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April 17, 2019

Turkey plans new mechanisms with Iran to avoid US sanctions

ANKARA — Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday Turkey is looking into establishing new trade mechanisms with Iran, like the INSTEX system set up by European countries to avoid US sanctions reimposed last year on exports of Iranian oil.Those sanctions followed President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw unilaterally from a 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and six world powers to pressure Iran to curtail its nuclear program and stop ...

April 17, 2019

Trump’s veto of Yemen resolution a positive signal: UAE

Abu Dhabi — The United Arab Emirates Wednesday hailed as “strategic” President Donald Trump’s veto of a resolution from Congress directing him to end US support for the Arab Coalition in Yemen.“President Trump’s assertion of support to the Arab Coalition in Yemen is a positive signal of US resolve toward America’s allies,” UAE minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash tweeted.“President Trump’s important decision is both timely & strategic,” ...

April 17, 2019

Iranian female boxer cancels return after arrest warrant

PARIS — Sadaf Khadem, who on Saturday became the first Iranian woman to contest an official boxing bout, has canceled her return to Tehran after an arrest warrant was issued for her there, her representative said on Wednesday.An arrest warrant was also issued against Mahyar Monshipour, the Iranian-born former boxing world champion who set up the bout in western France and was planning to travel back to Iran with Khadem ...

April 17, 2019

Kushner urges ‘open mind’ on upcoming Mideast plan: Source

WASHINGTON — White House senior adviser Jared Kushner urged a group of ambassadors on Wednesday to keep an “open mind” about President Donald Trump’s upcoming Middle East peace proposal and said it will require compromises from both sides, a source familiar with his remarks said.Kushner said the peace plan is to be unveiled after Israel forms a governing coalition in the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s election victory ...

April 17, 2019

Iraq parliament bans online battle games, citing ‘negative’ influence

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s parliament voted on Wednesday to ban popular online video games including PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite, citing their “negative” influence especially on the young in a country long plagued by real-life bloodshed.Iraq held its first election in 2018 after years of devastating factional violence. Daesh (the so-called IS) militants held wide swathes of the country for three years until they were driven out in heavy fighting with US-backed ...

April 17, 2019

Egypt sets date for referendum on extending El-Sisi’s rule

CAIRO — Egypt on Wednesday set a referendum for April 20-22 on sweeping constitutional changes including amendments that could extend President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s rule until 2030.The push to extend the former military chief’s tenure is expected to face little opposition.Head of the National Election Authority Lashin Ibrahim told a press conference the vote will “take place inside Egypt” from April 20-22 and start a day earlier at diplomatic missions ...

April 17, 2019

Flowers bloom in war-hit Syria cities

By Angus McDowallA MANTLE of gold smothers Aleppo’s ruins, hiding the rubble and filling the craters with wild flowers that for a moment seem to transform a landscape scarred by war, destruction and death.After an unusually wet winter, the warm days of spring have suddenly brought an abundance of color and life to a weary Syria, blooming in city and desert.But they blanket a scene of war. The hummocks and ...

April 17, 2019

Fresh rocket fire stymies Libya peace efforts

By Imed LamloumEVEN as the United Nations Security Council convened to discuss a ceasefire in Libya, fresh rockets were fired on the capital Tripoli. The UN-recognized government blamed military strongman Khalifa Haftar for the rocket raids that killed six people.Diplomats have long complained that Libyan peace efforts have been stymied by major powers backing the rival sides, with Haftar ally Russia quibbling over the proposed wording of the ceasefire demand ...

April 17, 2019

Palestinian economy in ‘crisis’ over Israel standoff: World Bank

JERUSALEM — The World Bank warned on Wednesday of a deepening economic crisis in the occupied West Bank if the Palestinian Authority and Israel do not resolve a dispute over tax transfers.Israel collects around $190 million a month in customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that transit through its ports, and then transfers the money to the PA.In February, Israel decided to deduct around $10 million a ...

April 17, 2019

Turkey’s opposition takes office in Istanbul, appeal still pending

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s main opposition candidate was declared Istanbul’s mayor on Wednesday after election recounts were finally completed, despite an appeal still pending by President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party to re-run the vote in the country’s largest city.Initial results from the March 31 local elections gave a narrow victory to the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in Turkey’s commercial hub, ending 25 years of control by the AK Party ...

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