Archives for August, 2020

(FILES) A file picture taken on January 6, 2020 during the Dakar 2020 car racing shows a general view of Saudi Arabia's northwestern region, between Neoam and al-Wajh. - A rare revolt by a Saudi tribe has spelt fresh trouble for a planned Red Sea megacity, a lynchpin of the crown princes economic vision already beset by low oil prices. The $500 billion NEOM project, set to be built from scratch along the kingdom's picturesque western coast, is billed as a futuristic cityscape evocative of a sci-fi blockbust

Gulf citizens powerless in face of megaprojects

Local communities in Saudi Arabia often have no say in the strategic infrastructure projects and long-term economic reforms that directly impact them.

TOPSHOT - Iraqi demonstrators gather amid smoke after fire services extinguished fire on tires during a protest near the governor's residence in the southern city of Basra, to oppose assassinations and demand the resignation of top security officials in the southern Iraqi governorate, on August 17, 2020. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP) (Photo by HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: Murder of another Iraqi activist sparks new wave of demonstrations

The death of a woman activist follows a string of recent assassinations and kidnappings and has reignited mass protests in Iraq demanding an end to violence and corruption.

Russian major general killed in roadside bomb in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor

Maj. Gen. Vyacheslav Gladkikh is the first Russian general reported killed in Syria since 2017.

Trump, Kadhimi launch new chapter in US-Iraq relations

US offers Iraqi prime minister aid, energy deals and continued cooperation against Islamic State.

Erdogan converts another historic church into a mosque

The centuries-old Chora church, which has served as a museum since 1945, will soon be open to Muslim worship.

A fight plane of the type F-16 (L) of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) starts from the airbase in N√∂rvenich, western Germany, on August 20, 2020, during the first joint German-Israeli military air exercise "Blue Wings 2020". (Photo by SASCHA SCHUERMANN / AFP) (Photo by SASCHA SCHUERMANN/AFP via Getty Images)

UAE to send F-16s to Crete for training with Greek military amid tensions with Turkey

The UAE is the latest country to show support for Greece amid a tense maritime dispute with Turkey

United Arab Emirates

Israeli Paramedics of Maguen David Adom (Israel's National Emergency Pre-Hospital Medical Organisation) at the coronavirus national operations center unload a containment chamber during a coronavirus response training exercise in the central Israeli city of Kiryat Ono on February 26, 2020. - Some 80,000 people are infected worldwide, including nearly 2,800 outside China, and more than 2,700 have died worldwide, according to the latest toll from the World Health Organization. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Phot

Coronavirus cases in Israel top 100,000

The surge in coronavirus cases come as confidence in Benjamin Netanyahu's government is declining.

People watch as Scarabeo 9, a 115-meter-long and 78-meter-high Frigstad D90-type semi-submersible drilling rig, passes on the Bosphorus Strait en route to the Black Sea in Istanbul on August 29, 2019. - The semi-submersible drilling rig is owned and operated by Italian oil and gas industry contractor Saipem and registered in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey announces major natural gas discovery in Black Sea

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the discovery of 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas will help Turkey reduce its reliance on foreign energy supplies.

This picture taken on August 19, 2020 shows a view of the landmark Le Gray hotel in the centre of Lebanon's capital Beirut overlooking the Martyrs' Square, as a banner is hung across its facade reading in English "Stay strong! Together we shall riise once again, see you soon", and a giant Lebanese national flag hung over the facade of the neighbouring building, in the aftermath of the monster blast that ravaged the city earlier in August. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon returns to lockdown after post-explosion surge in virus

The country has registered all-time highs in daily new COVID-19 cases following the massive Aug. 4 explosion.

Fighters loyal to the UN-recognised Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) ride in a technical (pickup truck mounted with turret) along a road in the Qasr bin Ghashir district south of the Libyan capital Tripoli on June 4, 2020, after the area was taken over by pro-GNA forces following clashes with rival forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar. - The GNA said on June 4 that it was back in full control of the capital and its suburbs after more than a year of fighting off an offensive by eastern strongma

Libyan sides declare cease-fire, call for return to political process

Libya's Tobruk-based government reciprocated a call for a cease-fire by the UN-backed government in Tripoli, in a potential breakthrough for peace.

Activists continue to be killed in Basra

The killing of an Iraqi activist in Bara took place even as Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi was visiting Washington; it was just the latest in a series of violent attacks against protesters and others in the southern city.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - AUGUST 29: People walk past a currency exchange office on August 29, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkey's lira extended its slump to a third day to 6.45 against the dollar after the central bank announced it would alter Turkish banks borrowing limits on overnight transactions, the move failed to reassure investors and combined with the decision by ratings agency Moody's to downgrade the credit rating of twenty Turkish financial institutions saw the lira continue to slide. (Photo by Chris

Family silver next in line in Turkey’s debt crunch

The hefty external debt of Turkey’s public and private sectors is increasingly imposing the option to offer asset swaps to creditors, including company shares and valuable real estate.

Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq meets with US Secretary of State at al-Alam palace in the capital Muscat on February 21, 2020. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Oman kicks off ambitious reform project

A significant revamp promises to slim down the Omani government, bring in new faces and mark the start of a new era.

President Donald Trump participates in a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington DC on August 20th, 2020.

Trump, Kadhimi discuss new phase in US-Iraq strategic relationship

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi's visit to Washington led to new energy deals and continued security cooperation.

Jordan accuses teachers union of 'economic crimes' in crackdown

Activists claim Jordanian government is applying "defense laws" to suppress dissent during economic downturn.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - AUGUST 28: New Jewish immigrants walking down the airplane during a welcoming ceremony after arriving on a flight from Ethiopia, on August 28, 2013 at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel. Over 400 Ethiopian Jews arrived on the flight to Tel Aviv, the last of a series of monthly flights that were part of Operation Dove's Wings, an Israeli government initiative to bring to Israel the remainder of the Falash Mura, members of the Ethiopian Jewish community whose ancestors converted to C

Israeli-Ethiopian community divided on bringing 8,000 Falash Mura

Minister of Immigration and Absorption Pnina Tamano-Shata presented last week a plan to bring to Israel 8,000 Falash Mura from Ethiopia by the end of 2022.