Middle East

Tehran (AFP) – Iran’s oil minister on Wednesday gave French energy giant Total 60 days to win a sanctions waiver from Washington or it would lose its stake in a multi-billion-dollar gas project. “Total has 60 days to negotiate with the US government,” said Bijan Zanganeh, according to the oil ministry’s Shana news agency. “The […]

Israel/ Palestine

Rumors of Shakira Israel Concert Cancellation called Incorrect

Juan Cole

Lebanon’s Al-Nahar newspaper refuted reports that Shakira had cancelled a performance in Israel before her appearance in Bshareh in Lebanon. There appears never to have been a scheduled such performance on her schedule. The initial news was carried widely, including by the Jerusalem Post. Her concert producer, Live Nation, tweeted the below: The media has […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Banks in Palestinian West Bank Profit from Squatter Settlements (HRW)

Human Rights Watch

New York (Human Rights Watch) – Israel’s largest banks are providing services that help support, maintain, and expand unlawful settlements by financing their construction in the occupied West Bank, including partnering with developers to build homes on land unlawfully seized from Palestinians. The banks’ involvement is direct and substantial: they acquire a property interest in […]

Feminism

After arrest of Feminists, Saudi Arabia sets Harsh Penalties for Sexual Harassment

AFP

Riyadh (AFP) – Saudi Arabia is preparing to outlaw sexual harassment, officials said Tuesday, less than a month before the conservative kingdom lifts its decades-long ban on women driving. The kingdom’s Shura Council, which advises the cabinet, approved a draft law on Monday which would introduce a prison term of up to five years and […]

Featured

India stands with Iran against Trump Sanctions

Juan Cole

India’s External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, on Monday did not mince words in delivering a sharp rebuke to US plans for sanctions on trade with Iran, including National Security Adviser John Bolton’s threats against third parties like India. She said, according to The Hindu, “Our foreign policy is not made under pressure from other countries […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel begins construction of sea barrier off Gaza coast

Maan News Agency

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Israeli government began construction of marine barrier off the coast of the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, which it says will be used to prevent the movement of the Hamas military wing out of the besieged coastal enclave and into Israeli territory. Israeli news website Ynet reported that the naval barrier, […]

Dissent

In Bid to Erase Arab Spring from History, Egyptian Junta Arrests Legendary Blogger Wael Abbas

Committee to Protect Journalists

New York (CPJ) – Egyptian authorities should release immediately Wael Abbas, a blogger who has documented Egyptian police abuse, and end their senseless campaign against the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police at dawn today detained Abbas at his Cairo home and took him to an undisclosed location, according to news reports, […]

Turkey

Cliffhanger: Could Turkey’s Authoritarian President Erdogan Actually Lose June Snap Elections?

Edgar Şar

Istanbul (OpenDemocracy) – The rise of authoritarianism in Turkey has gone hand in hand with a de-institutionalization, in favour of what many call the “one man regime”. How long can that last? On Sunday, May 20, 2018, Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in the Bosnian capital to address supporters living in Europe, ahead of […]

Israel/ Palestine

Palestinians in Gaza Plan to Try to Breach Israeli Sea Blockade

AFP

Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinians in the Gaza Strip will try to breach Israel’s blockade by boat this week in a fresh challenge to Israeli forces following weeks of deadly protests and clashes, organisers said Sunday. Few details were given on the plans, but organisers said the boat would depart on Tuesday at […]