Middle East Experience

The Pentagon is readying as many as 8,000 troops to facilitate the withdrawal of American and Afghan personnel.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Turkey ‘still in lead’ as US surges troops back to Kabul airport for evacuation

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has received criticism for an ad with Rep. Ilhan Omar's image reading "Stand AGAINST terrorists." The Muslim congresswoman receives frequent criticism for her views on Israel and US foreign policy.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: AIPAC doubles down on ad about US Rep. Omar

Hamas and other Palestinian groups purposefully targeted population centers during the May war with Israel, according to Human Rights Watch. The organization also accused Israel of war crimes last month.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Human Rights Watch accuses Gaza groups of war crimes during May fighting

Security forces in the countryside of Aleppo are combating the spread of narcotic substances, amid growing demands for cooperation by the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army factions.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Drug use surges in opposition-controlled areas in northwest Syria

While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be the biggest public crisis in living memory, 2021 has also been marred by another global catastrophe - extreme weather events.From wildfires sweeping across Greece and Tunisia, flooding in Europe and landslides in Asia, extreme weather, that experts say is increasingly common due to global warming, has affected almost every corner of the globe in 2021 with far-reaching deadly consequences.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Here are some of the most devastating environmental tragedies of 2021.Suffocating heatwaves across the Pacific NorthwestThe suffocating heat wave that killed hundreds of people across the Pacific Northwest in June would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change, according to scientists, adding that global warming had made such a heat wave in the region 150 times more likely.The scientists estimated the extraordinary temperatures were a one-in-a-thousand-year event, though noted this was difficult to quantify given the unprecedented heat in early summer.The temperatures hit a record high of 46.6°C (115.88°F) during a four-day spell, killing at least 223 people.Deadly wildfires in GreeceGreek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has described that the devastating wildfires that burned across the country for more than a week in August as the greatest ecological catastrophe Greece had seen in decades.The fires broke out as the country roasted during the most intense and protracted heat wave experienced in around 30 years.Hundreds of wildfires broke out across the country, stretching Greece’s firefighting capabilities to the limit and leading the government to appeal for help from abroad.As of 11 August, 12 people have died in Greece, Turkey and Italy as a result of the huge wildfires that have ravaged large regions of southern Europe.Record-breaking snowfall in MadridIn the first weeks of 2021, Storm Filomena brought record-breaking levels of snow for Madrid and elderly Spanish citizens were warned to stay at home as temperatures plummeted.The heaviest snow for 50 years brought transport in and out of the city to a “standstill,” Euronews reports. The snowstorm caused around €1.4bn of damage, The New York Times says.Italy battles 500 blazes after record heatwaveItalian firefighters had battled more than 500 blazes in August due to an anticyclone dubbed Lucifer sweeping across the European country, sending temperatures soaring and causing what is believed to be a new European record of 48.8 degrees Celsius (119.8 Fahrenheit) in Sicily.Flooding devastates west GermanyAt least 171 people were killed in Germany when small rivers swelled quickly into raging torrents after persistent downpours, well over half of them in Ahrweiler county, near Bonn. Another 31 died in neighboring Belgium, bringing the death toll in both countries to 2021.Victims will be supported by a government-approved €400 million recovery package, as ministers have promised to move quickly on rebuilding affected areas.Storm Christoph batters BritainThe period from 18 to 20 January 2021 was “one of the wettest three-day periods on record” for North Wales and North-West England, according to the Met Office.Homes in Cheshire were flooded, and residents were evacuated from homes in Manchester and Merseyside. Once Storm Christoph cleared, significant snowfall also led to travel disruption with icy conditions and road closures. Liberal Democrat councilor Richard Kilpatrick told the Manchester Evening News the atmosphere was one of “anxiety and disbelief”.Cyclone Ana strikes FijiCyclone Ana “pummeled” Fiji towards the end of January, “just a month after category 5 Cyclone Yasa tore through the country’s northern islands,” The Guardian says. Satyendra Prasad, Fiji’s ambassador to the United Nations, said the cyclone – which caused more than 10,000 people to take refuge in 318 evacuation centers across the country – had left behind “a difficult recovery”.Winter storms strike TexasThe Week US reported that 3.5 million businesses and homes were left without power in February as temperatures dropped to -13℃ in some areas of Texas. Power went out across the state, leaving many vulnerable people in extremely cold conditions.The total death toll rose from 151 to 210 in July, after a decision was made to include deaths caused by the collapse of the state electric power grid in the final count, The Guardian reported.Cyclone Seroja in IndonesiaIn April 160 people died in Indonesia after a tropical cyclone hit a remote cluster of islands. Landslides and flash floods displaced at least 22,000 people.Torrential rains from Tropical Cyclone Seroja, one of the most destructive storms to hit the region in years, turned small communities into wastelands of mud, uprooted trees and sent around 10,000 people fleeing to shelters.The storm swept buildings in some villages down a mountainside and to the shore of the ocean on Indonesia’s Lembata island, where several small communities have been wiped off the map.Floods lead to mass evacuations in ChinaIn July, floods in central China last month left at least 302 with dozens of people still missing, officials said, after record downpours dumped a year’s worth of rain on a city in just three days.Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province and the epicenter of the record flooding, was hardest hit with 292 people dead and 47 missing, according to a provincial government press briefing, as residents were trapped in subway trains, underground car parks, and tunnels.Images of passengers inundated by shoulder-height water went viral on Chinese social media on Line 5 of the city subway where 14 people died, while dozens of cars in a tunnel were tossed aside by the deluge, many with passengers still inside.Read more:Massive Greece wildfires are country’s greatest ecological catastrophe: PMGerman prosecutors launch probe over deadly floodsMadrid delays reopening of schools after historic snowfall
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: The most extreme weather events and catastrophes of 2021

Algeria has arrested 22 people suspected of being behind the most devastating wildfires in the country’s history that killed 65 people, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said on Thursday, calling the fires a ‘disaster’ and urging the preservation of national unity.Dozens of forest fires have hit mountainous areas in northern Algeria since Monday, mainly in Tizi Ouzou, the main province of the Kabylie region east of the capital, Algiers.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“Some fires have been caused by high temperatures but criminal hands were behind most of them,” Tebboune said in a live speech on state television. “We have arrested 22 suspects, including 11 in Tizi Ouzou. Justice will perform its duty.”At least 28 military men were among the dead as the North African country deployed the army to help firefighters contain fires that ravaged several houses in forested areas.“It’s a disaster ... disaster. But our strength will not collapse,” Tebboune said, praising aid caravans from other provinces to provide affected regions with food, medicine and donations of other material.“We must preserve national unity... I insist on national unity,” he added.In addition to soldiers on the ground, the army has been using six helicopters to extinguish blazes. They are supported by two firefighting planes hired from the European Union and which have been in action since early Thursday.The government will receive two more planes from Spain on Friday and a third one from Switzerland in the next three days, Tebboune said. Read more:Saudi Foreign Minister assures Algerian counterpart of support amid firesAlgeria probes crowd lynching, setting fire of arson suspect Jamal Ben IsmailWildfires in Algeria’s Tizi-Ouzou are of criminal origin: Interior minister
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Algeria arrests 22 people suspected of being behind deadly wildfire ‘disaster’ 

Health care workers, prisoners and people with weak immune system are also eligible to receive a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Israel approves COVID-19 booster for ages 50+

The US Treasury Department said on Friday it was imposing sanctions on an alleged oil smuggler and companies it said provided support to the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to a statement.Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted Mahmood Rashid Amur Al Habsi and a network of businesses, it said.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“This action targets an oil broker from Oman who, in partnership with senior IRGC-QF officials, has used several companies to facilitate shipments of Iranian oil to foreign customers. Two of these companies are based in Oman and one is registered in Liberia. The broker also controls a company in Romania. The broker and those companies are being sanctioned pursuant to Executive Order 13224,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.“The IRGC-QF has been using revenue from Iranian petroleum sales to fund its malign activities.These sales depend on foreign intermediaries to obscure the IRGC-QF’s involvement. The United State will continue to expose and disrupt those supporting such efforts,” Blinken added.Read more:
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US imposes sanctions on alleged oil smuggler, companies linked to Iran’s Quds Force

A study found SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in 40% of white-tailed deer from four US states, suggesting that the deer in these areas had been exposed to the virus.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: 40% of deer carry COVID antibodies - study

Envoys at this week's Afghan meetings in Doha said that they would not recognise..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Doha talks envoys vow to isolate any Afghan party that seizes power militarily – Doha News | Qatar