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Items by Reuters
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Erdogan’s vow to expand Syria operations raises stakes in Turkiye-NATO row
President Tayyip Erdogan’s pledge to launch military operations soon to expand safe zones already set up across Turkiye’s southern borders has raised the stakes in his row with NATO partners over Finland and Sweden joining the alliance. Analysts said Erdogan’s surprise announcement on Monday reflected his belief that the...
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A rival sits out Lebanon’s election – Now Hezbollah could fill the void
The stakes are high in Lebanon’s election. The heavily armed Hezbollah Movement has seen one of its main rivals descend into disarray, handing it an opportunity to cement power over a divided country that’s sinking into poverty. Abdallah Al-Rahman will not be casting a ballot, though. “I won’t vote...
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Why NOPEC, the US Bill to crush the OPEC cartel, matters
A US Senate committee is expected to pass a Bill on Thursday that could open members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners to antitrust lawsuits for orchestrating supply cuts that raise global crude prices. The No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels (NOPEC) Bill is intended to protect US...
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Rising oil prices buy Iran time in nuclear talks, officials say
Emboldened by an oil price surge since Russia invaded Ukraine, Iran’s clerical rulers are in no rush to revive a 2015 nuclear pact with world powers to ease sanctions on its energy-reliant economy, three officials familiar with Tehran’s thinking said. Last year, the Islamic Republic engaged in indirect talks...
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Under military’s watch, Sudan’s former ruling party making a comeback
Since Sudan’s military staged a coup six months ago, many former allies of toppled autocrat, Omar Al-Bashir, have been allowed to rejoin the civil service, while others have been freed from jail in an apparent push to form a government and reassure donors. The rehabilitation of the Islamist National...
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Russia-Ukraine fallout starts felling fragile ‘frontier’ economies
The fallout of the Russia and Ukraine war has just helped tip two of world’s poorest countries into full-blown crises, and the list of those at risk – and the queue at the International Monetary Fund’s door – will only get longer from here. They may be far from...
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You still need us, UAE tells US as it flexes Gulf oil muscles
By single-handedly knocking 13 per cent off rocketing oil prices on one day this week, the United Arab Emirates demonstrated the power Gulf producers wield in the market and sent a wake-up call to Washington to pay closer attention to its long time allies. OPEC heavyweights, Saudi Arabia and...
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Arab refugees see double standards in Europe’s embrace of Ukrainians
Syrian refugee, Ahmad Al-Hariri, who fled the war in his country for neighbouring Lebanon 10 years ago, spent the last decade hoping in vain to escape to a new life in Europe, Reuters reports. Watching European nations open their arms to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians in less than...
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College dreams dashed as young Afghan women fight to keep poverty at bay
As students return to universities across Afghanistan this month, law major, Waheeda Bayat, will not be among them. The 24-year-old was looking forward to resuming her course at the private Gawharshad University in Kabul, but amid an economic collapse that has dragged millions of Afghans into poverty, she cannot afford to...
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IMF’s tough terms deepen doubts over quick Lebanon bailout
The IMF has asked Lebanon to fulfil a string of pre-conditions before negotiating a bailout, four sources briefed on recent talks said, pressing for steps Beirut has long failed to deliver and compounding doubts over whether a rescue plan can be agreed, Reuters reports. An IMF deal is seen...
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The importance of Turkiye’s oversight of warship movements as possible Russia, Ukraine war heats up
Ukraine has asked Turkiye to close the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to Russian ships, Ukraine’s ambassador to Ankara said today, after Russia launched air and ground assaults on its neighbour. Under the international Montreux Convention, NATO member Turkiye has control over passage of vessels between the Mediterranean and Black...
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Demand for Hebrew lessons jumps in Gaza as Israel eases work restrictions
In a brightly lit classroom in Gaza, a teacher spells out Hebrew words on a whiteboard, followed attentively by Maher Al-Farra and dozens of other Palestinians hoping to take advantage of an opening up of employment opportunities in Israel. Increased demand for the classes at the Nafha Languages Centre...
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How a Saudi woman’s iPhone revealed hacking around the world
A single activist helped turn the tide against NSO Group, one of the world’s most sophisticated spyware companies now facing a cascade of legal action and scrutiny in Washington over damaging new allegations that its software was used to hack government officials and dissidents around the world. It all...
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Libya’s Dbeibah: the ambitious politician
A move by Libya’s parliament to oust Interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, who had promised not to use his stand-in position for political advancement, is testament to his success in doing just that. A reported assassination attempt on Dbeibah overnight came a day after he vowed not to cede power to...
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Egypt’s tuk-tuk drivers wary of plans for green streets
Ahmed Samir zips expertly through the Cairo traffic in his tuk-tuk, making a meagre living by ferrying Egyptians around the chaotic mega-city in his three-wheeled people carrier, Thomson Reuters Foundation reports. But Samir’s daily routine of beeping, swerving and cursing Cairo’s congestion could all come to a crashing halt...
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War, siege leave Yemenis unable to buy their own honey
Idrees Al-Haddad used to buy seven kilogramme tubs of Yemen’s world-famous honey when he went shopping. Today he can only afford one kilogramme. Like many Yemenis suffering the extreme inflation and salary losses of a seven-year war, Al-Haddad’s reduced consumption has left the industry with a production surplus. “Merchants...
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COVID and war push Yemen’s businesswomen to smash taboos
Short of masks and short of protective gowns, Yemen’s over-stretched medical workers started dying from COVID-19. Nadia Dhrah – herself a doctor – was dismayed, so she resolved to do what she could to help. Dhrah, who had set up a tiny business making surgical masks and clothing in...
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Lebanon slips further into Iran’s orbit as Hariri bows out
A decision by Sunni Muslim leader, Saad Al-Hariri, to step away from Lebanese politics opens the way for Shia Hezbollah to extend its already deep sway over the country, rendering it ever more a bastion of Iranian influence on the Mediterranean. Three times Prime Minister, Hariri declared on Monday...
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Why Yemen is at war – Explainer
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have launched two missile attacks at the United Arab Emirates in the last week, raising the stakes in a ruinous and complex conflict. Monday’s assault, which the Houthis said was aimed at a base hosting the US military, was thwarted by American-built Patriot interceptors, following a...
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Only 50 homes destroyed in Israel’s 2021 attack on Gaza rebuilt, others remain in ruins
Palestinian Zeyad Abu Odah watched with a smile as his four-storey house, destroyed in an Israeli air strike in last May’s fierce Israeli attack on Gaza, was slowly being rebuilt in the Shaati refugee camp. He is one of the lucky few. Only 50 of 1,650 homes wrecked in...
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Sudan security forces increasing attacks on medical services treating protesters
On the afternoon of 30 December, security forces banged on the windows of Khartoum Teaching Hospital then fired tear gas into an emergency room packed with protesters injured in a nearby demonstration. “We were around the corner trying to hide, it came right past our heads,” said a nurse...
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Kuwait: domestic politics to test crown prince in push for fiscal reform
The biggest task facing Kuwait’s octogenarian crown prince after unexpectedly stepping in for the emir this month will be to tackle the perennial political feuding which has long blocked badly needed fiscal reform in the wealthy oil producing country. Previously a low-profile figure who avoided public politics, little was...
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Abu Dhabi Crown Prince to visit Turkey after years of tension – officials
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE’s de facto ruler, will visit Turkey for the first time in years, as the regional rivals work to repair frayed relations, two Turkish officials said on Monday. The visit, which will include talks with Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan,...
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Kuwait’s ruler hands some duties to Crown Prince – decree
Kuwait’s Crown Prince has been asked to carry out some of Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah’s constitutional duties on a temporary basis, state news agency, KUNA. said on Monday, citing an Emiri decree. Crown Prince, Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, also in his 80s, is half brother of the Emir...