The United States’ ambassador to Libya warned rival actors Wednesday against using the country’s oil wealth as a political “weapon,” amid an internal blockade that has slashed output since April. “The United States continues to support the vast majorit…
World Bank agrees $500m to help Egypt fund wheat purchases
Egypt will receive a $500 million loan from the World Bank to help finance its wheat purchases as prices skyrocket because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the bank said Wednesday. The funds, approved Tuesday by the World Bank Board of Executive Dir…
World Bank lends Tunisia $130 mn for grains hit by Ukraine war
The World Bank has announced a $130-million loan to help Tunisia cover the cost of cereal imports whose prices have spiralled since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The package aimed “to lessen the impact of the Ukraine war by financing vital soft wheat i…
Israel’s Bennett says won’t run in next election, Lapid poised to be PM
Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Wednesday that he would not stand in upcoming elections, hours before parliament was set to dissolve, triggering the country’s fifth vote in less than four years. The premier, who announced last week that hi…
NATO to monitor migration as risk of instability to members
Irregular mass migration is among the “hybrid threats” that rivals can use to undermine the stability of NATO countries, the alliance recognised in its new strategic concept agreed on Wednesday in Madrid. The inclusion of such threats was an explicit r…
Iraq records first cholera death since new outbreak
A cholera outbreak in Iraq claimed its first victim on Tuesday, with 17 new cases recorded in the country within 24 hours, a health ministry spokesperson said. The death was recorded in the northern province of Kirkuk, the ministry’s Seif Al-Badr was q…
Biden administration throws support behind potential F-16 sale to Turkey
The Biden administration threw its support on Wednesday behind the potential sale of US F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, a day after Ankara lifted a veto of NATO membership for Finland and Sweden. Celeste Wallander, Assistant Secretary for Defense for Inte…
Iran ‘torturing’ prize-winning activist Mohammadi: Amnesty
Iran is subjecting the prize-winning rights activist Narges Mohammadi to torture by denying her proper healthcare in a reprisal for her campaigning, Amnesty International said on Wednesday. Mohammadi is held in the notorious Qarchak women’s prison sout…
Spain begins sending gas to Morocco after Algeria spat
Spain has started sending natural gas supplies to Morocco through the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline (GME) to ensure its energy security following a supply crisis with Algeria. “The first shipment via the Maghreb gas pipeline took place (on Tuesday) invol…
Israel accuses Hezbollah of trying to hack UN peacekeepers
Israel accused the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah on Wednesday of conducting a cyber operation designed to disrupt a UN peacekeeping mission on the border between the countries, though the force said this was the first it had heard of the al…