Middle East

Washington (AFP) – The United States said Friday it is suspending $230 million budgeted for stabilization projects in Syria, citing the aid pledged by other partners in the coalition against the Islamic State group. But officials denied the United States was pulling out of Syria, saying Washington will support long-term reconstruction, but only under the […]

Israel/ Palestine

War Crime: Israeli Army Again Shoots unarmed Palestinian Protesters, Killing 2, Injuring 270

TeleSur

(TeleSur) – Some 20,000 people participated in Friday’s protests, which took place a few hundred meters from the Gaza border. Israeli forces opened fire on a group of Palestinian protesters, killing at least two and injuring over 40, during a demonstration near the eastern Gaza Strip, the Gaza Health Ministry said Friday. Medics said Israeli […]

Corruption

Israeli Police again Interrogate PM Netanyahu over his Alleged Corruption

AFP

Jerusalem (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went through a new round of questioning on Friday, police said, amid graft allegations that have threatened to topple him. The premier was questioned at his official residence in the context of investigations by the national economic crimes unit, a police statement in Hebrew said. It gave […]

Featured

If you Put an old W. Bush crony in Charge of Iran Policy, doesn’t it Signal a War-Like Intention?

Juan Cole

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has appointed Brian H. Hook, the State Department director of policy planning, to head a coordinated “Iran Action Group.” Hook served in several important posts in the George W. Bush administration, indicating his support for lying the country into war with Iraq and the years-long US military occupation of that […]

Israel/ Palestine

Author Reza Aslan threatened by Israeli Border Authorities with Family Separation

Maan News Agency

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, detained Iranian-American writer, Reza Aslan, as he was entering Israel through Jordan, with his family. Reza Aslan, 46, took to his Twitter account, where he said that the Shin Bet used police state tactics against him and his family. Aslan arrived in Israel with his wife, […]

Qatar

Qatar Emir Supports Crisis-Hit Turkey with Visit, Pledges $15 bn in New Investment

AFP

Doha (AFP) – The emir of wealthy Qatar flew to Turkey Wednesday to meet close ally President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an apparent show of support as Ankara grapples with a currency crisis. State media in Doha said Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani was travelling to Turkey for a “working visit”. The emir “will discuss […]

Turkey

Turkey’s Pres. Erdogan announces Boycott of US Electronic Goods

AFP

Istanbul (AFP) – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said Turkey would boycott US electronic goods in retaliation for punitive sanctions by Washington against Ankara over the detention of an American pastor. “We will boycott US electronic goods,” Erdogan said in a televised speech, raising the stakes in a spat that has seen the Turkish […]

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Women can Finally Drive, But are their Voices Being Heard?

The Conversation

By Nermin Allam | – Earlier this summer, Saudi Arabia lifted the decades-long ban on women’s driving. The move is part of a series of reforms that the country has been implementing. In April the kingdom loosened male guardianship laws – under which women need the permission of a male guardian to work, travel or […]

Featured

Defying Trump, Iraq’s PM walks Back Pledge to Boycott Iran, says will avoid Dollar Trade

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iraqi caretaker prime minister Haidar al-Abadi on Monday walked back his pledge last week that Iraq would participate in the US sanctions regime imposed on Iran. Al-Abadi now will only say that Iraq will not trade with Iran in dollars. I suppose that the two could instead use Euros or […]