SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – The troubled Boeing 787 Dreamliner is back in the sky, three months after it was grounded worldwide because of problems of over-heating batteries. An Ethiopian Airlines flight took off from Addis Ababa on Saturday morning on a two-hour flight to the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Regulators cleared the aircraft after modifications were made to the lithium ion battery packs. Boeing's chief engineer for the Dreamliner on Saturday said changes made to the battery were fully…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – The official number of the detainees on hunger strike at the United States’ notorious Guantanamo Bay prison has reached 100, according to a US official. Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Samuel House said on Saturday that 100 of the 166 prisoners at the US prison in Cuba are now on strike. He added that 19 captives are being force-fed via tubes snaked up their nose and into their stomach; and five have been hospitalized. The detainees…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Coming to Fittja Grand Mosque from early hours, Swedish Muslim worshippers gathered on Friday, April 26, to witness the recitation of the first ever Adhan in their country before the Friday prayer. "This is a historic day," Iman Upmann, a Swede converted to Islam 13 years ago, told The World Bulletin. Earlier in April, local police ruled to allow Adhan at Fittja mosque in the southern Stockholm suburb of Botkyrka on Fridays. The permission…

SHAFAQNA - Suspected Al-Qaeda fighters have killed five Yemeni soldiers in an attack on a checkpoint southeast of Sanaa, according to an official, while two assailants have reportedly been killed. The attack on Saturday targeted an army checkpoint in the district of Rada, where the interior ministry said it had mounted security measures late on Friday following intelligence about possible attacks by al-Qaeda fighters. Five soldiers were killed and several others were wounded in the attack, the local government official told AFP…

SHAFAQNA Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov says claims about use of chemical weapons in Syria should not be used as pretext for military intervention in the country. "We must know the truth and have proof and not rely on information reported in the media which is not supported by facts," Bogdanov said on Saturday.  He added that the claims should be dealt with “in conformity with international criteria” and should not not used to “achieve other objectives. It must…

SHAFAQNA Euro zone officials are scheduled to hold a meeting to approve the payment of a 2.8-billion-euro ($3.65 billion) loan to Greece. The meeting will be held by the Eurogroup Working Group on Monday, Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras told lawmakers on Saturday, Reuters reported.  The payment will be made if Greek MPs approve a reform law on Sunday.  The proposed law contains several reforms and tax measures, including provisions that facilitate dismissal of workers in the public sector.  Stournaras…

SHAFAQNA - An Iranian industry official says the country has dealt with Western sanctions on its oil industry by ramping up non-petroleum exports, adding the country is able to run its economy by reliance on non-oil revenues. The US and Western powers have admitted that Iran has overcome the toughest pressures they have put on the country, saying Iran is shifting from petrodollars to revenues from non-oil exports, said Deputy Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Alireza Shojaee. “ ……

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said the chemical weapons used by terrorist groups in Khan al-Assal in Aleppo countryside have been probably arrived from Turkey, stressing that the Western allegations that the Syrian army used chemical weapons in other areas are not credible. RT news website quoted Zoubi as saying in a statement that the missile which targeted Khan al-Assal area was launched from a place where militants exist and which is not far from…

SHAFAQNA - The FBI has detained a martial arts instructor in the US state of Mississippi after searching his home in connection with the poisoned letters sent to American officials, including President Barack Obama. Everett Dutschke, 41, was reportedly arrested on Saturday morning at his home in Tupelo which is the seventh largest city in the state.  Following the arrest, the city's police chief, Tony Carleton, said the FBI had detained Dutschke without incident.  Last week, letters allegedly containing ricin…

SHAFAQNA - The Israeli “security publication,” DEBKA, a key part of their “war through deception” campaign against the world, has now made it inexorably clear, Israel is putting into motion their “final solution,” a campaign to pit nation against nation. The result, the planet a smoldering ruin, Israel ruling over the ashes and mass graves, is a foregone conclusion, at least to Netanyahu and his worldwide terrorist network.  DEBKA openly admits plans to move Israeli troops into Syria and Iraq,…