Middle East Experience

Lebanon's banks' association said the decision by Judge Ghada Aoun was..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Lebanon judge freezes assets of five banks and members of their boards

Violence against health care professionals has been on the rise in Turkey just as medical workers are dealing with burnout due to two years of pandemic..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Turkish medical workers strike for better pay, safer work

Mickey Levy spoke on the phone with Ukrainian Ambassador Yevgen Korniychuk following the ambassador's request in a letter last week.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Zelensky to address Knesset on Sunday

Responding to the arrest of Maxime Jeoffroy Eli Mokom Gawaka, a former armed group leader suspected of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity who has now been surrendered to the International Criminal Court (ICC) by the Chadian authorities, Alice Banens, a Legal Advisor at Amnesty International’s, said: “Maxime Jeoffroy Eli Mokom Gawaka’s arrest is ..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Chad/CAR: Maxime Jeoffroy Eli Mokom Gawaka must face justice at the ICC

Six Israeli drones struck a drone base in western Iran, Iranian sources say, in what may have been the reason for Tehran's Saturday night missile strike on Irbil.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Iran blames Israel for destroying hundreds of Iranian drones - report

"I am also very concerned about the remarkable growth and efficiency of their ballistic missile program,” Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Iran has 3,000 ballistic missiles that can reach Israel - US general

A top US official warned his Russian counterpart about the consequences of using any chemical weapons during a phone call Wednesday, marking the highest-level contact between Washington and Russia since the invasion of Ukraine began.National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke with General Nikolay Patrushev to reiterate Washington’s “firm and clear opposition” to Russia’s “unprovoked and unjustified invasion” of Ukraine, the White House said in a readout of the call.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.While Sullivan said the US would continue ramping up the costs on Russia for the invasion, he also stressed that the US would also continue to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank.He called on Russia to stop attacking Ukrainian cities and towns and warned of further consequences.“Mr. Sullivan also warned General Patrushev about the consequences and implications of any possible Russian decision to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine,” the White House said.The call was one of the first reported public communications between US and Russian officials since the war started over 20 days ago.Read more: ICRC evacuates civilians from Ukraine’s Sumy, provides aid
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US warns Russia about consequences of chemical weapons use in Ukraine

The 'termination' of the F1 agreement would mean that Russia will no longer host a Formula One race in the future..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Qatar could replace Russia as host of Formula 1

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would achieve its goals in Ukraine and would not submit to what he called a Western attempt to achieve global dominance and dismember Russia.Putin said Russia was ready to discuss neutral status for Ukraine, three weeks into a war that has killed thousands of people and forced millions of Ukrainians to flee their homes.He said that what Russia calls its special military operation was “going to plan”.In a televised speech to government ministers, Putin went further than before in acknowledging the pain that Western sanctions were inflicting on the economy, but insisted that Russia could withstand the blow.There was no sign of any softening in his bitter invective against the West and Ukraine.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“In the foreseeable future, it was possible that the pro-Nazi regime in Kyiv could have got its hands on weapons of mass destruction, and its target, of course, would have been Russia,” Putin said.Putin has consistently described the democratically elected leaders of Ukraine as neo-Nazis bent on committing genocide against Russian-speakers in the east of the country - a line that the West denounces as baseless war propaganda.He said Western countries wanted to turn Russia into a “weak dependent country; violate its territorial integrity; to dismember Russia in a way that suits them”.If the West thought that Russia would break down or back down, “they don't know our history or our people”, Putin said on the 21st day of the war.“Behind the hypocritical talk and today's actions of the so-called collective West are hostile geopolitical goals. They just don't want a strong and sovereign Russia.”He said Russia was ready to discuss Ukraine's neutral status in talks:“The question of principle for our country and its future – the neutral status of Ukraine, its demilitarisation, and its denazification – we were ready and we are ready to discuss as part of negotiations.”Ukraine says it is willing to negotiate to end the war but will not surrender or accept Russian ultimatums.In his most explicit acknowledgment of the pain inflicted by Western sanctions, Putin said inflation and unemployment would rise, and structural changes to the economy would be needed. But he promised support to families with children.He said the West had in effect declared Russia in default as part of its sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, but that the conflict had been only a pretext for the West to impose those sanctions.“The West doesn't even bother to hide that their aim is to damage the entire Russian economy, every Russian,” Putin said.Read more:‘Close the sky over Ukraine,’ President Zelenskyy urges US CongressRussia’s Lavrov says any Putin-Zelenskyy meeting should be to seal specific dealKremlin says neutral Ukraine, like Austria, is possible compromise
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Putin says Russia will achieve goals in Ukraine, won't bow to West

The damage wrought on Turkey's travel industry will depend on how long sanctions on Russia are enforced..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Turkey tourist hotspot faces uncertainty as Russia war on Ukraine rages on