Parched Iraqi Kurdistan town navigates regional water diplomacy
QALADIZA: A river flowing through Iraq’s northern Kurdistan has all but dried up, prompting warnings of an “environmental catastrophe” for the water-stressed border city as it tussles for the resourc
Amnesty denounces eastern Libya ‘crackdown on critics’
TUNIS: Libya’s eastern-based forces have enabled a crackdown on dissidents and a spike in arbitrary detentions that has resulted in at least two deaths in custody in recent months, Amnesty Internation
Iraq security officials report explosion at US-led coalition airport base
BAGHDAD: Iraqi security forces said an explosion was heard at a US-led coalition’s military base at the Baghdad international airport late Tuesday, a day before Iran’s president was due to visit. “At
A 13-year hiatus ends: Turkish foreign minister attends Arab League summit
ANKARA: As Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends the 162nd Ordinary Council of Foreign Ministers of the Arab League in Cairo on Tuesday, attention is focused on how this will impact Turkiye’s o
Palestinian medics say five killed in Israeli strikes on West Bank
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Israeli strikes in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday killed five Palestinians, while the Israeli military said it hit a “terrorist cell.” The fiv
Polio vaccination starts in north Gaza despite obstacles
GAZA: A campaign to vaccinate a final 200,000 children in north Gaza against polio began on Tuesday although health and aid officials said the operation was complicated by access restrictions, evacuat
Palestinians in Gaza see themselves as ‘zombies’: UN official
BRUSSELS, Belgium: Palestinians in Gaza feel they are “zombies” left to fend for themselves, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian Territories said on Tuesday. “’We’re two million zombi
Iran’s president visits Iraq on first foreign trip
TEHRAN: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday, making an official visit to Iraq, a strategic ally of both Tehran and Washington, Iran’s state media said. Iraq hosts seve
EU fears Israeli-occupied West Bank becoming a ‘new Gaza’
CAIRO: The European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell warned on Tuesday that increased violence in the occupied West Bank since the Israel-Hamas war erupted meant it risked becoming “a new Gaza.” Vi
Killing of US-Turkish citizen shows high price of expressing solidarity with Palestinians in occupied West Bank
LONDON: On Saturday afternoon, two young women lay side by side in a hospital morgue in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Unknown to each other but united in death, one was the victim of the inc
Greek-flagged ship on fire since August 23 after Houthi attack, EU naval mission says
The Greek-flagged ship Sounion has been on fire since Aug. 23 after an attack by Yemen’s Houthis with no obvious signs of an oil spill, EU Red Sea naval mission Aspides said in a post on X on Monday.
Libya’s eastern government says all oilfields to close
BENGHAZI: Oilfields in eastern Libya that account for almost all the country’s production will be closed and production and exports halted, the eastern-based administration said on Monday, after a fla
Israel’s economy is struggling. Economists say ending the war would help
JERUSALEM: In Jerusalem’s Old City, nearly all souvenir shops are closed. In Haifa’s flea market, forlorn merchants polish their wares on empty streets. Airlines are canceling flights, businesses are
Iran doesn’t seek to increase regional tensions, FM tells Italian counterpart
DUBAI: Iran does not seek to increase Middle East tensions, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani, adding that its response to the killing of the Hamas chief in Te
Patients flee Gaza hospital after latest evacuation order from Israel
DEIR EL-BALAH: War-weary Palestinians on Monday pushed wheelchair-bound and bed-ridden patients through the streets of central Gaza, evacuating a hospital in a frantic bid to stay ahead of feared Isra
Iran says Hezbollah’s attack shows Israel losing its deterrent power
DUBAI: Iran said on Monday that Israel had lost its power to deter and that the strategic balance in the region had shifted against it, following attacks by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Hezbol
Israel minister says would build synagogue at flashpoint Jerusalem site
JERUSALEM: A far-right Israeli minister sparked fresh outrage on Monday by saying he would build a synagogue at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound if he could, once again challenging gover
Egypt says will not accept Israeli force on its Gaza border: state-linked media
CAIRO: Egypt has said it will not accept the continued presence of Israeli forces along its border with the Gaza Strip, state-linked media reported on Monday. Cairo, a key mediator in efforts to secu
UN aid operations in Gaza halted after Israel evacuation orders
UNITED NATIONS: United Nations humanitarian aid operations in Gaza ground to a halt on Monday after Israel issued new evacuation orders for Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip late on Sunday, a se
Sudan’s Arbaat Dam collapse triggers deadly floods, dozens feared missing
CAIRO: A dam collapsed in Sudan’s eastern Red Sea state, sending water flooding over nearby homes, the country’s health ministry said. Local media said dozens of people are missing. In a statement la