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☆ Japan loans Jordan $100 million for electricity reforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Jordan's Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Zeina Toukan sign agreements in Amman, Jordan September 3, 2023. REUTERS/Muath Freij Acquire Licensing RightsAMMAN, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Japan extended a $100 million loan to help Jordan's electricity sector reforms as part of Tokyo's support for the kingdom's IMF-guided reforms, officials said on Sunday. "Japan will continue our support for Jordan in its economic and financial reforms and further modernization," Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said in joint remarks with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman al Safadi at the start of a visit to Jordan. Japan is one of Jordan's main donors, contributing over $4 billion in loans, aid and technical support in recent decades. Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi Editing by Ros RussellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Yoshimasa Hayashi, Muath, Ayman al Safadi, Jordan's King Abdullah, Hayashi, Suleiman Al, Khalidi, Ros Russell Organizations: Planning, Cooperation, REUTERS, Rights, IMF, Jordan, Thomson Locations: Amman , Jordan, Japan, Jordan, Tokyo, Egypt, Saudi Arabia

☆ Arab towns in Israel strike in protest at funding freeze
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Arab local councils in Israel held a strike on Monday in protest at the finance minister's freeze earlier this month on hundreds of millions of shekels to their municipalities, a decision that has prompted accusations of racism. That the finance minister was casting Arabs as thieves and criminals was "ridiculous" and "false", the mayor of the Arab city of Umm al-Fahm, Samir Mahameed, told Israeli Army Radio. The ultra-nationalist Smotrich's move drew accusations of racism from Arab and Jewish lawmakers, including opposition leader Yair Lapid, as well as Arab mayors. Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbel urged Smotrich to release the funds and voiced support for the municipal strike. Videos circulating on social media showed police pushing some of the demonstrators, including Arab lawmaker Ayman Odeh.

Persons: Bezalel Smotrich, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Samir Mahameed, Netanyahu, Smotrich, Yair Lapid, Moshe Arbel, Ayman Odeh, Henriette Chacar, Maayan, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Finance, Israeli Army Radio, Police, Thomson Locations: Israel, Umm

☆ Lebanon moves to ban 'Barbie' film for 'promoting homosexuality'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIRUT, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Lebanon's culture minister moved to ban the film "Barbie" from cinemas on Wednesday, saying it "promotes homosexuality" and contradicts religious values. Mortada's decision said the film was found to "promote homosexuality and sexual transformation" and "contradicts values of faith and morality" by diminishing the importance of the family unit. Lebanon was the first Arab country to hold a gay pride week in 2017 and has generally been seen as a safe haven for the LGBT community in the broadly conservative Middle East. Mawlawi last year took a decision to ban events "promoting sexual perversion" in Lebanon, understood to refer to LGBT-friendly gatherings. In a speech last month, Nasrallah called on Lebanese authorities to take action against materials he deemed to be promoting homosexuality, including by "banning" them.

Persons: Mohammad Mortada, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Mortada's, Bassam Mawlawi, Mawlawi, Nasrallah, Lebanon's, Bechara Boutros, Rai, Ayman Mhanna, Samir Kassir, Mhanna, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Barbie, Ken, Mattel, Laila Bassam, Gebeily, Toby Chopra, Nick Macfie Organizations: Hezbollah, Reuters, Thomson Locations: BEIRUT, Lebanon

☆ Britain agrees deals on clean energy, critical minerals with Zambia
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Alaa Al SukhniLONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Britain on Thursday said it had agreed deals with Zambia on clean energy and critical minerals as foreign minister James Cleverly ends a four-day visit to Africa to deepen ties. "The UK-Zambia Green Growth Compact and our landmark agreement on critical minerals will support investment between UK and Zambian business, creating jobs in both countries," Cleverly said. Zambia is a major copper producer, and also has deposits of critical minerals such as cobalt, manganese and nickel. Last year Britain emphasised the importance of diversifying its supply chains in a critical mineral strategy. Britain has agreed to deepen collaboration on critical minerals with other countries such as the United States, Japan, Australia, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia.

Persons: James, Ayman Safadi, Sukhni, Alistair Smout, William James Our Organizations: British, Jordan's, REUTERS, Sukhni LONDON, Thomson Locations: Amman, Jordan, Britain, Zambia, Africa, Niger, Zambian, United States, Japan, Australia, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia

☆ Libya recovers colonial wolf statue sold as scrap and found on a farm
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Ayman Al-Warfali | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] The female wolf statue (Lupa Capitolina), which was found in the farm of a citizen, is pictured after disappearing for over thirty years in Benghazi, Libya, July 31, 2023. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-FetoriBENGHAZI, Libya, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Libyan authorities have recovered a large bronze wolf statue that once sat atop a pillar in central Benghazi before disappearing decades ago, found on a farm whose owner said he bought the sculpture as scrap. Italian colonial authorities erected the statue in the new Benghazi city centre they were building in the 1930s, promoting a connection between ancient Roman settlement of Libya and their modern colonial rule over the country. However, many priceless Libyan antiquities have disappeared: pillaged by Europeans in colonial times, appropriated after independence or looted in the chaos that has followed a 2011 NATO-backed uprising. Khaled al-Hadar, a Libyan researcher on stolen antiquities, said heritage monitoring remained weak in Libya and had not been started until 1974 - after the wolf had disappeared.

Persons: Omran, Saied Mohammed Bourabida, Bourabida, Khaled al, Muammar Gaddafi's, suckling, Romulus, Remus, Ayman al, Angus McDowall, Alison Williams Organizations: REUTERS, Fetori, Libya, Thomson Locations: Benghazi, Libya, Fetori BENGHAZI, Rome, Sabratha, NATO, Libyan, Warfali

Armed men attended the funeral on Wednesday of the Palestinians killed during the Israeli military operation. People stand by rubble and the remains of a destroyed vehicle outside a mosque in Jenin, West Bank, on Wednesday, July 5. Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images People attend the funeral of Palestinians who were killed during the Israeli military operation. Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images Aerial vehicles fly during the Israeli military operation in Jenin on Monday. “Military bulldozers destroyed multiple roads leading to the Jenin refugee camp, making it nearly impossible for ambulances to reach patients,” the group said.

Persons: Crews, Ammar Awad, Israel, Daniel Hagari, Benjamin Netanyahu, ”, Ismail Haniyeh, Israel “, Ahmad Gharabli, Robaldo Schemidt, Jaafar Ashtiyeh, Nedal, Nasser Nasser, Raneen Sawafta, Jaafar Ashitiyeh, Issam, Majdi Mohammed, Ronen Zvulun, Ayman Nobani, there’s, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Netanyahu, Itamar Ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, it’s, ” Vanessa Huguenin, “ Organizations: CNN, West, West Bank ., Militant, United Nations, Hamas, Reuters, West Bank, Israel Defense Forces, IDF, Israel, Getty, People, Getty Images People, Anadolu Agency, AP Palestinian, AP, Israel’s West Bank, National, Palestinian Authority, UN, Islamic, Jenin Brigade, Palestinian, International, “, US State Department Locations: West Bank, Jenin, Wednesday, Israeli, Tel Aviv, Palestinian, Gaza, Israel, Nablus, West, AFP, Monday, Raneen, Sunday, Issam, Israel’s, Islamic Jihad

The military operation remained ongoing Tuesday morning with Israeli forces searching for 10 remaining primary targets in the Jenin refugee camp, according to the IDF. A military source said Monday the operation is the largest military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin in more than 20 years. Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images Aerial vehicles fly during the Israeli military operation in Jenin on Monday. Raneen Sawafta/Reuters Palestinians run for cover during the Israeli military operation in Jenin. Majdi Mohammed/AP Palestinian women react Monday during the Israeli military operation in Jenin.

Persons: Daniel Hagari, Hagari, “, ” Hagari, Nedal, Nasser Nasser, Jaafar Ashtiyeh, Raneen Sawafta, Jaafar Ashitiyeh, Issam, Majdi Mohammed, Ronen Zvulun, Ayman Nobani, Lina Amouri, ”, ” Amouri, Mohamad Torokman, Reuters Duha, ” Turkman, ” “, Mohammed Jarrar, Crescent, Mahmoud al, Saadi, ” “ It’s, Mahmoud Abbas, Israel “, Benjamin Netanyahu, ” Netanyahu Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, West, Israel Defense Forces, Israel Securities Authority, Israel Border Police, IDF, Twitter, Palestinian, Crescent, West Bank, Anadolu Agency, AP Palestinian, Getty, Reuters, AP, CNN, Palestinian Ministry of Health, Palestinian Authority, Militant, Hamas Locations: Jerusalem, West Bank, Jenin, Tel Aviv, ”, West, Monday, AFP, Raneen, Palestinian, Sunday, Issam, it’s, Egypt

☆ Iraq plants mangrove forest to fight climate disaster
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Essam Al-Sudani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BASRA, Iraq, June 29 (Reuters) - As Aymen al-Rubaye plants mangrove seedlings in the sprawling tidal flats of southern Iraq, the black smoke rising over the skyline behind him shows the ecological damage that he is toiling to undo. Rubaye, an agricultural engineer, is working for a project started by Iraqi government bodies and a United Nations agency to grow up to 4 million mangrove trees in the Khor al-Zubair mudflats region, located near major oil fields. The tidal flats south of Basra are a baking landscape of water, salt, mud and hazy sky, riven by channels that Rubaye and his team navigate by boat. [1/5]Engineer Ayman Al-Rubaie, 47, plants mangrove trees in the wooded areas of the Shatt Al-Arab River, in Basra, Iraq June 21, 2023. Mangrove plants "can resist these harsh conditions we are passing through" without needing irrigation water, Rubaye said.

Persons: pats, Ayman Al, Essam, Rubaye, Ahmed Albaaj, Angus McDowall, Peter Graff Organizations: United, World Bank, REUTERS, United Arab Emirates, Thomson Locations: BASRA, Iraq, United Nations, Khor, Basra, . Southern Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab

☆ Eastern Libya administration threatens oil blockade
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGHAZI, Libya, June 24 (Reuters) - Authorities based in eastern Libya on Saturday threatened to blockade oil exports over the Tripoli government's use of energy revenue, accusing it of wasting billions of dollars without providing real services. Libya has been locked in a political standoff since last year, when the parliament in eastern Libya rejected the interim Government of National Unity in Tripoli and designated a new administration that has been unable to take over in the capital. The last major blockade was resolved last year when the Tripoli government appointed a new head of National Oil Corporation (NOC) who was said to be close to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar. Haftar said on June 17 he backed a move by the eastern-based parliament and another legislative body to appoint a new interim administration in a clear challenge to the current government in Tripoli. On Thursday a court in eastern Libya ruled that the eastern administration had won a case against NOC allowing it to take control of the company's accounts.

Persons: majeure, Khalifa Haftar, Haftar, manouevring, Ayman al, Angus McDowall, Toby Chopra Organizations: Authorities, of National Unity, NATO, National Oil Corporation, OPEC, Central Bank of Libya, Thomson Locations: BENGHAZI, Libya, Tripoli, Libyan, Warfali, Benghazi

☆ Libya's Haftar backs creation of new government in challenge to Tripoli
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGHAZI, Libya, June 17 (Reuters) - Libya's eastern forces under commander Khalifa Haftar support a proposal to set up a new interim government, they said late on Friday, setting up a challenge to the existing administration in Tripoli. The committee's recommendations have been adopted by parts of Libya's divided political establishment and rejected by others. The eastern-based parliament, which has been allied to Haftar, rejected Dbeibah's mandate but the new prime minister it designated was unable to replace the Tripoli government, leading to a long political standoff. Diplomacy has focused on bringing the parliament and another legislative body, the High State Council, to agree clear rules for an election aimed at resolving Libya's political stalemate. Critics of Libya's political elite believe they have little intention of holding elections that could remove them from power and are more focused on control over government in Tripoli and its access to state resources.

Persons: Khalifa Haftar, Abdulhamid, Haftar, Ayman al, Angus McDowall Organizations: Tripoli . Haftar's Libyan National Army, NATO, of National Unity, High State Council, Dbeibah, Thomson Locations: BENGHAZI, Libya, Tripoli . Haftar's, Dbeibah, Tripoli, Dbeibah's, Warfali, Benghazi

☆ Greek migrant boat disaster may be ‘worst ever tragedy’ in Mediterranean sea, EU commissioner says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Florence Davey Attlee Elinda Labropoulou Zahid Mahmood Mostafa Salem Nadine Schmidt Eyad Kourdi Sharon Braithwaite Heather Chen | Florence Davey Attlee | Elinda Labropoulou | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The sinking of a packed migrant boat off the coast of Greece may be “the worst tragedy ever” in the Mediterranean sea, according to the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson. “We don’t have all information yet on what has happened but it seems like this is the worst ever tragedy we’ve seen in the Mediterranean,” she told a press conference in Brussels on Friday. On Friday, they denied claims that the boat had capsized after the coast guard attempted to tow it to shore. A rope, not a mooring rope, was also used when the coast guard approached,” he added. “When the Greek navy tried pulling them it caused the boat to capsize.”CNN has reached out to Greek authorities regarding the allegations.

Persons: Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, ”, Johansson, “, we’ve, Ilias Siakanderis, –, …, ” Tarek Aldroobi, ” Aldroobi, Ayman Abu Mahmoud, ” Abu Mahmoud Organizations: CNN, Home Affairs, International Organization for Migration, UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, Authorities, ERT, Horan Free League Locations: Greece, Tobruk, Libya, Italy, Brussels, Europe, Syrian, Deraa

☆ Opinion: A blistering indictment of the Trump-Biden legacy in Afghanistan
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The withdrawal agreement was supposed to be predicated on the Taliban negotiating with the elected Afghan government about some kind of power-sharing arrangement and cutting their ties to terrorist groups like al Qaeda. Zawahiri was living in Kabul with the “awareness” of Taliban officials, according to a Biden senior administration official. Worrisomely, al Qaeda is “covertly rebuilding its external operations capability,” according to the UN, i.e., its ability to launch attacks outside of Afghanistan. Of these, an astonishing 35 hold cabinet-level positions in the de facto Afghan government, according to the report. In sum, “debacle” seems almost too kind a word to describe the Trump-Biden legacy in Afghanistan.

Persons: Peter Bergen, Donald Trump’s, Joe Biden, Biden, Zalmay Khalilzad, “, al Qaeda, Ayman al Zawahiri, Zawahiri, Hibatullah Akhundzada, Edmund Fitton, Brown, ”, Fitton Organizations: New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, CNN, United, US, Afghan, Biden, Trump, US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Taliban, UN, ISIS, Pakistan, Twitter, “, NATO Locations: New America, United Nations, Afghanistan, al Qaeda, United States, Qaeda, Kabul, Pakistani, Afghan, Kandahar, America

☆ Qatar’s prime minister met with top Taliban leader in Afghanistan earlier this month, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Alex Marquardt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Qatar’s prime minister met secretly with the Taliban’s top leader earlier this month in Afghanistan, two sources familiar with the meeting confirmed to CNN. The meeting happened in the southern city of Kandahar on May 12, between the Taliban Supreme Leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada and Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani. The meeting, first reported by Reuters, is believed to be the first between Akhundzada and a foreign leader. Despite American warnings to the Taliban not harbor terrorists, Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri took up residence in Kabul before being killed in a US drone strike last July. Qatar serves as the US protecting power in Afghanistan, where it does not have a diplomatic presence.

Persons: CNN —, Haibatullah, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim, Biden, Antony Blinken, Qatar’s, ”, Qatar’s Al Jazeera, Thani, Al Qaeda’s, Ayman al, Zawahiri Organizations: CNN, Taliban, Qatar’s, Reuters, State Department, ” CNN, US State Department, Qatari Embassy, US Locations: Afghanistan, Kandahar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al, Thani, Qatar, Washington, Al, Doha, Kabul, Kabul –

☆ Libya court sentences 23 to death for Islamic State campaign
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MISRATA, Libya, May 29 (Reuters) - A Libyan court sentenced 23 people to death and another 14 to life in prison on Monday for their role in a deadly Islamic State militant campaign that included beheading a group of Egyptian Christians and seizing the city of Sirte in 2015. [1/4] Suspects sit behind bars during a judgment sentence against 56 defendants accused of joining Islamic State group (ISIS) in the court in Misrata, Libya, May 29, 2023. "My son is missing and my relative, my brother-in-law, was murdered in Sirte Square," he said. Speaking in court on Monday, Fawzia Arhuma said she welcomed the death sentences after her son was killed by the group at a power station near Sirte. Reporting by Ayman al-Sahily, writing by Angus McDowall, editing by Andrew Heavens and Giles ElgoodOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 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.

☆ Air strikes, artillery fire escalate as factions battle in Sudan capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Khalid Abdelaziz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DUBAI, May 16 (Reuters) - Air strikes and artillery fire intensified sharply across Sudan's capital early on Tuesday, residents said, as the army sought to defend key bases from paramilitary rivals it has been fighting for more than a month. The air strikes, explosions and clashes could be heard in the south of Khartoum, and there was heavy shelling across the River Nile in parts of the adjoining cities of Bahri and Omdurman, witnesses said. The fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has triggered unrest in other areas of Sudan, especially in the western region of Darfur, but is concentrated in Khartoum. "We don't know what the citizens did to deserve a war in the middle of the houses." Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Jordan strikes Iran-linked drugs factory in southern Syria - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The sources said one strike hit an abandoned drug facility in Syria's southern Deraa province linked to the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, which is allied to Syria's government. Ramthan, a major drug dealer in southern Syria, has recruited hundreds of Bedouin transporters who join the ranks of Iran-linked militias that hold sway in southern Syria, Jordanian and regional intelligence sources say. He had been sentenced to death on several occasions in recent years in absentia by Jordanian courts for drugs trafficking, judicial sources say. The incident comes only days after Safadi threatened to strike inside Syria if Damascus would not rein in smuggling. The Iran-linked drug war posed a threat not only to Jordan's national security but also to Gulf countries, Safadi said.

☆ Arab nations set to rehabilitate Syria’s pariah president in defiance of US
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Officials and analysts have said that Syria’s re-admission into the Arab League, while symbolic, comes with the hope that it could pave the way for President Bashar Al Assad’s rehabilitation internationally, and potentially the removal of crippling sanctions against his regime. Arab states have argued that the status quo in Syria is untenable and has caused them a headache at home. Syria has over the past decade turned into a narco-state, exporting highly addictive amphetamines across the border to Jordan and to Saudi Arabia. It’s unclear if the US will stand in the way of Arab states’ efforts to bring Syria back into the regional fold. “The US will not impose a veto on their allies when it comes to normalization with Assad,” said Hellyer.

CNN —Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi believes there are enough votes among Arab League members for Syria to return to the organization, adding that it is “only the beginning” of bringing a political end to the Syrian crisis. If Syria’s membership is approved, the Syrian delegation at the high-level Arab League summit on May 19 is “very likely” to be presided by President Bashar Al Assad, the official told CNN. Safadi said that “everybody” in the Arab League is on board to end the Syrian crisis, but there are differences on what the best approach is. The foreign ministers of Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan met in the Jordanian capital Amman on Monday to discuss how to normalize ties with Syria. According to a statement issued after the meeting, Syria has agreed to help end drug trafficking across its borders with Iraq and Jordan.

☆ Arab ministers discuss how to normalise ties with Syria
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

AMMAN, May 1 (Reuters) - A group of Arab foreign ministers held a landmark meeting with their Syrian counterpart in Jordan on Monday to discuss how to normalise ties with Syria as part of a political settlement of the country's more than decade-old conflict, officials said. Jordan has called on Syria to engage with Arab states jointly on a step-by-step roadmap to end the conflict, tackling the issues of refugees, detainees, drug smuggling and Iran-backed militias in Syria - all of which affect its neighbours. Amman has been fighting armed groups smuggling narcotics from Syria, including the highly-addictive amphetamine captagon. Arab states and those most impacted by the conflict are trying to reach consensus on whether to invite Assad to the Arab League summit on May 19 in Riyadh, to discuss the pace of normalising ties with Assad and on what terms Syria could be allowed back. Washington, which said it would not change its policy towards the Syrian government which it terms a "rogue" state, has urged Arab states to get something in return for engaging with Assad.

☆ Jordan to host talks on Syria's return to Arab League
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary Meeting brings Syrian FM together with group of Arab statesJordan seeks an Arab-led peace road mapAMMAN, April 30 (Reuters) - Jordan will host a meeting of Arab foreign ministers and Syria's top diplomat on Monday to discuss Syria's return to the Arab League as part of a broader political settlement of Syria's more than decade-old conflict, officials said. The meeting comes two weeks after talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia between the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, failed to reach agreement on Syria's possible return to the Arab fold. Arab states and those most affected by the conflict are trying to reach consensus on whether to invite Assad to the Arab League summit on May 19 in Riyadh, to discuss the pace of normalising ties with Assad and on what terms Syria could be allowed back. Officials said the Jordanian initiative calls on Damascus to engage with Arab governments collectively on a step-by-step road map to end the conflict. At the Jeddah meeting there was resistance to the move to invite Assad to the Arab League summit, with Qatar, Jordan and Kuwait saying it was premature before Damascus accepts to negotiate a peace plan.

☆ 'This is madness': Libya's bitter divisions split Eid holiday
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] People attend an Eid al-Fitr prayer, marking the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan at a public square, in Benghazi, Libya April 21, 2023. Religious authorities in east Libya, aligned with the parliament which is based there, said they had sighted the crescent moon on Thursday, making it the last day of fasting and setting Friday as Eid. "This is madness and I pray it ends here," said Ahmed Mesbah, 50, in Tripoli, who has chosen to celebrate Eid on Friday. The country split in 2014 between warring factions in east and west, a rift that remains despite comparative peace since 2020. "The split between east and west on such a happy occasion is hurtful and makes me sad.

☆ Israel approves 'national guard' sought by far-right security minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Dan Williams | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

It was not immediately clear who would have direct authority over the national guard. Having moderated some of his positions, he wields an expanded law-and-order portfolio in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's religious-nationalist governing coalition. Ben Gvir has described the planned national guard in media interviews as an update of the previous government's initiative. "Why does the State of Israel - which has an army, police, military intelligence, the Shin Bet, Mossad, National Security Council, Prisons Service, riot police, a SWAT team - need another national guard?" He said that the national guard would take months to get off the ground and that he was trying to fill police posts in parallel.

☆ The week in Asian football
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Michael Church | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Talking points from the week in Asian football:RONALDO'S SAUDI SCORING STREAK CONTINUES WITH HAT-TRICKCristiano Ronaldo's scoring run continued on Saturday as the Portuguese attacker netted all three goals in Al Nassr's 3-0 victory over Damak. The 38-year-old capped the scoring a minute before halftime when he side-footed home after Ayman Yahya cut the ball back towards the penalty spot. The goal was Ronaldo's eighth in five league games since joining Al Nassr after the World Cup. The defeat was the second in a row for new Urawa coach Maciej Skorza and the Pole's team are bottom of the standings. JANKOVIC APPOINTED NEW CHINA COACHSerbian Aleksandar Jankovic has been named coach of the China national team for next year's Asian Cup and the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

☆ Quake deals new blow to Syrian medics after years of war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Khalil Ashawi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

AL-DANA, Syria, Feb 21 (Reuters) - As a nurse working near the frontlines of the Syrian war, Ibrahim Zeidan endured many desperate moments including when shelling destroyed a hospital, leaving him trapped by rubble. But he says an earthquake which hit the region on Feb. 6 has proved the most difficult challenge yet for medics in the rebel-held region, overwhelming health facilities already battered by more than a decade of conflict. The night of the disaster, Zeidan oversaw the evacuation of infants from the hospital where he was working in the town of al-Dana. CCTV footage from the hospital showed masonry falling and equipment shaking as the quake struck. Zeidan previously worked at a hospital that operated out of a cave in the Kafr Zeita region of the rebel-held northwest.

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