Author: M Barbu

IMF: Oil producers better prepared for Ukraine-related economic downturn

The International Monetary Fund’s report also highlighted currency depreciation in Egypt, economic effects of the war in Yemen and Jordan’s fledgling tourism sector.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its economic outlook for the Middle East today. The report from the DC-based financial institution highlighted the economic effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the two regions. Global commodity prices have surged in response to the war, particularly those of oil and wheat.

Syrian opposition concerned about Anakara-Damascus talks on refugees

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has recently admitted that his government held security talks with the Syrian government amid plans for the “safe return” of Syrian refugees to their home country.

On April 20, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced the start of what he described as a new phase for the “voluntary and safe” return of Syrian refugees to their country, in cooperation with Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq.

Turkey may ‘lock’ borders with Syria and Iraq to deal with Kurdish militants

There is speculation about a secret deal between Ankara and Baghdad eyeing a contiguous, 30-kilometer-deep buffer from Syria to Iraq.

Turkey’s fresh military operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, under way since April 18, has sparked debates in the Iraqi parliament over claims of a secret deal between the two countries, allowing Turkish troops to advance 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) inside Iraq.

Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) Claims Suicide Bombing Of Chinese Nationals At Karachi University, Says It Is First Martyrdom-Seeking Attack By A Woman Bomber

In the afternoon of April 26, 2022, a burqa-clad woman blew herself up near a van close to the Confucius Institute, a Chinese language teaching center at Karachi University. According to Karachi counterterrorism police, four people, including three Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver, were killed and four others, including two Chinese nationals, were injured in the attack. Among the dead were the director of the Confucius Institute Huang, teachers Guiping, Ding Mupeng, Chen Sai, and their Pakistani driver Khalid.[1]

Opponents Of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Accuse It Of Indoctrinating Children To Jihadi Ideology, Cite Glorification Of Commander Of Chechen Jihad In Sixth-Grade Textbook

On April 22, 2022, Hammam ‘Isa Al-Sheikh, a self-described “activist” based in Idlib, Syria and a supporter of the Syrian jihadi group Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), the most powerful in the Idlib area, posted an image on his Telegram channel showing a page from the sixth-grade English textbook used in the Dar Al-Wahy Al-Sharif (Home of the Noble Revelation) school system, which is affiliated with HTS. The textbook page, from a unit called “Muslim Heroes,” depicts Saudi-born Samer Al-Suwaylem aka Khattab Al-Shishani (the Chechen), who was a prominent commander in the Chechen jihad against Russia in the 1990s and 2000s, hailing him as “the greatest jihadist heroes [sic] in the modern era, the man who conquered the Russians at the height of their power, and through him God raised the banner of glory in Dagestan and Chechnya, [and] Afghanistan.”

Turkey Escalating Aggression against Greece: 90 Overflights in One Day

Turkish military aircraft violated Greek airspace 90 times in one day, on April 15, and conducted three overflights of inhabited Greek islands, according to Greek media.

Turkish aircraft have, in fact, been violating Greek airspace almost non-stop since the beginning of the year. In fact, Turkey — both its government and political opposition — has for years openly been threatening to capture Greek islands in the Aegean Sea…. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine seems to offer a convenient precedent for Turkey to increase its military aggression against Greece.

ISIS Can’t Even Direct Lone-Wolf Attacks Anymore

But the group is hoping for a resurgence while the West is distracted in Ukraine.

The jihadi Islamic State group recently called on its supporters to resume attacks in Europe while the West is focused on Russia’s Ukraine invasion. In a speech posted online last week, Islamic State spokesman Abu Omar al-Muhajir asked supporters to take advantage of the “crusaders fighting each other” by launching a global offensive to take revenge for a former Islamic State chief killed during a raid by U.S. special forces in northwest Syria earlier this year. He also asked sympathizers in Israel to “arm themselves” against the Israeli state and claimed that only the return of an Islamic caliphate could liberate Palestinians.

The Middle East’s Crisis of Democracy Is Inseparable From the West’s

The events of recent years have made it increasingly clear that the assault on human rights and democracy in the West and the Middle East are not merely parallel phenomena—they are directly connected. As both regions experience an intense surge of authoritarianism as well as the resulting popular resistance to it, it’s imperative for sound analysis and policymaking to identify the dynamics linking today’s crises across national borders and geographic regions.

Rwanda’s Migration Deal With the U.K. Is a PR Move

The government of Rwanda announced earlier this month what it described as a “migration and economic development partnership” with the United Kingdom, in which the U.K. claims it would send migrants who had reached British territory to Rwanda for processing of their asylum claims for possible settlement in the U.K.