GCC NEWS

UAE to join world's 12 largest gas suppliers

Dubai -

The UAE announced on Tuesday it will join leaders of the world's biggest gas suppliers in the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, state news agency WAM reported Tuesday.

More deaths as Syria's revolt enters 15th month

Damascus -

Syria's anti-regime revolt entered its 15th month on Tuesday amid relentless violence that has killed more than 12,000 people and growing fears by Arab states that a UN-backed peace plan will fail.

EU sanctions hit Syrian tobacco, oil firms

Brussels -

The new EU sanctions on Syria target a tobacco company, the central bank's governor and the Venezuelan-born chief of an oil firm, the Official EU Journal showed on Tuesday.

HRW urges Kuwait to sign detention reform bill

Kuwait City -

Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called on Kuwait's ruler to sign into a law the amendments passed by parliament to significantly reduce durations of pre-trial detention.

Foreign force strikes Somali pirate land base for first time

Brussels -

A helicopter gunship swooped over the Somali coast to strike at a pirate stronghold Tuesday in a major escalation of an international effort to protect vital shipping lanes.

Kuwait ex-PM refuses to show before parliament panel

Kuwait City -

Kuwait's ex-premier Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad Al-Sabah refused to appear before a parliamentary panel probing alleged graft against him, saying the summons issued to him were illegal.

Russia sees Al-Qaeda hand in Syria

Moscow -

Russia on Monday accused Al-Qaeda of being behind the brutal recent bombings in Syria and warned of a protracted and increasingly bloody conflict in which neither side gained the upper hand.

Clashes erupt as Palestinians mark Nakba Day

Beitunia checkpoint -

Clashes broke out near Ramallah on Tuesday as around a thousand Palestinians gathered to mark the "catastrophe" which befell them when Israel was founded in 1948.