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☆ Iraq launches $17 billion road and rail project to link Asia and Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Timour Azhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"The Development Road is not just a road to move goods or passengers. This road opens the door to development of vast areas of Iraq," Farhan al-Fartousi, director general of the General Company for Ports of Iraq, told Reuters. The Grand Faw Port, which was devised over a decade ago, is halfway to completion, Fartousi said. Passenger transport between Iraq and Europe harkens back to grand plans at the turn of the 20th century to create a Baghdad to Berlin express. But officials say the Development Road is based on something new: a period of relative stability since late last year that they hope can be maintained.

☆ Iraq says Iran blames reduced gas exports on 'technical' matter
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An Iraqi delegation led by the electricity minister will travel to Iran next week to discuss the issue, Iraqi state media reported on Tuesday, noting gas imports had decreased by 20 million cubic meters at the time. Iraq usually imports between 50 million to 70 million cubic meters of gas, according to Iraq's electricity ministry spokesperson Ahmed Moussa. Iraq imports electricity and gas from Iran that in total makes up between a third and 40% of its power supply, especially crucial in the sweltering summer months when temperatures can top 50 degrees Celsius (122°F) and power consumption peaks. During Friday's phone call, Amirabdollahian thanked Iraq for trying to resolve the issue of financial transfers with Washington, the statement said. Iraq spends roughly $4 billion per year on imports of Iranian gas and power while at the same time burning massive quantities of natural gas as a byproduct of its hydrocarbons sector.

☆ Israel says it is discussing possible direct Haj flights to Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Dan Williams | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Netanyahu's centrist predecessor, Yair Lapid, said on March 10 that, as prime minister last year, he secured Saudi consent for what would be the first direct Haj flights from Israel, some 18% of whose population are Muslim. Asked whether the direct flights would happen for next month's pilgrimage to the holy Saudi city of Mecca, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said a request had been submitted. "But with that, I am optimistic that we can advance peace with Saudi Arabia." The Biden administration last June predicted there would be direct charter flights from Israel to Saudi Arabia for the Haj. Saudi Arabia has been allowing Israeli airlines to overfly it to UAE and Bahrain since 2020, a corridor that it and next-door Oman have since expanded to include other destinations.

☆ Iran and Saudi Arabia: Key developments towards resumption of ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 10 (Reuters) - Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed on Friday to re-establish relations after a seven-year diplomatic rupture, according to a statement issued by Iran, Saudi Arabia and China. Here are key dates in Saudi-Iranian relations since the suspension of ties in 2016:Jan. 2, 2016: Saudi Arabia executes nearly 50 people including prominent Shi'ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Jan. 3, 2016: Saudi Arabia cuts ties with Iran. Jan. 7, 2016: Iran accuses Saudi Arabia of air strikes on its embassy in Yemen. Sept. 14, 2019: Saudi Arabia blames Iran for attacks on its oil installations that knocked out half of the kingdom's supply.

☆ After devastating quake, thousands of Syrians return home to war zone
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Khalil Ashawi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"I haven't seen my family for four years, as I live alone in Turkey," Qramo said after crossing into Syria. Qramo, who had been living in the city of Gaziantep, said people were staying in tents in the cold and rain. In Gaziantep, Qramo said police had moved Syrians out of a mosque where they were sheltering to make way for Turkish families. Several Turks in other quake-hit towns and cities have accused Syrians of robbing damaged shops and homes. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck before dawn 11 days ago, killing more than 38,000 people in Turkey and 5,800 in Syria.

☆ Defying odds: A story of survival under Turkey's earthquake rubble
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Ali Kucukgocmen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Berber was speaking from a bed at Mersin City Hospital, some 250 km from the 15-storey building that collapsed in the city of Antakya in southern Hatay province, where half the buildings were either destroyed or heavily damaged. I looked around, my son turned on a light, took a flashlight and said 'Father, it's an earthquake!' "I shouted, shouted and shouted. Deniz Gezer, internal medicine specialist at Mersin City Hospital, said one of the biggest problems for survival was the cold. Caglar Aksoy Colak, a doctor at Mersin City Hospital, said doctors only provided "supportive treatment" for Berber.

☆ President Biden Orders Second ‘Object’ Shot Down Over Alaska
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Watch: U.N Earthquake Aid Arrives in Rebel-Held Northern Syria Trucks carrying United Nations aid crossed into rebel-held northwest Syria on Thursday. Delivering aid to the area has proven difficult because roads to the only U.N.-approved point of entry have been damaged by the earthquake. Photo: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images

☆ Newborn Rescued From Quake Debris Is in ‘Good Health’
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Powerful quake rocks Turkey and Syria, kills more than 3,400
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

A man carries a girl following an earthquake, in rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria February 6, 2023. People search through rubble following an earthquake in Diyarbakir, Turkey February 6, 2023. Rescuers carry out a girl from a collapsed building following an earthquake in Diyarbakir, Turkey February 6, 2023. He said their shared four-story building collapsed just as he, his wife and three children ran toward the exit. Rescuers stand on rubble of a collapsed building, following an earthquake, in Latakia, Syria, February 6, 2023 in this handout image.

☆ Stories of trauma, resilience spotlighted at Palestinian film festival
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Henriette Chacar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Summary Thousands attend ninth annual Palestinian film festivalEvent headlined by Oscar-nominated 'Mediterranean Fever'RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The fate of a Palestinian girl forced into exile during the 1948 war of Israel's creation remains unknown. But her story took on new life in a film about her experience that captured the big screen at this year's Palestine Cinema Days festival. "This is a very special moment for all of us, to have the film screened in Palestine to a Palestinian audience," said Deema Azar, one of the film's producers, told Reuters. The festival, now in its ninth year, was organised by Film Lab: Palestine, which cultivates cinema culture and supports Palestinian filmmakers. "The Flag" follows an elderly man who must prove to Israeli soldiers that he isn't the one planting the Palestinian flag that continues to mysteriously appear on his roof.

☆ Factbox: Some of the world's worst stampedes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

April 1998: One hundred and nineteen Muslim pilgrims are crushed to death during the haj in Saudi Arabia. Feb 2004: A stampede kills 251 Muslim pilgrims in Saudi Arabia near Jamarat Bridge during the haj ritual stoning of the devil. Jan 2005: At least 265 Hindu pilgrims are killed in a crush near a remote temple in India's Maharashtra state. July 2010: A stampede kills 19 people and injures 342 when people push through a tunnel at the Love Parade techno music festival in Duisburg, Germany. Sept 2015: At least 717 Muslim pilgrims are killed and 863 injured in a crush at the haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

☆ Top Israeli bank chairman to speak at Saudi investment event
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Yousef Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The chairman of Israel's Bank Leumi (LUMI.TA) is due to speak at Saudi Arabia's flagship investment conference in Riyadh on Thursday, in the latest sign of a potential thawing in relations between the two countries. In 2020, Riyadh's Gulf allies the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed historic U.S.-brokered deals to normalise relations with Israel. Organisers of the FII conference confirmed Bank Leumi chairman Samer Haj Yehia's planned attendance in response to a Reuters query. Bank Leumi, one of Israel's two largest banks, declined to comment. Haj Yehia is the first Arab Israeli to serve as the bank's chairman.

☆ Iran's morality police sanctioned by UK for 'repression of women'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Protestors stand in solidarity with Iranian women after the death of Mahsa Amini, in London, Britain September 24, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne//File PhotoLONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Britain said on Monday it had sanctioned senior Iranian security officials and the country's "so-called Morality Police", saying the force had used threats of detention and violence to control what Iranian women wear and how they behave in public. Citing her death and the subsequent protests, Britain said it had sanctioned the morality police in its entirety, as well as both its chief, Mohammed Rostami Cheshmeh Gachi, and the Head of the Tehran Division, Haj Ahmed Mirzaei. Iranian authorities have described the protests as a plot by Iran's foes, including the United States. Last week, the foreign ministry said it had summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires, Iran’s most senior diplomat in Britain, over the crackdown on the protests.

George Haj of the bank employees syndicate said the holdups were misguiding anger that should be directed at the Lebanese state, which was most to blame for the crisis, and noted some 6,000 bank employees had lost their jobs since it began. Authorities have condemned the holdups and say they are preparing a security plan for banks. "They are all in cahoots to steal from us and leave us to go hungry and die slowly," she said. To aid her escape, Hafiz posted on Facebook that she was already at the airport and on her way to Istanbul. Abdallah Al-Saii, an acquaintance of Hafiz who held up a bank in January to get some $50,000 of his own savings, said more hold-ups were coming.

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