Category: 2. Middle East

Nemcha, Zina and Zouina, three North African Sloughi hounds, play on the beach in Tunisia where their ancestors have long roamed desert plains, seemingly unaware of the existential threat to their dwindling breed.

The Sloughis, known for their speed and slender physique, have for many centuries accompanied nomadic societies across North Africa, and have been featured in art and lore dating back at least to the Roman era.

But nowadays breeders and advocates say that unregulated crossbreeding,…

Rival Syrian and Kurdish producers are scrambling for shrinking wheat harvests as the worst drought in decades follows a devastating war, pushing more than 16 million people toward food insecurity.

“The country has not seen such bad climate conditions in 60 years,” said Haya Abu Assaf, assistant to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative in Syria.

Syria’s water levels have seen “a very significant drop compared to previous years, which is very worrying”, Abu…

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday held a phone call with billionaire businessman  Elon Musk, during which the two discussed the potential of world’s wealthiest man entering Lebanon’s telecom and internet sectors.  

What happened: A statement from the Lebanese presidency said that in their phone call, Musk “expressed his deep interest in Lebanon and its telecommunications and internet sectors.”  

Musk also expressed his desire for his companies to “have a presence” in…

AL-Monitor is an award-winning media outlet covering the Middle East, valued for its independence, diversity and analysis. It is read widely by US, international and Middle East decision makers at the highest levels, as well as by media, thought and business leaders and academia.

Five elected members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the UK’s largest Jewish representative body, have been suspended for two years after publicly criticising Israel’s military assault on Gaza, an act they described as incompatible with Jewish values and morally indefensible.

The suspensions follow an open letter signed by 36 deputies and published in the Financial Times on 16 April.  “Israel’s soul is being ripped out” said the signatories…

Wildfires erupted Thursday in Ness Ziona near Tel Aviv in central Israel, driven by soaring temperatures that prompted evacuations, Israeli Army Radio reported, Anadolu reports.

The fire started in an open forested area before rapidly spreading to residential neighborhoods, burning at least three buildings, it said.

Residents were evacuated from homes closest to the epicenter of the fire as 21 firefighting units worked to control the blaze and prevent it from…

The UN on Thursday condemned violent attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank that left three Palestinians dead, calling on Israel to uphold its responsibility to protect civilians, Anadolu reports.

“We condemn the attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians. Yesterday, OCHA documented an attack where three Palestinians were killed and others injured,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters at a news conference.

He said…

A French court on Thursday ordered the Nice city mayor to remove Israeli flags from the town hall, Anadolu reports.

“Following the referral by private individuals, the interim relief judge of the Administrative Court of Nice suspended the mayor’s refusal to remove the Israeli flags hoisted on the town hall’s facade and ordered him to remove them within five days,” the statement from the court said.

The court ruled that the display of the flag cannot be…