The visit to Ankara of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on 18 August was significant. The signing of bilateral agreements between Turkey and Ethiopia introduces another world power into Horn of Africa politics. Turkey’s bilateral agreements with Ethiopia are likely to tilt the balance of power in the ongoing negotiations about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the conflict in Tigray region. According to News Business Ethiopia, Turkish and Ethiopian officials signed a military cooperation agreement in the presence of the leaders of the two countries. They also signed an ag ..read more

Iraq is ready for the withdrawal of US forces from the country, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein announced yesterday, stressing that his country had “all the forces and means to fight terrorism.” Hussein told Sputnik that the Iraqi security services had “sufficient information about terrorists and how to combat them”. His remarks came during his visit to the Russian capital of Moscow. “We are witnessing some movement at some hidden cells but this activity does not pose a threat to Iraqi society,” he said. Responding to the possibility of maintaining a limited contingent of US forces in Iraq, Hus ..read more

Turkey has started evacuating its troops from Afghanistan, the National Defense Ministry said on Wednesday, Anadolu reports. “Turkish Armed Forces is returning to our homeland with the pride of successfully fulfilling the task entrusted to them,” a ministry statement said. Since 2002, the Turkish Armed Forces have operated in Afghanistan under the UN, NATO, and bilateral agreements to contribute to the peace, welfare, and stability of the Afghan people, the statement said. It added that the Turkish troops intervened together with the soldiers of other countries during the chaos and ..read more

Egypt will open the Rafah crossing on its border with the Gaza Strip in one direction for three days on Thursday to allow stranded Palestinians to return back to the tiny coastal enclave, two security sources said on Wednesday, Reuters reports. Egyptian goods and aid will be allowed into the Gaza Strip too, the sources added. Egypt closed the crossing on Monday until further notice, security sources said, adding the closure was made for security reasons following an escalation of hostilities on Saturday between Israel and Hamas. <p>The post Egypt is opening Rafah crossing with ..read more

A boycott of Iraq’s upcoming elections is “not an effective strategy” and will not solve any problems, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) told a meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday.   “A boycott is not an effective strategy, nor will it solve anything. On the contrary,” said Jeannine Hennis-Plasschaert.  “A vote not cast is in fact a gift to those you may be opposed to. Hence it is important for voters and politicians alike to return to the process.” Iraq’s parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 10. Early elections were a key demand of ..read more

Spokesman says group will not agree to August 31 deadline extension, calls on US to stop evacuating skilled Afghans. The Taliban is reiterating that it will not agree to an extension of a looming deadline to evacuate Afghans from Kabul airport, even as Western countries say they are running out of time. Speaking at a press conference in the capital Kabul on Tuesday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group would not approve an extension, and told the US to stop evacuating skilled Afghans. European nations have said they will not be able to airlift at-risk Afghans before the August ..read more

Algeria’s Foreign Minister Ramdane Lamamra accuses Rabat of ‘hostile actions’ as Algiers breaks ties with its neighbor. Algeria is cutting diplomatic relations with Morocco, Foreign Minister Ramdane Lamamra said, accusing its neighbor of “hostile actions”. Morocco and Algeria have had strained relations for decades, mainly over the issue of Western Sahara. “Algeria has decided to cut diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Morocco from today,” Lamamra said at a news conference on Tuesday. “The Moroccan kingdom has never stopped its hostile actions against Algeria,” he said. The cutting of di ..read more

Airbnb opened the doors of its properties to 20,000 Afghan refugees globally. Tuesday and sought assistance from hosts who rent a property through the home-sharing company for more free housing for those fleeing the crisis. “The displacement and resettlement of Afghan refugees in the US and elsewhere are one of the biggest humanitarian crises of our time. We feel a responsibility to step up,” said CEO Brian Chesky on Twitter. “I hope this inspires other business leaders to do the same. There’s no time to waste.” The UN Refugee Agency said last month that an estimated 270,000 Afghans had bee ..read more

Lebanon’s massive fuel crisis obliged a doctor to use two motorcycles and a car to dodge roadblocks caused by petrol station queues and attend his patient’s urgent delivery operation. In less than an hour, Lebanese obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Julien Lahoud was forced to take unusual commuting methods to reach his patient, who was in labor since 8 a.m. Monday morning. “My patient was in her ninth month, and I had previously operated on her for a C-section,” Lahoud told Arab News on Tuesday, recounting what had happened due to blocked roads. He said the “patient was in pain, and it took her ..read more

Egyptian companies have officially filed an international lawsuit against Ethiopia over investments in Tigray. what they described as the “damage to the industrial zone in the Tigray region and the disruption of work there for a year and a half since the start of the conflict.” Cairo24 quoted the head of the Egyptian industrial zone in the Tigray region, Alaa El-Saqti, as saying that the Egyptian factories who invested in Ethiopia had “incurred losses amounting to about $40 million”, adding that the companies had resorted to international arbitration to claim their rights. El-Saqti has p ..read more