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Middle East
Iran is brutally suppressing popular dissent. The world is watching. – The Washington Post
As Iran guns down protesters at home, it’s also waging a global campaign of suppression against dissidents in the United States and other countries. Iran’s attacks on critics abroad have been brazen. In recent months, anti-regime activists have been kidnapped, murdered and harassed, according to news reports and interviews with …
Iran’s Rouhani calls for release of innocent, unarmed protesters – Reuters
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani called on Wednesday for the release of any unarmed and innocent people who were detained during protests against gasoline price hikes, after two weeks of violent clashes. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during the National Insurance and Development Conference in Tehran, Iran, December …
Iran state TV says ‘rioters’ shot and killed amid protests
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian state television on Tuesday acknowledged security forces shot and killed what it described as “rioters” in multiple cities amid recent protests over the spike in government-set gasoline prices — the first time that authorities have offered any sort of accounting for the violence …
Opinion | The Great Lebanese Ponzi Scheme – The New York Times
The country is without doubt on the precipice of disaster. BEIRUT, Lebanon — After a nearly two-hour wait at his bank, in early November, Fadi Aziz, a freelance web designer in Beirut, asked the teller to withdraw $1,000 from his account. The teller was courteous but firm: “You can’t withdraw more than …
With prime minister out, Iraq in constitutional ‘black hole’
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s parliament on Sunday formally accepted the prime minister’s resignation, but the path to replacing Adil Abdul-Mahdi was clouded with legal questions that one lawmaker described as a “black hole in the constitution,” which does not clearly spell out the next step. Meanwhile, anti-government demonstrations went on …
A Saturday Bus Trip in Israel Is No Longer Unthinkable – Bloomberg
The country’s ultra-orthodox power brokers are losing influence as more moderate forces push back. On Saturday, only days after the collapse of government coalition talks, tens of thousands of ordinary citizens boarded buses for what will go down in Israeli history as the first freedom rides. For generations, public transport …
Iraq risks breakup as tribes take on Iran’s militias in ‘blood feud’ | World news | The Guardian
Unrest spreads after security forces fire on protesters and anger at Tehran’s influence increases Iraq’s parliament will today begin the process of electing a new leader after the prime minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, resigned last week. His successor will have to cope with the severe unrest that is spreading across the country …
A new crisis for Syria’s Bashar Assad: a plunge in currency driven by financial chaos in Lebanon. – Los Angeles Times
BEIRUT — A devastating war, relentless sanctions, a gutted economy under siege: All these have ground the Syrian pound down to a tenth of its value since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011. But it’s the anti-government protests in neighboring Lebanon that may deliver the finishing blow to …
Iraqi PM to resign after deadly anti-government protests | News | Al Jazeera
Adel Abdul Mahdi to submit official resignation to Iraq’s parliament on Friday after top Shia leader calls for change. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has said he will submit his resignation to the country’s parliament after a day of intense bloodshed amid mass anti-government demonstrations. Abdul Mahdi’s decision, announced …
U.S. military aid to Lebanon on hold amid unprecedented protests – Los Angeles Times
BEIRUT — As Lebanon convulses under an unprecedented wave of anti-government protests, U.S. security assistance to the country’s army — viewed as a guarantor of stability — remains suspended by the Trump administration with little explanation, even as Lebanon teeters toward a financial and security meltdown. The military assistance, worth …
