The commander of US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria on Friday urged Russia and Iran to prevent Turkey from launching a new attack in the country’s north, days before an expected Syria summit. Mazloum Abdi, chief commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, accused the international coalition of taking a “weak” position that is “insufficient to end the threats.” Abdi said that following negotiations with Russia, Kurdish forces had allowed the Syrian regime to bring more troops into Kurdish-controlled areas such as Kobane and Manbij in the north of the country.

Qatar’s World Cup 2022 bonanza, and its everyday economy, are built on the bones, and ill-health, of thousands of migrant workers. Uncounted and undocumented are the ‘invisible’ deaths, thousands of miles away from the Gulf’s shores. Official data on how many Nepalis have died from kidney failure after working in the Gulf are scarce. Nepal’s Ministry of Health still lacks nationwide statistics to estimate the magnitude of the issue, said Bishow Dawadi, a Nepali doctor at the Expert Committee of the Foreign Employment Board, the government agency responsible for the welfare of migrant workers.

Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced on Wednesday an increase in the prices of domestic fuel derivatives. “Egypt’s fuel pricing committee in a quarterly review raised domestic fuel prices by 0.50 Egyptian pounds (0.026 U.S. dollars) for 80-octane, 92-octane petrol and diesel, while 95-octane petrol was raised by 1 pound,” the ministry said The decision was taken amid the decline of the Egyptian currency against the U.S. dollar and the rise in world oil prices and took effect 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday, applies till September 2022

When US President Joe Biden touches down in Riyadh this week for talks with Arab leaders, the issue of world oil prices amid the war in Ukraine and the Western boycott of Russian hydrocarbons will no doubt feature prominently on the agenda. But so too will the matter of Iran. White House officials believe that Iran could now possess sufficient fissile material and perhaps even the necessary technology to weaponize and deliver a nuclear payload, handing the regime a powerful bargaining hand in negotiations.

The Tunisian judiciary charged the head of the Ennahda movement Rached Ghannouchi, along with 32 other figures, with terrorism and for the assassination of Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi. Chokri Belaid, head of the Democratic Patriots’ Unified Party, was assassinated on 6 February 2013 in front of his house in the capital, while Brahmi, the head of the Popular Current Party was assassinated on 5 July 2013 in front of his house in the capital. Later, individuals affiliated to a Daesh affiliate confessed to killing them.

French President Emmanuel Macron came under pressure on Monday from opposition politicians over his reported links with ride-hailing company Uber Technologies during his years as economy minister. “A minister can’t be a lobbyist! Light needs to be shone on this case. France cannot be the playground of big private companies,” senior France Insoumise lawmaker Alexis Corbiere said on Twitter. The Guardian reported that while other members of the then-Socialist government had misgivings about Uber’s push onto taxis’ turf, Macron exchanged text messages with Uber executives, who identified him as a key behind-the-scenes ally.

Diplomats at the United Nations held last-ditch discussions on extending Syrian cross-border aid Sunday, as residents of the country’s rebel-held northwest feared life-saving supplies could soon halt. The lack of an agreement threatens to upend assistance to more than two million people. The aid delivery mechanism across Turkey’s border into rebel-held Syria at the Bab al-Hawa crossing is the only way UN assistance can reach civilians without navigating areas controlled by Syrian government forces.

Turkey’s current account balance registered a lower than expected deficit in May, official data showed Friday. The shortfall widened to around $6.47 billion (TL 112.07 billion) in May, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) said. It marked a $3.15 billion increase from a year ago and came in less than forecasts that hovered around $6.7 billion. The survey showed the end-2022 current account balance is forecast to see a deficit of $42.4 billion. The Reuters poll sees the at $40.30 billion for 2022 as a whole.

Twitter and Facebook parent Meta said Friday they’re deleting any videos of the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that break their rules on harmful content. Multiple videos of the attack showing a gunman firing a double-barreled weapon twice at Abe were circulating on social media. Some only show the moments before and after the attack while others showed both shots. Twitter said its enforcement teams were working to “address harmful content” relating to the attack by “proactively removing” material that violates its rules, which include restrictions on sensitive media including graphic violence.