middle-east – Page 2 – 4VF News

Lufthansa: Vacation sun or money back

Sunshine-seeking travelers whose vacations are spoilt by wet weather will be able to claim compensation under a new scheme introduced by Germany airline Lufthansa in a bid to head off the gray clouds settling over the aviation industry. Under the “sunshine insurance” scheme, passengers who book flights to any of 36 destinations on offer will be entitled to €20 ($28.8) per day up to a maximum of €200 ($288) for every day of rain. To take advantage of the offer, passengers must book before August 18 to travel in either September or October

Official: Wreckage of missing Indonesian plane believed found

Authorities have identified what is believed to be the wreckage of a Merpati Nusantara Airlines plane that disappeared shortly after takeoff in eastern Indonesia over the weekend. The three were arrested in the western Iranian city of Marivan, the deputy governor of Kurdistan province, Iraj Hassanzadeh, told the Fars News Agency

China’s ‘bandit phones’ making big scores

The white BMW Mr. Liu drives around this humid coastal city in southern China may be real, but the spiffy little black smart phone he carries with him is definitely fake. “But it has Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi, FM radio, a digital video camera, hundreds of games, even a voice recorder,” says Liu.

Petraeus: Seems Iraq doing well taking reins on security

The transition of security duties in Iraq from coalition to Iraqi troops appears to be going well, Gen. David Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command, told CNN on Friday

Israel strips ‘catastrophe’ of nation’s birth from books

Israeli textbooks for Arab school children will no longer say that Arabs refer to the period surrounding the birth of Israel as al-Nakba, or "the catastrophe," Israel’s education minister said Wednesday. In a statement explaining the decision, Gideon Sa’ar said there is “no reason” for the birth of Israel “to be presented as a ‘catastrophe or shoah.'” After Israel was created in 1948, a war broke out between the Israelis and Arabs, and some 700,000 Palestinians either fled or were expelled from their homes. Arabs commemorate the displacement every year with Nakba Day

Commentary: Middle East is changed forever

Whatever the end result of the current electoral crisis in Iran, the dramatic rise of national politics has already cast a long and enduring shadow over the geopolitics of the region.

Israeli Settlers Versus the Palestinians

In a hilltop suburb South of Jerusalem called Efrat, Sharon Katz serves a neat plate of sliced cake inside her five-bedroom house, surrounded by pomegranate, olive and citrus trees that she planted herself. She glances out the window at the hills where, she believes, David and Abraham once walked. “We are living in the biblical heartland,” she sighs.

Group: Human rights lawyer detained as Iran unrest spirals

Government agents used tear gas to disperse demonstrators, and beat and kidnapped a human rights lawyer, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said Saturday, citing witnesses. The advocacy group said human rights lawyer Shadi Sadr, who was walking with friends to Friday prayers, was confronted by people dressed in civilian clothes. They pushed her into a car and drove off, the group said, citing witnesses.

Swine flu threatens Muslim Hajj season

Two Hajj pilgrims from Iran have contracted the H1N1 virus, according to reports from the country’s official news agency. Iran’s official Fars news agency Wednesday reported that a 57-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man who had recently returned from a pilgrimage tested positive for the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu. This brings Iran’s tally to three cases.

Despite Jewish Concerns, Obama Keeps Up Pressure on Israel

President Barack Obama has concluded that Israel and the Palestinians are unlikely to achieve peace unless they’re under external pressure to make the requisite compromises. Believing that a two-state solution is in the best interests of both parties and that time is running out for such a solution, the President is stepping up the pressure on both sides. That was Obama’s message at a White House meeting on July 13 with representatives of leading Jewish-American organizations, some of whom have lately complained that the President is unfairly pressuring Israel to make concessions on West Bank settlements, while going easy on the Palestinians.