Al-Monitor Staff - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

The UN-chartered vessel MV Valsamitis is loaded to deliver 25,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat to Kenya and 5,000 tonnes to Ethiopia, at the port of Chornomorsk, east of Odessa on the Black Sea coast, Feb. 18, 2023.

Turkey, Russia discuss Ukraine grain export deal after Moscow halts pact

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

US Vice President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands while giving joint statements at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on March 9, 2016. Biden implicitly criticised Palestinian leaders for not condemning attacks against Israelis, as an upsurge in violence marred his visit. / AFP / POOL / DEBBIE HILL (Photo credit should read DEBBIE HILL/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden extends invite to Israel's Netanyahu to visit US

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

Tunisia's Ons Jabeur returns the ball to Belarus's Aryna Sabalenka during their women's singles semi-finals tennis match on the eleventh day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 13, 2023. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images)

Tunisia's Ons Jabeur stuns Sabalenka, advances to Wimbledon's final

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

This photo taken on July 10, 2012, in Ankara shows people at a traditional "doner" fast food restaurant. In Turkey 35% of the population has accumulated excess body fat to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. The Turkish health ministry has launched a campaign calling on Turks to be more active. AFP PHOTO/ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/GettyImages)

Bahrain, Turkey are Middle East's biggest eaters: Oxford rankings

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

Lebanese TV station LBCIs anchorwoman Dima Sadek arrives at a Beirut court on November 4, 2015, as she appeared before a judge on the backdrop of a complaint filed by Hezbollah against her. The lawsuit was filed after Sadek hosted a TV episode on corruption, accusing Hezbollah of being involved in corrupt operations. AFP PHOTO / PATRICK BAZ (Photo credit should read PATRICK BAZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Outrage in Lebanon as journalist Dima Sadek sentenced to prison

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

Turkish minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Simsek,(L) speaks with minister of Energy and Natural Resourcesand Alparslan Bayraktar,(R) during the group meeting of Justice and Development (AK) Party at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara, on June 21, 2023. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey's finance, banking chiefs to visit Saudi Arabia in search of foreign funds

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (2R), Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi (L) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary General Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi (2L) arrive for a joint press conference following a meeting of Sergei Lavrov with his counterparts of the GCC member states in Moscow on July 10, 2023. (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / POOL / AFP) (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

In Moscow, Russia's Lavrov welcomes Gulf states' rapprochement with Iran

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboats cruise past an oil tanker off the port of Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, on July 2, 2012. Iran has come up with several methods to foil the European insurance embargo on ships loaded with its crude, a sanction which may harm its vital exports as much as the EU oil embargo itself. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/GettyImages)

US confirms Iran’s IRGC seized tanker smuggling fuel in Gulf

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

This aerial photograph shows the construction of the Russian-built Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Mersin province, Turkey, April 26, 2023.

Turkey says talks with China, Russia, South Korea underway for new nuclear plants

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

Patriot long-range air defence systems of the German Bundeswehr armed forces are deployed at Vilnius Airport ahead of the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on July 7, 2023. (Photo by Petras Malukas / AFP) (Photo by PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP via Getty Images)

US presses Turkey to lift opposition to Sweden's NATO bid as summit nears

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

Supporters of Iraq's Sadrist movement gather outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on June 30, 2023 for a second day of protests against a Koran burning outside a Stockholm mosque that outraged Muslims around the world. The protest came a day after an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, stomped on the Islamic holy book and set several pages alight in front of the capital's largest mosque. Swedish police had granted him a permit in line with free-speech protections, but authorities later said

As protests continue against Sweden, OIC to meet in Saudi on Quran burning

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

A photo illustration taken on March 30, 2018 in Beijing shows the screen of a laptop with the word "VPN" written in the search field of the Chinese Baidu website. Chinese authorities had announced that all unrecognised VPN services would be blocked by March 31, meaning that Chinese and foreign companies must choose from a limited number of state-approved VPNs. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOUR (Photo credit should read FRED DUFOUR/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran, Yemen, Saudi Arabia follow close behind China in VPN blocking

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff