Archives for December, 2023

Saudi Arabia and Turkey's national flags flutter outside the presidential complex in Ankara prior to the arrival of the Saudi crown prince to Ankara, June 22, 2022.

With 32% trade boost, Turkey eyes Saudi investments amid domestic downturn

Trade between the two countries reached $5.86 billion in 2022, a 32.6% increase over the previous year.

Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

New York synagogue becomes scene of latest attack amid Israel-Hamas war

Jewish religious institutions in the United States, Canada and Germany have been attacked since the war began as antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents continue to rise across the West.

Washington Pulse

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan (R) escorts US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as they arrive for a meeting with GCC Ministers at the GCC Secretariat in Riyadh on June 7, 2023.

Ending Gaza war ‘doesn’t seem priority’ says top Saudi diplomat on US visit

Top diplomats of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey and Qatar implied Washington’s credibility is on the line, saying repercussions from destruction wrought by Israeli military in Gaza will impact region for ‘generations’ if not stopped.

Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood said Washington opposes an immediate ceasefire in Gaza

US vetoes Security Council resolution calling for Gaza ceasefire

Agence France-Presse

A general view shows a United Nations Security Council meeting on Gaza, at UN headquarters in New York City on December 8, 2023.

Breaking | Last Updated: December 9, 2023, 8:19 am

US vetoes UNSC resolution demanding immediate cease-fire in Gaza

The renewed push for a cease-fire comes as the death toll in Gaza surpasses 17,000 and the humanitarian situation reaches catastrophic levels.

Palestinian mourners carry the bodies of men killed in the village of al-Fara during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank, Dec. 8, 2023.

Six Palestinians killed in Israeli raid as West Bank violence continues

The Israeli army continues its near-daily incursions into West Bank towns and cities amid the war in Gaza.

Putin will not face any major challengers in the 2024 vote, analysts say

Putin says he will run for re-election in 2024

Agence France-Presse

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi gives a joint press conference with his German counterpart following talks at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin on March 10, 2021.

Interview

Israel already suffering 'strategic defeat' with global outcry over Gaza, Jordan’s FM says

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi urged the United States to wield its influence with Israel to stem the bloodshed in Gaza after two months of devastating war.

Ayman Safadi

Ayman Safadi

Foreign Minister of Jordan

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Hamas claims to foil Israeli hostage-rescue effort

An Israeli official declined to comment on the matter as the war between the two rages on in Gaza following the collapse of the cease-fire.

A ball of fire rises above a building during an Israeli strike in Rafah

Day 65 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Dec. 10

A ball of fire rises above a building during an Israeli strike in Rafah

Day 64 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Dec. 9

UNSC vote

Day 63 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Dec. 8

Supporters hang a campaign banner of Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at a bus on a street in Cairo on December 7, 2023, ahead of the country's presidential election.

As Egyptians head to polls, Gaza war helps Sisi secure third term

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi continues to reject any attempt to forcibly displace and resettle Palestinians in Sinai, which has garnered him wide popularity that he had lost in the past years.

Northern Gaza has been decimated by Israeli bombardments

US vetoes UN ceasefire bid as battles rage across Gaza

Agence France-Presse

The Chinese and the Saudi flags adorning a street in Riyadh ahead of the Chinese president's visit to the Saudi capital, Dec. 7, 2022.

Saudi PIF ups investment in China’s Alibaba-backed tech fund

eWTP Arabia Capital invests in energy and technology start-ups across the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.

Gen. Joseph Aoun (R), Lebanese Army chief of staff, arrives at the Hamat airbase, north of Beirut, June 12, 2018.

What fate awaits Lebanon’s army chief Joseph Aoun as another Beirut void looms?

Another leadership position might soon be vacant in Lebanon amid bickering over the legality of extending the term of the soon-to-retire commander of the military.