Eurasia

Ministers of planning, finance and investment discussed on Monday alternative funding sources for the new Suez Canal project in a joint meeting with the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority. The new channel, part of a larger project to expand port and shipping facilities around the canal, aims to raise …

Tunisia refuses any foreign intervention in Libya, Foreign Affairs Minister Mongi Hamdi said Monday at the opening of the Annual Conference of Heads of Diplomatic Missions. He expressed wish that all Libyans would reach an internal political solution preserving sovereignty of the Libyan territory.

Heavy shelling resumed in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Sunday after three days of relative calm following more than a month of street fighting between rival armed factions battling for control of the city’s airport. The North African OPEC oil producer is facing the worst violence since the 2011 war …

A series of U.S. airstrikes since last week has slowed the operational tempo of the Islamic State, the terrorist group that has seized large parts of northern Iraq, but is unlikely to substantially weaken the group, the Pentagon said on Aug. 11. 

Iraq’s outgoing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered security forces not to intervene in the political crisis over who will form the next government. “I want you to stay away from the political crisis and to carry out your security duties to protect the country. Do not intervene and let the …

Russia and Egypt pledged Tuesday to expand cooperation in various spheres as top leaders of the countries met in Sochi. After talks with visiting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al- Sisi, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that the Customs Union, a trade bloc grouping Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, was mulling …

Iraq needs a “broad unity government” if it is to combat Islamist militants who have seized swathes of territory and are threatening minorities, says French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. He is in Iraq for crisis talks on the rapid advance of Islamic State (IS). His visit comes after the US …

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius urged Iraq’s bickering leaders on Sunday to form an inclusive government capable of countering Islamic State militants advancing through the north of the country.

Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Kabul Thursday in a surprise visit to meet with the country’s two presidential candidates to help accelerate the ballot auditing process and build upon the political framework for Afghanistan’s future government. A Senior State Department Official told reporters, “We really want to see …

Pro-Russian separatists have claimed to have shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 military aircraft east of the country on Thursday. The fighter jet was shot down near the village of Zhdanivka, some 40kms northeast of the city of Donetsk, Russian-owned news agency Interfax-Ukraine reported quoting separatist sources.