Middle East
Lebanon conflict pushes Gaza truce out of focus
Palestinians fear the crisis in Lebanon is diverting the world’s attention from Gaza, where Israeli strikes killed dozens more people this week, and diminishing already dim prospects for a ceasefire a year into an offensive that has shattered the enclave.
Lebanon invasion / How might Israel strike back against Iran?
Israel has sworn it will retaliate for Iran’s missile barrage on Tuesday, which involved more than 180 ballistic missiles and was largely thwarted by Israel’s air defense systems. Below are some ways Israel, backed by the United States, could strike back.
Iran’s allies will keep fighting Israel
Iran’s supreme leader yesterday vowed in a rare address that his allies around the region would keep fighting Israel, as he defended his country’s missile strike on its arch-foe.
US President Biden does not believe there will be 'all-out-war' in Middle East
U.S. President Joe Biden said he did not believe there is going to be an "all-out war" in the Middle East, as Israel weighs options for retaliation after Tehran's largest ever assault on its arch-enemy.
Israel strikes Beirut, south Lebanon
Israel’s military urged residents of more than 20 towns in south Lebanon to evacuate their homes immediately yesterday as it pressed on with incursions after suffering its worst losses in a year of fighting the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.
Food aid to Gaza falls as Israel sets new rule
Food supplies to Gaza have fallen sharply in recent weeks because Israeli authorities have introduced a new customs rule on some humanitarian aid and are separately scaling down deliveries organized by businesses, people involved in getting goods to the territory told Reuters.
Iran warned Nasrallah of Israeli plot to kill him
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Hezbollah leader Syyed Hassan Nasrallah to flee Lebanon days before he was killed in an Israeli strike and is now deeply worried about Israeli infiltration of senior government ranks in Tehran, three Iranian sources said.
ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH CONFLICT / Hezbollah losses strengthen Turkey against Iran: analysts
Israel’s onslaught against Hezbollah in Lebanon is reassuring for Turkey, which could seize the opportunity to strengthen its regional influence in the face of its rival Iran, analysts told AFP.
Libya floods wipe out quarter of city, 10,000 feared missing
At least 10,000 people were feared missing in Libya on Tuesday in floods caused by a huge storm, which burst dams, swept away buildings and wiped out as much as a quarter of the eastern city of Derna
Modi terms Saudi Arabia as one of India's 'most important' strategic partner
The Indian PM held talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud in New Delhi
Israeli forces kill teen in West Bank
Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian teenager Saturday at a refugee camp in the West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, the latest violence to rock the occupied territory.
Saudi Arabia on 'relentless killing spree,' Amnesty International says
Authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have executed at least 100 people in 2023, according to human rights watchdog Amnesty International.
Roman-era swords, likely rebel booty, unearthed in Israel
Four 1,900-year-old swords, complete with wooden and leather scabbards, have been discovered in a remote cave in an Israeli desert, leading archaeologists to believe they were the booty of Jews who rose up against Roman rule.
Iran arrests Mahsa Amini uncle ahead of death anniversary
Iranian authorities yesterday arrested an uncle of Mahsa Amini, the young Iranian Kurdish woman who died in custody sparking months of protests, just ahead of the first anniversary of her death, reports said yesterday.
Iran sentences two women journos to jail time
Two female Iranian journalists will spend around a month behind bars as part of a three-year partly suspended prison sentence for “conspiracy” and “collusion”, local media reported yesterday.
More than 100 injured in Eritrean clashes in Tel Aviv
More than 100 people were injured in violent clashes in Tel Aviv between Eritrean government supporters celebrating an Eritrea Day event and opponents of President Isaias Afwerki.
Work begins on Iraq-Iran rail link
Iraq’s prime minister yesterday inaugurated construction work on what is slated to become the first railway line connecting the country to neighbouring Iran, a major political and economic partner.
‘Mystery’ ducts found near biblical relics in Jerusalem
An almost three millennia-old network of hewn-rock ducts unearthed in Jerusalem has baffled archaeologists, given the lack of comparable biblical finds, or obvious links to an ancient Jewish temple and palace that once stood nearby.