Eurasia

Contradicting reports have emerged about talks for an Israel-Hamas prisoner-exchange deal after an Egyptian delegation visited Gaza last week. The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported this morning that Israel proposed a deal in which Israel would release hundreds of security prisoners in exchange for returning of bodies of two IDF soldiers …

U.N. acting envoy for Libya Stephanie Williams says the country’s rivals have failed to agree on a mechanism to choose a transitional government that would lead the conflict-stricken country to elections in December next year.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced on Tuesday he has decided to appoint Mossad’s Deputy Director D. as the next chief of the clandestine intelligence agency. D. is considered a protégé of current Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and has spent his entire military career in the intelligence agency as part …

Both the UK and the EU are engaged in a game of brinkmanship, amounting to a kind of shadow theatre— neither wants to shoulder the blame for the UK’s exit from the EU without a trade deal between the two. The stakes are higher for the UK.

To admit the truth about Trump and authoritarianism then means they have to do something about it. Many people do not want to take that leap. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, July 23, 2020

Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi said that he respects Morocco’s choice to recognize the Jewish state but that Tunisia is not considering doing the same. Tunisia has no plans to follow Morocco’s lead and normalize relations with Israel, Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi said Monday.

The Islamic State continues to haunt and drain out the Syrian regime forces even after it lost its last stronghold in Syria more than a year ago. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said in a Dec. 4 report, “Military operations are ongoing in separate axes in the Syrian …

The outgoing US administration is continuing to pressure Iran and its allies in its final weeks in office. The US government designated a Bahraini organization as a terror group today, part of a push to further pressure Iran and its allies before President Donald Trump leaves office in January.

Contradicting reports have emerged about talks for an Israel-Hamas prisoner-exchange deal after an Egyptian delegation visited Gaza last week. The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported this morning that Israel proposed a deal in which Israel would release hundreds of security prisoners in exchange for returning of bodies of two IDF soldiers …

Senior Trump administration adviser Jared Kushner will lead a US and Israeli delegation to Morocco next week.