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Qatar says Taliban office not for 'Islamic Emirate'

Agence France-PresseJune 19, 2013 12:33

The Taliban office opened in Doha to facilitate peace talks does not carry the name of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," as it appeared earlier, Qatar said on Wednesday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai denounced as a provocation the use of the formal name of the Islamist movement's government from 1996 until it was toppled in 2001. "The office that was opened in Doha yesterday is the political office of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and is not the political office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," Qatar's foreign ministry said, quoted by QNA state news agency.

Arab Israeli village shocked after hate crime

Agence France-PresseJune 19, 2013 12:33

Safaa Othman scraped together enough money to buy her new olive-green Nissan Duke just two weeks ago. But when she woke up earlier this week, she found it had been ravaged by hate-filled extremists. Now she can no longer drive it and is not even sure if she can afford to cover the cost of the repairs. "I can't afford new tyres by myself," said the 27-year-old, staring sadly at her stranded vehicle outside her house in the Arab village of Abu Ghosh, just outside Jerusalem.

Singapore in smog alarm as Indonesia forest fires rage

Agence France-PresseJune 19, 2013 12:32

Smog levels in Singapore hit a record high on Wednesday as raging forest fires from neighbouring Indonesia triggered a major health alarm and sent residents of the densely populated city-state scrambling for face masks. Singapore's air pollutant index soared past the government-designated "hazardous" level of 300 before midnight as officials in both countries desperately sought a solution to the environmental crisis.

'Friends of Syria' meeting in Doha Saturday: French diplomat

Agence France-PresseJune 19, 2013 12:32

Foreign ministers of the "Friends of Syria" group will meet in Doha on Saturday to discuss aid for the rebels, including military help, a French diplomat said. Ministers of Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Egypt will attend the meeting, the source said Wednesday. It will address in a "concerted, coordinated and complementary manner" the concerns raised by the opposition's military chief during the last "Friends of Syria" meeting in Ankara last Friday, the diplomat said.

'Friends of Syria' meeting in Doha Saturday: French diplomat

Agence France-PresseJune 19, 2013 12:32

Kurdish rebel commander warns Turkish state sabotaging peace

Thomson ReutersJune 19, 2013 12:10

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A top Kurdish militant commander warned on Wednesday a fragile peace process had been jeopardized by increased military activity and a lack of concrete steps by the government, including the continued detention of Kurdish politicians. Members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) began a withdrawal from Turkish territory to bases in northern Iraq last month, part of a deal brokered between the state and the group's jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan earlier this year aimed at ending a conflict that has claimed 40,000 lives since 1984.

Local, global trends boost Gulf banks as foreign rivals retrench

Thomson ReutersJune 19, 2013 12:08

By Stanley Carvalho and Dinesh Nair ABU DHABI/DUBAI (Reuters) - When British banker Michael Tomalin took the top job at National Bank of Abu Dhabi in 1999, the lender had about $9 billion in assets - tiny by global standards - and its operations were largely confined to the oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Taliban host Qatar pushes to forefront of Afghan peace broking

Thomson ReutersJune 19, 2013 12:07

By William Maclean and Yara Bayoumy DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar's hosting of a Taliban office for peace talks with the United States is the latest in a series of foreign policy gambits stretching over a decade - some peace-broking efforts, but others, notably in Libya and Syria, involving armed support. U.S. officials are expected to meet delegates from the Afghan Islamist insurgency in the Qatari capital Doha on Thursday to try to advance peace efforts in Afghanistan, where the United States has battled the insurgents for 12 years.

Cyprus says fully committed to implementing EU/IMF bailout

Thomson ReutersJune 19, 2013 12:06

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus is fully committed to implementing an EU/IMF bailout that saved the island nation from bankruptcy and is not attempting to renegotiate its terms, the government's spokesman said on Wednesday. "I reiterate once again that the Cyprus government is fully committed to applying the terms of the memorandum and has already embarked on that road," Christos Stylianides wrote in a letter to the Financial Times and circulated to media. "There is no attempt to renegotiate (it)".

No reminder needed to act against those causing haze: Indonesia

Kyodo News InternationalJune 19, 2013 12:04

The Indonesian government said Wednesday it has taken necessary measures to deal with forest fires causing haze that has enveloped Malaysia and Singapore, and it "does not need" any reminder from neighboring countries to act against those responsible for the haze. Indonesia made the statement in a response to Singaporean Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan's call on Indonesia to provide data on companies causing the haze and concession maps to take action against plantation firms practicing slash-and-burn farming.