Archives for September, 2014

German Chancellor Angela Merkel goes to shake hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) during a news conference after bilateral talks at the Chancellery in Berlin December 6, 2012. Merkel and Netanyahu agreed to disagree on the question of Israeli plans to build more Jewish settlements, the chancellor said on Thursday. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay (GERMANY - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3B9OU

Europe dismayed by Israel’s West Bank policy

Israel's recent expropriation of West Bank land has greatly angered European leaders, putting them on a possible collision course with Washington at a time when they are coordinating coalition building against extremist Islamists in the region.

Police officers take charge as Palestinian Hamas-hired employees wait to receive partial payments outside a bank in Gaza City September 11, 2014. Tensions between Fatah and Hamas, the two main Palestinian parties, are close to breaking point over the non-payment of salaries to Gaza's public sector workers, raising the risk of a return to conflict in the territory, officials say. As a stop-gap measure, the Hamas-controlled Finance Ministry in Gaza announced on Wednesday it would make partial payments, betwee

Hamas frustrated by Israel’s flouting of cease-fire deal

Key terms in the cease-fire agreement with Israel have not been implemented, raising Palestinians' frustrations.

Women wave posters as they march in protest against domestic abuse, in Istanbul July 20, 2014. Turkey, which aspires to join the European Union, has drafted new legislation to try to bring women's rights in line with European standards. A law sent to parliament just last month will toughen sentencing for sexual assault. Officials say the number of shelters has doubled in the past three years and victim support centres have been set up, allowing women like Hayat to receive protection and remain with their ch

Turkey's rate of murdered women skyrockets

From 2003 till 2010, there has been a 1,400% increase in the number of slain women. Three factors, including that the value of women in Turkish society has always been low, are at work.

U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Michael Rogers (L) and Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) (R) appear at the Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington March 11, 2014. The hearing is for Rogers' nomination to be director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and commander of the U.S. Cyber Command. Rogers and Kirk were high school classmates in Chicago. REUTERS/Gary Cameron (UNITED STATES - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTR3GLRD

Islamic State takes pressure off Iran

For now, Republicans have abandoned their Iran sanctions push as the fight against the Islamic State takes front stage.

Technicians work at a uranium processing site in Isfahan 340 km (211 miles) south of the Iranian capital Tehran. Technicians work at a uranium processing site in Isfahan 340 km (211 miles) south of the Iranian capital Tehran March 30, 2005. France, Britain and Germany are considering letting Iran keep nuclear technology that could be used to make bombs, an apparent move towards a compromise with Tehran, diplomats said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi - RTR6IQH

Number of centrifuges should not prevent nuclear deal

Previous attempts at a nuclear deal between Iran and West fell apart over the number of centrifuges; will it happen again?

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks on the phone with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington September 10, 2014. President Barack Obama called Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Wednesday ahead of an evening speech in which the U.S. leader plans to lay out his strategy for defeating the militant group Islamic State, the White House said. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR45PEQ

Israel skeptical about US strategy on IS

While the US finds a new interlocutor in Israel's opposition leader, the Israeli security establishment is not reassured by President Barack Obama's latest speech, since it fears that much like Hamas, the Islamic State cannot be defeated by airstrikes alone.

Palestinians ride on a donkey near homes in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, near Jerusalem November 13, 2013. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday his peace negotiators had resigned over the lack of progress in U.S.-brokered statehood talks clouded by Israeli settlement building. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY ANIMALS) - RTX15BNX

How much money goes to Israel's settlements each year?

A new report reveals the disparities in government spending between the settlements and the towns in the country’s periphery, reflecting Israel's policy priorities since the 1967 Six Day War.

Anonymous Twitter account rocks Turkish money market

After Fuat Avni, a pseudonymous Twitter account, said the government would take over Turkey's largest Islamic lender, the dollar-to-lira exchange rate jumped to nearly 2.20.

U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a live televised address to the nation on his plans for military action against the Islamic State, from the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington September 10, 2014. REUTERS/Saul Loeb/Pool (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT) - RTR45R9F

Obama speech evokes mixed reactions in Middle East

Countries and factions across the region have widely varying reactions to the president's strategy.

Gaza fishermen say Israel not honoring cease-fire terms

The cease-fire to end the Gaza war included a provision to extend Gaza’s fishing zone, but local fishermen say Israel has yet to implement the new arrangement.

Graffiti gets political in Yemen

Yemeni artists have launched several interactive street art initiatives as a way to engage the public.

Iran Foreign Ministry casts doubt on US coalition against IS

Iran's Foreign Ministry said that the US-led coalition to fight the Islamic State includes countries that had helped fuel terrorism in the region.

IS attacks force thousands to flee from Aleppo

Makeshift camps near the Turkish border for displaced Syrians are overwhelmed following the Syrian government's barrel bombing campaign in Aleppo and the Islamic State's attacks in the northern Aleppo countryside.

Followers of the Shi'ite Houthi group attend a gathering at the group's camp near Sanaa September 10, 2014. Yemeni soldiers traded gunfire with Shi'ite Muslim rebels near a military base at the southern entrance to the capital Sanaa on Tuesday, residents said, hours after soldiers killed at least four Shi'ite protesters outside the cabinet building. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR45ODD

Houthis' contradictory path in Sanaa

Yemen's Houthi movement might be heading toward military clashes in Sanaa to force the government into meeting its demands.

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Israeli academics to Netanyahu: accept Arab Initiative

Alex Mintz, director of the Institute for Policy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, explains that accepting the Arab Initiative “with reservations” is needed, as it “would weaken Hamas and the Iranian axis” while opening regional negotiations.

Some of 200 French Jews queue at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport before emigrating to Israel July 28, 2004. Some 2,500 Jews leave France for Israel each year but Wednesday's departure comes less than two weeks after [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon] sparked a controversial call on French Jews to emigrate to Israel to escape what he called the 'wildest anti-Semitism'. Sign at rear reads: "I have two loves: Jerusalem and Paris". ??? NOTE: Some of the people in background may have been accompanying rel

Jews suffer from Israeli policy, regardless of political affiliation

Jews abroad, regardless of their stance toward Israel, are made to bear responsibility for its policies, as some protesters do not differentiate anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel's occupation policy, nor do some right-wing Israeli politicians.