Syria President Assad's brother dies

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's youngest brother, Majd al-Assad, died Saturday morning in a hospital in Syria, as a result of a "chronic disease", reports said.

His body will be laid to final rest in the city of Qardaha following Sunday's afternoon prayers, the official SANA news ageny reported.

Majd is the second brother from the Assad family who has passed away, after Basil Al-Assad, who had originally been groomed by the late Hafez Al-Assad to succeed him as the country's President, died in a car accident in January 1994.

Turkish ship capsizes off Israel port, 12 missing

An Israel-bound Turkish commercial cargo ship, Salla-2, has capsized Friday night in international waters some 80 kilometers off its destination - the Haifa port.

Twelve crew members are missing and one has been rescued by a NATO ship that succeeded in rescuing him as he was found floating on a life raft.

According to reports, the ship was in bad condition. It originated in Greece and had Ukrainian crew members on board.

French doctors examined captured IDF soldier Shalit in Gaza secret location as Israeli jets flew above

A crew of French doctors have performed medical check-ups on captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in the Gaza Strip, Al-Hayat reported on Sunday.

An Egyptian security official said that the doctors went into the Gaza Strip through the Egyptian border crossing of Rafah last week, but that there was no indication that they were there to see Shalit.

Al-Hayat quoting "reliable sources" said four French doctors entered Gaza a week ago on Sunday "accompanied by the German mediator Ernst Uhrlau through the Rafah border crossing and examined Shalit at a secret location in the Gaza Strip."

The team and Uhrlau "arrived in Gaza amid unprecedented security measures by Hamas... as Israeli airplanes flew overhead," Al-Hayat said.

It said Hamas received guarantees from Uhrlau that the Israeli planes would not attack and would not try to liberate Shalit.

In the meantime, al-Quds al-Arabi reported that Hamas is leaning towards accepting an Israeli demand to remove Israeli-Arabs from the list of prisoners it wants in exchange for Shalit.

Shalit Deal: Hamas accepts Israeli demand on Israel-Arab prisoners

Hamas is leaning towards accepting an Israeli demand to remove Israeli-Arabs from the list of prisoners it wants in exchange for kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, according to a report in the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi.

Meanwhile, sources in Israeli prisons claim the Israeli-Arabs detained there are dissatisfied with this information.

In an interview published yesterday in al-Hayat, a top Hamas source said that talks between Israel and the Palestinian group on a prisoner exchange deal are facing three major obstacles: Israel's refusal to release 50 prisoners out of 450 demanded by Hamas, its insistence on deporting 130 prisoners, and its refusal to include Israeli Arabs in the deal.

Israel, Hamas reject proposals on Gilad Shalit deal

Far From Freedom

A top Hamas source told al-Hayat newspaper in an interview published Friday morning that the talks between Israel and the Palestinian group on a prisoner exchange deal are facing three major obstacles: Israel's refusal to release 50 prisoners out of 450 demanded by Hamas, its insistence on deporting 130 prisoners, and its refusal to include Israeli Arabs in the deal.

According to the source, the German mediator has been visiting the Gaza Strip and Israel, relaying different offers to both sides in a bid to overcome the difficulties.

Last month, Gaza Strip sources estimated that significant progress had been made in the negotiations for a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, and that the last obstacles for the deal would be removed by the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Shalit was captured in a cross border raid on the crossing Kerem Shalom from the Gaza Strip by Gaza militants in 2006 and has been held hostage by Hamas ever since. He is the first Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants since Nachshon Wachsman in 1994.

Saudi heavy floods leave dozens dead; Facebook group angered over "negligence"

Deadly Drops

The death toll from the heaviest rainfall to strike the Saudi Kingdom in years rose to 98 on Saturday as more bodies were discovered, with dozens more expected to be found, a rescue services spokesman said.

The victims were drowned or were killed by collapsing bridges and in car crashes when floodwaters caused by the torrential rainfall ripped through the Red Sea port city of Jeddah on Wednesday.

No pilgrims attending the annual Muslim haj pilgrimage 80 kilometers away in Mecca were among the dead, officials said. An estimated 1.6 million pilgrims have come to Saudi Arabia from abroad for the haj, the world's largest regular religious gathering.

Meanwhile, following Wednesday’s devastating floods in Jeddah, there is mounting anger among residents at the state of the city’s infrastructure.

Some are even threatening to sue the municipality for damages, claiming the flash flooding was a direct result of municipal negligence. A group calling itself the “National Campaign to Save the City of Jeddah” has set up an Arabic-language Facebook profile calling for action to ensure the city is never flooded again.

What's Wrong with Coca Cola Israel?

Twist The Cap To Refreshness?

Central Bottling Company (Coca-Cola Israel) has removed more beverages from store shelves on Thursday, just two days after removing Coca-Cola bottles because of a manufacturing fault.

Additional test results indicated that bottles in the manufacturing series included minute quantities of benzene and sulfur compounds related to the carbon dioxide, which is put in bottles. Coca-Cola Israel said that there is no health risk.

Coca Cola is recalling from stores' shelves its popular 1.5 liter bottles of Coca Cola and Diet Coca Cola that have an expiration date marked as March 22 after the manufacturing glitch was discovered.

Gilad Shalit to be freed by Hamas within a few days?

Freedom?

Gaza Strip sources estimated on Sunday that significant progress has been made over the past couple of days in the talks for a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, and that the last obstacles for the deal would be removed by Friday, the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Shalit was captured in a cross border raid on the crossing Kerem Shalom from the Gaza Strip by Gaza militants in 2006 and has been held hostage by Hamas ever since. He is the first Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants since Nachshon Wachsman in 1994.

Saudi network al-Arabiya, quoting Hamas sources, said that the deal would be implemented on Friday, with the release of 450 prisoners "with blood on their hands" to the West Bank and Gaza in exchange for the transfer of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit to Egypt.

However, it is important to mention that this is not the first time that reports said a deal between Hamas and Israel on a prisoner exchange was close to being finalized.

Iran begins war games to defend nuclear sites

Games

Iran's armed forces launched large-scale air defense war games on Sunday to show off the Islamic Republic's deterrence capabilities in the face of pressure from the West over its nuclear program.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards and military forces jointly started five days of maneuvers in various areas of the country, Brigadier General Ahmad Mighani said, according to state television.

"It is the biggest war game, which takes place over an area 600,000 sq. kilometers. The aim of this war game is to promote military power of the armed forces against any attack," the television quoted Mighani as saying.

"The aim of the drill is to display Iran's combat readiness and military potentials," Mighani said.

"Defense policies, psychological operations and innovations during the war game are among the objectives of the drill."

It should be noted that in July 2008, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard launched a ground and naval military exercise. According to a report carried at the time by the Iranian Fars news agency, the drill – dubbed "Prophet 3" – was meant to "up the level of readiness by the Guard's missile carriers and units."