Turkey Lifts Veto On Finland, Sweden, Joining NATO
Plus: Iran-US nuclear talks end without making progress, Saudi-Hezbollah meeting secured the Yemen ceasefire and Hadi's resignation, Turkey closes the Khashoggi case, and much more.
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Turkey lifts veto on Finland, Sweden joining NATO, clearing path for expansion
Sweden and Finland took a step closer to joining the NATO military alliance after Turkey's decision to drop its objections.
The three countries reached a breakthrough agreement during the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid on Tuesday, June 28.
Sweden and Finland agreed not to support Kurdish militant groups as part of the deal.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had threatened to block their bids over Ankara's accusations they supported the YPG in northern Syria, which it views as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), deemed as a terrorist group also by the United States and European Union.
Sweden and Finland will also ease weapons export rules and work closely with Turkey on extradition requests for suspects wanted by Ankara.
While Sweden and Finland will be given "invitee" status at the Madrid summit, their applications need to be approved by all NATO's 30 current members.
Iran-U.S. nuclear talks in Qatar end without making progress
Indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States over Tehran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers ended Wednesday, June 29, in Qatar after failing to make significant progress amid a growing crisis over the Islamic Republic's atomic program.
While Iran and the U.S. blamed each other for the talks' failure, it remains unclear when or if there will be another round of negotiations.
Read more on the Associated Press.
Saudi-Hezbollah meeting secured the Yemen ceasefire and Hadi's resignation
Saudi delegation met Hezbollah deputy Naim Qassem in Beirut in March when direct talks with the Houthis fell through and paved the way for the ceasefire in Yemen, according to multiple sources.
At the meeting in late March, Naim Qassem, Nasrallah's deputy, presented to the Saudis a list of demands as a condition for an immediate ceasefire in Yemen.
The negotiation included the removal of Yemen's President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, lifting the blockade of key port city Hodeidah and Sanaa airport, and an exchange of prisoners, not all of whom were Yemeni but some who were Shias imprisoned in Bahrain and other Gulf states.
Three weeks later, most of this came to pass, although not all the prisoners on Qassem's list were freed.
Turkey closes Khashoggi case after Saudi crown prince's visit
An Istanbul court has dropped the charges against 26 Saudis accused of the gruesome killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and closed the case two days after Erdoğan and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met in Turkey.
Ties between Ankara and Riyadh took a turn for the worse after a Saudi hit squad killed and dismembered Khashoggi in 2018 at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.
Erdoğan, at the time, blamed it on the "highest levels" of the Saudi government.
But the June 22 visit by bin Salman to Turkey marked a turnaround in the relations between the two countries.
Ankara had stopped all criticism and suspended its murder trial in April, transferring the case to Riyadh in a move condemned by human rights groups.
Dozens die trying to cross into the Spanish enclave of Melilla
At least 23 migrants have died, and others were hurt on Friday, June 24, when a huge crowd tried to cross into Spain's North African enclave of Melilla, officials from neighboring Morocco say.
Reports say some of those who died had fallen from the top of a border fence.
Several security personnel and migrants were admitted to the hospital for treatment following clashes early on Friday.
Spanish officials say several hundred people tried to break through into the enclave after cutting fencing.
Most were forced back, but more than 100 got through and were being processed at a reception center, they added.
In recent years, Melilla and Ceuta, another Spanish enclave, have become a focal point for mostly sub-Saharan migrants attempting to reach Europe.
The head of the African Union Commission, Chad's Moussa Faki Mahamat, denounced the "violent and degrading treatment of African migrants" and has called for an investigation into the tragedy, which the U.N. Security Council is to examine.
The Moroccan judiciary has decided to prosecute 65 migrants, mostly Sudanese, for their participation in Friday's deadly attempted crossing.
Read more on the BBC and Africa News.
Why Does Israel Keep Assassinating Iranian Officials?
This year, seven individuals affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including two colonels, were killed in separate incidents.
Iran has fingered the Mossad in most of the deaths.
Danielle Pletka, a distinguished senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, writes that targeting senior leaders critical to an enemy program is not simply tactical but makes strategic sense from Israel's perspective.
Although targeted killing won't end Iran's nuclear weapons program, it can slow it down. It won't end Iran's missile program, but it will cause many Iranians who might have signed up to think twice about the risks. Nor will it end terrorism. But it may stop other killings; indeed, there is evidence that eliminating key individuals has had just such an effect.
War has killed 1.5% of Syria's population: U.N. estimate
The U.N. human rights office said on Tuesday, June 28, 306,887 civilians had been killed in Syria during the conflict since March 2011, or about 1.5 % of its pre-war population.
Syria's conflict sprang out of peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule in March 2011 and morphed into a multi-sided, protracted conflict.
Chlorine gas leak at the port in Jordan kills at least 13, injures hundreds
At least 13 people were killed on Monday, June 27, and some 250 sickened when a crane loading gas tanks onto a ship in Jordan dropped one of them, sending plumes of toxic yellow smoke into the air.
If the gas is inhaled or comes into contact with skin or eyes, it can cause burning pain, difficulty breathing, and fluid in the lungs.
Read more on The Washington Post.
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About me
My name is Dario Sabaghi, a freelance journalist. I am interested in human rights and international news focusing on the MENA region.
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Cover photo: AP/voanews.com