Middle East News Headlines - Yahoo! News UK

Iran has enough uranium for 5 bombs - expert

Sat, 26 May 2012 10:01:48 +0100

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has significantly stepped up its output of low-enriched uranium and total production in the last five years would be enough for at least five nuclear weapons if refined much further, a U.S. security institute said. The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a think-tank which closely tracks Iran's nuclear programme, made the analysis on the basis of data in the latest quarterly U.N. watchdog report which was issued on Friday. ...

Iran downplays UN uranium report as 'technical'

Sat, 26 May 2012 09:03:02 +0100

Iran on Saturday downplayed as a "technical" issue a report by the UN atomic watchdog revealing that uranium traces of a higher grade than any found before had been detected.

Syria shelling killed over 90 - opposition

Sat, 26 May 2012 08:33:02 +0100

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The death toll has risen to at least 90 from Syrian shelling on the town of Houla on Friday, an opposition group said on Saturday. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said residents continued to flee the town, in central Homs province, in fear that artillery fire would resume. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the accounts from Syria, which has restricted access for journalists during a 14-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. ...

Islamists urge Egyptians to rally behind them

Sat, 26 May 2012 07:45:31 +0100

The final votes were being counted on Saturday in Egypt's presidential election, as the Muslim Brotherhood urged support for their candidate in an almost certain run-off with fallen dictator Hosni Mubarak's last premier, saying the country would be in danger if he wins.

Syria opposition urges UN action after 'massacre'

Sat, 26 May 2012 07:31:14 +0100

The opposition Syrian National Council has urged the UN Security Council to act urgently after claiming that regime forces "massacred" scores of civilians, including many children, in the town of Houla.

Afghan parliament approves U.S.-Afghan security pact

Sat, 26 May 2012 07:28:21 +0100

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's parliament approved on Saturday a strategic pact between Kabul and Washington, clearing the way for a U.S. presence in the country for at least a decade after most foreign combat troops leave in 2014. "This was done for the interest of Afghanistan," said Daoud Kalakani, an MP from Kabul. Around 180 MPs were present and only four voted against, Kalakani said. The deal, signed by U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai in Kabul on May 2, sets out a long-term U.S. role in Afghanistan, including aid and advisers. ...

Clinton to visit Scandinavia, Caucasus, Turkey

Sat, 26 May 2012 04:26:35 +0100

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaves next week on an eight-day trip to Scandinavia, the Caucasus and Turkey that will cover security issues such as Iran and Syria as well as the environment and health. The State Department said Clinton begins her May 31-June 7 trip with visits to Denmark, Norway and Sweden that will largely concentrate on the environment. ...

Analysts play down higher-grade uranium find in Iran

Sat, 26 May 2012 03:24:07 +0100

Analysts have played down the UN atomic agency's discovery of higher-grade uranium traces in Iran, saying it was likely due to a technical glitch rather than a covert attempt to enrich to arms grade.

U.N. inspectors find high-grade uranium traces in Iran

Sat, 26 May 2012 02:30:32 +0100

VIENNA (Reuters) - United Nations nuclear inspectors have found uranium particles refined to a higher-than-expected level at an underground site where Iran has installed more than 50 percent more enrichment centrifuges, a U.N. watchdog report said on Friday. It said Tehran had told the U.N. agency that the presence of traces of highly refined uranium - still well below potential nuclear weapons-grade material - "may happen for technical reasons beyond the operator's control". ...

Iran, big powers agree to hold more nuclear talks in June

Sat, 26 May 2012 02:23:42 +0100

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iran and world powers agreed to meet again next month to try to ease the long standoff over its nuclear work despite achieving scant progress at talks in Baghdad towards resolving the main sticking points of their dispute. At its heart is Iran's insistence on right to enrich uranium and that economic sanctions should be lifted before it shelves activities that could lead to its achieving the capability to develop nuclear weapons. Western powers insist Tehran must first shut down higher-grade enrichment before sanctions could be eased. ...

Lebanese Syria hostage release delayed, massacre claimed

Sat, 26 May 2012 02:21:54 +0100

BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - Lebanon said on Friday that a group of Lebanese Shi'ites kidnapped in Syria had been freed and were safe in Turkey, but produced no sign of the hostages at the centre of a kidnap drama heightening tensions over the conflict in neighbouring Syria. The twist in a hostage drama that has inflamed political tensions in a country divided between foes and friends of the uprising in Syria came as Syrian activists said government troops killed at least 50 people in the centre of the country. ...

US drone 'kills four militants' in NW Pakistan

Sat, 26 May 2012 01:02:35 +0100

A US drone attack has killed at least four militants in a northwestern Pakistani tribal district bordering Afghanistan, according to security officials.

Lebanese Syria hostage release delayed, massacre claimed

Sat, 26 May 2012 00:14:34 +0100

Russian arms shipment en route to Syria - report

Sat, 26 May 2012 00:14:34 +0100

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A Russian cargo ship loaded with weapons is en route to Syria and due to arrive at a Syrian port this weekend, Al Arabiya television said in a report that Western diplomats in New York described on Friday as credible. Syria is one of Russia's top weapons customers. The United States and European Union have suggested the U.N. Security Council should impose an arms embargo and other U.N. sanctions on Syria for its 14-month assault on a pro-democracy opposition determined to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. ...

Annan to visit Syria soon, spokesman says

Sat, 26 May 2012 00:14:34 +0100

GENEVA (Reuters) - International peace mediator Kofi Annan will visit Syria "soon," his spokesman told Reuters on Friday, in what would be the former U.N. Secretary-General's first visit since he presented his peace plan to Syria's government in early March. Ahmad Fawzi declined to give details or specify the date, citing security reasons. Fawzi has repeatedly said that Annan, whose six-week-old ceasefire plan has failed to stop the violence in Syria, would travel to the country when the time was right. U.N. envoys said on Thursday that Annan may travel to Syria before the end of the month. ...

U.N. says Syria bombings show marks of "terrorist groups"

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:27:35 +0100

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The size and sophistication of some recent bomb attacks in Syria suggest that "established terrorist groups" may have been behind them, the U.N. chief said on Friday, in a letter in which he urged states not to supply arms to government or rebel forces. "The overall situation in Syria remains extremely serious and there has been only small progress on some issues," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council in the letter on the 14-month-old conflict between government forces and increasingly militarized opposition. ...

More than 70 killed in Syria ahead of Annan return

Fri, 25 May 2012 22:48:56 +0100

More than 70 people were killed across Syria on Friday, monitors said, as tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets and tanks were deployed in the country's second largest city.

U.N. inspectors find high-grade uranium traces in Iran

Fri, 25 May 2012 22:11:58 +0100

Egypt vote narrows to Islamist, Mubarak holdover

Fri, 25 May 2012 21:55:33 +0100

The Muslim Brotherhood on Friday urged Egyptians to rally behind their presidential candidate in an almost certain run-off with rival Ahmed Shafiq, warning the country would be in danger if fallen dictator Hosni Mubarak's premier won.

Turkmen leader sacks oil and gas minister

Fri, 25 May 2012 20:25:55 +0100

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov sacked his oil and gas minister, citing his poor performance on state television on Friday, just two days after the Central Asian nation agreed landmark deals to supply natural gas to Pakistan and India. The deals agreed on Wednesday offer major economic benefits but depend on building and defending a U.S.-backed pipeline across violence-wracked Afghanistan, including a 735-km (450-mile) leg through the provinces of Herat and Kandahar. ...

Suspect in Kosovo organ trafficking arrested

Fri, 25 May 2012 19:36:42 +0100

PRISTINA (Reuters) - A suspect in a human organ trafficking scandal that came to light in Kosovo in 2008 has been arrested in Israel, the European Union's police and justice mission in the Balkan country said on Friday. Moshe Harel was arrested along with several other people in connection with a parallel investigation in Israel, said the mission, known as EULEX. ...

Analysts play down higher-grade uranium find in Iran

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:35:48 +0100

Analysts on Friday played down the UN atomic agency's discovery of higher-grade uranium traces in Iran, saying it was likely due to a technical glitch rather than a covert attempt to enrich to arms grade.

For Qatar, climate forum offers a test but also a chance

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:29:02 +0100

As the world's biggest emitter per capita of greenhouse gases, Qatar faces a test of credibility but also an opportunity when it hosts the UN forum on climate change in December, say veteran watchers of the process.

Lebanese pilgrims abducted in Syria free: minister

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:15:33 +0100

A group of Lebanese Shiite pilgrims kidnapped in Syria were freed on Friday and arrived in Turkey, Lebanese Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said.

US official in Israel after Iran nuclear talks

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:13:59 +0100

The head of the US delegation to nuclear talks with Iran arrived in Israel on Friday to brief officials after a meeting in Baghdad that achieved little other than arranging more talks.

Madonna touches down in Israel at start of world tour

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:11:02 +0100

International music icon Madonna arrived in Israel on Friday to kick off her hotly anticipated world tour with a sold-out performance in Tel Aviv.

Iran boosting sensitive nuclear capacity - IAEA

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:07:50 +0100

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has raised its potential capacity to make sensitive nuclear material by installing hundreds more uranium enrichment machines at an underground site, a U.N. watchdog report said, a day after world powers failed to convince Tehran to halt such activity. The International Atomic Energy Agency also said on Friday satellite images show "extensive activities" at the Parchin military complex which inspectors want to check over suspicions that nuclear weapons-relevant research was done there. ...

Iran, big powers agree to hold more nuclear talks in June

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:33:23 +0100

CNH Global suspends sales to Iran

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:33:23 +0100

(Reuters) - Farm and construction equipment maker CNH Global NV on Friday said it has suspended sales to Iran, other than those required to fulfil binding contracts, in a move to support international diplomatic efforts. CNH said its subsidiaries will no longer carry out business related to products or components where Iran is the end destination. These sales have been "totally immaterial in a quantitative and qualitative sense" and made for commercial and civilian use only, the company said in a statement. CNH is majority-owned by Fiat Industrial SpA. ...

Lebanese hostages in Syria released

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:01:49 +0100

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese hostages kidnapped in northern Syria were set free on Friday and were on their way to Beirut, Lebanon's prime minister and an Islamist cleric who brokered their release said. The Lebanese Shi'ite men were among a group of pilgrims returning to Lebanon from Iran on Tuesday when gunmen stopped their bus after it crossed into Syria from Turkey. The kidnapping had triggered protests in Shi'ite areas of Beirut and raised fears it could ignite sectarian conflict in Lebanon. ...

13 killed in suicide attack on Yemen Shiite rebels

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:47:04 +0100

A suicide attacker drove an explosives-packed car into a post held by Shiite Zaidi rebels in north Yemen on Friday, killing 13 people, including three children, a tribal chief and witnesses said.

Lebanon PM's office says freed hostages on way to Beirut

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:14:02 +0100

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati has received confirmation from Turkey that Lebanese hostages who had been kidnapped in Syria have been released and were on their way to Beirut, his office said on Friday. "The prime minister received a call from (Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet) Davutoglu (saying) the Lebanese hostages in Syria are well and are on their way to Beirut," an aide to Mikati said. (Reporting by Mariam Karouny)

Hollande defends French exit in Afghanistan

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:58:02 +0100

President Francois Hollande on Friday defended France's imminent exit from Afghanistan, saying 2,000 combat troops will leave in a coordinated withdrawal this year but vowing not to abandon the country.

U.S. to reaffirm commitment to Israel's security

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:32:55 +0100

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior State Department official will travel to Tel Aviv on Friday to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to Israel's security following just-concluded talks between world powers and Iran over its nuclear program. Wendy Sherman, undersecretary of state for political affairs, will discuss bilateral and regional issues with senior Israeli officials during her visit, the State Department said in a statement on Thursday. Sherman will also "reaffirm our unshakable commitment to Israel's security," the statement said without mentioning the just-concluded Iran talks in Baghdad. ...

MPs see conscription as possible cure to Iraq woes

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:11:37 +0100

Iraqi MPs are toying with a Saddam-era policy they hope will combat both high unemployment and fears of sectarian divisions in a country that was on the brink of civil war a few years ago: conscription.

France's Hollande defends early Afghan pullout

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:42:45 +0100

KABUL (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande made an unannounced trip to Afghanistan on Friday to visit some of the French troops he wants to pull out later this year, defending his plan for their early exit after meeting his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai. Hollande was strongly criticised at a NATO summit last weekend for accelerating France's withdrawal of its roughly 3,400 troops in Afghanistan to the end of this year, two years ahead of the timetable agreed by the alliance. ...

Russian bikers freed from Iraq prison

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:22:33 +0100

Four Russian bikers who were arrested in Iraq last weekend and complained of beatings by security forces have been freed and are in Russian custody, a top official said Friday.

Guards deployed in Tel Aviv after race riots

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:24:20 +0100

A contingent of border guards has been sent in to help maintain law and order in Tel Aviv neighbourhoods rocked by race riots, a police spokesman said on Friday.

Next stop Moscow for Iran nuclear talks

Fri, 25 May 2012 05:48:15 +0100

Iran and six world powers achieved little in two days of intense nuclear talks in Baghdad except arranging another meeting in Moscow next month and establishing they are poles apart on crucial issues.

Syria envoy says U.N. mission can't get bank account

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:24:06 +0100

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria's U.N. ambassador complained on Thursday that his mission is unable to open a U.S. bank account due to sanctions imposed on his country because of its 14-month assault on an opposition determined to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Last year several U.S. banks suddenly closed the accounts of a number of diplomatic missions and foreign diplomats due to the high costs of monitoring financial activity to prevent money laundering and monetary support for terrorist activity. Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari told the U.N. ...