MIDDLE EAST

A 7-month extension for nuclear talks between the P5+1 and Iran was announced in late November after the two sides failed to reach an agreement in Vienna. The parties now have until the end of June 2015 to reach a deal. 84 percent of American Jews polled by J-Street said they would favor a nuclear deal with Iran that would …

Aid workers in the Middle East fear that they are on a verge of a major humanitarian crisis as millions of Syrian refugees will be cut off food assistance due to funding gaps. On Monday, the UN World Food Program said that it needed $64 million to fund its food voucher program for the month of December alone, and that …

The United Nations on Tuesday warned that Egypt must rein in its security forces and look into human rights abuses against protesters, calling the political tension in the country “alarming”. The UN rights office said that it was deeply concerned by “the seriously damaging lack of accountability for human rights violations committed by security forces in the context of demonstrations”. …

By Constanze Bayer – NOW. Banque du Liban’s initiative is aimed at keeping new business in Lebanon Banque du Liban Accelerate 2014, the first international start-up conference in Lebanon, took place last week. Visitors came away with the impression of a strong and developing start-up economy in Lebanon. More than 20 companies presented their ideas, most of them founded a …

A Saudi woman was arrested on Monday after attempting to drive into the kingdom in defiance of a driving ban on women in the conservative country. “I have been at the Saudi border for 24 hours. They don’t want to give me my passport nor will they let me pass”, Loujain Hathloul tweeted before tweets from her account @LoujainHathloul stopped. …

The United States on Wednesday said that it was “horrified” by Syrian regime airstrikes in Raqa that caused the death of at least 95 people, slamming the regime for its “continued slaughter”. The bombing on Tuesday was the most lethal attack conducted by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s air force since extremist group Islamic State (IS) captured the city last year …

International rights group Amnesty International on Thursday condemned Egypt’s destruction of hundreds of homes and urged for a stop to its “unlawful evictions” of residents to create a buffer zone with Gaza. Egypt started working on the buffer zone in October to stem militants reportedly infiltrating the Sinai Peninsula – militants have stepped up attacks against Egyptian soldiers in the …

The Syrian regime, along with key ally Russia, on Wednesday agreed to support the UN’s proposal to suspend fighting in the city of Aleppo. Second city Aleppo, which was once Syria’s economic hub, is now divided between rebel and regime forces. State news agency SANA reported Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem saying so after a meeting between a Syrian delegation …

Iraqi security forces, allied with local tribesmen, battled extremist group Islamic State (IS) on Wednesday to defend the governor’s office the city of Ramadi, the capital of the Anbar province. Kurdish peshmerga forces were also engaged in battle against the IS for hours in the province of Kirkuk in northern Iraq. “We are defending and protecting the governmental complex” in …

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday defended the Israeli government’s decision to support a proposal that enshrines in law Israel’s status as the “Jewish homeland”, despite criticism from President Reuven Rivlin. Critics fear that the move will come at the price of democracy and institutionalize prejudice against minorities, including Arabs. “The aim of this law is to guarantee the …