Archives for September, 2023

People lift the regional flag during a rally in Dohuk city.

In letter to Biden, Barzani warns of Iraqi Kurdistan's collapse, urges mediation

KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani's letter to Biden is aimed at jolting the administration into action as tensions rise between Erbil and Baghdad.

AFP via Getty Images

Libya devastated by Storm Daniel with over 2,300 killed, 10,000 feared missing

The United Arab Emirates and Turkey have sent aid to Libya, where more than 2,000 people have died due to severe flooding.

Francois Nel/Getty Images

Dubai apartment prices soar, spooking expats

The cost of the average apartment in Dubai rose 20% in one year through August.

United Arab Emirates

GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel's Mossad chief sets new red lines for Iranian leadership, Russia

Mossad chief David Barnea warned the Iranian leadership directly and Moscow more subtly, but his real message was for American ears.

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

Interview

Fintech, digital sukuk could spur Islamic finance growth in Middle East

The Gulf has seen a boom in funding for fintech startups, more than quadrupling from $200 million in 2020 to $885 million last year.

Mohamed Damak

Mohamed Damak

Global Head of Islamic Finance at S&P

'The death toll is huge and might reach thousands,' Tamer Ramadan of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies told reporters

At least 2,300 dead in Libya floods, but far higher toll feared

Agence France-Presse

PLO chairman Yasser Arafat joins Israeli premier Yitzhak Rabin and US president Bill Clinton for the signing of the first Oslo Accord on September 13, 1993

Oslo Accords promise turned into 'destroyed dreams' in Gaza

Agence France-Presse

Israeli Supreme Court president Esther Hayut and all 15 judges assemble to hear petitions against a key element of the government's controversial judicial reforms

Divisive legal reforms 'damage' Israeli democracy: lawyer

Agence France-Presse

Chu Thi Dao's shop in the Cypriot city of Limassol was attacked in an anti-migrant riot

Cyprus migrants face wave of attacks as hostility brews

Agence France-Presse

People walk at the Grand Bazaar in Tehran on September 5, 2023

US signs off on transfer of funds to Iran in prisoner deal

Agence France-Presse

A villager looks at destroyed houses in Douzrou on September 12, 2023, following the 6.8-magnitude earthquake

Race against time to find survivors 4 days after Morocco quake

Agence France-Presse

The village of Moulay Brahim south of Marrakesh was hit hard by Morocco's deadliest quake in over six decades with about 20 residents killed

Survivors suffer as Morocco quake aid trickles in

Agence France-Presse

The leadership of Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah, has proved divisive

Iran exiles' fragile unity fractured, a year after Amini protests

Agence France-Presse

People walk outside Tehran's Grand Bazaar, nearly a year after Mahsa Amini's death that triggered nationwide protests

A year since Iran unrest, hijab takes backseat to economic woes

Agence France-Presse

A general view shows the Iranian capital Tehran on January 7, 2023, with the Iranian flag fluttering in the wind. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Exclusive

Iran reveals names of 5 citizens sought in US prisoner deal

Washington and Tehran are on the verge of a deal that would see the exchange of five Americans for five Iranians, most of whom were accused or convicted of sanctions violations.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

People protest outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem against the Israeli government's judicial overhaul plan

Israelis rally near top court on eve of legal reform hearing

Agence France-Presse