Middle East
Bangladesh to initiate safe return of citizens from Lebanon
The government has taken an initiative to ensure the safe return of Bangladeshis in phases, who got stuck in troubled Lebanon, with the first batch's likely arrival on October 21
Israeli air strikes hit Beirut, south Lebanon
An Israeli airstrike yesterday destroyed the municipal headquarters in Nabatieh, a major town in south Lebanon, killing the mayor and at least five others as they met to coordinate aid for those suffering from war.
Strikes hits south Beirut after Israeli military evacuation order
Strikes hit south Beirut on Wednesday, an AFP journalist saw, less than an hour after the Israeli military ordered residents to leave part of the Lebanese capital
Israeli strikes across Gaza kill 50 Palestinians
Israeli military strikes killed at least 50 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces tightened their squeeze around Jabalia in the north of the enclave yesterday, amid fierce battles with Hamas-led fighters.
Hezbollah fires rockets at Israeli targets
Hezbollah said it targeted an Israeli naval base yesterday, a day after a drone strike killed four soldiers in the deadliest attack on Israel since the war in Lebanon began.
Israel steps up military pressure in north Gaza
Palestinian medics said yesterday that at least 10 people were killed and 30 injured by Israeli tank shells that hit a food distribution centre in northern Gaza’s Jabalia, with casualties including women and children.
IMAGES OF LIVING THINGS in afghanistan / Taliban vow to enforce media ban
Afghanistan’s Taliban morality ministry yesterday pledged to implement a law banning news media from publishing images of all living things, with journalists told the rule will be gradually enforced.
US to send anti-missile system and troops to Israel, Pentagon says
US President Joe Biden said the move was meant "to defend Israel," which is weighing an expected retaliation against Iran after Tehran fired more than 180 missiles at Israel on Oct 1
13, including children, dead in Syria after US special forces' air raid
US special forces hunted down high-ranking jihadists in a rare airborne raid in northwestern Syria on Thursday, killing 13 people in an operation the Pentagon described as "successful".
12 migrants ‘pushed back’ by Greece died at border: Turkey
Ankara yesterday accused Greece of allowing 12 migrants to die in the winter cold after stripping them of their clothes and then pushing them back across the Turkish border.
Israel enforcing ‘apartheid’
Amnesty International yesterday accused Israel of subjecting Palestinians to a system of apartheid founded on policies of “segregation, dispossession and exclusion” that it said amounted to crimes against humanity.
Iran executes 2 men charged with sodomy
Iran has executed two gay men who were convicted on charges of sodomy and spent six years on death row, a rights group reported.
Amnesty, HRW among rights groups accusing Israel of apartheid against Palestinians
Amnesty International has joined Human Rights Watch and the Israeli rights group B’Tselem in accusing Israel of apartheid — both within its borders and in the occupied territories.
Israeli president on first-ever visit to UAE
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog started his first visit to the United Arab Emirates yesterday, the latest high-profile diplomatic trip since the countries normalised ties.
Israel supports security needs of UAE: President on first visit
Israel's president, making his first visit on Sunday to the United Arab Emirates, said his country supports the Gulf state's security needs and wants more countries in the region to join its new detente with the Arab world.
Restaurant in conservative Saudi Arabia offers meals with 'vampires and zombies'
A restaurant in Saudi Arabia is offering patrons in the conservative kingdom a unique experience -- dishes with a side of skull and blood in the company of zombies and vampires.
4 Bangladeshi expats arrested in KSA for ‘insulting Saudi flag’
Law enforcers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia said they have arrested four Bangladeshi expatriates from Jeddah over suspicion that they had insulted the country’s national flag, reports Gulf News.
Syria Kurds retake prison, ending six-day IS attack
Kurdish forces yesterday retook full control of a prison in northeast Syria where Islamic State group jihadists had been holed up since attacking it six days earlier.