MIDDLE EAST

The Syrian Center for Policy Research, in co-operation with the UN Palestinian refugee agency and the UN Development Program, produced the report “Squandering Humanity”, which says that the Syrian civil war has had a disastrous effect on its economy, and has plunged half of its population into poverty. According to the report, the conflict is creating “economies of violence that …

The Holy See on Thursday said that the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres will be praying for peace on June 8 at the Vatican. During his three-day trip to the Middle East, Pope Francis had invited both of them to his home for a “heartfelt prayer” for peace, the Vatican said.  It added that the …

The Israeli Prison Service has hospitalized 40 Palestinian prisoners, spokeswoman Sivan Weizman said on Wednesday. She described their condition as “reasonable” and said that they were, at different stages, taken to a hospital. The prisoners were on a hunger strike for over a month, protesting the terms of their imprisonment. Weizman said that all the prisoners on strike were administrative …

Ex-army chief and election front runner in the Presidential election in Egypt Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is set for a landslide victory on Tuesday, the last day of voting. Sisi last July ousted the first democratically elected President of Egypt, Mohammed Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood is boycotting the vote. The move has unleashed the most lethal wave of violence in recent …

In what has been called by some as a complex game of “papal propaganda poker”, commentators have said that Pope Francis’ prayer at the West Bank separation barrier has handed the Palestinians a decisive victory over Israel. According to the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, “One image from the pope’s visit has already become history”. The newspaper admitted that the picture …

Attacks in different parts of Iraq on Wednesday led to the deaths of 14 people. The strikes are the latest in a long wave of violence that has caused more than 4,000 deaths this year already. The bombings and shootings struck in Baghdad and parts of the West and the North, leaving dozens wounded, medical and security officials said. The …

Desperately needed medical supplies and medicines have reached the besieged town of Douma in Syria on Wednesday for the first time in 18 months, the World Health Organization said. The organization said that two of its trucks filled with medicine were a part of an aid convoy sent to the rebel-held town of Douma in the Eastern Ghouta part of …

The Egyptian Center of Media & Public Opinions Studies (Takamul) opined in its report published on May 25th that only 10% of Egyptians cast their vote in this year’s election, and that half of them were Christians. According to the report, a large percentage of younger voters did not participate. The study also says that 79% of the voters felt …

According to Amnesty International, several dozens of Syrians have for months been held in secret detention at a military camp in Egypt. New evidence gathered by the group suggests that the Syrians being held in the camp were subjected to torture to make them confess to certain crimes. Egyptian activists and lawyers have reportedly seen a list of at least …

On May 22nd, Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have referred the Syrian crisis to the International Criminal Court. The resolution had international backing and was approved by the other 13 members of the Security Council. “Moscow and Beijing can veto a resolution but they can’t suppress the desire for justice by the Syrian people …