Page 17 - Middle East

Israel should be allowed to nuke Gaza like Hiroshima, Nagasaki: US senator

Lindsey Graham, a Republican Senator and a staunch supporter of Israel, criticised President Joe Biden for pausing the delivery of 3000 heavy bombs to Israel

Japanese steelmaker JFE eyes overseas investments amid slower profit growth

In February, JFE announced an average increase in steel product sale prices of 10% from April to reflect rising raw material costs and global inflation

Saudi Aramco maintains $31 bn dividend despite lower net income in Q1

The Saudi government, which directly holds about 82.2 per cent of Aramco, relies heavily on the company's payouts, which also include royalties and taxes

Red Sea crisis to cause 15-20% industry capacity loss, says Maersk

According to Maersk, the effects of the situation in the Red Sea are widening and continuing to cause industry-wide disruptions

Highlights of the day: Paytm President and COO Bhavesh Gupta tenders resignation

From Uddhav Thackrey's attacks on BJP, to Air India's decision to resume its flights between Delhi and Tel Aviv, catch all the latest news here

Warfare in Sudan's Darfur risks starvation, death if aid isn't allowed: UN

The United Nations food agency warned Sudan's warring parties Friday that there is a serious risk of widespread starvation and death in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan if they don't allow humanitarian aid into the vast western region. Leni Kinzli, the World Food Program's regional spokesperson, said at least 1.7 million people in Darfur were experiencing emergency levels of hunger in December, and the number is expected to be much higher today. Our calls for humanitarian access to conflict hotspots in Sudan have never been more critical, she told a virtual U.N. press conference from Nairobi. Sudan plunged into chaos in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, broke out into street battles in the capital, Khartoum. Fighting has spread to other parts of the country, especially urban areas and the Darfur region. The paramilitary forces, known as the RS

McDonald's misses profit estimates as consumers turn budget-conscious

McDonald's faced backlash from its franchises in some Muslim countries in October following a move by the company's Israeli restaurants to give free meals to the Israeli military

BHEL partners HIMA West Asia FZE, Dubai for railway signalling business

State-owned engineering firm Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) on Tuesday announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with HIMA Middle East FZE, Dubai for railway signalling business. HIMA is the world's leading solution provider for safety-related automation in the railways and process industries, a regulatory filing said. According to the filing, the BHEL has entered into a strategic partnership agreement for the railway signalling business with HIMA Middle East FZE, Dubai (A wholly owned subsidiary of HIMA Paul Hildebrandt GmbH, Germany). The BHEL has been supplying locomotives, electrics for EMU/MEMU, propulsion systems, traction motors, traction alternators, traction transformers, etc. to Indian Railways. The partnership with HIMA will further enhance BHEL's offerings to Indian Railways, it said.

Iraq's law criminalising same-sex marriage will hurt country's economy: US

The law threatens constitutionally protected human rights and fundamental freedoms in Iraq, said US

US envoy Blinken to visit Mideast again. What can he achieve this time?

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the Middle East on his seventh diplomatic mission to the region since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began more than six months ago, the State Department said Saturday. Blinken is traveling to Saudi Arabia on Monday, just two days since arriving back in Washington after a trip to China. Blinken will attend a World Economic Forum conference and meet with Arab foreign ministers in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. An Israeli foreign ministry official says Blinken will visit Israel on Tuesday, a stop not mentioned in the State Department's announcement about Blinken's itinerary. His latest Mideast trip, on the heels of meetings in China with President Xi Jinping and other high-ranking officials, comes as the war grinds on, with more than 34,000 Palestinians killed, hundreds of thousands displaced and a steadily worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. In the surprise attack by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7 that triggered the war, about 1,200

Missiles fired by Houthi rebels damage Panama-flagged oil tanker in Red Sea

Ballistic missiles fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels caused minor damage to a Panama-flagged oil tanker travelling through the Red Sea on Friday, authorities said. The attack follows an uptick in assaults launched by the Houthis in recent days after a relative lull in their months-long campaign over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The rebels fired three missiles in the attack, one of which damaged the Panama-flagged, Seychelles-registered Andromeda Star, the US military's Central Command said. The private security firm Ambrey described the tanker as being engaged in Russia-linked trade. The vessel was travelling from Primorsk, Russia, to Vadinar, India, Ambrey said. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree later claimed the attack early Saturday in a prerecorded statement aired by the rebels. He described the tanker as being directly hit. Another vessel, the Antiqua-Barbados-flagged, Liberia-operated Maisha, was also nearby at the time of the assault, the US said. The

India set to sign trade deal with Oman to expand its West Asia ties

India has agreed to reduce duties on some petrochemicals, aluminium and copper from Oman, while capping imports of such goods

Hamas looking into latest ceasefire counterproposal from Israel army

Earlier this week, the US and 17 other nations pressed Hamas to release their citizens who are missing or held hostage in Gaza, in a bid to revive cease-fire talks

Why wealthiest Gulf powers like UAE are snapping up prime property in Egypt

In the short term, the UAE's goal was to shore up the economy of a country seen as too big to fail

US announces new Patriot missiles for Ukraine as part of $6 bn aid package

The US will provide Ukraine additional Patriot missiles for its air defence systems as part of a massive USD 6 billion additional aid package, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Friday. The missiles will be used to replenish previously supplied Patriot air defence systems and are part of a package that also includes more munitions for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS, and additional gear to integrate Western air defence launchers, missiles and radars into Ukraine's existing weaponry, much of which still dates back to the Soviet era. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the need for Patriots early Friday at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, a coalition of about 50 countries gathering virtually in a Pentagon-led meeting. The meeting fell on the second anniversary of the group, which Austin said has moved heaven and earth since April 2022 to source millions of rounds of ammunition, rocket systems, armoured vehicles and even jets to .

Hamas releases video featuring well-known Israeli-American hostage

Hamas released a hostage video on Wednesday showing a well-known Israeli-American man who was among scores of people abducted by the militants in the attack that ignited the war in Gaza. The video was the first sign of life of Hersh Goldberg-Polin since Hamas' October 7 attack on southern Israel, and its release ignited new protests in Jerusalem calling on the government to do more to secure the captives' release. In the video, Goldberg-Polin accused Israel's government of abandoning the people who are being held hostage by Hamas. He also claimed that some 70 captives have been killed in Israel's bombing campaign. Goldberg-Polin was clearly speaking under duress, and the claim could not be independently verified. It was not clear when the video was made. Goldberg-Polin, 23, was at the Tribe of Nova music festival when Hamas launched its attack from nearby Gaza. In the video, Goldberg-Polin is missing part of his left arm. Witnesses said he lost it when attackers tossed grenades int

Israel must pay for 'usurpation' of Palestinian territories: Iranian Prez

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has said Israel must be brought to justice for "usurpation and oppression" of the Palestinian territories, if not there will not be a guarantee that others would not do the same in other lands. Raisi was delivering a statement during his one-day visit to Sri Lanka on Wednesday. "When it comes to the oppressor, when it comes to the usurper, the Zionist Israeli regime has been committing oppression against the people of Palestine for 75 years, they have been usurping their territory," Raisi said. "First of all, we have to expel the usurpers. Secondly, we should make them pay the cost for all the damage they have created and thirdly, we have to bring to justice the oppressor and usurper," he said. Earlier on Wednesday, Raisi inaugurated a hydropower and irrigation project in Sri Lanka and said his country has proven that the West does not have a monopoly on technology. Raisi is the first Iranian leader to visit Sri Lanka since former President Mahmoud

Anyone considering business with Iran will face risk of sanctions: US

Anyone considering a business deal with Iran needs to be aware of the potential risk of sanctions from the United States, an official said on Tuesday. "Just let me say broadly, we advise anyone considering business deals with Iran to be aware of the potential risk of sanctions. But ultimately, the government of Pakistan can speak to their own foreign policy pursuits," Vedant Patel, Deputy Spokesperson of the US State Department, said while responding to a question on a recent visit of the Iranian president to Pakistan. During the visit, Pakistan and Iran signed eight MoUs (memoranda of understanding) and also agreed to push bilateral trade to USD 10 billion. Early this week, the US imposed sanctions on suppliers to Pakistan's ballistic missile programme, including three companies from China. "The sanctions were made because these were entities that were proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and the means of their delivery. These were entities based in the PRC (People's Repub

Blinken's visit to China: Ukraine, Mideast tensions to be key discussions

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is starting three days of talks with senior Chinese officials in Shanghai and Beijing this week with US-China ties at a critical point over numerous global disputes. The mere fact that Blinken is making the trip shortly after a conversation between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, a similar visit to China by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and a call between the US and Chinese defense chiefs might be seen by some as encouraging, but ties between Washington and Beijing are tense and the rifts are growing wider. From Russia and Ukraine to Israel, Iran and the broader Middle East as well as Indo-Pacific and trade issues, the US and China are on a series of collision courses that have sparked fears about military and strategic security as well as international economic stability. Blinken will raise clearly and candidly our concerns during the talks starting Wednesday, a senior State Department official said. Here's a look at some of

Indian forex, bond investors eye developments in Middle East, US inflation

The currency fell 0.1 per cent in the week to end at 83.47, and the losses would have been larger had it not been for the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) intervention