Middle East Monitor

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved an agreement signed with Sudan’s transitional government that will see Sudan obtaining $1.5 billion annually, and its debts estimated at $60 billion dropped. Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair of the IMF Antoinette Sayeh commented on the approval, stating: […]

The Yemeni army announced on Friday that 62 civilians were killed and 143 injured by Houthi fighters over a period of nine months, in the western governorate of Al-Hudaydah. This came in a statement by the media centre of the Giants Brigades, affiliated with the Yemeni army. The statement announced […]

When Al Jazeera’s hard-hitting documentary “The Lobby” exposed how the pro-Israel lobby had faked allegations of anti-Semitism and sought to influence British politics, it led to an apology from the Israeli Ambassador in London. Mark Regev, notorious for his spin doctoring during Israel’s military offensives against the Palestinians in the […]

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Greece, including an increasingly-watched naval base, to kick off a four-nation tour of Europe, the State Department announced Thursday, Anadolu reports. Pompeo will depart the US on Sept. 27 and return over a week later on Oct. 5. In Greece, Pompeo will […]

The right of the Palestinian people to have a state with Jerusalem as its capital cannot be traded away, the Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, announced yesterday. His remarks came during the United Nations 75th virtual General Assembly, which was held online. “Once again, we [Algeria] express our firm support for the […]

Lebanese lawmaker, Mario Aoun of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), said his movement has clear differences with Shia factions over the formation of the next government, in reference to Hezbollah and the Amal Movement led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. However, Aoun said in a statement that despite the differences, […]

“Just like the seasons of the Earth, there is a time and place for everything,” says Lebanese artist Zena El-Khalil. “Winter has the tendency to create the most amount of discomfort for us. The trepidation of the unknown can bring about anxiety and frustration. However, this phase is absolutely necessary […]

Employees of Lebanon’s central bank are set to receive four-month bonuses, despite the crisis-ridden country’s economic collapse, local daily Al-Joumhouria reported. Recipients of the intended bonus include the bank’s Governor Riad Salameh, the newly appointed vice-governors and four members of the Banking Control Commission as well as the rest of the institution’s employees. […]

Lebanon’s security forces have started carrying out DNA tests on bodies that washed up on the country’s coast to determine whether they are victims of the 4 August Beirut blast or of a recent migrant boat tragedy, Arab News reported. At least five bodies that were discovered washed up on Lebanon’s northern […]

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Wednesday the Syrian issue requires an exceptional strategy, adding that Tehran coordinates its steps in the war-torn country with Turkey and Russia. “We have serious problems in our region. The Syrian issue requires special coordination. We coordinate our steps with Russia and Turkey […]

Saudi’s envoy to Yemen appoints ministers in the war-torn country and “treats Yemenis as subordinates”, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament Abdul Aziz Jabbari has said. “The Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Bin Saeed Al-Jaber, is the one who appoints ministers and officials in the country and treats Yemenis as subordinates,” […]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the chief of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, are scheduled to meet in Uganda in the near future to discuss bilateral relations, Israeli media outlets reported. Israel’s i24 News quoted sources close to the Sudanese Sovereignty Council as saying that a press conference will be […]

At least seven Palestinians, including a photojournalist working with Anadolu Agency, were injured as Israeli forces use rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the protesters demonstrating against settlements building in the occupied West Bank, Anadolu Agency reports Palestinians held a demonstration in the town of Kafr Qaddum, north of […]

Egyptian security forces have called on the heads of political parties and MPs to gather supporters for a demonstration today. Sources have told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that General turned President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s supporters will be brought to the capital to gather in support of the president, who is facing increasing calls to […]

Some 51 out of 186 crew members of a European Union naval vessel on Friday tested positive for the coronavirus, the EU’s Irini military mission said in a statement, adding the infections were discovered following routine testing, Reuters reports. The mission operates in the Mediterranean to stop arms from reach warring factions […]

A top Iranian constitutional official on Friday dismissed the imposition of US sanctions on Iranian judges for alleged gross human rights violations and hit back at the United States over police violence against black people there, Reuters reports. The United States on Thursday blacklisted several Iranian officials and entities over rights breaches, […]

Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday downgraded Kuwait by two levels to A1 citing the increase in the government’s “liquidity risks”. The credit rating company said it expects the Kuwaiti government to need to borrow 27.6 billion dinars ($90 billion) to meet its funding requirements between the current fiscal year and […]

France’s foreign ministry this week summoned Iran’s envoy over the country’s human rights record, three sources aware of the matter said, signalling concern about what Paris calls “serious and constant violations”, Reuters reports. Separately, Germany on Friday issued a critical statement on Iran to the United Nations Human Rights Council on behalf […]

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to hold an international conference on “a real peace process based on international law” to end the Israeli occupation, Anadolu Agency reported. “I call on the Secretary-General of the UN along with the Quartet on the Middle East and the […]

Iraq reported close to 4,600 new coronavirus cases and 68 more deaths on Friday, Anadolu Agency reports. The nationwide death toll now stands at 8,867, according to the Health Ministry. A total of 4,593 more infections raised the overall case count to 344,699, while the number of recoveries has reached 273,266, the […]

Australia’s first Daesh bride, Zehra Duman, who left Melbourne to join the terrorist group has been jailed in Turkey for three years after fleeing a Syrian refugee camp with her two young children, Daily Mail Australia reports. The 26-year-old was sentenced this week after being found guilty of recruiting brides to join […]

“Under these circumstances, talking to a Western reporter could be a death sentence. And yet here in Douma, as soon as people saw that I was a journalist, they wanted to tell their story.” Thus begins the extraordinary autobiography of Clarissa Ward, On All Fronts: The Education of a Journalist. […]

Speaking during a House of Commons debate on settlements and annexation, UK Members of Parliament called on the government to immediately recognise the State of Palestine on the basis of 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as the shared capital. Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa James Cleverly […]

Yemen’s Houthi-aligned government yesterday accused the Saudi-led coalition of denying the country access to vital medicine. According to Dr Taha Al-Mutawakil, the Minister of Health in the National Salvation Government (NSG), one of the first things the Arab coalition did was to target the health and medical infrastructure by imposing […]