my feeling zone

Spain’s king inspects UN troops

MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (AFP) – MBT Shoes Spain’s King Juan Carlos inspected Spanish UN troops stationed in southern Lebanon on Tuesday as he wrapped up a two-day visit to the country. Wearing full military uniform, he placed a wreath at a memorial for soldiers who have fallen in the country since the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was founded in 1978 to monitor the border with Israel. Spanish Defence Minister Carme Chacon accompanied the king to Marjayoun, where the monarch also met UNIFIL commander Alberto Asarta Cuevas and around 100 Spanish troops. The trip comes just days after Spain took over command of UNIFIL, which currently has 12,000 troops from 29 countries  MBT Shoe, with Spain in third place contributing 1,070 soldiers.

Abbas to France next week

RAMALLAH (AFP) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will travel to France next week to discuss with President Nicolas Sarkozy efforts to resurrect the Middle East peace process, officials said on Tuesday. Abbas is due to meet with French Foreign Minister  Mbt Bernard Kouchner in Paris on February 21 and with Sarkozy the following day, a senior Palestinian official said on condition of anonymity. The Palestinian president has agreed in principle to a US proposal that he hold indirect talks with Israel under Washington’s mediation, but has requested a number of guarantees. The US has been trying in vain for months to get Israel and Palestinians to relaunch negotiations that were suspended during the Gaza war in December 2008-January 2009.

Elton John urged to cancel Israel show

LONDON (AP) – A British academic group that supports Palestinian rights is urging singer Elton John to cancel a summer concert in Israel. The British Committee for Universities of Palestine said in an open letter to John that it is wrong to perform in Israel because of alleged abuses committed during the Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip last year. A spokesman for the singer did not ghd hair straighteners respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The committee’s letter said John cannot be morally neutral in the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis. John is scheduled to play at a Tel Aviv stadium on June 17. Other major stars including Paul McCartney and Madonna have played in Israel in recent years.

Pirates free Indian-operated ship

MOGADISHU (AFP) – Somali pirates said Tuesday they have released a Panamanian-flagged ship and its mostly Indian crew of 26 after receiving a ransom of $3.1 million. “The ship was freed this afternoon after $3.1 million were paid to the pirates who had been holding it for a long time,” Mohammad Ilkase, a pirate leader, told AFP by phone. The Al Khaliq bulk carrier was hijacked on   ghd straighteners October 22 around 180 nautical miles from Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. The European Union naval mission in the region confirmed that the vessel had been release after a ransom was paid, and that its help had not been requested. No further details were provided.

Saudi sex braggart jail verdict upheld

RIYADH (AFP) – A Saudi appeals court upheld a verdict against an airline sales clerk sentenced to five years in prison and 1,000 lashes for boasting on a television programme about his sexual exploits, media reports said on Tuesday. The Jeddah court confirmed an October 7 verdict against Mazen Abdul Jawad, who landed in hot water after appearing on a programme called “Bold Red Line”, Ghd the Okaz daily said. He had been charged and convicted of offensive behaviour under the strict Shariah Islamic laws of the conservative Saudi kingdom. During his July television appearance on the Beirut-based Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. (LBC) programme, Abdul Jawad boasted about picking up women, having sex and using sexual aids. Three friends of Abdul Jawad who appeared on air with him received two-year prison terms and 300 lashes each.

Qadhafi chides African Union

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi, failing in his bid to stay on as chairman of the African Union for another year, said on Sunday the pan-African grouping wasted time while failing to meet global challenges. On the first day of a summit in Addis Ababa, Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika was selected to succeed Qadhafi, Mbteven though diplomats said Qadhafi was seeking another term. The Libyan leader used his farewell speech to again urge African leaders to begin the process of political unification, which was a large part of his agenda during his chairmanship. He also criticised the AU for “tiring” him with long meetings and making declarations and reports without asking him. “It was like we were building a new atomic bomb or something,” he said, referring to meetings that had lasted long into the night and that he characterised as “really useless”.

Egypt arrests ‘militants over attack plot’

CAIRO (AFP) – Twenty-five Egyptians were arrested on suspicion of planning a bombing attack against Jewish pilgrims in the country and belonging to a militant Islamist group, a security official said on Sunday. ghd straightenersThe official said the suspects, rounded up over the past few weeks in the Nile Delta governorate of Daqahlia, were found in possession of explosives and rudimentary rocket warheads. They confessed to having plotted to bomb the tomb of a 19th century Jewish rabbi which attracts hundreds of Israeli pilgrims every January, the official said. The attack was to have coincided with the 2010 pilgrimage. Egypt allowed the pilgrims to visit the shrine of Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira near Alexandria this year under tight security, after cancelling the event last year because of Israel’s war against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The official said the suspects believed in the writings of radical Islamist Sayyid Qutb, which had an influence on such militants as Al Qaeda chief Osama Ben Laden.

‘British kidnap couple poorly treated’

AMARA, Somalia (AFP) – A British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates in October said they were not being well treated and needed urgent help, according to an AFP reporter who met them in captivity. “Please help us, these people are not treating us well, MBT Shoes” said Rachel Chandler, captured by pirates with her husband Paul as they sailed their yacht, the Lynn Rival, in the Indian Ocean on October 23. They were brought ashore and have been held in separate locations in central Somalia. Rachel Chandler made her plea to a surgeon who was allowed to briefly examine the pair on Thursday, accompanied by an AFP photographer, the first journalist to see the Chandlers since their capture. The surgeon, Mohammad Helmi “Hangul”, said she was in poor mental and physical health. “She is sick, she is very anxious, she suffers from insomnia,” Hangul told AFP. “But I think she’s mainly mentally unwell, it seems.”

Couple forced to divorce reunited

RIYADH (Reuters) Ghd- A Saudi couple forced to divorce on grounds they were not from equal tribal backgrounds has been reunited by a new court created as part of judicial reforms. The marriage of Mansour Al Timani and his wife Fatima Azzaz was annulled after Azzaz’s half brothers persuaded judges at a first instance court in 2006 that Timani’s tribal background was not prestigious enough for his wife’s family. The case drew international criticism from human rights groups, but a new cassation court, created under reforms instituted by King Abdullah, has said the couple may be reunited. “Our lawyer told us that the supreme court overturned the previous ruling on Wednesday,” Timani told Reuters by telephone on Sunday. “We still can’t believe this happened. May God give King Abdullah a long life since it was he who set up this court.” The couple is waiting for the ruling to be enacted, Timani said. Their lawyer, Ahmad Al Sudairi, said it would take two days for it to be implemented.

Egypt to soon announce King Tut DNA

CAIRO (AP) -ghd hair straighteners Egypt’s archaeology chief will soon announce the results of DNA testing and CT scans on the mummy of King Tutankhamun to resolve mysteries about his lineage. In a statement by the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass said he would hold a press conference on Febuary 17 to reveal the results of the tests in comparison to those done on King Amenhotep III, a possible grandfather. The effort is part of a wider programme to check the DNA of hundreds of mummies to determine their identities and family relations. The programme could help determine Tutankhamun’s family lineage, which has long been a source of mysteryMBT Shoe.