Archives for July, 2020

Iranians, wearing protective face masks, ride their motorcycles in the capital Tehran on July 22, 2020, during the COVID-19 epidemic. - The Islamic republic has been battling a resurgence of the virus, with official figures showing a rise in both new infections and deaths since a two-month low in May. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Report: Iranian authorities ignore prisons' pleas for help in fighting COVID-19

Amnesty International obtained letters from prisons in Iran to the Health Ministry about a lack of adequate supplies in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

Does Erdogan think Sisi is bluffing in Libya?

Trump and Putin can prevent the "Syrianization" of Libya.

Iraq’s prime minister says early elections to be held in June 2021

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said parliamentary elections will be held June 6, 2021.

Turkey holds joint military drills with Azerbaijan amid Armenia conflict

Azerbaijan and Armenia, long at odds, have been fighting in the strategic Tavush-Tovuz border area; Turkey has threatened to intervene on the side of Azerbaijan.

Relatives and colleagues of the 11 Ukrainians who died in a plane mistakenly shot down by Iran in January, attend a ceremony unveiling a memorial stone at the site of the future monument at the Boryspil International airport outside Kiev on February 17, 2020. (Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP) (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran, Ukraine hold 'constructive' talks over downed passenger plane

Ukraine's foreign minister said the talks were productive, but the two sides have not yet agreed on compensation for the plane's downing.

Elon Musk tweets that aliens built Egypt's pyramids

The conspiracy theory that aliens built the marvels is unfortunately common.

US expands sanctions on Iran metals trade, citing ballistic missile program

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expands metals-related sanctions on Iran, naming 22 materials used in connection with Iran’s nuclear, military or ballistic missile programs.

Could fraud allegations shatter Iranian parliament speaker's dream for presidency?

Fresh fraud allegations leveled against Iran’s powerful parliament speaker could mar his expected bid for the presidency next year, while exposing widening rifts within the conservative camp.

Iranian supermarket opens in Venezuelan capital

Iran and Venezuela maintain strong economic ties despite US sanctions on both countries.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - FEBRUARY 11: The ceiling of one of the dome's inside the Hagia Sophia Museum is seen on February 11, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. The Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) Museum is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Turkey, with more than 3 million visitors per year. Constructed in 537 the museum originally served as an Orthodox Cathedral, later a Roman Catholic church and was converted into a mosque when Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1453. In 1935 it was opened as a mu

UN experts urge Turkey to use Hagia Sophia as 'intercultural space'

Experts from the United Nations called on the Turkish government to use the contested landmark as a place of interfaith dialogue.

Israeli Economy Minister and head of the far-right Jewish Home party, Naftali Bennett gestures as he gives a speech during a debate on economy on March 11, 2015 in the costal Israeli city of Tel Aviv. Six days before Israel votes in a snap general election, the centre-left Zionist Union opened a lead of several points over the ruling rightwing Likud party, a poll showed. Bennett, 42, is a champion of the settler movement and a key challenger of Netanyahu to head Israel's rightwing. AFP PHOTO / GIL COHEN-

Netanyahu’s decline benefits pro-settler Bennett

With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu falling in the polls and facing public discontent, Yamina leader Naftali Bennett is more popular than ever.

A Syrian civilian walks past a shell hole after Syrian government forces recently recaptured the village of Ghariyah ash Sharqiyah from the rebels, in the province of Daraa, on July 4, 2018. - Syrian rebels were facing a deadline Wednesday in negotiations with regime ally Russia to either agree to tough surrender terms in the south or come under a renewed military onslaught. (Photo by Youssef KARWASHAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read YOUSSEF KARWASHAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Moscow, Damascus shadowbox in Syria’s grey zones

The newest twist in Syria involves a Russian-backed military group working to carve out an autonomous zone for itself in the southwest and even clashing with regime forces, perhaps paradoxically seeking to boost regime's legitimacy.

Israel attempts to de-escalate tensions with Hezbollah

Preferring to avoid escalation, Israel decided to let Hezbollah emerge unscathed from a July 27 incident and escape humiliation.

TOPSHOT - Russian Sukhoi Su-35 and Su-34 military aircrafts fly over the Russian national flag on the Kremlin palace in Moscow on May 7, 2019, during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade. - Russia will celebrate the 74th anniversary of the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany on May 9. (Photo by Yuri KADOBNOV / AFP) (Photo credit should read YURI KADOBNOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Egypt acquires Russian fighter jets despite US warning

Russian media outlets reported that a first batch of the Su-35 fighter jets are en route to Egypt as part of a 2018 deal over which Washington threatened Cairo with sanctions.

Children sit in a classroom at a school in the Moroccan village of Taghzirt, in el-Haouz province in the High Atlas Mountains south of the capital of Marrakech, on March 4, 2016.
When using well-known search engines, one can find very few information about Taghzirt village. And while tourists from all around the world enjoy the sun warm days and the snow-covered view of the nearby mountains from Marrakesh, hundreds of villagers suffer from the harshness of winter and isolation, due to the state of the roads

Inside Morocco’s digital divide: girls fighting for education in lockdown

While the internet has kept many going through coronavirus lockdowns, the digital divide could mean that many Moroccan students will fall behind.

This picture taken on July 19, 2020 shows a general view of a makeshift refinery using burners to distill crude oil in the village of Bishiriya in the countryside near the town of Qahtaniya west of Rumaylan (Rmeilan) in Syria's Kurdish-controlled northeastern Hasakeh province. - Oil pollution in Syria has become a growing concern since the 2011 onset of a civil war that has taken a toll on oil infrastructure and seen rival powers compete over control of key hydrocarbon fields. In the Kurdish-held northeast,

US oil company signs deal with Syrian Kurds

Sources told Al-Monitor the agreement to market oil in territory controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces was signed “with the knowledge and encouragement of the White House.”