Al Jazeera: News Summary, 13 January, 2010

(Intro Music)

(00:13) Newsman: Greetings.

(00:15) An earthquake with a strength of 7.0 on the Richter scale struck the Haitian peninsula in the Caribbean Sea has led to the destruction of vast areas and many buildings. It’s been reported that there could be up to thousands killed (still) under the rubble of the collapsed buildings. Already, governments from countries around the world have announced (their intent) to deliver hasty support to supply to the victims of (this disaster).

(00:39) An al-Jazeera correspondent in Yemen reports from the Shabwa province that a (person) named ‘Abdullah Mahdhar, leader of an al-Qa’ida cell in the area of al-Hawta, was killed in clashes with Yemeni security forces in the southern Shabwa province.

(00:53) Riyadh announced officially that the President of Syria, Bashar al-Asad, will visit the Kingdom (of Saudi Arabia) today, and will take part in talks with the Saudi family, and the King ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz. The discussions between the two sides will revolve around bilateral relations in addition to regional and national issues.

(01:11) Danny Ayalon, Israel’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, apologized for his conduct with the Turkish Ambassador. He said that the foreign embassies were not amongst his opponents. The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had criticized the statements of the Israeli Foreign Ministry as disgracing Turkey in the latest (1m), and Israel promised that it would respond appropriately.

(01:36) In Beirut, the seventh annual conference of the International al-Quds Foundation began with the participation of associations of scientists, intellectuals, and politics. The conference will be discussing issues and developments in al-Quds(Jurusalem) and a number of steps to preserve it’s Arabic and Islamic character.

(01:53) The International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, in Afghanistan said that two American soldiers were killed this morning in an IED detonation in the southern part of the country. Meanwhile, the United Nations said that this past year was the deadliest for civilians since 2001.

(02:14) Until next time…

(Exit Music)

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DMD

Al Jazeera: News Summary, 12 January, 2010

(Intro music)

(00:11) Newswoman: Greetings, and welcome to this news summary.

(00:13) An Iranian source for al-Jazeera says that a university professor specializing in nuclear physics named Mas’ud Muhammadi was killed by the detonation of an explosives-laden motorcycle parked near his residence in the northern part of the (Iranian) capital, Tehran. The source explained that Muhammadi worked for what is described as the (1m) of the province. The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that there were indications of (1m) by Washington and Israel in the assassination of Muhammadi.

(00:40) An al-Jazeera reporter stationed in Ankara reports that the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Israeli Ambassador to Turkey as the result of a similar action by Israel. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already summoned the Turkish Ambassador in protest of statements made by the Turkish Prime Minister in which he criticized Israel during a broadcast on a Turkish satellite channel.

(01:04) Local sources say that a website, Mu’atamar.net, belonging to the current ruling party in Yemen known as the General People’s Congress released a statement saying that around 20 people from the al-Huthi group were killed, and another 25 were arrested in a military operation undertaken by Yemeni counter-terrorism units.

(01:25) At least 14 people were killed and 32 others injured this Tuesday due to ongoing clashes in the northern part of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, between Sunni militias, groups belonging to the Somali government, and fighters from the al-Shabaab al-Mujahidin movement.

(01:43) Major General Qasim al-Musawi, spokesperson for Operation Furd al-Qanun(Law Imposition) in Baghdad, said that the emergency security measures undertaken in the city were done to protect the lives of citizens after information was received about a group of so-called “terrorists” intending to detonate car bombs (in Baghdad).

(02:02) Alistair Campbell, former advisor to Tony Blair, began his (1m) testimony in front of the investigative committee looking into Britain’s involvement with the invasion of Iraq. Campbell is the first big official questioned by the Chilcot committee which is expected to release its final report at the end of the year with the (1m) assessment.

(02:24) Until next time.

(Exit Music)

Notes: For more information regarding the ongoing Yemeni civil war and the al-Huthi group, follow these links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa’dah_insurgency
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houthis

For more information regarding al-Shabaab al-Mujahidin in Somalia, follow this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shabaab

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DMD