CAIRO — Some of Egypt’s steel industry rerollers have halted production and sales in the face of protectionist duties the country recently began levying on some imports. One industrial organization says the tariffs could lead to the loss of thousands of jobs. The tariffs aim to protect domestic iron billet makers from foreign competitors. Large steel processors make their own billets and therefore don’t rely on imports, but local ...

United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon have confirmed the existence of a third cross-border tunnel, out of six the IDF said it discovered in the area last year. The force known as UNIFIL said the tunnels violate a cease-fire resolution that ended a devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. It said last week that peacekeepers completed a technical inspection ...

The prime minister’s lawyers refuse to collect the massive evidence files until arrears fees are paid, but Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit says the preliminary hearing must take place by July 10 regardless Netanyahu’s pre-indictment must take place by July 10 and cannot be postponed, Israel’s attorney general said Sunday. Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit said the preliminary hearing for the ...

Polish state-controlled oil and gas company PGNiG, is “interested” in gas from Israel, says Chief Executive Piotr Wozniak, according to the Reuters news agency. The Polish company is looking to end its reliance on Russia for gas, said the CEO, as cited by the news agency. More than half of the gas sold by state-run PGNiG comes from Russia’s Gazprom based on ...

With coalition negotiations getting into full gear now that the Passover holiday is over, Finance Ministry officials will also be gearing up to address the country’s burgeoning budget deficit. One of the possible steps under consideration is looking for new tax revenue from Google and Facebook in connection with their operations in Israel. The Finance Ministry and the Israel Tax Authority plan ...

Israel has released two Syrian prisoners in what it described as a “goodwill gesture” following the repatriation of the remains of an Israeli soldier who went missing more than 35 years ago. In a statement on Sunday, the Israeli military said the two prisoners were transferred to the International Committee of the Red Cross at the Quneitra crossing on the armistice ...

Frontier Services Group has not publicly stated it is working in Iraq, but documents obtained by BuzzFeed News show it was registered there last year. HONG KONG — A Hong Kong–based security and logistics company founded by Erik Prince is working in the south of Iraq, according to documents obtained by BuzzFeed News. Prince, a former Navy SEAL and the ...

As Joe Biden joins the far-too-wide 2020 Democratic field, various media outlets have published stories noting that his 2002 vote in the Senate for a resolution that granted President George W. Bush the authority to invade Iraq could come to haunt his campaign. After all, during the 2008 Democratic primary, Barack Obama effectively cited Hillary Clinton’s vote for that measure, ...

IRBIL, Iraq: The children of Yazidi women raped by Islamic State men will be welcomed into the minority faith, a community leader said Thursday, allowing women taken as slaves by the militant group to return to Iraq from Syria. Eido Baba Sheikh, son of the Yazidi spiritual leader Baba Sheikh, said the children of the formerly enslaved women will be ...

The government plans to launch the 2019-2024 Sharia Economy Masterplan on May 14, as a road map for the development of the sharia economy to support national economic development in the country that has the largest Muslim population on the planet. The masterplan draft highlights four main strategic recommendations to develop the sharia economy in the country – strengthening halal ...