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CAIRO (AP) -- An Egyptian court has banned the Muslim Brotherhood group and ordered its assets confiscated in a dramatic escalation of a crackdown by the military-backed government against supporters of the ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. Egypt state TV said the court issued its ruling on Monday.

The Labor Department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs plans to award up to $1 million in taxpayer dollars to increase gender equality at work in Morocco. The purpose of the grant is “to help build the capacity of civil society organizations,including non-governmental organizations and trade unions,in the Kingdom of Morocco to address working women's issues and empower women to more fully exercise their labor rights.” “Projects awarded funding will be expected to work with local organizations to enhance service delivery to women on matters related to their labor rights and interests and to raise public awareness of women's labor rights,”...

An Orange County Superior Court judge dismissed the case against Meshael Alayban, 42, saying there was not enough evidence that she enslaved her maid in her Southern California condo. "Justice was done in this case," said her attorney Paul S. Meyer after Friday's court hearing in Santa Ana. "The princes is now and has always been innocent of human trafficking." Meyer said the case was a nightmare for an "exceptional" family in Saudi Arabia. "The dismissal today answers the prayers of 26 million people," Meyer said. "The princess is free. People have been praying for that."

Why has the little nation of Qatar spent 3 billion dollars to support the rebels in Syria? Could it be because Qatar is the largest exporter of liquid natural gas in the world and Assad won't let them build a natural gas pipeline through Syria? Of course. Qatar wants to install a puppet regime in Syria that will allow them to build a pipeline which will enable them to sell lots and lots of natural gas to Europe. Why is Saudi Arabia spending huge amounts of money to help the rebels ... ? Well, it turns out that Saudi Arabia...

Clarification: Dale Gavlak assisted in the research and writing process of this article, but was not on the ground in Syria. Reporter Yahya Ababneh, with whom the report was written in collaboration, was the correspondent on the ground in Ghouta who spoke directly with the rebels, their family members, victims of the chemical weapons attacks and local residents. Gavlak is a MintPress News Middle East correspondent who has been freelancing for the AP as a Amman, Jordan correspondent for nearly a decade. This report is not an Associated Press article; rather it is exclusive to MintPress News. Ghouta, Syria —...

Nearly two months after Egypt’s June 30 Revolution, it is interesting to note how the final dialogue between ousted President Morsi and General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi—full of threats and vows of determination on both sides—have all come to pass, including in the very details, specifically the U.S. government’s role. On July 5, the Arabic language, Egyptian newspaper El Watan published what it said were the final words between the two Egyptian men, as transcribed by an eyewitness, before the general put the president in prison. The relevant portions of the dialogue between Sisi and Morsi follow, interspersed with my retrospective...

…From its inception in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood has been the subject of persecution due to its commitment to a single goal —transitioning the world into an Islamic empire. ..The Muslim Brotherhood saw its gains as “one small step” for Islam and “one giant leap” for Muslimkind. Not content with small successful steps, it moved to take a giant leap in Egypt. ...Morsi was the Muslim Brotherhood’s “poster boy,” coming to office because the Brotherhood was the only domestic organization with the infrastructure in place to support a candidate.…What the Muslim Brotherhood had planned for Egypt extended far beyond those...

State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki issued a press release denouncing the "enemies of Islam " following car bombings in Baghdad that appear to have been timed to target Shi'ite "festivities marking the end of Ramadan." Reuters reported that the bombings consisted of "twelve separate blasts targeting markets, busy shopping streets, and parks." The explosions killed almost 80 people. The August 10 press release on the State Department website reads: The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the cowardly attacks... in Baghdad. These attacks were aimed at families celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the...

Sad news comes today of the passing of William P. Clark, who passed away this morning at his ranch near Paso Robles after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Clark served Ronald Reagan as deputy secretary of state (chiefly to keep an eye out on Al Haig), national security adviser, and secretary of the Interior.

Secretary of State John Kerry announced Wednesday the formation of the Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives, which will be headed by Shaun Casey, a former religion advisor to President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and a liberal professor who last year touted the end of “civil religion” in the United States. “I, frankly, am glad American civil religion is dying,” Casey said at a discussion last year at the Center for American Progress focused on “God and Politics” in the last presidential election. Kerry introduced Casey as a person who cares about faith in American society. …

Secretary of State John Kerry announced Friday at the U.S. Embassy in London that the State Department will now recognize in its visa-processing practices same-sex marriages performed in foreign countries—saying that “as long as a marriage has been performed in a jurisdiction that recognizes it so that it is legal, then that marriage is valid under U.S. immigration laws.” The State Department clarified to CNSNews.com on Monday that this principle does not extend to polygamous marriages, which are legal in many Muslim countries. … However, the State Department’s Foreign Affairs Manual describes polygamy as an “historical or religious practice” and...

An obscure little State Department agency whose work is called "critical to the Department's information security posture" has been in a shambles for years, and is still in chaos, according to an audit report by the department's inspector general released yesterday. As one result of all the bumbling and inaction, the security checks that the agency is supposed to perform and subsequent approvals for use that it is supposed to bestow every three years on 36 of those State Department systems have lapsed entirely, meaning that they are operating, in effect, illegally. Some of the lapses have gone on for...

A burglary at the offices of a Dallas law firm representing a State Department whistle blower bore an eerie resemblance to the break-in at Democratic National Committee in the Watergate office building in 1972. Computers and files were stolen, but silver bars, video equipment and other valuables were untouched. The law firm represents Aurelia Fedenisn, a former investigator at the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General. Fedenisn alleged that a US ambassador and big Obama donor was soliciting underage prostitutes and that high-level officials of the State Department, then run by Hillary Clinton, interfered with eight investigations and doctored...

Secretary of State Kerry sailed his boat, the "Isabel," on Nantucket Sound in Massachusetts, Wed., July 3, 2013. / CBS Secretary of State John Kerry at the helm of his sailboat "Isabel," July 5, 2013. / Emily Hislop/CBS As regime change was unfolding in Egypt, Secretary of State John Kerry spent time on his boat Wednesday afternoon in Nantucket Sound, the State Department acknowledged to CBS News on Friday, after repeatedly denying that Kerry was aboard any boat. Psaki's acknowledgment marked a stark reversal from previous denials that Kerry was on any boat whatsoever. A "CBS This Morning" producer spotted...

Secretary of State John Kerry was on his boat briefly on Wednesday, contrary to an earlier denial by the State Department, but was there only briefly and did not conduct official business while on board. “While he was briefly on his boat on Wednesday, Secretary Kerry worked around the clock all day including participating in the president’s meeting with his national security council," spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday. Kerry also held calls "with Norwegian Foreign Minister Eade,Qatari Foreign Minister al-Attiyah, Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu, Egyptian Constitution Party President ElBaradei and five calls Ambassador Patterson on that day alone and since...

CAIRO (Reuters) - Army concern about the way President Mohamed Mursi was governing Egypt reached tipping point when the head of state attended a rally packed with hardline fellow Islamists calling for holy war in Syria, military sources said. At the June 15 rally, Sunni Muslim clerics used the word "infidels" to denounce both the Shi'ites fighting to protect Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the non-Islamists that oppose Mursi at home. Mursi himself called for foreign intervention in Syria against Assad, leading to a veiled rebuke from the army, which issued an apparently bland but sharp-edged statement the next day...

The Muslim Brotherhood's Connection to Benghazi Kevin McCullough | Jul 01, 2013 On Wednesday June 26, 2013 reports began to pop up across the Arabic world citing an internal Libyan government memo that has not yet been acknowledged in the American press. The memo is pictured here: *Photo Courtesy of Raymond Ibrahim Multiple sources have confirmed this document details several confessions of the six Egyptians in Libyan custody for the 9.11.12 bombing of the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. The document details the involvement of the Muslim Brotherhood and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi as being involved with and in the funding,...

Earlier this week, Texas senator Ted Cruz pledged to block State Department nominees until the federal agency filled the vacant inspector general position. Almost two days later, the State Department nominated Steve Linick for the position, which has been vacant for nearly 2,000 days. (please see link for full article)

Two years ago available public evidence suggested a likelihood of Huma Abedin – now Huma Weiner – and Hillary Clinton having, shall we say, “an unusually close relationship.” This evidence began to surface in mid-2007 when rumors about the Huma/Hillary relationship being more than the “close colleague” kind floated around the halls of Washington. A logical question took shape, “If Hillary is bisexual (as) had long been thought (and occasionally uttered in public), what is the nature of her relationship with the dark eyed enchanting Abedin, a young lady from a strict Muslim family?” Although they were never asked publicly,...

The State Department through its Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) is planning to spend $450,000 in taxpayer dollars “to support programs that increase protection of transgender persons who face acute forms of violence and harassment.” The primary goal of the grant “is to ensure that incidents of violence are documented and investigated and that victims receive appropriate legal redress through domestic, regional, or international human rights mechanisms.” … The grant was posted on March 28, 2013. The closing date for applications was May 2, 2013. The State Department has yet to announce the grant recipient. …