King Djoser’s step pyramid is the main attraction at the Saqqara necropolis. A restoration project that began in 2006 and was paused between 2011 and 2013 worked on the outer facades, internal corridors leading to the burial well, the stone sarcophagus and stairs at two entrances
Continue reading...Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa
Sudan accused of masterminding lethal attacks on Khartoum protesters
Inquiry finds that authorities armed and orchestrated security forces that killed more than 200 pro-democracy protesters
Sudanese security forces systematically planned and coordinated a series of deadly attacks that killed 241 pro-democracy protesters and injured hundreds more at a Khartoum sit-in last year, an inquiry has found.
Authorities “purposefully pre-positioned” state security forces armed with tear gas, whips and assault rifles in the month before the protests began, and “intentionally targeted” medical personnel and facilities during and after the protests, according to the New York-based advocacy organisation Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), which led an investigation into the violence.
Continue reading...The humanitarian crisis in Turkey shines a light on Europe’s failures | Elif Shafak
Turkey was once on course to join the EU. The desperate refugees trapped on its border reflect a broken relationship
To understand Europe, we need to look more carefully at its borders. Too often, the debates on the future of Europe focus on a few leading nations and overlook the periphery. Yet the fate of the continent is deeply and inevitably connected with what’s happening along its fringes. And there is no bordering country that has as complex and confusing a relationship with Europe as Turkey – it was, after all, the Ottoman empire that was first referred to as “the sick man of Europe”.
Related: Migration: EU praises Greece as 'shield' after Turkey opens border
Continue reading...Putin and Erdoğan in last-ditch talks to secure Syria ceasefire
Russian and Turkish leaders will try to hammer out yet another deal to stabilise Idlib
A summit between the leaders of Turkey and Russia on Thursday may be the last chance to work out a deal that avoids further calamity in north-west Syria.
Faced with increasing military losses in Idlib province and a potential wave of people fleeing the fighting, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is eager for a ceasefire – and Vladimir Putin is ready to bargain.
Continue reading...Golden Bear winner Mohammad Rasoulof sentenced to jail in Iran
Director’s films ‘propaganda against the system’, judges reported to have declared – but coronoavirus outbreak casts doubt on whether he will accept summons to prison
Mohammad Rasoulof, the Iranian director who won the the top award at last month’s Berlin film festival, has been ordered to serve a one-year prison sentence over his movies, his lawyer has said.
Rasoulof’s sentence arose from three films that Iran’s authorities found to be “propaganda against the system”, his lawyer Nasser Zarafshan told the Associated Press. The sentence also included an order than he stop film-making for two years, the lawyer said.
Continue reading...Israel’s Arab parties make historic gains as election support surges
Joint List alliance capitalises on backlash against Netanyahu by taking 15 seats in Knesset
Arab politicians are set to make historic gains in the Israeli election, taking more seats than ever before and solidifying their position as the third-largest force in the Knesset, the country’s parliament.
After 99% of the votes were counted, the Joint List alliance, a merger of politicians predominantly representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, had 15 out of 120 Knesset seats.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live updates: number of confirmed cases in UK jumps to 85
More cases in Scotland and Ireland, Italians in India test positive while Facebook says it will take down hoax claims
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Two groups of Italian tourists were under quarantine in India today, with 16 testing positive for the coronavirus, prompting authorities to tighten controls.
Health minister Harsh Vardhan said that passengers on all international flights would now be screened, the AFP news agency reported.
This seems to be emerging a bit of a trend. Footage has appeared showing Iranian health workers dancing and singing in an effort to keep morale up as the country faces the worst coronavirus outbreak outside China.
Videos of medical staff and #coronavirus patients square dancing together in several "shelter hospitals" in #Wuhan have gone viral on Chinese social media.
"Square dancing helps to cheer them up and improve their immunity, which is beneficial for their recovery." pic.twitter.com/Kpqsyqclkj
‘Now we don’t have to be afraid’: Syrian family who made it to safety in Turkey
Turkish border with Syria remains closed to most but some have escaped horrors of Idlib
In a video shot by her father, three-year-old Salwa listens intently to the rumble of military hardware in the distance. “Is it a plane or a shell?” he asks as they sit together on the sofa. “Shell!” she shouts, giggling hysterically when it explodes.
Turning the sounds of airstrikes and shelling into a game is how Abdullah Mohammed, 32, protected his daughter from the trauma of Syria’s war. Last week the family made it to the safety of Antakya, just over the Turkish border. Dancing around her new home in a pink princess dress, for the first time in her life Salwa doesn’t have to listen to the sounds of the conflict.
Continue reading...‘An absolute disaster’: Iran struggles as coronavirus spreads
Streets are empty, schools and cinemas are closed, but there is a feeling that officials have been too slow to react
Little rows of upright matchsticks, stuck in felt, have appeared alongside cash machines and lift doors, offering a chance for Iranians to press the buttons without their fingers touching potentially coronavirus-contaminated metal surfaces. Guides have also appeared on how to attach metal extensions to cigarette lighters for the same purpose, and in public some men no longer shake hands or kiss as a greeting, but instead tap their shoes on one another.
Traffic jams have disappeared from Tehran’s crowded streets, even if the pollution remains due to the filth generated by power stations, and the city’s now often empty metro train carriages are sprayed with disinfectant two or three times a day. Distance working and learning has become the norm. Evening language classes, popular in Tehran, are empty. Internet traffic is up 40% as Iranians work from home.
Continue reading...How Netanyahu got his electoral swagger back amid corruption cases
Israel’s voters either do not believe the allegations against their PM – or do not care
If Benjamin Netanyahu was going to lose one Israeli election in a big way, it may have been this one. Or at least that is how it appeared to some onlookers.
The prime minister was clearly on a downward trajectory. After embarrassingly losing allies and failing to form a government after last April’s election, the 70-year-old rightwing leader suffered a humiliating result in a repeat vote in September.
Continue reading...Israel election: Benjamin Netanyahu claims victory but remains short of majority
Prime minister set for comeback despite upcoming criminal corruption trial
Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed victory in Israel’s third election within a year, even as the country looked set for further political deadlock after early counts suggested he was still short of securing a historic fifth term.
By Tuesday morning, with 90% of the votes counted, the prime minister’s Likud party appeared to be ahead with 36 seats, with a total of 59 for his rightwing alliance.
Continue reading...Russia committed war crimes in Syria, finds UN report
The country was also blamed for indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas without ‘a specific military objective’
A UN investigation into atrocities committed in Syria has for the first time accused Russia of direct involvement in war crimes for indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas.
The latest report from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria focuses on events of July 2019 to January this year, and in particular attacks by “pro-government forces” on civilian targets like medical facilities, driving 700,000 civilians from their homes.
Continue reading...Libya peace efforts thrown further into chaos as UN envoy quits
Move follows Ghassan Salamé’s failure to get nations to use their leverage to end civil war
International efforts to broker a Libyan ceasefire have been plunged further into chaos by the unexpected resignation of Ghassan Salamé, the UN special envoy to the country.
Salamé’s move, amid UN-led talks in Geneva, is an admission that he has been unable to persuade major powers to use their leverage to end the civil war between Khalifa Haftar, the leader of so-called Libyan National Army forces in the country’s east, and the UN-recognised government of Fayez al-Sarraj, based in the capital, Tripoli.
Continue reading...Dominic Raab heads off to the Gulf with a full agenda
War in Yemen and Saudia human rights repression will keep foreign secretary busy
Dramatic Houthi rebel advances and threats to end humanitarian aid in Yemen will lead Dominic Raab’s agenda when he makes his first visit to Saudi Arabia on Monday.
The British foreign secretary will also travel to Muscat later this week to meet the new Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, to discuss his role in any mediation talks in Yemen.
Continue reading...Israel election: round three under way as voters head to the polls
Netanyahu says main rival Gantz ‘not a leader’, while Gantz has focused on PM’s alleged corruption
Israelis are voting in the country’s third election within the space of a year, in a fight Benjamin Netanyahu is desperate to win on the eve of a criminal corruption trial against him.
More than 6.3 million people are eligible to cast their votes in polling stations that will close at 10pm (8pm GMT) on Monday, after which exit polls will be reported.
Continue reading...Israel in limbo as weary voters go to polls for third time in year
Neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor opponent Benny Gantz are likely to break political deadlock
Israelis are due to vote on Monday in the country’s third election in 12 months, with many worried the result will be just as inconclusive as previous rounds, extending a painful political stalemate deep into 2020.
After two failed attempts to form a government, the country has been plunged into limbo, run by an interim administration without powers to pass significant legislation or even a budget.
Continue reading...Erdoğan says border will stay open as Greece tries to repel influx
Turkish leader claims 18,000 people have crossed into EU but some are met with teargas
Thousands of migrants may be in no man’s land between Turkey and Greece after Ankara opened its western borders, sparking chaotic scenes as Greek troops attempted to prevent refugees from entering Europe en masse.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, claimed 18,000 migrants had crossed the border, without immediately providing supporting evidence, but many appear to have been repelled by Greek border patrols firing teargas and stun grenades.
Continue reading...Refugees in Istanbul rush to board coach to reach Turkish border to Europe – video
Dozens of Syrian refugees were seen rushing to board coaches in Turkey's Istanbul on Friday after Ankara decided to open its border to Europe. The move comes after an airstrike on Thursday killed at least 33 Turkish soldiers in Syria's Idlib province. Fearing the window to leave Turkey would soon close, some of the 3.6 million Syrians living in the country have begun to vacate
- Greece and Bulgaria crack down on Turkish borders as refugees arrive
- Nato expresses 'full solidarity' with Turkey over Syria airstrikes
Dubai ruler loses appeal over release of two UK court judgments
Appeal court rejects challenge by Sheikh Mohammed, who may now go to supreme court
The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, has failed in his latest attempt to prevent publication of two family court judgments involving his children with his ex-wife Princess Haya of Jordan.
The court of appeal in London also refused his lawyers permission to take the case to the supreme court but said they had until 4pm on Tuesday to lodge an application directly with the UK’s highest court if they wished to object. The two family court judgments cannot be published until any such potential further appeals have been determined.
Continue reading...Russia and Turkey’s next moves will define the Syrian war’s end
Neither side can back down from proxy standoff, but Russia holds whip hand in Idlib
For more than three years, Russia and Turkey have been shadow boxing on the soils of northern Syria. In the past three weeks, the stalking has turned to shooting; the Turks aiming their guns at the Moscow-allied Assad regime, and the Russians increasingly swinging their turrets towards the Turkish military.
In a war fought largely through proxies, any direct conflict between main players was considered highly dangerous and, until Thursday night, unlikely. But after the deaths of at least 30 Turkish troops – most likely the consequence of a Russian airstrike – both sides are in a standoff from which neither can afford to back down.
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