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WASHINGTON, April 17 (Reuters) - Just a month after the biggest banking crisis in more than a decade, the world's top economic and financial policymakers gathered in Washington and said surprisingly little about financial system stability - at least publicly. Some officials conveyed a sense that banking system safety was further down the priority list of global economic problems. "But it's still something where we need to stay vigilant and address potential risks which may emerge in our financial system," Dombrovskis told reporters. He added that the European Union's banking system was stable, well capitalized with ample liquidity. But during the IMFC's closed meeting, the possible spillovers from financial stability risks were a main topic, Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko told Reuters.

☆ Saudi stocks gain on rising oil prices; Qatar falls
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Ateeq Shariff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 16 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's stock markets ended higher on Sunday after Friday's rise in oil prices, although the Qatari index extended losses for a second session. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) gained 0.6%, led by a 1.2% increase in Al Rajhi Bank (1120.SE), while oil giant Saudi Aramco (2223.SE) added 0.8%. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman launched on Thursday four new Special Economic Zones in Saudi Arabia, state media reported on Thursday after the market had closed, citing a statement. In Qatar, the index (.QSI) fell 0.4%, extending losses for a second session, with petrochemical maker Industries Qatar (IQCD.QA) losing 1.5%. Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ IMF sees high rates, oil prices and inflation worries in Middle East
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - Banks in the Middle East and Central Asia have very limited exposure to last month's banking turmoil in the United States and Europe, but financial pressures are adding to strains caused by high interest rates, volatile oil prices and years of double-digit inflation, a top IMF official said on Saturday. Jihad Azour, director of the International Monetary Fund's Middle East and Central Asia department, said the banking sector strains came on top of tighter monetary policies that raised rates and reduced accessibility to finance. "We are worried because the matrix of risks keeps growing: high interest rates, volatility in oil prices, geopolitical tensions, and it's the third year in the row where you have double-digit inflation," he said. "And they have a window of opportunity with governments now willing to do more, and not to put money in the central bank coffers." The IMF on Thursday forecast that GDP growth in the Middle East and North Africa region will slow to 3.1% in 2023, from 5.3% a year ago.

☆ IMF says has not received request from Tunisia to re-examine reforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"The Fund did not impose any diktats," Azour said, according to the TAP state news agency. The IMF postponed in December its board meeting on a loan program for Tunisia that was scheduled to give the authorities more time to finalize it. "This program has been designed, proudly by the Tunisian authorities," Azour said during the briefing. Without a loan, Tunisia faces a full-blown balance of payments crisis. Most debt is internal but there are foreign loan repayments due later this year, and credit ratings agencies have said Tunisia may default.

☆ IMF says yet to agree date with Egypt for programme review
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Disbursements under the 46-month programme are subject to eight reviews, the first of which was dated March 15, 2023, in an IMF staff report published in December. "Egypt really needs to show some meaningful measures to rebuild confidence and show that the process has started," said Monica Malik of ADCB. "It's better to start the review once there is tangible signs of process with reforms, including on a flexible currency." In its December accord with the IMF, Egypt also promised to sell state assets worth billions of dollars over the next four years. "Egypt has done important reforms over the last few years, and the fund has been very supportive..," Azouri said.

KARACHI, Pakistan, April 13 (Reuters) - Pakistan's debt continues to be sustainable, International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday, after the government reiterated it had completed all requirements to receive a critical bailout from the IMF. Pakistan's finance ministry on Thursday said IMF deputy managing director Antoinette Moniso Sayeh was confident of signing the staff level agreement very soon. Pakistan's government reiterated on Thursday it has completed all requirements to receive the critical bailout money from the fund following a meeting with Sayeh. "The finance minister also shared that all the international obligations have been addressed in time," the finance ministry said in a news release. On Wednesday, Pakistan's finance ministry release a statement following talks with the IMF's Middle East and Central Asia Director Jihad Azour.

☆ Israel hits Syria after rockets fired on Golan Heights
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( James Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, April 8 (Reuters) - Israel fired rockets at Syria early on Sunday in retaliation for launches against Israeli-controlled territory, the military said, as tension along Israel's northern border remained high following a cross-border exchange of fire. Israel said it had launched artillery strikes and a drone against the rocket launchers in Syria. On Thursday, more than 30 rockets were fired towards Israel from southern Lebanon, drawing cross-border counterstrikes from Israel on sites linked to the Islamist movement Hamas in Lebanon and Gaza. Israel seized the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed the 1,200-square-km (460-square-mile) in 1981, a move not recognised by most of the international community. In a separate incident, a Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli forces during a confrontation in the occupied West Bank, Israel's military and the Palestinian health ministry said.

Iraq's Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani, who took office in October, plans to update Iraq's oil production strategies to meet local needs while complying with the OPEC+ agreement, oil ministry spokesman Asim Jihad told Reuters. It is too early for the new government to talk about any significant increases in Iraq's oil production outside the OPEC+ agreement, Jihad said. 'HARD, IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE'For the oil sector, the country has repeatedly delayed a target to reach 7-8 million bpd capacity, from the current 5 million bpd. The beneficiaries were not the international oil companies, but UAE firm Crescent Petroleum and two Chinese companies. Iraq's oil minister this month revived seven investment opportunities in Iraq's refining sector.

☆ A US veteran joined Ukraine's International Legion, then made a shock defection to Russia. Ex-comrades say he was incompetent and left behind a trail of chaos.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Alia Shoaib | Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Those who fought with him in Ukraine told Insider he was unstable and erratic on the battlefield. "Bama is a highly unstable character," Nance told Insider. The warning signs continued, as McIntyre told Smith that he was wanted by the FBI for threatening to kill personnel at the White House, Smith. "As time went on, he confided to me that he had converted to Islam and that he was planning to do a jihad," Smith told Insider. "When you screw up, a company gets rid of you, pulls you off the line, and sends you back to the battalion," Nance told Insider.

JERICHO, West Bank, March 14 (Reuters) - Before a group of young men from Aqabat Jabr refugee camp mounted a botched attack on a restaurant in Jericho popular with Israeli settlers in January, they declared allegiance to Hamas. Often with just a handful of fighters, the militant groups springing up across the West Bank over the past year have only loose ties to factions such as Hamas, Fatah or Islamic Jihad. A few days after the attack, which failed when a gun jammed, the young men in the group were killed in an Israeli raid. "All the signs are that the intifada is coming," said the Hamas cadre, who declined to be named for fear of Israeli reprisals. The rally was a classic display of force, with some 250 fighters from various factions parading in a courtyard, its walls plastered with pictures of their dead, posing with guns and the cropped hairstyles popular among young West Bank men.

☆ New York bike path attacker spared death penalty after jury deadlocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Jane RosenbergNEW YORK, March 13 (Reuters) - Sayfullo Saipov, the man convicted of killing eight people in an attack on a Manhattan bike path in 2017, was spared the death penalty on Monday after a federal jury deadlocked on whether he should be executed. Saipov's case is the first federal death penalty trial since President Joe Biden, a Democrat, took office in 2021 after pledging during his campaign to abolish capital punishment. Jurors agreed that other aggravating factors weighed in favor of the death penalty, including that Saipov planned his attack in advance and carried it out to support Islamic State. Patton said in his closing argument that the death penalty was "not necessary to do justice." Prosecutors sought the death penalty despite U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland's July 2021 moratorium on federal executions so the Department of Justice could review its use of the punishment.

☆ Pentagon chief visits Israel amid West Bank violence, anti-Netanyahu protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Idrees Ali | Thomson Reuters | National Security Correspondent Focusing On The Pentagon In Washington D.C. Reports On U.S. Military Activity | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Hours earlier, Israeli forces killed three Islamic Jihad gunmen in the West Bank, among territories that have seen simmering violence amid the Palestinians' long-stalled goal of statehood. "We’re especially disturbed by violence by settlers against Palestinians," Austin said, adding that his discussions were frank and candid. Austin had originally been due to arrive on Wednesday and stay overnight in Tel Aviv, where Israel's Defence Ministry is based. FLASHPOINTSAmong West Bank flashpoints concerning the United States is the village of Huwara, where the Feb. 26 killing by a Palestinian gunman of two brothers from a Jewish settlement triggered revenge riots by settlers. The rampage triggered worldwide outrage and condemnation, which increased when ultra-nationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has responsibility for aspects of the West Bank administration, said Huwara should be "erased".

The cross-border attacks followed an Israeli operation in the West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday. The Islamic Jihad said Israeli troops had surrounded two of its Nablus commanders in a house, triggering a clash that drew in other gunmen. Palestinian sources said the two Islamic Jihad commanders had been killed along with another gunman. Palestinian groups in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza went on strike on Thursday. Abdel-Latif Abdu, a vegetable seller in Gaza, kept his shop closed in support of residents of Nablus and the rest of the West Bank.

☆ Israeli troops kill 9 Palestinians in West Bank clash, medics say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Ali Sawafta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] Palestinians clash with Israeli forces during a raid in Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West bank, February 22, 2023. REUTERS/Raneen SawaftaNABLUS, West Bank, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Israeli troops killed nine Palestinians, including at least three gunmen and three civilians, and wounded over 90 others during a raid on a flashpoint city in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, witnesses and medical officials said. The Islamic Jihad militant faction said two of its Nablus commanders had been encircled in a house by Israeli troops, triggering a clash that drew in other gunmen. Hamas, another Palestinian militant group that sometimes fights alongside Islamic Jihad, hinted at possible reprisals from the Gaza Strip, a territory that it controls. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are sworn to Israel's destruction but have in the past observed Egyptian-mediated truces with it.

☆ Al Qaeda's new leader Adel has $10 million bounty on his head
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Michael Georgy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Zawahiri's death piled pressure on the group to choose a strategic leader who can carefully plan deadly operations and run a jihadi network, experts on al Qaeda say. The department’s Rewards for Justice programme is offering up to $10 million for information on Adel, whom it says is a member of "al Qaeda’s leadership council” and heads the organisation’s military committee. He and other Al Qaeda leaders were placed under house arrest in April 2003 by Iran, which released him and four others in exchange for an Iranian diplomat who was kidnapped in Yemen. OPERATIVE TO LEADERAdel, one of the few remaining al Qaeda old guard, has been close to the central command for decades, experts say. Adel gained more jihadi credentials after he joined other Arab militants fighting Soviet occupation troops in Afghanistan, where he eventually headed a training camp before becoming a senior figure in al Qaeda.

☆ Some Taliban fighters are sick of the 9 to 5 grind, complaining they've been sucked into urban life by working desk jobs to run Afghanistan
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Five young Taliban fighters described how their lives are now consumed by work and Twitter. In this picture taken on November 23, 2021, Taliban fighters ride on bumper cars. Last year, it was tolerable but in the last few months, it's become more and more congested," he told Samim. Now, if we complain, or don't come to work, or disobey the rules, they cut our salary," he told Samim. Salam, along with several other Taliban fighters interviewed, felt the public had also stopped respecting them.

☆ Five dead in Israeli raid on Palestinian militants in W.Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Ali Sawafta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Bullet holes are pictured on a door at the scene where Israeli forces killed a number of armed fighters during a raid at a refugee camp near the city of Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 6, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamad TorokmanJERICHO, West Bank, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Israeli forces killed a number of armed fighters on Monday during a raid on a refugee camp near the occupied West Bank city of Jericho aimed at capturing suspected Hamas militants, the Israeli military said in a statement. Five people were killed, governor of Jericho Jihad Abu al-Assal said, in the raid in Aqbat Jabr refugee camp in southern Jericho and eight were arrested, according to a statement published by official Palestinian news agency WAFA. The Palestinian health ministry said three people had been wounded, one critically, but gave no details on any dead. Ahead of discussions in Cairo with Egyptian officials hoping to prevent further escalation, Haniyeh indicated the raid could impact the talks.

GAZA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Israeli aircraft struck in Gaza on Thursday in response to Palestinian rocket fire, days after the United States called for calm, but there was no immediate sign of a wider escalation in violence following days of tension. The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) said it had fired some of the rockets in response to the air strikes and the "systematic aggression" against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. In Gaza, activists rallied in support of women prisoners held by Israel after far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees prisons, said he would push ahead with plans to toughen conditions for Palestinian prisoners. Ben-Gvir has vowed a crackdown on "benefits and indulgences" offered to Palestinian prisoners and ordered amenities including prisoner-operated bread ovens in some prisons to be curtailed. Cairo has also invited Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, who currently resides between Qatar and Turkey, for separate talks next week, said a Palestinian official familiar with Egyptian mediation.

WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday put new trade restrictions on seven Iranian entities for producing drones that Russia has used to attack Ukraine, the U.S. Department of Commerce said. Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York said: "Sanctions have no effect on Iran's drone production capacity because its drones are all produced domestically. This is a strong indication that the drones shot down in Ukraine and using parts made by Western countries don't belong to Iran." In January, Canada announced it would buy a U.S.-made National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) for Ukraine. The United States has provided two NASAMS to Ukraine and more are on the way.

☆ Israeli army reinforces in West Bank after synagogue shooting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Maayan Lubell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Friday night's shooting came a day after the deadliest Israeli raid in the West Bank in years and cross-border fire between Israel and Gaza that heightened fears of a spiral in bloodshed. On Saturday, the Israeli ambulance service said two people were hurt in what appeared to be another shooting attack. "Following an IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) situational assessment, it was decided to reinforce the Judea and Samaria (West Bank) Division with an additional battalion," the military said. It came days before a planned visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel and the West Bank. Violence in the West Bank surged after a spate of lethal attacks in Israel last year.

☆ 7 shot dead at Jerusalem synagogue as violence spirals in region
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Aina J. Khan | Paul Goldman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Israeli security forces deploy at the site of a reported attack in a settler neighborhood of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, on January 27, 2023. At least seven people were shot dead in a synagogue in east Jerusalem on Friday, Israeli police said, as violence escalated following an a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. The attack, among the deadliest for Israelis in years, occurred in east Jerusalem, which was annexed by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and came after the deadly Israeli raid in the West Bank. The violence comes amid tensions over the Palestinians' long campaign for an independent state in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, which were captured by Israel in 1967. Responding to the Israeli raid Thursday, the State Department said the U.S. was "deeply concerned by the escalating cycle of violence in the West Bank."

☆ Seven dead in synagogue attack outside Jerusalem, Israeli officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/7] Israeli forces work next to a covered body at the scene of a shooting attack in Neve Yaacov which lies on occupied land that Israel annexed to Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East war January 27, 2023. REUTERS/Ammar AwadJERUSALEM, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Seven people were killed and 10 were injured in a synagogue shooting attack on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Friday, Israel's foreign ministry said. The incident comes a day after the deadliest raid in the West Bank in years, and falls on the Jewish Sabbath. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad also praised but did not claim the attack. Reporting by Henriette Chacar in Jaffa and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Editing by Mark Porter and Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. sees urgent need for de-escalation in Israel, West Bank -White House
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, answers questions during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 25, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The United States is deeply concerned about recent violence in Israel and the West Bank and believes there is an urgent need for all parties to de-escalate in the region, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Friday. "I also deeply regret the loss of innocent life and the injuries that that were incurred by civilians," Kirby said. "We're certainly deeply concerned by this escalating cycle of violence in the West Bank. Kirby said he will discuss a range of issues, including the need for calm in the West Bank.

☆ Gaza militants fire rockets at Israel -Israeli army
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Palestinian militants on Friday fired two rockets from the Gaza Strip towards southern Israel that were intercepted by missile defenses, the Israeli military said. The cross-border fire came after an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank on Thursday that led to the largest single death toll in years of fighting. The rockets triggered sirens in Israeli communities near the border with Gaza, warning residents to take shelter. Such attacks are usually followed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza. Violence has surged since a series of lethal Palestinian street attacks in Israel last March and April.

☆ Gaza militants fire rockets, Israel strikes in Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Palestinian militants on Friday fired two rockets from the Gaza Strip towards southern Israel that were intercepted by missile defenses, and Israel then carried out strikes in Gaza. The cross-border fire came after an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank on Thursday that led to the largest single death toll in years of fighting. The overnight rockets triggered sirens in Israeli communities near the border with Gaza, warning residents to take shelter. A few hours later, Israel's military said it had carried out strikes in Gaza. Violence has surged since a series of lethal Palestinian street attacks in Israel last March and April.

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