Al-Monitor: The Pulse of The Middle East

WHO seeks more China Covid data, praises US 'transparency'

2023-01-11T14:40:56-0500

The WHO reiterated Wednesday the need for China to share more data on its explosive Covid outbreak, while praising Washington's "radical transparency" in its efforts to battle a new sub-variant.

The World Health Organization has repeatedly voiced concern that China's official statistics are not showing the true impact of its current surge in Covid cases.

"WHO still believes that deaths are heavily underreported from China," its emergencies director Michael Ryan told reporters.

Two repatriated IS wives jailed on arrival back in Spain

2023-01-11T14:40:56-0500

A Madrid court ordered two Spanish women who married Islamic State (IS) fighters remanded in custody Wednesday on terror-related charges after they were flown back from Syrian detention camps with 13 children, legal documents showed.

They arrived at Torrejon de Ardoz military airbase near Madrid late Monday nearly two months after the Spanish government agreed to fly them home from the notorious Roj detention camp in Kurdish-controlled north-eastern Syria.

Anti-Zionist Jewish group says Israel's Ben-Gvir has 'extreme settler attitude'

Adam Lucente — 2023-01-11T14:21:55-0500

Neturei Karta is known for its staunch opposition to Israel, and the group has caught the wrath of right-wing national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Istanbul mayor charged with corruption as Turkish opposition weighs Erdogan challenger

Amberin Zaman — 2023-01-11T13:11:41-0500

The latest move against Ekrem Imamoglu comes as Turkey’s opposition weighs which candidate would stand the best chance against Erdogan.

Spiritual leader of Israel ultra-Orthodox party dies aged 94

2023-01-11T12:41:13-0500

The spiritual leader of the largest ultra-Orthodox Jewish party within Israel's ruling coalition, Rabbi Shimon Baadani, died Wednesday at the age of 94, his Shas party announced.

Ultra-Orthodox parties were key to right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's securing a 61-seat majority in parliament last month, with Shas handing the coalition its 11 seats.

Shas chairman and Israel's interior minister, Aryeh Deri, said "darkness has descended on our world" following Baadani's death.

"Woe is the ship that has lost its captain," Deri wrote on Twitter.

Crisis-hit Egypt's currency halved in value since March

2023-01-11T12:41:13-0500

The Egyptian pound traded Wednesday at half its value from March after the central bank intervened for a third time as part of an International Monetary Fund loan agreement.

The devaluation, representing a drop of around 50 percent against the dollar over the 10-month period, comes as the price of imported food and other goods soars in the Arab world's most populous country.

The currency plunged to 31.95 pounds to the dollar in state banks on Wednesday, before settling at 29.7 in the afternoon, according to the central bank.

Ukraine and Turkey defense chiefs speak amid prisoner-swap reports

Al-Monitor Staff — 2023-01-11T12:38:38-0500

The Turkish and Ukrainian defense chiefs have discussed the situation in Ukraine amid ongoing humanitarian talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Turkey.

Saudi Arabia's mining sector sees boost after UK and domestic fund deals

Adam Lucente — 2023-01-11T12:03:27-0500

The agreement with Saudi Arabia will help the United Kingdom reduce dependence on China, according to the British government.

Turkish envoy assumes Israel post as relations warm

2023-01-11T09:41:36-0500

Turkey's ambassador to Israel, Sakir Ozkan Torunlar, presented his credentials to President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday, the latest move in rebuilding ties after years of crisis between the two countries.

Relations were frozen in 2010 after a deadly Israeli raid on the Turkish Mavi Marmara ship, part of a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid that was trying to breach a blockade on the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

Appeal opens of ex-Iran official convicted in Sweden

2023-01-11T09:41:36-0500

A former Iranian prison official sentenced to life in Sweden for crimes committed during a 1988 purge of dissidents appeared in court again Wednesday as his appeal trial opened.

The case relates to the killing of at least 5,000 prisoners across Iran, allegedly ordered by supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini, to avenge attacks carried out by exiled opposition group the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) at the end of the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-88.

Hamid Noury, 61, was convicted of a "serious crime against international law" and "murder" in July 2022 by a Stockholm district court.

Turkey frees top doctor who sought chemical arms probe

2023-01-11T09:41:36-0500

A Turkish court on Wednesday released an internationally respected medic who outraged President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by backing a probe into the army's alleged use of chemical weapons in Iraq.

Turkish Medical Association head Sebnem Korur Fincanci was detained and jailed in October for using a television interview to highlight claims that first surfaced in media close to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The militia alleged that 17 of its fighters had died in Turkish chemical weapons attacks in the mountains of northern Iraq that month.

Egypt's pound plunges to historic low with IMF deal

Adam Lucente — 2023-01-11T09:26:27-0500

Egypt has agreed to allow its currency to float in order to receive $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund.

Turkey's ambassador to Israel assumes post as reconciliation advances

Rina Bassist — 2023-01-11T09:02:11-0500

After four years of fraught relations, Israel and Turkey have officially exchanged ambassadors, and Herzog has invited Erdogan to visit.

Iraqi Kurdistan PM discusses disputes with Iraq's Sudani

Ali Mamouri — 2023-01-11T08:53:37-0500

A high-ranking Kurdish delegation led by Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met with officials in Baghdad over energy, security and finance disputes — but no resolution is expected.

Iranian filmmaker Rasoulof temporarily released: lawyer

2023-01-11T08:41:12-0500

Award-winning Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, jailed half a year ago over protests related to a building collapse, has been released for two weeks because of health concerns, his lawyer said Wednesday.

Rasoulof, 50, was arrested on July 8 after being accused of encouraging demonstrations that erupted after the deadly collapse of a building in May in the southwestern city of Abadan.

UN decries 'intolerable' loss of 5 million children in 2021

2023-01-10T20:37:36-0500

An estimated five million children under the age of five died in 2021, the United Nations said Tuesday, urging health care investment in underserved communities around the globe to avoid this "immense, intolerable and mostly preventable loss of life."

"Every day, far too many parents are facing the trauma of losing their children, sometimes even before their first breath," said Vidhya Ganesh, a specialist with the UN's children's agency, UNICEF.

Western allies join US' experimental drone task force in Middle East

Jared Szuba — 2023-01-10T19:20:42-0500

Task Force 59 is now fully operationally capable, Fifth Fleet commander Vice Adm. Brad Cooper told an audience of Navy personnel in Washington on Tuesday.

Israeli restrictions on Palestinian flags 'repressive': Amnesty

2023-01-10T17:39:34-0500

Bolstered Israeli restrictions against flying the Palestinian flag are "a shameless attempt to legitimise racism", rights group Amnesty International said Tuesday.

Israel's new firebrand National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ordered the police commander on Sunday to authorise officers to remove Palestinian flags flying in public spaces.

"I have instructed the Israeli police to enforce the ban on flying a PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) flag in public spaces, a sign of identification with a terrorist organisation", Ben-Gvir wrote on Twitter.

Can Ronaldo live with girlfriend in conservative Saudi Arabia?

Adam Lucente — 2023-01-10T16:33:44-0500

Saudi Arabia does not allow non-married couples to live together, though laws and customs have relaxed in some respects.

Regional News Editor

2023-01-10T16:12:38-0500

Location: Middle East and North Africa

Job type: Full time