July, 2021

• 13 July

  Syria’s president decrees 50% salary hike amid harsh crisis

  Syrian President Bashar Assad issued a decree Sunday giving hundreds of thousands of civil servants and military members a 50% salary increase amid a harsh economic and financial crisis and price increases for vital products. Assad’s decision came a day after the state doubled the price of bread, the country’s …

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• 13 July

  Egypt court upholds life sentences for 10 Islamists

  Egypt’s highest appeals court on Sunday upheld the life sentences of 10 leaders of Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, including the group’s head, the state-owned MENA news agency reported. In 2019, a Cairo criminal court had convicted all 10, including the group’s leader, or supreme guide, Mohamed Badie, of charges related …

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• 12 July

  Tunisians outraged after female parliamentarian slapped by Islamist colleague

  

  The incident of a Tunisian parliament member attacking his female colleague under the dome of parliament shook the Tunisian public opinion amid mounting popular calls for its dissolution after it turned into an arena of conflict between parliament members, especially considering the incident is not the first of its kind. …

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• 12 July

  Houthis unmoved so far by US diplomacy to end Yemen war

  

  State Department spokesperson says Biden Administration ‘beyond fed up’ with Houthi attacks. Six months have gone by since the arrival of the US administration under President Joe Biden, which made ending the Yemen war a top priority. Upon his first weeks in office, Biden took critical decisions concerning Yemen in …

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• 12 July

  Cairo cracks down on Salafist preachers

  

  The Egyptian state and its institutions have been waging a fierce campaign against the preachers of Egypt’s Salafi movement over ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The Egyptian government and pro-state media have launched campaigns against well-known Salafi sheikhs. Meanwhile, a series of decisions banning them from preaching at mosques have …

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• 12 July

  Turkey’s anti-PKK assault leaves Kurds more divided

  

  Turkey’s unremitting assault against the PKK is destabilizing Iraqi Kurdistan, weakening the rebels on the one hand while bolstering support for them among disaffected locals on the other. On Nov. 16, 2013, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan presided over a mass wedding in the Kurds’ informal capital, Diyarbakir, amid piercing …

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• 12 July

  King Abdullah to be first Arab head of state to meet with Biden

  

  King Abdullah will visit Washington for the first time in two years and is to meet with US President Joe Biden on July 19. US President Joe Biden will host Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House on July 19 as the king faces increasing domestic pressures at home. …

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• 12 July

  After gestures to US, Turkey turns to placating Russia

  

  Turkey is back to its balancing act between Moscow and Washington after a series of moves to win favor with the Biden administration at the expense of irritating Russia. The lead-up to the June 14 NATO summit saw Turkey take a series of steps in the Black Sea region to …

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• 12 July

  “Мутри, вън!” работи, но “Мутри, вътре!” е по-важно

  

  Един успешен лозунг може да свърши по-бързо и повече работа от хиляди речи. Преди близо година президентът Румен Радев каза “Мутри, вън!”. Тогава мутрите се чувстваха достатъчно силни, за да извършат назидателна акция в президентството, защото владееха трите власти – законодателна, изпълнителна и съдебна. Бонус им беше и “четвъртата власт” …

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• 12 July

  Five Steps to Sustain a Cease-Fire in Northern Ethiopia

  

  The U.S. and others can help strengthen a truce—and avert a famine—in Tigray. After months of war and amid an intensifying humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray, the Ethiopian government unilaterally declared a “humanitarian cease-fire” on June 28. If Ethiopia wants this truce to end the war it …

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