Category: 2. Middle East

  • Cannes film festival says to ‘honour’ slain Gaza photojournalist

    Cannes film festival says to ‘honour’ slain Gaza photojournalist

    The Cannes film festival said Wednesday that the screening of a documentary about Gaza photojournalist Fatima Hassouna at the event next month would honour her work after the “horror” of her death in an Israeli air strike last week.

    “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” by Iranian director Sepideh Farsi is to be shown at ACID Cannes, at this year’s May 13-24 festival, which runs parallel to the main competition.

    The film features conversations between Farsi and Hassouna, 25, as she documents…

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    News Source: www.al-monitor.com

  • China backs Iran’s nuclear talks with US, opposes ‘illegal’ sanctions – Middle East Monitor

    China backs Iran’s nuclear talks with US, opposes ‘illegal’ sanctions – Middle East Monitor

    China supports Iran holding talks on its nuclear program with the United States and opposes the use of force and “illegal” unilateral sanctions to try to resolve the issue, Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, told Iran’s Foreign Minister on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

    Beijing is willing to deepen coordination and cooperation with Tehran on international and regional affairs, Wang told Iran’s Abbas Araqchi during talks in the Chinese capital, according…

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    News Source: www.middleeastmonitor.com

  • Tunisia judge orders detention of prominent lawyer and Saied critic, Souab – Middle East Monitor

    Tunisia judge orders detention of prominent lawyer and Saied critic, Souab – Middle East Monitor

    A Tunisian anti-terrorism judge ordered, on Wednesday, the detention of prominent lawyer, Ahmed Souab, a fierce critic of President Kais Saied, lawyers said, two days after his arrest for comments about the judiciary, Reuters reports.

    Souab’s arrest sparked widespread anger among political parties and civil society groups, which said the move was a dangerous escalation of a crackdown on dissent and marked a further entrenchment of the country’s…

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    News Source: www.middleeastmonitor.com

  • Iran – Middle East Monitor

    Iran – Middle East Monitor

    Iran, on Wednesday, condemned the fresh US sanctions, saying the penalties reflect Washington’s lack of goodwill for negotiations, Anadolu Agency reports.

    The US Department of the Treasury imposed new sanctions on Tuesday against an Iranian businessman and his large shipping network for allegedly selling oil and gas to other countries.

    Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baqaei, said the fresh sanctions undermine the US claim of willingness to negotiate…

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    News Source: www.middleeastmonitor.com

  • Palestine President urges Hamas to lay down arms – Middle East Monitor

    Palestine President urges Hamas to lay down arms – Middle East Monitor

    Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, called on Hamas on Wednesday to lay down arms and hand the running of Gaza to his Palestinian Authority, part of efforts to answer international doubts over the Authority’s role at a key moment for the region, Reuters reports.

    Abbas was speaking at a leadership council where he is expected this week to name a successor, amid pressure from Western and Arab powers concerned about the PA’s ability to play a viable-long term…

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    News Source: www.middleeastmonitor.com

  • Jordan bans Muslim Brotherhood group

    Jordan bans Muslim Brotherhood group

    Jordan announced on Wednesday it was banning the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational Islamist movement, accusing it of manufacturing and stockpiling weapons and planning to destabilise the kingdom.

    The move comes after authorities said they arrested 16 people, including members of the Brotherhood, over an alleged sabotage plot.

    “It has been decided to ban all activities of the so-called Muslim Brotherhood and to consider any activity (carried out by it) a violation of the…

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    News Source: www.al-monitor.com

  • Jordan bans Muslim Brotherhood: Here's what to know about the group

    Jordan bans Muslim Brotherhood: Here's what to know about the group

    The Muslim Brotherhood, which calls for the Islamization of society, is popular throughout parts of the Arab world but has been banned by several countries in the region.

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    News Source: www.al-monitor.com

  • Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar face uneven 2025 growth as trade tensions rise: IMF

    Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar face uneven 2025 growth as trade tensions rise: IMF

    While Gulf economies face only the Trump administration’s baseline 10% tariffs, the levies have already impacted oil prices and revenue, especially for rentier states like Saudi Arabia.

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    News Source: www.al-monitor.com

  • New German government to decide on Eurofighter sale to Turkey: Officials

    New German government to decide on Eurofighter sale to Turkey: Officials

    ANKARA — Germany’s outgoing government will defer a decision on the sale of Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Turkey to the incoming government, official German sources told Al-Monitor following media reports that Berlin blocked the previously approved sale due to domestic political events inside Turkey.

    The German government, led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, blocked the sale largely due to the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Germany’s Handelsblatt reported last week, citing several…

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    News Source: www.al-monitor.com

  • China slams sanctions, voices support for Iran’s nuclear program during FM visit

    China slams sanctions, voices support for Iran’s nuclear program during FM visit

    Iran’s foreign minister held high-level talks with Chinese officials on Wednesday on the latest developments in Iran’s ongoing nuclear negotiations with the US.

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    News Source: www.al-monitor.com