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Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi CNN —Textbooks in Saudi Arabia have been changing. On Israel and the Palestinians, IMPACT-se found moderation, but not yet full acceptance of Israel. “Some in Israel want to see normalization with Saudi so badly that any interaction about Israel will be framed as something positive towards normalization,” he said. In Saudi Arabia, support for normalization stood at 5%. But Podeh and the other experts all agreed: public perceptions of Israel will be shaped by much more than textbooks.

Persons: ”, Mira Al Hussein, Kristin Diwan, Islam Aziz Alghashian, ” Alghashian, Israel, “, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Elie Podeh, “ It’s, ” Podeh, It’s, Diwan Organizations: Abu Dhabi CNN, Monitoring, School Education, IMPACT, Zionism, United, United Arab Emirates ’, University of Edinburgh, ISIS, Muslim Brotherhood, CNN, Saudi Center, International Communication, Ministry, Education, Gulf States Institute, Saudi, Abraham Accords, Arab Center Washington DC, Department of Islamic, Eastern, Hebrew University Locations: Jerusalem, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, United States, Israel, London, Saudi, Palestine, United Arab, Scotland, “, al Qaeda, Washington

☆ Taliban's treatment of women could be 'gender apartheid' - UN expert
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, June 19 (Reuters) - A United Nations expert said on Monday that the Taliban's treatment of Afghan women and girls could amount to gender apartheid as their rights continue to be gravely infringed by the country's de facto authorities. The U.N. defines gender apartheid as "economic and social sexual discrimination against individuals because of their gender or sex." "We have pointed to the need for more exploration of gender apartheid, which is not currently an international crime, but could become so," Bennett told reporters on the sidelines of the Council. In a report covering July to December 2022, Bennett found in March that the Taliban's treatment of women and girls "may amount to gender persecution, a crime against humanity." The Taliban authorities say they respects women's rights in accordance with their strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Persons: Richard Bennett, Bennett, Ali Khara, Gabrielle Tétrault, Farber, Marguerita Choy Organizations: United, Human Rights, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: GENEVA, United Nations, Afghanistan, Geneva, Afghan, Kabul

☆ Qatar and UAE embassies resume work on Monday, Qatar's foreign ministry says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Foreign Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani during a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on July 14, 2017. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates' respective embassies reopened on Monday to resume work after the two Gulf states agreed to restore diplomatic ties, Qatar's foreign ministry said. The restoration of ties comes amid a broader regional push for reconciliation and more than two years after Arab states ended a boycott of Doha that had shattered the Western-allied Gulf Arab bloc. The Qatari ministry said in a statement that the two foreign ministers, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, had held a phone call as the two embassies reopened on Monday. Reuters reported in April that the two Gulf states were in the process of restoring diplomatic relations.

Persons: Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Organizations: Turkish Foreign, United Arab Emirates, Reuters, Doha Locations: Qatar, Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al, Thani, Doha, Arab, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Islam, Iran, Riyadh, Cairo, Saudi, Yemen

☆ Qatar and UAE embassies resume work on Monday -Qatar foreign ministry
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DOHA, June 19 (Reuters) - Qatar and the United Arab Emirates' respective embassies reopened on Monday to resume work after the two Gulf states agreed to restore diplomatic ties, Qatar's foreign ministry said. The restoration of ties comes amid a broader regional push for reconciliation and more than two years after Arab states ended a boycott of Doha that had shattered the Western-allied Gulf Arab bloc. The Qatari ministry said in a statement that the two foreign ministers, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, had held a phone call as the two embassies reopened on Monday. Reuters reported in April that the two Gulf states were in the process of restoring diplomatic relations. Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Andrew Mills, writing by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by David Goodman and Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Nayera Abdallah, Andrew Mills, Aziz El Yaakoubi, David Goodman, Gareth Jones Organizations: DOHA, United Arab Emirates, Reuters, Doha, Thomson Locations: Qatar, Doha, Arab, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al, Thani, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Islam, Iran, Riyadh, Cairo, Saudi, Yemen

☆ Ethics body accuses UK's Johnson of new breach for taking newspaper job without vetting
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) - Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who quit parliament last week over a finding that he misled lawmakers about COVID lockdown parties, was accused on Friday of a new breach for taking a newspaper columnist job without waiting for required ethics vetting. He called it a "political assassination", in a blistering resignation statement in which he also appeared to take swipes at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Ministers and civil servants who leave office are required to consult an ethics body, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), before taking up new jobs. ACOBA has no enforcement powers, but a new breach of rules could make it harder for Johnson to mount a political comeback. Johnson started his working life in journalism, sacked by the Times newspaper for making up a quote.

Persons: Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, Johnson, ACOBA, Elizabeth Piper, Alistair Smout, Peter Graff Organizations: British, Conservative Party, Conservative, Daily Mail, Business, Times, Daily Telegraph, Spectator, Thomson Locations: Westminster, Brussels, Union

☆ UN in talks about possibly handing over Afghan teaching projects to Taliban
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Charlotte Greenfield | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aid officials say that the Taliban had signalled international organisations could no longer be involved in education projects, in a move criticised by the U.N. but not yet confirmed by Afghan authorities. A spokesperson for the Taliban did not respond to request for comment. International organisations have been heavily involved in education projects, and UNICEF made an agreement with the Taliban to run community classes before they took over the country. Two humanitarian sources told Reuters this month that aid agencies had been told provincial authorities had been directed to stop the involvement of international organisations in education projects, possibly within weeks. The Taliban took over Afghanistan after a 20-year insurgency against U.S.-led forces with a speed and ease that took the world by surprise.

Persons: Afghanistan's, Samantha Mort, Charlotte Greenfield, Nick Macfie Organizations: UNICEF, REUTERS, Afghan, de, Ministry of Education, Reuters, Education, United Nations, Taliban, U.S, Thomson Locations: Jalalabad, Afghanistan, New York

☆ Twenty-two U.S. troops wounded in Syria helicopter mishap, U.S. says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which control swathes of northeast Syria, referred questions to the U.S.-led coalition under which American troops are deployed in the zone. In March, 25 U.S. troops were wounded in strikes and counter-strikes in Syria, which also killed one U.S. contractor and injured another. U.S. forces first deployed into Syria during the Obama administration's campaign against Islamic State, partnering with a Kurdish-led group called the Syrian Democratic Forces. Thousands of other Islamic State fighters are in detention facilities guarded by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, America's key ally in the country. U.S. officials say that Islamic State could still regenerate into a major threat.

Persons: Obama, Bashar al, Assad Organizations: U.S, military's, Command, U.S . Central Command, Syrian Democratic Forces, Islamic State, Islamic Locations: Syria, U.S, Kurdish, Damascus, Islamic State, Iran, State, Iraq, Russia, Iranian

Ms. Hanif’s family history illustrates how Bangladeshi Kensington came to be. While the corner is often a male-dominated space, she and other Bangladeshi American women have carved out their own places there. Ms. Saeed wants to buy a house, but real estate in Kensington has become far too expensive. Ms. Saeed also faced opposition as she was growing up, from relatives on her mother’s side who frowned upon dance. With other public spaces so dominated by men, Ms. Ferdous sees it as vital that women gather to keep their traditions alive.

Persons: Shahana Hanif, Hanif’s, Hanif, Radhuni, Ms, Mir Hossain, Hossain, “, ”, Sala Miah, Rubel, Tarek Aziz, Uddin, Farojan Saeed, Syed Rehan, Saeed, Annie Ferdous, Ferdous, Eid, Mr, Mahmud Organizations: Young, City Council, Bangladesh Institute of Performing Arts, Bangladeshi Institute of Performing Arts, McDonald Locations: Kensington, Bangladesh, Pakistan, “, United States, America, Bengal, Noakhali, Chittagong, Sandwip, Brooklyn, East, South America, Colombia, Panama, Dhaka, Bangladeshi, Manhattan, East New York, Jackson Heights, Ozone, New York, Motiul, Philadelphia, Jessore District, Jamaica, Queens

CNN —Six civilians and three security force members were killed in a late-night attack by militant fighters on a beachside hotel in the Somalian capital Mogadishu, state media report. Shattered window panes could be seen at the site of the attack, as well as blood stains and debris. Feisal Omar/ReutersAl-Shabaab is the largest and most active al-Qaeda network in the world, according to the US Africa Command. The group controlled a vast area of Somalia before being pushed back by government counteroffensives since last year, according to Reuters. US forces have conducted numerous strikes in Somalia that have resulted in dozens of Al-Shabaab casualties, including one that killed 30 Al-Shabaab fighters in January, and three others in February that killed a total of 24 soldiers.

Persons: ” SONNA, Omar, counteroffensives, Al Organizations: CNN —, Security, Pearl, Somali National News Agency, African Union, Reuters, US Africa Command Locations: Somalian, Mogadishu, Al, Shabaab, Lido Beach, Somalia

☆ Israeli forces stage rare incursion into Ramallah to blow up bombing suspect’s home
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Israeli security forces regularly raid Palestinian cities such as Jenin, Nablus and Jericho, but an incursion into Ramallah on this scale is extremely unusual. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported more than 100 Israeli military vehicles were involved in the incursion, calling it an all-night raid. Among the wounded was a photojournalist for Al-Arabi TV, Moumen Sumrin, who was hit in the head with a rubber bullet. Palestinians inspect the site where Israeli forces demolished the house of Islam Faroukh, who was accused of carrying out two bombings in November. No IDF troops were injured, the military said.

Persons: Islam Faroukh, Wafa, Moumen Sumrin, Fadel, Batran, “, Issam, Mohammad Shtayyeh, ”, Faroukh, Molotov Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, Palestinian Authority, West Bank, Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israel Defense Forces, Al, IDF, Anadolu Agency, Getty Locations: Jerusalem, Ramallah, Islam, Jenin, Nablus, Jericho, Arabi, Palestinian

Rome CNN —Pope Francis was recovering well in a Rome hospital on Thursday, the day after the 86-year-old had abdominal surgery that renewed health fears. “This wasn’t an urgent surgery,” Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the surgeon who operated on Pope Francis, said at a press conference. Pope Francis, seated in a wheelchair, attended a weekly general audience at the Vatican on June 7. Pope’s fragile healthThis operation is the latest in a series of health scares surrounding Pope Francis. Medical sources say that the intervention was likely related to the surgery Francis underwent in 2021, which removed half of his colon.

Persons: Rome, Rome CNN — Pope Francis, “, ”, Matteo Bruni, Francis, ” Dr, Sergio Alfieri, Pope Francis, ” Alfieri, Andreas Solaro, Alfieri, he’s “, –, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Bruni, Francis ’, Pope Francis now, Annatuli, Carina, State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Tarcisio Bertone, ’ ”, Pope Benedict XVI, Gregory XII, Volodymyr Zelensky Organizations: Rome CNN, Vatican, Gemelli, Reuters, Catholic, Papal, Getty, CNN, Spanish, ABC, State, Catholic Church Locations: Rome, AFP, The Prefecture, Mexico, Myanmar, Iraq, Ukraine

☆ Aid group NRC resumes work with female staff in Taliban heartland
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The move comes after Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Secretary General Jan Egeland told Reuters last month that key Taliban leaders in Kandahar had signaled a willingness to agree to an interim arrangement for NRC female aid workers. "All our work is for women & men, girls & boys alike, & with equal participation of our female & male humanitarian colleagues," Egeland wrote. In April, Taliban authorities began enforcing a ban on Afghan women working for the U.N. after stopping women working for aid groups in December. The U.N. and aid groups have been trying to carve out exemptions for women to deliver aid, particularly in health and education. The Taliban administration has been promising since January a set of written guidelines to allow aid groups to operate with female staff.

Persons: Jan Egeland, Egeland, Michelle Nichols, Hugh Lawson Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, Taliban, Norwegian Refugee Council, NRC, Reuters, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Afghanistan, Kandahar, U.N

☆ Uganda says 54 soldiers killed by al Shabaab in Somalia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KAMPALA, June 4 (Reuters) - Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni said on Saturday that 54 Ugandan peacekeepers were killed in an attack last week by militant group al Shabaab on a military base in Somalia. Museveni said the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) had since recaptured the base from the Islamist group. “Our soldiers demonstrated remarkable resilience and reorganized themselves, resulting in the recapture of the base by Tuesday,” the president said. Al Shabaab fighters had targeted the base early last Friday in Bulamarer, 130 km (80 miles) southwest of the capital Mogadishu. Al Shabaab, which has said it carried out suicide bomb attacks and killed 137 soldiers at the base, has been fighting since 2006 to replace Somalia's Western-backed government with its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Persons: Yoweri Museveni, Museveni, “, ”, Al Shabaab, Kanjyik Ghosh, Elias Biryabarema, Cynthia Osterman, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Uganda People’s Defence Forces, Somalia's, Thomson Locations: KAMPALA, Shabaab, Somalia, Uganda, Bulamarer, Mogadishu, Al Shabaab, Bengaluru, Kampala

☆ Exclusive: Qatar prime minister, Taliban chief hold secret Afghan talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Jonathan Landay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The Taliban say they respect women’s rights in line with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan customs. The Taliban in March 2022 barred girls from high schools and extended the ban to universities in December. ADDRESSING HUMANITARIAN CRISISSheikh Mohammed and Haibatullah also discussed efforts to remedy Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis, the source said. The U.S. and its allies say the Taliban harbor members of al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban. Sheikh Mohammed, who also serves as Qatar's foreign minister, met publicly in Kandahar with Mullah Hassan Akhund, the Taliban prime minister, on the same day he met the supreme leader.

Persons: Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Akhunzada, Joe Biden's, Sheikh Mohammed, Haibatullah, al, Mullah Hassan Akhund, Jonathan Landay, Don Durfee, Deepa Babington Organizations: Qatari, Qatar, United, The State Department, Human Rights, United Nations, Islamic, Haibatullah, Thomson Locations: Afghan, Kandahar, Thani, Kabul, United States, Washington, Qatar, U.S, Geneva, Islamic State, Afghanistan, The U.S, al Qaeda, Doha

The apparent alteration of a mosque belonging to the Hui ethnic group in Najiaying village, Yunnan province comes amid a sweeping campaign unleashed by China’s leader Xi Jinping to “sinicize” religion. Ma Ju, a prominent Hui activist who now lives in the United States and has kept close contact with Najiaying residents, said about 30 people were arrested. Clashes broke out between police officers and Najiaying residents outside the mosque. In 2018, thousands of Hui residents in Ningxia, in the country’s northwest, staged a sit-in protest for three days to prevent authorities from demolishing a newly constructed mosque. “After they trampled on your dignity, they will suppress you step by step, and assimilate the Hui ethnic group completely into the Han, generation by generation.

☆ Will Erdogan’s Victory Soften Turkey’s Opposition to Sweden in NATO?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Steven Erlanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

While Turkish troops have protected some Syrian dissident enclaves, Mr. Erdogan has simultaneously engaged in a rapprochement with Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Erdogan wants his help to restrain the Kurds and take back some of the four million Syrian refugees that Turkey has been hosting in the name of Islamic solidarity. Mr. Erdogan may disappoint those who hope for a more emollient, more Western-leaning Turkey, however, and Turkey is not the only ally becoming more authoritarian. Europe will have to find new ways of appealing to the more democratic opposition in these countries and engaging better with society, he said. That drift away from democratic values and the rule of law will mean little progress in long-frozen talks on accession to the European Union.

☆ Uganda confirms casualties among country's soldiers in Somali attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The assailants numbered about 800 and during the attack the Ugandan troops were forced to withdraw to a nearby base, about nine kilometres away, he said. Al Shabaab fighters targeted the base early on Friday in Bulamarer, 130 km (80 miles) southwest of the capital Mogadishu. Al Shabaab said in a statement at the time that it had carried out suicide bomb attacks and killed 137 soldiers at the base. Al Shabaab tends to give casualty figures in attacks that differ from those issued by the authorities. ATMIS has so far not said how many troops were killed or wounded in the attack.

☆ The Taliban promised to provide security to Afghans. New data shows threat from ISIS is growing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Eliza Mackintosh Ehsan Popalzai Antonio Jarne Lou Robinson | Eliza Mackintosh | Ehsan Popalzai | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

“Currently we don’t have security in Afghanistan at all, whenever we go out we don’t know if we will come home alive or not,” he added. Taliban security forces guard a checkpoint near the foreign ministry in Kabul on March 27, after an ISIS-K suicide bomber struck the site. The data, which is available in a live map, includes 367 pieces of open-source evidence — largely videos and images shared on social media — about 70 ISIS-K attacks since August 2021. As the Taliban try to minimize the threat ISIS-K poses, attacks on civilians continue. Taliban security forces have been waging ongoing operations and night raids against ISIS-K.

XIAN, China, May 17 - China will for the first time host an in-person summit of central Asian leaders this week, seeking to cement ties in a region seen as Russia's backyard as its relations with the West sour. "Beijing wants to promote a new alternative to the global order, and try to persuade the Central Asian region that this new global order is better for them too," said Adina Masalbekova, a research fellow at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek. For the first in-person summit, Xian is a symbolic nod to the importance of economic ties as the city was pivotal in the ancient Silk Road trade route that spans Central Asia. "One of the biggest trump cards that we expect to see at this summit is a serious opening for Central Asian products to enter the Chinese market. But with the region's main backer Russia caught up in a grinding war with Ukraine and subject to international sanctions, analysts say the Central Asian states will welcome Beijing's overtures.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alluded to Israel's calculations at work in dealing with Hamas in Gaza. "The gap between Hamas and Islamic Jihad is rooted in the fact that Hamas has a political programme and governing authority, whereas the Jihad has neither," he said. However, Israeli officials say Islamic Jihad would not be able to fire rockets without approval from Hamas. An Islamic Jihad official offered a similar line. "That's why they (Hamas) focus their attacks in the West Bank," the regional diplomat said.

[1/2] Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi are covered with a white sheet as they arrive to appear at the High Court in Lahore, Pakistan, May 15, 2023. REUTERS/Mohsin RazaISLAMABAD, May 16 (Reuters) - Bushra Khan, the wife of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, is facing corruption charges in the same case that led to his arrest on May 9. It was not clear when or how Khan met Bushra, but former aide Aun Chaudhry said Khan was very impressed with her spirituality. Khan and Bushra married in 2018, seven months before he was elected prime minister, in a secret ceremony. While prime minister, Khan promoted the trust at official events, and the couple are the sole trustees, according to Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar.

☆ Fact Check-Video of people evacuating a beach dates to 2021, not related to Israel-Palestine unrest in May, 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

“Rocket sirens going off in Tel Aviv earlier today. People on the beach running to shelters” read one post sharing the video on Facebook on May 11, 2023 (here). While Reuters could not verify the source of the video, it can be traced back to at least 2021 when it was shared as showing the Tel Aviv beach (here). The video appears to match buildings and constructions on the beach viewable on Google Street View of Aviv Beach (bit.ly/3VZMLB5). Video dates back to 2021 and is unrelated to the escalation of violence in May, 2023 between Israel and Palestine.

We are experiencing the result of this marathon with you tonight," Erdogan, 69, told thousands of flag-waving supporters from the balcony of his party's headquarters. But Erdogan, a veteran of a dozen election victories, emerged comfortably ahead of Kilicdaroglu, though just short of the majority needed to win. The outcome reflects the strong support Erdogan still commands, especially in religiously conservative regions where voters long felt marginalised by a once-dominant secular elite. Over two decades, Erdogan has redrawn Turkey's domestic, economic, security and foreign policy, rivalling historic leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who founded modern Turkey a century ago. Erdogan's government said the purge was justified by threats from coup supporters, as well as Islamic State and the PKK.

The son of a sea captain, Erdogan has faced stiff political headwinds ahead of Sunday's election: he was already facing blame over an economic crisis when a devastating earthquake hit in February. Critics accused his government of a slow response and lax enforcement of building rules, failures they said could have cost lives. Two days before the vote, Erdogan said he came to office through the ballot boxes and if he had to, would leave the same way. A veteran of more than a dozen election victories, the 69-year-old Erdogan has taken aim at his critics in typically combative fashion. "I swear, Erdogan can solve it with a flick of his wrist," she said at a market in central Istanbul.

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