Arabic press review: Second Israeli minister in three days to visit UAE

One week, two Israeli ministers in the UAE

Israeli Communications Minister Ayoob Kara is scheduled to arrive in the United Arab Emirates on Monday to attend a conference, according to the Israel Broadcasting Authority cited by news website Arabi 21. 

The announcement of Kara’s visit comes days after Israeli Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev arrived in the UAE for the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Judo tournament in which the Israeli national team was competing.

It also follows a surprise visit on Friday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Oman where he met with Sultan Qaboos bin Said, a trip the Israeli leader described as "successful and important".

None of the seven Gulf Arab countries officially recognises Israel.

The Israel Broadcasting Authority report that the International Telecommunication Union, which is hosting the conference, invited Kara to attend the event which lasts until 16 November at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

Is Egypt seeking to restore relations with Turkey?

A Sudanese academic, journalist and activist has reported that Khartoum is leading mediation efforts between Egypt and Turkey to improve relations between the two countries.

On Sunday, the prominent journalist, Taj Elsir Osman, tweeted that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was on his way to Turkey to attend the opening of a new airport in Istanbul, but had also been asked by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to help restore relations between Cairo and Ankara.

"It seems that el-Sisi began to grasp several messages from his allies in the Gulf who change their relations following their own interests without taking his interests into account," Osman added.

Relations between Turkey and Egypt have been at their worst since 2013 when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the military coup that ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi. Turkey has since hosted thousands of Egyptian dissidents to Sisi's consternation.

IS recaptures key positions in eastern Syria

The Turkish army bombed the headquarters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Kobane, northern Syria, for the first time on Sunday, reports London-based al-Quds al-Arabi. 

Also on Sunday, the Islamic State (IS) group recaptured a strategic position in the countryside near Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, forcing US forces and their local allies to retreat, Syrian sources told the paper.

In an offensive that began in September, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters, have been pushing to take back territory seized by IS.

But Syrian opposition sources told al-Quds al-Arabi that US forces have had to evacuate one of their military bases in the face of IS's military progress.

According to the same source, US forces withdrew their heavy weapons near the town of Hajin as IS approached on Sunday. More than 70 members of the SDF were killed and dozens of military vehicles were lost.

Algeria to lose $47bn by 2021

Algeria's foreign exchange reserves will shrink by $47bn over the next three years, the Algerian newspaper Echorouk El Yawmi has reported.

The report said that the reserves will fall to $62bn over the next year and will continue to shrink to $47.8bn by 2020, and then $33.8bn by 2021. 

Algerian Finance Minister Abdel Rahman Rawi said that his ministry expects the reserve exchange to decline to below $34bn, according to the newspaper.

In recent years with the drop in world oil prices, Algeria's foreign exchange reserves have fallen steadily each year.

The paper did not clarify why the reserves will continue to drop despite the fact that oil prices have rebounded. 

*Arabic press review is a digest of reports that are not independently verified as accurate by Middle East Eye.