Al-Qaeda-affiliated gunmen kill Free Syrian Army commander, rebels say

Syrian rebels said Friday they would retaliate for what they described as the assassination of one of their senior commanders by an al-Qaeda-affiliated group, threatening to widen a rift between moderate and jihadist opposition forces fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

AP - This July 9, 2013 citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMCshows Syrian rebels running during heavy clashes with Syrian soldiers in the Salah al-Din neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria.

The killing of Kamal Hamami, a member of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army’s top executive body, comes amid heightened tensions on the opposition side as jihadist groups extend their influence in rebel-held areas of northern Syria. Rebels said that Hamami, whose nom de guerre is Abu Bassir al-Ladkani, was shot dead Thursday in the coastal province of Latakia by gunmen from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Λύση το LNG για το Ενεργειακό Κόστος της Τουρκίας

Η εύκολη μεταφορά του υγροποιημένου φυσικού αερίου ( LNG) με πλοία επιτρέπει στις χώρες να αγοράζουν φθηνότερο αέριο με βάση βραχυπρόθεσμα συμβόλαια, γεγονός που θα μπορούσε να εκμεταλλευτεί και η Τουρκία, σύμφωνα με αναλυτές.

Η χώρα προσπαθεί να μειώσει τις ενεργειακές της δαπάνες, αλλά μέχρι στιγμής δεν έχει καταφέρει να πληρώνει για το αέριο της όσα και οι ευρωπαϊκές χώρες. Αντιθέτως, η Ε.Ε. καταβάλει λιγότερα χρήματα για το αέριο που προμηθεύεται σε σύγκριση με την Τουρκία.

Το Ιράκ αδυνατεί να σταματήσει την αερομεταφορά ιρανικών όπλων στη Συρία

Το Ιράκ δεν είναι σε θέση να εμποδίσει το Ιράν να μεταφέρει όπλα στη Συρία μέσω του εναέριου χώρου του, τονίζει ο Ιρακινός υπουργός Εξωτερικών Χοσιάρ Ζεμπάρι σε συνέντευξή του που δημοσιεύεται σήμερα στην εφημερίδα Ασάρκ αλ-Αουσάτ.

"Απορρίπτουμε και καταδικάζουμε τη μεταφορά όπλων μέσω του εναέριου χώρου μας και θα ενημερώσουμε επισήμως την ιρανική πλευρά γι΄αυτό. Ομως, δεν έχουμε τη δυνατότητα να τη σταματήσουμε», υπογραμμίζει στη συνέντευξή του ο Ζεμπάρι.

Latvia and the Euro: Meet the EU's Newest Tax Haven

REUTERS

Latvia will become the common currency area's newest member in January 2014 -- the same time that new tax laws go into effect allowing the country to compete with the likes of Cyprus and Malta. This could further destabilize the European economy.

Rietumu Bank isn't in Riga's best neighborhood. The streets are dusty, and graffiti on one building reads: "If Jesus comes back, we'll kill him again." The city's biggest soccer stadium -- which opens onto a meadow on one side -- is right next door.

Γερμανικές αντιδράσεις στις προτάσεις της Επιτροπής για την εκκαθάριση των τραπεζών

Στις προτάσεις της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής, σε σχέση με την εκκαθάριση των αδύναμων ευρωπαϊκών τραπεζών και στην αντίδραση της γερμανικής κυβέρνησης, αναφέρεται ανταπόκριση των Quentin Peel και Alex Barker για τους FINANACIAL TIMES («Berlin Rejects Brussels’ Attempt at Grabbing Power to Shut Banks»).

Ρωσία: Αποδείξεις για τη χρήση χημικών από τους αντάρτες στη Συρία

Αναλύσεις που διεξήγαγαν Ρώσοι επιστήμονες δείχνει ότι ένας πύραυλος, ο οποίος έπληξε την περιοχή της επαρχίας Χαλέπι την 19η Μαρτίου φέροντας κεφαλή που περιείχε το νευροπαραλυτικό αέριο σαρίν πιθανότατα εκτοξεύτηκε από τους αντικαθεστωτικούς αντάρτες

, όπως υποστήριξε σήμερα ο πρεσβευτής της Ρωσίας στον ΟΗΕ Βιτάλι Τσούρκιν.

What Egypt Can Learn From Iraq, and Vice Versa

While arguing over the merits of continuing U.S. aid to Egypt, commentators and analysts tend to agree on two main points. First, there is a general consensus on what President Mohamed Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood got wrong. Second, virtually all Western observers are stressing the need for an inclusive government in Egypt. In the first point, Egypt offers a lesson to Iraq and, in the second, Iraq offers a lesson to Egypt. Together, they point to the direction U.S. policy should take.

Events in Egypt show that majoritarian democracy doesn’t work in transitional societies. Even when a party has won a commanding electoral victory -- which wasn’t the case in Egypt -- it must still seek continued legitimacy by addressing the needs and desires of those outside its direct constituency. Because of the weakness of other institutions in transitional societies, a strict majoritarian democracy is likely to leave certain populations more powerless than they would be in mature democracies. And political alienation breeds discontent and impatience, as we saw on Egypt’s streets last week.

Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg

Mursi governed Egypt as if his slim electoral victory gave him a mandate to transform the country into the state that the Muslim Brotherhood envisioned, regardless of the wishes of the rest of Egyptians. Rather than seeking to build a national consensus for Egypt’s path, he dismissed the opposition as powerless, and invested his energy in co-opting or marginalizing the security establishment and the judiciary -- Egypt’s two other bases of political power. His naked assertion of power at the end of last year to force through an Islamist constitution was, for many Egyptians, the last straw. Although the specific mode of Mursi’s downfall -- a military coup ushered in by popular protests -- surprised many, the end of Egyptian tolerance for Mursi shocked few.

Renewed fear of global recession as companies rein in spending plans

Growth in spending on machinery and investment by the world’s 2,000 biggest companies has begun to contract for the first time since the Lehman crisis, led by sharp falls in China and a near collapse in Latin America.

Standard & Poor’s warned that the global cycle for capital investment has already rolled over, with early signs pointing to deepening contraction of 5.4pc in 2014. “The capex recovery appears to be ending before it has really begun,” said the agency’s Gareth Williams.

Zimbabwe Hospital Fined Women For Screaming During Childbirth

A hospital in Zimbabwe fined women who screamed during childbirth, according to a new report on global corruption.

The report, released this week from Transparency International, found that nurses in the economically struggling country were told to charge women a $5 penalty for "raising false alarm."

11 year old runs from home to escape marriage: "I'm not an item for sale."

By Alaa Al-Eryani- Sanaa

It has been five years since the young girl Nujood Ali escaped from home and went to court to demand a divorce. The story of Nujood's bravery inspired us all and gave hope to other young girls who were also in similar situations. Today, another girl called Nada Al-Ahdal, breaks the silence by taking her story out to the world when she decided to run away from home as soon as she found out they were to marry her off to a man she didn't even know. 

Nada Al-Ahdal, 11 years old, fled from home after she was told she was going to get married.