Archives for February, 2024

his combination of pictures created on April 18, 2023 shows Sudan's army chief, Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (L), in Juba on October, 14, 2019 and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (R) known as Hemedti, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), addressing the media upon his return from Russia at Khartoum airport on March 2, 2022. - AKUOT CHOL,ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP via Getty Images

How Sudan could become an Iran-UAE proxy war

Iran’s efforts to establish a foothold in Sudan threatens its fragile ties with the UAE, which has its own interests in the war-torn country.

United Arab Emirates

Smoke billows during Israeli shelling on the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila near the border with Israel on January 31, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP) (Photo by RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Hochstein back in Israel: Can he bring Lebanon cease-fire alongside Gaza's?

Israel may have to accept low-key conflict with Hezbollah as the "new-old normal" on its northern border even as a cease-fire appears close with Hamas.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: a delicate balancing act

Netanyahu's political tightrope on Hamas hostage deal

Agence France-Presse

Akram Afif has scored four times for the hosts Qatar

Hosts Qatar embrace 'positive pressure' of Asian Cup title defence

Agence France-Presse

Some civilians fleeing the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis wear hazmat suits left over from the Covid pandemic to keep warm as winter storms lash the Palestinian territory

Gaza fighting continues despite efforts for truce

Agence France-Presse

Gemstones in Iran are said to enhance prayer

Iran's long-lasting love for gemstones

Agence France-Presse

Ireland's prime minister, Leo Varadkar, talks to the press as he arrives for the second and last day of a European Union summit, at the EU headquarters in Brussels, on Oct. 27, 2023.

Ireland seeking review of EU-Israel trade deal

Ireland-Israel relations have plummeted since the start of the Gaza war amid significant pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli sentiment in the country.

French marines patrol the area around the French navy frigate, the FS Languedoc.

Analysis

Despite internal discord, EU to launch Red Sea naval mission within 3 weeks

Internal disagreements within the European Union are why Brussels announced only this week that it will set up a naval military mission in the Red Sea to protect the maritime route.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Israeli soldiers deploy during the funeral of Labib Damidi

Biden imposes sanctions over 'intolerable' Israeli settler violence

Agence France-Presse

A picture taken on Nov. 10, 2019, shows an Iranian flag in Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Iran begins building 4 more nuclear power plants amid IAEA warnings

Western officials have long suspected Tehran of looking to produce nuclear weapons, though Iran denies this.

ILYAS AKENGIN/AFP via Getty Images

Kurds poised yet again to sway Istanbul race as Turkey's local polls approach

Control of Istanbul, Turkey's major seat of political power, is up for grabs as nationwide municipal elections approach.

THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images

Breaking | Last Updated: February 1, 2024, 2:49 pm

Biden authorizes sanctions over West Bank settler attacks

Under a new executive order, the State Department has imposed sanctions on four Israelis accused of violence and intimidation that forced Palestinians to flee their homes in the West Bank.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) shakes hand with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on September 9, 2023. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

India's government ratifies UAE investment deal as trade booms

The UAE and India have substantial and growing economic ties and Abu Dhabi is seeking to invest more in the South Asian country.

Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie holds a press conference about the grounding of the Panama-flagged MV Ever Given cargo ship in the waterway, Suez, March 27, 2021.

Analysis

Egypt sees sharp decline in Suez Canal trade volume amid Red Sea turmoil

Data for 2024 up to Jan. 29 show 140.55 million metric tons of trade transiting the key chokehold compared with 145.25 million metric tons the same time last year.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

HOSSEIN BERIS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Iran’s IRGC reportedly relocates forces from Syria ahead of expected US strikes

The move comes after a drone strike on a US post in Jordan killed three US soldiers and wounded dozens of others in an attack blamed on Iran.

(To go with AFP story by Mihaela Rodina) Urlati Plant Manager, Luc Viaene (L), Romanian President Traian Basescu (C) and Bob MacDonald (R), President and Chief Executive Officer of P&G, stand together during the official inauguration of a new Procter & Gamble plant in Urlati, a city 80km northeast from Bucharest, on September 29, 2010. The new factory will produce hair care products, of which 90 percent will be exported throughout the European Union and Turkey. AFP PHOTO/DANIEL MIHAILESCU (Photo by DANIEL M

Armed man in Turkey holds hostages at Procter & Gamble plant

An assailant who took seven people hostage in protest of the civilian casualties in Gaza was caught by Turkish police after nine-hour-long standoff.