Middle East

Lebanon Signs Deal to Purchase Natural Gas from Egypt
Lebanon Signs Deal to Purchase Natural Gas from Egypt

Lebanon said Monday it plans to purchase natural gas from Egypt, seeking to reduce its reliance on fuel oil for its ageing power plants in a country hamstrung by regular electricity cuts. The electricity sector has cost Lebanon more than $40 billion since the end of its 1975-1990 civil war, and successive governments have failed to reduce losses, ...

UN Visit to Sudan's El-Fasher Finds Traumatised Civilians in 'Unsafe Conditions'
UN Visit to Sudan's El-Fasher Finds Traumatised Civilians in 'Unsafe Conditions'

Traumatised civilians left in Sudan's El-Fasher after its capture by paramilitary forces are living without water or sanitation in a city haunted by famine, UN aid coordinator Denise Brown told AFP on Monday. El-Fasher fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in October after more than 500 days of siege, and last Friday a small UN ...

Tehran Shopkeepers Shut Stores Over Economic Hardship, Currency Volatility
Tehran Shopkeepers Shut Stores Over Economic Hardship, Currency Volatility

Some shopkeepers in Tehran closed their stores on Monday in protest against economic hardships and sharp swings in Iran's embattled currency, Iranian media reported, following similar demonstrations a day earlier. State news agency IRNA said some shopkeepers and traders at Tehran's bazaar "have closed or partially closed their stores," adding ...

De-Radicalizing Hezbollah's Base: A Realist Framework
FocusDe-Radicalizing Hezbollah's Base: A Realist Framework

Any serious discussion about de-radicalizing Hezbollah supporters must begin by discarding comforting illusions about the organization. It is not a fringe extremist group operating on the margins of Lebanese society but a heavily armed political-military organization embedded in parliament, municipalities, unions, border economies, and a regional ...

Three Turkish Police, 6 Islamic State Militants Killed in Clash: Minister
Three Turkish Police, 6 Islamic State Militants Killed in Clash: Minister

Three Turkish police were killed and nine other people wounded in an operation Monday against the Islamic State group in the northwest of the country, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said. The fighting took place at Yalova on the Sea of Marmara during one of scores of raids against the militant group, the minister said, adding that six Islamic ...

Winds from the East and North: Lebanon Faces Pressure on Multiple Fronts
PoliticsWinds from the East and North: Lebanon Faces Pressure on Multiple Fronts

Recent developments suggest that Lebanon is a stage for the activities of supporters of Syria’s former regime. Amid these movements, they have also been preparing operations inside Syria, particularly along the coast and in Homs, where Alawite communities are concentrated. Their activities appear to be supported, to some extent, by ...

UN Force in Lebanon Says Peacekeeper Wounded by Israeli Fire
UN Force in Lebanon Says Peacekeeper Wounded by Israeli Fire

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said an Israeli attack near their position in the country's south wounded a peacekeeper on Friday, reiterating a call for Israel to "cease aggressive behaviour". It is the latest incident reported by the peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, where UNIFIL acts as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon and has ...

8 Killed and 18 Wounded in Terrorist Mosque Bombing in Homs
8 Killed and 18 Wounded in Terrorist Mosque Bombing in Homs

Eight people were killed and others wounded on Friday in a terrorist bombing at the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the al-Waer district of Homs, Syrian state media reported. The Islamic State group (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack. The director of the Emergency and Ambulance Department at Syria’s Ministry of Health, ...

Hezbollah: Is the Company Joud Licensed by the Lebanese State?
Hezbollah: Is the Company Joud Licensed by the Lebanese State?

Hezbollah’s newly established company, Joud, linked to its financial arm Al Qard al Hassan, has reportedly obtained official Lebanese licensing despite several of its leaders being under U.S. sanctions, according to an investigation by Saudi channel al-Hadath. As part of a strategy aimed at circumventing both Lebanese laws and international ...

Two Killed in Terror Attack in Northern Israel
Two Killed in Terror Attack in Northern Israel

A car-ramming and stabbing attack by a Palestinian man left two people dead in northern Israel on Friday, police said. The assailant killed a 68-year-old pedestrian in a hit-and-run and fatally stabbed a 19-year-old woman near a bus stop. The assailant was shot and injured by a civilian passerby while fleeing towards Afula. He was taken to a ...