... ... << MORE >>

Invitation to a beheading. "Court said that all evidence points to his apostasy, heresy, and practice of witchcraft and sorcery. The three judges ruled that he has been practicing sorcery for years, and is famous for it on (Lebanese) television…. The prosecutors had said that he practiced sorcery with the help of demons, jinns and magical amulets. and that he has also confessed that he undid magic through the use of counter-magic...."<< MORE >>

Self- profiling in the Middle East. "The pair, a British man living in Dubai and a female friend, were arrested in November on accusations of kissing and touching each other intimately in public and consuming alcohol, their lawyer said. They were ordered jailed for a month. The case is the third time in under two years in which Britons have hit the headlines by falling foul of decency laws in Dubai, a flashy Muslim emirate...." ... << MORE >>

"Jumblatt, who was part of the anti-Syria March 14 movement, had described al-Assad in 2007 as "Damascus' dictator", "a savage" and "an Israeli product". Participating in Hiwar Maftouh (Open Dialogue), an Al Jazeera Arabic talk show, Jumblatt said his comments were made out of anger...."
Some of them are probably revolting types, some probably are revolutionary types. Most are neither...... ... << MORE >>

"Obyrne said Paulin-Ramirez has not been charged and that she is not out on bail...."Jihad Jane," agreed to kill a resident of Sweden, the indictment says, and a U.S. government official familiar with the case identified the target to CNN as Lars Vilks, a cartoonist who outraged some with a drawing of Mohammed……….." ... << MORE >>