Archives for October, 2017

With imports and deficit down, are things looking up for Egypt?

Some in Egypt see a decline in imports and decreased trade deficit as temporary phenomena, while others believe it to be an opportunity to develop the country's industrial base.

Turkish armoured military vehicles patrol on the Turkish-Syrian border line in Reyhanli, Hatay province, Turkey, October 8, 2017. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC19C08D1DE0

Will new tribal council ease Turkey's load in Syria?

Twenty-nine tribes and clans in the areas liberated during Operation Euphrates Shield announced the formation of a tribal council with the support of Turkey.

Trump’s policies radicalize Israeli, Palestinian stances

President Donald Trump’s shift toward more radical policy positions on the Middle East is generating a radicalization in the tactical positions of both Israelis and Palestinians.

A ballistic missile is launched and tested in an undisclosed location, Iran, March 9, 2016. REUTERS/Mahmood Hosseini/TIMA ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. IT IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS. -

Congress pushes for new Iran sanctions amid Iran deal uncertainty

With Trump set to announce a new, hard-line strategy on Iran today, lawmakers are advancing more sanctions on Tehran and its proxies.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.

Members of Iran's Basij militia march during a parade to commemorate the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), in Tehran September 22, 2010. Iranian leaders hoping to lift morale at a time of rising prices, food shortages and threats of attack from Israel, are drawing on memories of another era when people united against a common foe: Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

US diplomats cast doubt on America’s ability to constrain Iran

With the Donald Trump administration poised to announce a more confrontational stance, career diplomats fear it could be too late to contend with a rising Tehran.

'Breath': Iran's first Oscar nominee by female director

Iranian films have won several Oscars for best foreign language film, but this year’s nominee is the first directed by a woman.

US Ambassador to Turkey John Bass delivers a press conference in Ankara on October 11, 2017.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on October 10 that Turkish officials will boycott the US ambassador, deepening one of the worst rifts in decades between the NATO allies. Erdogan said Turkey no longer regarded outgoing envoy John Bass as the US representative to Turkey after American missions in the country stopped issuing visas.
/ AFP PHOTO / STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Is Erdogan's blame for ambassador overture to Trump?

As Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rains blame on US Ambassador John Bass for the crisis between Ankara and Washington, some analysts wonder if Erdogan's tirades are an attempt to offer the "unique" US administration a way out of its visa move.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi and the Iran

Iran's Intelligence Ministry, judiciary clash over sentenced nuclear negotiator

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry denies claims by Iran’s judiciary that a sentenced Iranian nuclear negotiator was a spy.

An Iraqi Kurdish man holds a Kurdish flag in Erbil, Iraq October 4, 2017. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - RC1CAD913850

Iran wary of Trump’s plans in Iraqi Kurdistan

Iranian concerns about the Trump administration’s plans for Iraqi Kurdistan appear to be tempering Tehran’s fury with Erbil over the Sept. 25 independence referendum.

Iraqi-Kurdistan

Turkish telecom giant may end up in government hands again

The 2005 privatization of Turkish telecommunication company Turk Telekom, the largest in Turkey’s history, may go to waste as the majority stakeholders are struggling to repay loans.

Kurdish referendum inspires statehood for Iraq's Sunnis too

Last month's Kurdish independence referendum in Iraq has inspired some of the country's Sunni leaders to call for their own autonomous state in its Sunni areas.

Exploiting Palestinian workers is not ‘economic peace’

Palestinians increasingly depend on Israel’s goodwill to open its gates for poor West Bank workers.

Israel, Hezbollah exchange threats of imminent war

As Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Israeli government continue to warn each other of a coming cataclysm, both sides predict it would take place in Syria as well as Lebanon this time.

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Metropolitan Theophilos (2nd R) takes part in the Easter Sunday mass procession inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City, May 1, 2016. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - S1BETBNQAEAA

Are days numbered for Jerusalem's Greek Orthodox patriarch?

The Greek Orthodox community in Palestine and Jordan is in open revolt against Patriarch Theophilos III over the sale of church lands to Israel and Israelis.

Is Egypt's parliament going after beauty queens?

Egyptian lawmakers have called for the banning of the Miss Egypt Pageant until a law can be issued to provide government oversight for beauty contests.

FILE PHOTO 1OCT49 - Jewish immigrants from Yemen in a tent encampment in 1949 as they are visited by Israeli nurses. Many Jewish immigrants of Sephardic origin from North Africa and the Middle East were shipped to Israeli development town when they arrived, while many of the European, or Ashkenazi, immigrants were able to start their new lives in Israel's cities with promising jobs. Most of the Yemenites arrived in Israel during "Operation Magic Carpet" in the late 1940's. In the 1950's and 60's some 300,00

Will Israel finally take responsibility for kidnapped Yemeni babies?

Over the last year, the long-running affair of Israeli-Yemenite babies kidnapped and put up for adoption has risen on the public and political agendas.