Archives for June, 2020

ANN ARBOR, MI - MARCH 08: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) addresses supporters during a campaign rally for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders on March 8, 2020 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ocasio-Cortez has become a Democratic Party favorite among millennials and Gen Z. Sanders covered his policy agendas for immigration, women's rights, healthcare and economic inequality. (Photo by Brittany Greeson/Getty Images)

Intel: AOC incurs AIPAC’s wrath with anti-annexation letter

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) are facing off over a letter the progressive firebrand sent Tuesday warning against Israeli efforts to annex parts of the West Bank.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington,DC on June 10, 2020. - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged a probe Wednesday into complaints that foreign news crews covering the street protests against racism and police brutality were mistreated. Australia, for instance, is investigating a US police attack on two Australian television journalists outside the White House last week."I know there have been concerns from some countries of their reporter

Pompeo’s push to extend Iran arms embargo faces uphill battle at UN

The UN Security Council is not keen on extending the Iran arms embargo despite US threats to instate snapback sanctions.

Yemeni prisoners, said to belong the Saudi-backed government forces, react following their release by the Huthi rebels from the central prison in the capital Sanaa before being handed over to their families on September 30, 2019. - Yemen's Huthi rebels have freed 290 prisoners, including dozens of survivors from a Saudi-led coalition strike on a detention centre earlier this month, the ICRC said. The International Committee of the Red Cross hailed the move as "a positive step that will hopefully revive the

Horrific patterns of torture catalogued in Yemen’s unofficial prisons

More than 1,000 people have been arbitrarily detained and hundreds tortured by Yemen's warring parties, finds a new report.

HOLE, SYRIA - NOVEMBER 09: November 9, 2015 in Hassica, Rojava, Syria. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

US troops 'secure' northeast Syria oil, as contamination from it imperils lives

Dilapidated pipelines and oil waste coat polluted rivers and streams in Kurdish-run northeast Syria.

People walk around the rocks in the natural reserve area of Wadi Al-Hitan, or the "Valley of the Whales", at the desert of Al Fayoum Governorate, southwest of Cairo, Egypt, January 14, 2016. Wadi Al-Hitan holds an impressive collection of fossils and bones, some of which date back over 40 million years. The entire site resembles an open-air museum with marked trails that visitors can follow to admire the fossils and rock formations that extend over a vast area. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany - GF20000094784

Egyptian company strikes gold in Eastern Desert

Egypt has sought to attract gold mining investment recently.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community wave flags as they participate in a march during the Gay Pride parade in Istanbul, on June 30, 2019. - Turkish police on June 30 fired tear gas at gay rights groups and activists who defied authorities to march for the Istanbul pride parade, banned for the fifth year in a row. Thousands of people rallied close to the popular Istiklal Avenue and Taksim Square where organisers originally planned to hold the parade, an AFP correspondent said. (Photo by BULENT KILIC / AFP)

Turkey cries 'LGBT propaganda' after official faces backlash for pedophilia tweet

Activists saw the tweet from the head of Turkish Red Crescent as targeting the LGBTI community and say such rhetoric puts it at greater risk.

TOPSHOT - A trader walks by beneath a stock display board at the Dubai Stock Exchange in the United Arab Emirates, on March 8, 2020. - Saudi's stock exchange fell 6.5 percent and other Gulf markets tumbled to multi-year lows at the start of trading after OPEC and its allies failed to clinch a deal over oil production cuts. (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

IMF official: Gulf economies to contract by 7.6% in 2020

The International Monetary Fund official's predictions are worse than earlier ones as the Gulf deals with oil price drops and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Iran sentences dissident journalist to death

Iran sees Rouhollah Zam as an enemy of the state in part as a result of his controversial coverage of anti-government protests in Iran; Iranian Supreme Court also upholds a five-year sentence for French-Iranian researcher Fariba Adelkhah.

A picture taken on August 23, 2019 shows a painted Turkish coffee cup plate by Turkey's micro artist Hasan Kale in Istanbul. - His canvas could be anything from match sticks, seeds to razors and crown corks. Turkey's micro artist, also known as Turkish Microangelo in reference to Italian Renaissance sculptor and painter Michelangelo, has been hitting his brush onto tiny everyday objects for more than two decades. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON

Lost treasures brewed fresh at Turkey's first coffee museum

An enchanting array of the classic Turkish and regional beverage is there for the tasting in a unique coffee museum that features antique implements and forgotten recipes of Anatolia.

Syrians buy bread in the town of Binnish in the country's northwestern Idlib province on June 9, 2020. - Syrians held a third day of rare anti-regime protests over deteriorating living conditions Tuesday in the government-held city of Sweida, a war monitor said, as the value of the pound sunk. The value of the Syrian pound has plummeted with dizzying speed in recent days on the informal market, sending prices skyrocketing nationwide and shuttering shops. Dozens rallied in the majority-Druze city of Sweida i

Intel: US pledges nearly $700M in humanitarian assistance for Syrians

The US State Department announced it would be providing an additional $696 million in humanitarian assistance to Syrians.

Bolton, Pentagon rallied to keep al-Tanf base in Syria

After Donald Trump's surprising tweet in late 2018 that all US troops would return from Syria, John Bolton says he spoke out against the abandonment of the US garrison at al-Tanf.

Netanyahu calls for 'snapback sanctions' against Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met today with US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook — the perfect opportunity for the premier to show his tight ties with Washington and control of the Iranian file.

A worker walks with a piece of wood on his shoulder at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), near Guba in Ethiopia, on December 26, 2019. - The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a 145-metre-high, 1.8-kilometre-long concrete colossus is set to become the largest hydropower plant in Africa.
Across Ethiopia, poor farmers and rich businessmen alike eagerly await the more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity officials say it will ultimately provide.
Yet as thousands of workers toil day and night to finish

Can Arab League push Ethiopia to delay filling of Nile dam?

Arab foreign ministers called on Ethiopia to refrain from filling the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam next month without prior agreement with Egypt and Sudan, but Arab experts and observers believe this position must be translated into action to support Egypt and Sudan in their dispute with Ethiopia.

Israeli Alternate Prime Minister and Defence Minister Benny Gantz attends a cabinet meeting of the new government at Chagall State Hall in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in Jerusalem on May 24, 2020. (Photo by ABIR SULTAN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ABIR SULTAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Trapped by Netanyahu, Gantz loses popularity

Supporters of Blue and White leader Benny Gantz have not forgiven him for joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and their disappointment could mean the end of his political career.

Can Tunisia stay out of Libya war?

During his visit to France, Tunisia’s President Kais Saied stressed his country’s unwavering neutral position on the conflict raging in Libya, to the dismay of the country’s Islamist Ennahda movement.

TOPSHOT - Protestors wave Palestinian flags in front of Israel consulate in Istanbul on May 15, 2018 during a protest against the killing, the day before, of 59 Palestinians in clashes and protests, on the same day as the United States formally moved its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv in defiance of international outrage. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP) (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel goes after Turkish projects in Jerusalem

Jerusalem Municipality destroyed a plaque marking Turkey’s contribution to the restoration of a cemetery in the city as Israeli concerns over the Turkish activities in East Jerusalem persist.