Archives for August, 2020

A man counts Egyptian pounds at currency exchange shop in downtown Cairo on November 3, 2016. - Egypt floated the country's pound as part of a raft of reforms, after a dollar crunch and exorbitant black market trade threatened to grind some imports to a halt. (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Row in Egypt after official says government imposes income tax on arrested drug dealers, prostitutes

A tax official in Egypt has recently raised controversy when stating that the government is imposing an income tax on all drug traffickers, prostitutes and arms traders who are arrested.

Israel’s Iron Dome will soon be manufactured in the United States

American firm Raytheon Technologies and Israeli-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. will partner to produce the Iron Dome missile defense system.

A man walks at 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, on July 19, 2020. - 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, a large storage facility i

Turkey joins Syria in slamming oil agreement between US firm, Syrian Kurds

Ankara has spoken out against a new oil agreement between an American-based company and the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan resume talks on Nile River dam

This is the first set of talks since Ethiopia's controversial July announcement that it had completed the first stage of filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

A picture taken on January 13, 2020 during a press tour organised by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State group, shows US soldiers clearing rubble at Ain al-Asad military airbase in the western Iraqi province of Anbar. - Iran last week launched a wave of missiles at the sprawling Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq and a base in Arbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, both hosting US and other foreign troops, in retaliation for the US killing top Iranian general Qasem

Congress wants to see the Pentagon’s hidden costs of deterring Iran

Congress wants the Defense Department to regularly report on the costs required to deter Tehran's ambitions in the Middle East.

Six years after Yazidi massacre, US urged to take 'bolder action'

Iraq's Yazidis say the threat from the Islamic State and other extremist groups is preventing them from returning home.

Iran strikes Kurdish Iranian group in Iraqi territory

Iran sometimes targets the positions of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and other Kurdish Iranian groups based across the border in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Ankara to host interfaith dialogue expo as Hagia Sophia controversy heats up

The Turkish capital’s only contemporary museum is slated to host an exhibition that highlights interfaith dialogue amid controversy over Hagia Sophia's conversion.

Intel: Israeli court orders Netanyahu's son to stop tweeting personal details of protest leaders

The son of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ordered by an Israeli court on Sunday to stop harassing those leading protests against his father’s administration.

Lebanon's foreign minister resigns, citing lack of reforms

Nassif Hitti is the highest ranking official to step down during the country's worsening economic crisis.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - APRIL 06: A teacher inspects a newly made surgical face mask amid the COVID-19 outbreak at a Vocational and Technical Anatolian School on April 06, 2020 in Istanbul, Turkey. Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus Turkey's Ministry of National Education Istanbul Province Directorate, has launched a school program, turning some schools into makeshift factories to produce medical equipment. The program that is run and operated by the schools teachers themselves, has produced 2,700,000 surgic

Turkish health officials watch for COVID-19 cases to rise after holiday

Turkish health officials are calling for increased precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19 as citizens conclude festivities for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Intel: Libya’s Hifter threatens to meet Turkey’s forces ‘with bullets’

Eastern Libya’s Gen. Khalifa Hifter vowed to fight Turkey’s forces as Libya’s Government of National Accord is poised to press its counteroffensive against the key coastal city of Sirte with Ankara’s military support.

Iranians, some wearing protective masks, wait to cross a street in the capital Tehran on February 22, 2020. - Iran today reported one more death among 10 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths in the Islamic republic to five and infections to 28. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran registers 'alarming' rise in infections as people 'trivialize' rules

A majority of the country's provinces are reporting an "alarming" number of new cases, according to Iran's Health Ministry.

Israel facing tensions on northern, southern borders

The IDF is now worried not only about escalating tensions on the Syrian and Lebanese borders but also about growing tensions along the border with the Gaza Strip.

Iran and UAE discuss cooperation on COVID-19

Iran and the United Arab Emirates have worked together on the virus before despite them being on opposite sides of Middle Eastern conflicts.

Iran arrests US-based leader of exile group

Authorities in Tehran say they detained Jamshid Sharmahd, the leader of a California-based opposition group, inside Iran, yet questions remain about his detention.