Tag Archives: Middle East

The Independent reports: The gay dating app Grindr has been blocked for most users in Lebanon, sparking concern over a widening crackdown on the LGBT+ community in the country. The social networking app, which connects users based on their location, went offline for users of the state-owned internet service provider over the weekend and has been unusable since. The local …

Bloomberg reports: President Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of about 1,500 additional U.S. troops to the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran, according to two people familiar with the matter. The purpose of the deployment is to enhance the protection of forces already in the region that are dedicated to missile defense, freedom of navigation in Persian Gulf …

The Associated Press reports: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a lightning visit to Baghdad on Tuesday to show U.S. support for the Iraqi government as Washington steps up warnings to Iran against any action against American interests in the Middle East. The unannounced trip began and ended after nightfall and under heavy security. Pompeo’s visit came as the …

The Washington Post reports: Saudi Arabia said Tuesday it had executed 37 people convicted of terrorism-related offenses, bringing the number of executions there in the first four months of the year to 105, according to the Saudi interior ministry and Reprieve, a human rights group that tracks the use of the death penalty in the kingdom. It was the largest …

The Jerusalem Post reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz both declared that they won Tuesday’s election after inconclusive exit polls were broadcast on the three Israeli networks. Netanyahu claimed victory, because his Right-Center bloc won handily over Gantz’s Center-Left bloc in polls broadcast on Channel 13 and KAN, 66 to 54 and 64 to …

The Jerusalem Post reports: Warning of the rise of the Left, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a planned campaign event in Ashdod on Tuesday and returned to Jerusalem, where he said he was going to work to “save the Right” and ensure that a right-wing government comes to power following the elections. “I received a dramatic update that there is …

Haaretz reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday the State of Israel belongs to the Jewish people alone, this in response to a comment by Israeli actress Rotem Sela, who wrote on social media that Israel is a country of all its citizens. Sela was commenting on an interview Culture Minister Miri Regev was giving on Channel 12’s “Meet …

Agence France-Presse reports: An Egyptian court on Sunday sentenced a television host to one year in prison for interviewing a gay man last year, a judicial source said. Mohamed al-Gheiti, who has expressed his stance against homosexuality on several occasions, was accused of promoting homosexuality and contempt of religion. The misdemeanors court in Giza also fined him 3,000 Egyptian pounds …

NBC News reports: U.S. service members were among those killed by an explosion in Syria on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the coalition fighting the Islamic State group said. Earlier, a senior Kurdish security official told NBC News that members of the U.S.-led coalition were caught up in a blast at a market in the northern city of Manbij. The official …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump on Sunday vowed to “devastate Turkey economically” should the Turkish military attack U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters — a rare direct threat by Trump to a NATO ally as his administration grapples with the execution of its plan to withdraw American soldiers from Syria. The planned U.S. troop drawdown has provoked international uncertainty amid conflicting statements from …

The New York Times reports: The United States has started withdrawing its troops from Syria, an American military spokesman said on Friday, further muddling the Trump administration’s plans for disengagement from one of the Middle East’s most complex battlefields. As recently as Sunday, President Trump’s national security adviser, John R. Bolton, had said that the pullout was conditional on circumstances …

CNN reports: Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Sunday that withdrawing US troops from Syria could directly result in the deaths of Kurdish people there and that he plans to make a case to President Donald Trump today to reconsider his plans. “There are three things important for this country. Number one, make sure that ISIS never comes back in …

The New York Post reports: President Trump used the cover of the partial government shutdown to slip off to visit US troops in Iraq. Trump and first lady Melania Trump met with military personnel on Wednesday at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq, according to photos from Reuters. His whereabouts sparked speculation about what Trump was up to because he …

From the Russia state agency TASS: The US decision to pull its troops from Syria creates good prospects for a political solution in that Arab country, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Maria Zakharova said on Channel One on Wednesday. “A milestone story which might evolve from this decision is a real prospect for a political solution,” she said adding that the …

The Wall Street Journal reports: In an abrupt reversal, the U.S. military is preparing to withdraw its forces from northeastern Syria, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday, a move that throws the American strategy in the Middle East into turmoil. U.S. officials began informing partners in northeastern Syria of their plans to begin immediately pulling American forces out of …

The Guardian reports: Saudi Arabia has said the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared after visiting the country’s consulate in Istanbul on 2 October, is dead. The news, which cited preliminary findings from an official investigation, was announced on state television on Friday. It said a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate, leading to …

TIME Magazine reports: Israel’s parliament approved a controversial piece of legislation on Thursday that defines the country as the nation-state of the Jewish people but which critics warn sidelines minorities. The government says the bill, passed in the early morning hours, will merely enshrine into law Israel’s existing character. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called its passage a “historic moment in …

The Hill reports: President Trump son-in-law and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner on Tuesday met with King Abdullah II of Jordan to discuss Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. “Building on previous conversations, they discussed increasing cooperation between the United States and Jordan, regional issues, the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and the Trump Administration’s efforts to facilitate peace between the Israelis and …

The Washington Post reports: Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal attorney, solicited a payment of at least $1 million from the government of Qatar in late 2016, in exchange for access to and advice about the then-incoming administration, according to several people with knowledge of the episode. The offer, which Qatar declined, came on the margins of a Dec. 12 meeting …

The BBC reports: A small interim embassy will start operating on Monday inside the existing US consulate building in Jerusalem. A larger site will be found later when the rest of the embassy moves from Tel Aviv. The opening ceremony was brought forward to coincide with the state of Israel’s 70th anniversary. President Trump is expected to address those attending …