Middle East
‘There are no safe centimetres left in Gaza’
A UN humanitarian worker described the suffering she witnessed first-hand in Gaza, where she saw children mutilated and families bombed out of their homes, in an emotional testimony Tuesday.
60 Palestinians killed as Israeli forces pound Gaza
Israeli forces pounded several areas in north and south Gaza yesterday, and residents reported fierce fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters in Rafah in the south of the Palestinian enclave.
GAZA OFFENSIVE / Int’l probe highlights ‘attack on press freedom’
A collaborative investigation by international media outlets yesterday shed light on the circumstances behind more than 100 Palestinian journalists and media workers being killed in the Gaza offensive, some while wearing a press vest.
High risk of famine persists across Gaza
A high risk of famine persists across the whole of the Gaza Strip as long as Israeli offensive in the Palestinian enclave continues and humanitarian access is restricted, according to an assessment by a global hunger monitor.
GAMBLING PROBE / UK Conservatives drop support for candidates
Britain’s Conservative Party said yesterday it had withdrawn support from two parliamentary candidates who are being investigated over alleged bets placed on the timing of next month’s national election.
IRAN PRESIDENTIAL VOTE / Khamenei urges ‘high participation’
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday called for “high participation” in Friday’s presidential election to replace Ebrahim Raisi, who died last month in a helicopter crash.
Israel’s offensive shatters Palestinian pupils’ dream
Teenagers across the Gaza Strip should have been taking their final exams this month, a last hurdle before university and lifelong dreams, but the Israeli offensive in the Palestinian territory has crushed those hopes.
Israeli tanks push into north, west of Rafah
An Israeli air strike at a medical clinic in Gaza City killed the director of Gaza’s Ambulance and Emergency Department, the enclave’s health ministry said yesterday, while Israel’s military said the strike had killed a senior Hamas armed commander.
Fire erupts on ship after attack off Yemen
A merchant ship caught fire after being attacked off Yemen, a British maritime security agency said yesterday, following months of attacks in the area by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Over half of cropland in hungry Gaza damaged: UN
More than half of Gaza’s agricultural land, crucial for feeding the territory’s hungry population, has been degraded by conflict, satellite images analysed by the United Nations show.
Hezbollah attacks 9 Israeli military sites with rockets
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said yesterday it had launched rockets and weaponised drones at nine Israeli military sites in a coordinated attack, ramping up hostilities on Lebanon’s southern border for the second consecutive day.
Child victims of war spiked in 2023
Violence against children in armed conflicts reached “extreme levels” in 2023, particularly in Gaza and Sudan, according to a forthcoming UN report obtained by AFP on Tuesday.
Gaza ceasefire plan hangs in balance
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday that Hamas had proposed numerous changes, some unworkable, to a US-backed proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, but that mediators were determined to close the gaps.
Kuwait fire kills 49 Indian workers
A fire in Kuwait killed 49 people, all Indian nationals, when it ripped through a building housing nearly 200 foreign workers yesterday, the government said.
Merchant ship hit in Red Sea off Yemen
A merchant ship issued a distress call after being struck in the Red Sea off Yemen, a security firm said yesterday, in what appeared to be the latest attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Fire at Kuwait hostel: No Bangladeshi among casualties
No Bangladeshi casualties were reported in the fire that broke out at a hostel in Mangaf, southern Kuwait, early today, which killed at least 41 people, according to the Bangladesh Embassy in Kuwait
Fire in Kuwaiti building housing workers kills 41
At least 35 people were killed in a building fire in the city of Mangaf in southern Kuwait, the country's state media reported on Wednesday
49 migrants die as boat sinks off Yemen: IOM
A boat carrying more than 200 migrants sank off Yemen, leaving at least 49 dead, mostly women and children, in the latest disaster on the perilous migration route from Africa, a UN agency said yesterday.
