Egypt assembly adopts new constitution draft

Egypt's constituent assembly has adopted a draft constitution after a marathon all-night session that began shortly afternoon on Thursday and ran until Friday morning.
The assembly - boycotted by liberals and Christians - has been accused of rushing through approval of the document, which is at the centre of a political crisis pitting Mohamed Morsi, the Islamist president, against several opposition parties.
The articles approved include a unanimous decision to retain the principles of Islamic law as the main source of legislation.
However, a new article states that Al-Azhar, Egypt's most respected Islamic institution, must be consulted on any matters related to Islamic law, a measure critics fear will lead to oversight of legislation by clerics.
The text of the 234 articles will be sent to President Morsi, and should be put to a referendum within two weeks, said Hossam al-Gheriani, the head of the assembly.
Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Tahrir Square, said the draft was being viewed as the "Muslim Brotherhood constitution".

Egypt crisis: Assembly rushes to finish constitution

President Mursi's decree has sparked huge protests across Egypt

Egypt changing

• Mursi's gamble
• Who holds the power?
• Mursi's 100 days in power
• What drove Mursi's outburst?

   The assembly writing a new Egyptian constitution says it hopes to vote on a draft version as early as Thursday.

   The news came as the constitutional court indicated it would rule on Sunday whether to dissolve the assembly.
   Egypt's judiciary is in a stand-off with President Mohammed Mursi and his Islamist supporters, after Mr Mursi last week issued a decree granting himself sweeping new powers.
The decree has sparked huge protests across the country.
   As those protests continued on Wednesday, officials at the constituent assembly said it was finishing its draft constitution, even though Mr Mursi had recently extended its deadline to complete the work until February.

Israel and Hamas wage online war of words

Israel has pitted Twitter hash-tag “PillarofDefense against Hamas’s “GazaUnderAttack in a social media war of words, as both sides continue to trade fire following the killing of the Palestinian group’s military commander.

Social media became a weapon of war Thursday as both Israel and Hamas used sites like Twitter and Facebook aggressively in the wake of an Israeli raid on the Gaza Strip that killed the Palestinian group’s military commander.
On Wednesday, Israel launched retaliatory attacks against the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave, from where militants have been launching rockets towards cities in southern Israel.

Iran set to sharply increase nuclear activities, UN says

Iran has stepped up its uranium enrichment activities, having now installed all of 2,800 centrifuges at its Fordown enrichment site, meeting the site's maximum capacity, according to a UN report on Friday.

Iran is ready to sharply expand its uranium enrichment in an underground site after installing all the centrifuges it was built for, a U.N. nuclear report showed on Friday, a development likely to fuel Western alarm over Tehran’s nuclear aims.
The Islamic state has put in place nearly 2,800 centrifuges that the Fordow enrichment site, buried deep inside a mountain, was designed for and could soon double the number of them operating to almost 1,400, according to the confidential International Atomic Energy Agency report obtained by Reuters.
Tehran has produced about 233 kg (512 pounds) of higher-grade enriched uranium since 2010, an increase of 43 kg since August this year, according to the report issued in Vienna.
The Iranians have used 96 kg of the uranium refined to 20 percent of fissile purity for conversion into fuel for its medical research reactor in Tehran, the report said.

Gaza begins rebuilding as ceasefire holds

Gazans took their first steps toward a return to normalcy on Thursday, a day after an Egypt-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers brought an end to eight days of cross-border shelling.

Residents in Gaza took their first steps toward returning to normal life on Wednesday after an Egypt-brokered ceasefire halted eight days of cross-border shelling between the Hamas-ruled enclave and the Israeli army that left at least 161 Palestinians and six Israelis dead.
Israel began withdrawing its tanks from the border with the Gaza Strip as Gazans declared victory against the Israeli state.
"From the lion's den, we declare victory," said Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, the al Qassam Brigades.
Hamas's most recent show of force also seemed to be resonating with ordinary Gazans.
"This is a great period for us. It is a time of victory over our enemy and the enemy of God and this is one of the greatest joys that the Muslims have had," one man told FRANCE 24 correspondent Gallagher Fenwick on the streets of Gaza.

Turkey missile plan 'new act of provocation' Syria says

Syria described plans by Turkey to site Patriot missiles along its border as "a new act of provocation", while Russia and Iran warned the move could spark a regional crisis. In response NATO said the missiles were only for defensive purposes.

Syria said on Friday plans by Turkey to site Patriot missiles along its border was "a new act of provocation," while allies Iran and Russia warned the move would complicate the situation and could spark a regional conflagration.
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen reacted by reassuring Moscow that any such deployment would be a "defensive only" measure.
Turkey turned to its NATO partners earlier this week to request the deployment of the surface-to-air Patriot missiles to protect its troubled border with Syria, which is engulfed in a war that has cost some 40,000 lives.

Several killed as twin car bombs rock Damascus

At least 34 people were killed on Wednesday after twin car bombs exploded in Jaramana, an eastern suburb of Damascus reportedly loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, activists and Syrian media said.

Twin car bombs ripped through a Damascus suburb on Wednesday, killing at least 34 people and leaving dozens critically wounded, according to state media and hospital officials.
The state news agency, SANA, said two cars packed with explosives detonated early in the morning in the eastern Jaramana suburb, a district that is mostly loyal to President Bashar Assad. The area is populated mostly by Christians and Druse, a minority sect.
A series of blasts have struck regime targets in Damascus and elsewhere since last December, raising fears of a rising Islamic militant element among the forces seeking to topple Assad.

Egypt opens talks to strengthen Gaza ceasefire

Egypt continued efforts to secure a lasting peace in Gaza on Monday when it opened separate talks with Hamas and Israel to bolster the terms of last week's ceasefire agreement. The hostilities cost the lives of 167 Palestinians and six Israelis.

Egyptian mediators began separate talks on Monday with Hamas and with Israel to flesh out details of a ceasefire agreed last week that ended eight days of fighting in the Gaza Strip.
An Egyptian official told Reuters the talks would discuss Palestinian demands for the opening of more Israeli crossings into Gaza - a move that would help end six years of blockade of the coastal enclave ruled by the Islamist Hamas.
The Egyptian-brokered ceasefire came into force last Wednesday, ending hostilities between the two sides that cost the lives of 167 Palestinians and six Israelis.

Profile: Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held two contrasting periods in office - the first characterised by political instability and limited territorial withdrawals; the second by a remarkably enduring coalition and lack of progress in the peace process.

Telegenic and media savvy, the Likud party leader was elected premier in March 2009 for the second time, after becoming the youngest person to hold the post in 1996.

For the first three years of his second term, Mr Netanyahu led a coalition dominated by right-wing and religious parties.
Though it was relatively popular among Israelis, Mr Netanyahu's government was criticised by some in the international community for not renewing a partial freeze on Jewish settlement-building and avoid a collapse in peace talks with the Palestinians in late 2010.

Is Israel's missile defence a conflict game-changer?

For many Israelis, the recent fighting in Gaza provoked mixed feelings of both fear and a certain euphoria.

Fear because, for the first time, longer-range missiles from Hamas and other Palestinian groups reached the outskirts of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem; and euphoria because of the remarkable success of Israel's Iron Dome defensive system.
Experts claim that this had up to an 85% success rate in engaging missiles heading for populated areas. In the wake of the conflict, some Israeli experts claim that Iron Dome and other similar systems - that are either operational or in development - have changed the strategic rules of the game in the region.
As Israeli strategic analyst Ofer Shelah told me: "Since Syria's defeat in the air-battles during the Lebanon War in 1982, when some 82 Syrian aircraft were shot down for no Israeli losses and Syria's anti-aircraft defences were destroyed, Arab forces around Israel have sought to balance Israel's air superiority by amassing vast arsenals of rockets and missiles."

What was good for Syria was also good for its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon and for Hamas and other Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip. They both saw rockets and missiles as a way of striking back at Israel despite its overwhelming military superiority.

Some estimates suggest that Israel faces some 60,000 rockets from Hezbollah alone and Hezbollah spokesmen have warned that rocket fire will rain down upon Israel's major cities in the event of any future confrontation.

Upper hand

Israel's military were for a long time sceptical about developing anti-missile defences which appeared to go against the traditional Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) doctrine that has always placed the emphasis upon offensive operations. It was only after the Second Lebanon War in 2006 that steps were taken to defend against short and medium-range rockets.

US envoy Susan Rice admits Benghazi attack error

A US diplomat hotly tipped to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has admitted releasing incorrect information after September's attack on the American consulate in Libya.
UN Ambassador Susan Rice said there had been no attempt to mislead the public, but Republicans were unconvinced.
After meeting Ms Rice on Tuesday, senators said they were troubled.

The envoy said her initial line that the Benghazi attack appeared to have sprung from a protest had been wrong.

The 11 September assault on the US consulate triggered a major political row over who knew what and when.
Days afterwards, Ms Rice, 48, said in a series of TV interviews that it seemed to have developed out of protests over an anti-Islamic film.

Later intelligence reports suggested it was possibly tied to al-Qaeda affiliates.

The attack left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
'Disturbed'
On Tuesday, Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte met privately with Ms Rice and acting CIA Director Michael Morell to discuss the attack.

 

Tunisians wounded in Siliana clashes over unemployment

More than 150 people have been wounded in a second day of clashes in the Tunisian town of Siliana, medical officials have said.

The security forces have been using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators demanding jobs.
There are also reports of people being treated for shotgun injuries at the town's hospital.
Tunisia was the birthplace of the Arab Spring, deposing their long-time president in January 2011.
Hunger strike
The BBC's Sihem Hassaini in the capital, Tunis, says the unrest in Siliana is the latest in a series of protests by people disappointed by the lack of progress following the revolution.
She says residents went on strike on Tuesday, angered that the mayor had failed to create jobs.

All offices and businesses in Siliana, which is about 120km (75 miles) south of Tunis, remained closed on Wednesday, as protests continued.
According to AFP news agency, several armoured vehicles were deployed as demonstrators set up barricaded on Wednesday.

William Hague says UK may abstain in Palestinian UN vote

However, a yes vote would also have a practical diplomatic effect as it would allow the Palestinians to participate in debates at the UN and improve their chances of joining UN agencies, although the process was neither automatic nor guaranteed.

                  Foreign Secretary William Hague has suggested the UK is likely to abstain in a key vote on upgraded diplomatic status at the UN for Palestinians.

He said the UK would not oppose moves to recognise the Palestinians as a "non-member observer state".

But he said he needed a number of assurances, principally that the Palestinians would seek negotiations with Israel "without pre-conditions".

Palestinian diplomats said they had rejected the "unrealistic" demands.

The vote on upgrading the Palestinians from their current "permanent observer" status is seen as a symbolic milestone in Palestinian ambitions for statehood.
In a statement to MPs, Mr Hague set out the conditions he said were needed for the UK to back the move, suggesting they would not be "difficult" to achieve.
'Public assurances'
The first was an "indispensable" assurance had to be given by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that the Palestinians were committed to return to negotiations with Israel without any conditions.

Egypt appeals courts launch anti-Mursi strike action

Meanwhile, Egypt's new constitution will be completed on Wednesday, the head of the assembly drafting the document has said.

      Judges in Egypt's appeal courts have called a strike in protest at President Mohammed Mursi's recent decree giving himself new powers.

The decree, issued last Thursday, gave Mr Mursi powers to take any measures to protect the revolution, and stated that no court could overturn his decisions.
The move sparked widespread protests.

The constituent assembly is expected to vote on the draft on Thursday, officials say.

"Tomorrow [Thursday] will be a great day," said the head of the Islamist-dominated assembly, Hossam al-Gheriani.
He urged the non-Islamist parties, the syndicate of journalists and Egyptian churches - who walked out of the assembly last week - to return.
Once adopted by the assembly, the proposed constitution will then be put to a national referendum.
'Protecting the revolution'

Syria conflict: Twin bomb blasts shake Damascus suburb

At least 34 people are reported to have been killed and many injured by two car bomb explosions in a south-eastern district of Syria's capital, Damascus.

State media said "terrorists" were behind the blasts in Jaramana and broadcast pictures showing several charred vehicles and damaged buildings.
The district is predominantly Druze and Christian, two communities which have so far not joined the uprising.

Earlier, there were clashes between security forces and rebels in Jaramana.

There has been fierce fighting in recent days in eastern parts of the countryside around Damascus, known as the Ghouta.
'Suicide attacker'
Pro-government TV channel Addounia said the car bombs had exploded in Jaramana shortly after 06:40 local time (04:40 GMT).

Analysis

The car bombs exploded in an area which is predominantly Druze and Christian - two minorities which President Bashar al-Assad's government says it is protecting from "terrorist extremists".
These are not the first attacks in Jaramana to have been blamed on those seeking to overthrow the government. But in the past, the armed opposition has denied any involvement and repeatedly said it is targeting Mr Assad's forces and not minority groups. Areas like Jaramana are heavily guarded by pro-government militia known as Popular Committees.

Syrian rebels 'shoot down army helicopter'

UN Humanitarian Chief Valerie Amos accused Syria of firing bombs near the border prevent people from fleeing [AFP]

Syrian rebels have said they downed an army helicopter with a ground-to-air missile for the first time as it was bombarding a besieged base in the country's northwest. The downing came at the strategic Sheikh Suleiman base, 25km west of Aleppo, the last garrison in government hands between Syria's second city and the Turkish border. It is reportedly the first time that the rebels have shot down a helicopter with a surface-to-air missile. Footage posted by activists on YouTube showed rebel fighters shouting: "We hit it, God is greatest," as a helicopter plunged to the ground in a ball of flames. Meanwhile in Damascus, rebels battled government forces in the neighbourhood of Kfar Souseh, on the edge of the centre of the capital.

Egyptians stage mass anti-Morsi rally

Tens of thousands of people are staging a protest in the Egyptian capital against President Mohamed Morsi, who last week granted himself sweeping new powers. "The people want the regime to fall," the crowds chanted. Protesters and riot police clashed in Cairo on Tuesday near Tahrir Square, the birthplace of the uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago. Demonstrators are accusing President Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood of betraying last year's revolution [AFP] Lawyers left their syndicate chanting, "The people want the downfall of the regime," - the signature chant of the protests that toppled Mubarak in February, 2011. Al Jazeera's Hoda Abel-Hamid, reporting from Cairo, said that so far, there are no indications that Morsi is going to recind the decree. "We are hearing reports of different influential Egyptians who are trying to come up with a solution, some sort of common ground that would be acceptable," said Abdel-Hamid. Several other marches were preparing to set off from around the capital to join thousands of protesters already in the square to denounce Morsi's decree. In the city of Alexandria, several hundred gathered in Qaitbay Square, with two large marches expected to join them later.

Deaths in Iraq bomb explosions

Fighters launched attacks against security forces and civilians in different regions across Iraq on Tuesday [Reuters]

At least 21 people were killed and 70 others injured in a series of bomb attacks against security forces and civilians in central and northern Iraq, officials said. Shia mosques in Baghdad were main targets in Tuesday's attacks, along with policemen in Kirkuk, a city claimed by quarrelling ethnic groups in a disputed northern region. Car bombs exploded near three mosques shortly after nightfall in the capital, killing 12. Police and hospital officials said the first exploded near a Shia mosque following evening prayers in Hurriya neighbourhood, killing six worshippers and wounding 20 others. Minutes later, another car bomb went off near Gaereat mosque, killing three people. Later, police said a third car bomb exploded, killing three Shia worshippers and wounded 14 others in Shulla neighbourhood in northern Baghdad.

Qatar hosts 'critical' climate talks

COP President Bin Hamad al-Attiyah said the 'phenomenon' of climate change was a common challenge [EPA]

The 18th United Nations climate change conference, known as COP18 , has opened in Doha, the Qatari capital. Over the next two weeks, up to 17,000 people will attend the conference. Delegates will be negotiating a new global deal on climate, but there are ongoing tensions between rich and poor countries. The meeting elected the former Qatari energy minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, as president of the Conference of the Parties.

IAEA: Iran ready to boost uranium enrichment

Iran denies working, or ever having worked, on a nuclear weapon and says all its atomic activities are peaceful [EPA]

Iran is set to sharply expand its uranium enrichment in an underground site after installing all the centrifuges it was built for, a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said. The UN's nuclear watchdog also said that Iran's stockpile of its most sensitive nuclear material, which could relatively quickly be used to make atomic arms, had grown and is getting closer to an amount that could be sufficient for a bomb. The IAEA said on Friday that the installation of equipment at Iran's Fordo uranium enrichment plant was now "complete". The agency report reiterated its regular statement that it was "unable ... to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities". It also said that activities spotted by satellite at the Parchin military base, where the IAEA says it has evidence of possible past nuclear weapons research work, meant that any verification there would be "seriously undermined". Iran denies working, or ever having worked, on a nuclear weapon and says all its atomic activities are peaceful.

Baghdad and Kurds fail to defuse standoff

Both Baghdad and Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region claim jurisdiction over oil rich territories.                             The Iraqi army and Kurdish troops have come close to confrontation only to pull back at the last moment [EPA]

Iraq's Kurdish region has sent reinforcements to a disputed area where its troops are involved in a standoff with the Iraqi army, a senior Kurdish military official said, despite calls on both sides for dialogue to calm the situation. More Kurdish troops and tanks were mobilised on Saturday and headed towards the disputed areas, Anwar Haji Osman, the deputy minister for Kurdish military affairs, said late on Saturday, adding that they would hold their positions unless Iraqi forces made a move. "If they overstep the line, we will strike them," Osman said. Baghdad and Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region earlier this week began sending their respective troops to an area over which they both claim jurisdiction, raising tensions in a long-running feud over land and oil rights.

Investigators prepare to exhume Arafat's body

Ramallah, Occupied West Bank – Scientists and legal experts from Switzerland, France and Russia have begun to arrive in the West Bank in order to exhume the body of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The team will open Arafat's grave on Tuesday in order to test his body for radioactive polonium, according to Tawfiq al-Tirawi, the head of the Palestinian investigation committee. A nine-month investigation by Al Jazeera found elevated levels of the substance in Arafat’s final personal effects. The findings, which were broadcast in July, suggest that there was also a high level of polonium in Arafat’s body when he died, raising fresh questions about what killed the longtime Palestinian leader. The cause of Arafat’s death has long remained a mystery. Some reports speculated that he died from AIDS, cirrhosis of the liver, or other diseases, but medical experts who studied his final medical records told Al Jazeera that he was in good health until he suddenly fell ill in October of 2004. Many Palestinians have long believed that Arafat was poisoned by Israel, a charge Tirawi repeated during a press conference here on Saturday. “We have evidence which suggests [Arafat] was poisoned by Israelis,” he said. “I consider this a painful necessity. It is necessary to find the truth in the death of President Yasser Arafat." The Israeli government has denied any involvement in his death, and refused to comment on Al Jazeera’s findings.

Hamas says now in 'open war' with Israel, promises 'gates of hell'

Hamas says that it is now in a state of "open war" indefinitely with Israel after the killing of the Hamas commander Ahmed Jabari by an Israeli airstrike.

The assassination has "opened the gates of hell," the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, were quoted by AFP as saying.
"The occupation committed a dangerous crime and crossed all the red lines, which is considered a declaration of war," he said in a statement. Hamas vowed to "continue the path of resistance."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for an immediate Arab League meeting in response to Wednesday's attack.