Sunday 09 Feb 2020 | | AW

Top Stories

Tunisian diplomacy, politics face Mideast ripple effects

Fight for Idlib exposes Turkish-Russian fault lines

Pushed into a corner, Tunisia’s prime minister-designate drifts away from ‘revolutionary’ politics, faces deadline

UAE commits to wider support to Mauritania after visit by Ould Ghazouani

Effects of new deadly virus reverberating across MENA region

Alessandro Arduino

Economy

A general view of the Central Bank of Morocco in Rabat. (Reuters)

Moroccan banks face challenges from rash of bad loans

People sign up at a bank for a $500 annual allowance that provides a lifeline for many Libyan families struggling to make ends meet in Tripoli. (Reuters)

Libya’s banking woes escalate with conflict

An Iraqi farmer plants amber rice in the Mishkhab region, central Iraq. (AFP)

Bumper crop of amber rice to reduce Iraq’s grain imports

China struggles as coronavirus takes its toll on oil markets

Travel

Tourists walk through the ruins of the ancient Roman site of Volubilis, near the town of Moulay Idriss Zerhounon in Morocco’s north central Meknes region. (AFP)

Record year for Morocco tourism with increased air links to Europe

Society

A Moroccan girl attends a Berber festival in the western desert town of Tan-Tan. (AFP)

Marriage of female minors in Morocco triggers pushback

Mohamed Mamouni al-Alawi

Women perform the Chilean anti-rape song during a protest against gender violence in Istanbul, last December. (Reuters)

Turkish women’s rights activists concerned about proposed ‘amnesty for child abusers’

A mother and her daughter on their way to school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (AP)

Saudi educational reform progressing but not without resistance

Zaki al-Soudeir

A researcher at the New York University Abu Dhabi. (NYU Abu Dhabi)

Abu Dhabi students discover diplomacy in the digital age

News & Analysis

Lebanon’s cabinet heads to controversial vote of confidence

Nearly 550 killed in Iraq protest violence

US halts drone programme with Turkey over Syria incursion

Algeria names new chief for state energy firm Sonatrach

Trump says US operation killed al-Qaeda leader in Yemen

Egypt treading cautiously in run-up to dam deal

Moroccan banks face challenges from rash of bad loans

Bumper crop of amber rice to reduce Iraq’s grain imports

What responsibility do terrorists’ families bear in children’s radicalisation?

UK moves to stop early release of terror offenders

Erdogan’s decisions are widening his circle of enemies

Unresolved Cyprus issue underlies gas dispute in Eastern Mediterranean

Egypt’s release of Islamist detainees raises fears of security blowback

Iraqi anti-government protests heat up in Najaf

Salame talks of 'progress' in Libya but few share his confidence