Archives for March, 2023

Israeli military veterans join a protest against the government's judicial reforms on a highway north of Tel Aviv

Key issues in crisis talks on Israel's divisive judicial reforms

Agence France-Presse

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (L) speaks during a press conference with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) in Athens on January 2, 2020 following the signing ceremony of an agreement for the EastMed pipeline project designed to ship gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe in Athens on January 2, 2020. (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS / AFP) (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Mossad says it foiled Iranian-Pakistani attack on Israelis in Greece

Israel’s spy agency assisted its Greek counterpart in dismantling a Pakistani terror cell, affiliated with Iran, that was planning attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) sits with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before a dinner at the Prime Minister's residence March 9, 2010 in Jerusalem, Israel. Biden, visiting Israel as part of U.S.-led efforts to restart Middle East peace talks, on Tuesday condemned Israel's plans for 1,600 new homes in an area of the occupied West Bank it has annexed to Jerusalem. (Photo by Baz Ratner-Pool/Getty Images)

Biden rebukes Netanyahu, says no invite to the White House in 'near term'

In an open crisis with the Israeli government over the judicial overhaul, President Joe Biden nixes inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu anytime soon to the White House.

Bahrain is seeking to decrease its reliance on its oil sector which accounts for 80 percent of revenues, much of that from refining

Billion-dollar facelift as Bahrain bids to join Gulf boom

Agence France-Presse

Riyadh Air and Saudia reached agreements to purchase 78 Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes to support Saudi Arabia's expanding aviation plans, Boeing announced

Room for one more? Saudi moves in on Gulf aviation market

Agence France-Presse

Afghan toddler Maryam, who was bundled onto an evacuation flight after her parents were killed in a huge bomb blast at Kabul airport in 2021, is reunited with her family and seen held by one of her sisters at an orphanage in Doha

Afghan orphaned toddler Maryam finally reunited with family

Agence France-Presse

The captagon trade cuts across all sides in the Syrian civil war, with the drug now the country's biggest export

US slaps sanctions on Syria's Assad's cousins over captagon drug

Agence France-Presse

Demonstrators lift national flags during a protest near Baghdad's Green Zone on February 27, 2023.

Iraqis continue to protest controversial electoral law amendment

An amendment was passed by the Iraqi parliament that critics say will benefit larger political parties at the expense of independents that emerged following the 2019 Tishreen protests.

wimmers enter the water in the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul's Bebek district on July 29, 2022. - Istanbul, a historic megalopolis of 16 million people resting between two continents and two sea, does not bring to mind immediate images of a beach resort. But just like the locals of New York, Beirut and a handful of other global cities, Istanbulites can swim all summer long and return home on the metro with salt layering their skin, sand trapped under their sandals. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN K

Culture

Tunis, Istanbul top Middle East city rankings for 'mindful travelers'

Nine cities from the broader Middle East and North Africa region, including four in Turkey, made it into a ranking of the world's top cities for “mindful travelers."

KABIL BOUSENA/AFP via Getty Images

House Democrats warn Saied's crackdown risks US-Tunisia relationship

In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a group of 20 Democratic lawmakers expressed concern over a wave of politically motivated arrests in Tunisia.

A general view of the Dubai skyline on November 30, 2020 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

UAE’s ‘Second Salary’ savings plan offers its expat majority passive income

The savings plan is the first step in establishing a long-term retirement plan structure by the savings and investment company, amid low rates of retirement savings in the region.

A handout picture provided by the Iranian Army's official website on September 11, 2020, shows an Iranian Simorgh drone carrying a weapon during the second day of a military exercise in the Gulf, near the strategic strait of Hormuz in southern Iran. - The Iranian navy began on September 10 a three-day exercise in the Sea of Oman near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, deploying an array of warships, drones and missiles. One of the exercise's objectives is to devise "tactical offensive and defensive strategies

Iran adheres to ambiguity over attack on US base in Syria

Iranian officials continue to neither confirm nor deny responsibility for a recent deadly attack on US forces in Syria that has been blamed on Tehran-backed proxies.

Egyptian man looks at Qatari LNG carrier

Analysis

North Africa diesel exports to Europe surge as Russia digs deeper into Ukraine

Europe has been looking for alternative sources of oil and gas in light of Western sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine war.

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

Ghiora Lehler, a 79-year-old veteran Israeli paratrooper, waves a national flag during a rally against the government's judicial reform bill.

Analysis

Winners, losers emerge after Israel’s Netanyahu suspends judicial overhaul

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the ultra-Orthodox parties and even the IDF are on the side of the losers now that the judicial overhaul has been postponed.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

A picture shows the headquarters of UAE's state oil company ADNOC in Dubai on July 27, 2022.

UAE-Israel ties strengthen further with offer for NewMed Energy

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and British Petroleum are seeking a 50% stake in the firm. The news follows the activation of the Israel-UAE free trade agreement and another Emirati firm buying a stake in Israel's gas fields.

OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images

20 pilgrims dead in bus crash en route to Saudi Arabia’s Mecca

Almost every pilgrimage season witnesses deadly accidents in Saudi Arabia.