Press Review 7.17.18
Last update: 2022-04-22 09:55:18
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls for new investigations into the 2015 clash between two big parties of pilgrims on their way to Mecca that resulted in the deaths of nearly 400 Iranians, reports Reuters. Khamenei said on Monday that, “Haj is the best opportunity to display that religion and politics cannot be separated,” and that, “the holy lands of Mecca and Mina belong to all Muslims ... not to rulers of Saudi Arabia,” who he suspects had a hand in the 2015 killings.
Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways chief executive said that U.S. travel ban is unlikely to affect tourism traffic between newly sanctioned countries and America, according to the BBC. Baker is quoted having said, “Whatever President Trump says, people will still want to travel.”
For the first time in the nearly 47-year history of the U.A.E one of the seven rulers, Sheikh Rashid bin Hamad al-Sharqi of Fujairah, had openly criticized the rulers of the region, reports David D. Kirkpatrick of the New York Times. Sheikh Rashid accused U.A.E. rulers of money laundering, blackmail, and spoke about the tensions between rulers of the Emirates in an interview with the New York Times. Further, following dispute with the rulers of Abu Dabi, Sheikh Rashid fled to Qatar seeking asylum.
Beirut baristas attempt to revive life post-war by reaching back to the once vibrant cafe culture that attracted intellectuals to the streets of Lebanon from across the Arab world. Richard Hall of The Guardian speaks with local Lebanese baristas to learn more about the Lebanese culture of the 60s, and how young people are rebuilding community through coffee.
Top U.S. commander General John Nicholson said on Monday that U.S. is ready for talks with Taliban to end the 17-year long war. Ismail Sameem for Reuters reports the projected initial steps, as well as possible negotiations for future peace.