Algeria to hold parliamentary poll by mid-May Friday, 03 February 2012 04:24

ALGIERS: Algeria will hold a parliamentary election in the first half of May, the first in the north African country since a wave of popular uprisings in the region, the prime minister announced yesterday. “In line with the law, the elections will take place before next May 17,” Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia told reporters on the sidelines of the Senate’s closing session, adding that the exact date would be announced soon. “It will be during the first fortnight of the month of May,” he added, quoted by the APS news agency. The election will be the fourth multiparty parliamentary vote in Algeria, which last went to the polls in 2007 and gave a majority to parties that backed Ouyahia, including the once sole ruling National Liberation Front (FLN).

Egypt film star sentenced for ‘defaming Islam’

Cairo: A Cairo court has sentenced Egyptian comedy giant Adel Imam to three months in jail for “defaming Islam” in several roles he played on stage and screen, the actor said yesterday. Imam, arguably the Arab world’s most famous actor, was sentenced with hard labour in absentia, he said, after he was sued by Asran Mansur, a lawyer with Islamist ties. “I will appeal the ruling,” Imam said. “Some people seeking fame filed a suit against me over works I have done which they consider insulting to Islam, and this is of course not true,” he said. “All the works in which I have starred went through the censors. Had they been found to be defamatory, the censors would have banned them.” The 71-year-old celebrity said that among the works criticised are the 1994 production Al-Irhabi (The Terrorist), in which he portrays an Islamic fundamentalist and the play “Al-Zaeem” (The leader), a comedy in which Imam pokes fun at the region’s autocratic leaders.

Palestinians return ‘lost’ IDF soldier to unit

JERUSALEM: An Israeli soldier who became separated from his unit during an operation in a Palestinian West Bank village was safely returned to his fellow troops by local residents, Israeli media said yesterday. The Israeli army confirmed that the soldier appeared to have gotten lost in the incident, but said they were still investigating how he was able to regain contact with his unit. “From an initial investigation he was separated from his unit on Wednesday night but the rest of the matter is under investigation,” an army spokesman said. The soldier entered the village in a convoy of jeeps, but at some point alighted from his vehicle. When the convoy left the village, close to the West Bank city of Ramallah, the soldier found himself stranded. A group of local residents then escorted him to a nearby military base, where he was reunited with his unit, the media reports said.

Iraq parliament bans smoking in public

BAGHDAD: The Iraqi parliament yesterday approved an anti-smoking law that stipulates a roughly $8.50 fine for smoking in public, in a country where such smoking is a fixture. “The law aims to protect citizens from the danger of tobacco and reduce the number of smokers by taking measures to combat this plague,” the law reads. Smoking in government offices, schools, universities, hospitals, airports, offices, theatres, gathering places, hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, markets and petrol stations will now be banned. The law is to take effect 90 days after it is published in the official gazette. Agencies

| More...