Page 19 - Middle East

Israel-Hezbollah conflict: Abandoned houses, scorched forests hint at war

A steady, if ugly, tit-for-tat between Israel and Hezbollah since the October outbreak of the Gaza war has been shifting into something more alarming

Iran's presidential race: Candidates debate foreign policy ahead of vote

Iran's presidential candidates discussed the country's foreign policy Monday in a three-hour live debate, promising to seek better relations with other nations and work to have sanctions on their country lifted. The televised debate was the fourth in a series of five ahead of Friday's election, which follows a helicopter crash last month that killed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and seven others. The final debate will be Tuesday. All the candidates pledged to try to have Western sanctions on Iran lifted, but they expressed different attitudes about the issue. "We will definitely negotiate and reach an agreement to revive a nuclear deal with world powers that President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of in 2018, said Mohamad Bagher Qalibaf, the hardline pragmatic parliament speaker, who is seen as a prominent candidate. However, he said that under his presidency Iran would choose a gradual policy, taking step in return to step that the other side would take in lifting ...

Hamas' key weapons operative Muhammad Salah killed in Israeli airstrike

The operation by Israeli Air Force came following IDF intelligence. Salah was part of a project to develop strategic weaponry for the Hamas terrorist organisation

Houthi forces strike vessel in Red sea using drone, officials say

The drone attack happened around dawn off the coast of the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said

Ship attacked by Houthis in assault sinks in Red Sea in second such sinking

A bulk carrier sank days after an attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels believed to have killed one mariner on board, authorities said early Wednesday, the second such ship to be sunk in the rebel campaign. The Tutor sank in the Red Sea, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said in a warning to sailors in the region. "Military authorities report maritime debris and oil sighted in the last reported location," the UKMTO said. "The vessel is believed to have sunk." The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge the sinking. The Tutor came under attack a week ago by a bomb-carrying Houthi drone boat in the Red Sea. John Kirby, a White House national security spokesman, said Monday that the attack killed "a crew member who hailed from the Philippines".

Kuwaiti govt to give $15,000 compensation to kin of Mangaf fire victims

The Kuwaiti government will give USD 15,000 each to the families of the victims of the devastating fire that killed 50 people, including 46 Indians, in the southern Ahmadi Governorate, according to a media report on Tuesday. The massive fire which occurred at a seven-storey building in the city of Mangaf on July 12 was caused by an electrical short circuit in the guard's room on the structure's ground floor, according to Kuwaiti authorities. The building was home to 196 migrant workers, mostly Indians. On the orders of the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the victims' families will receive compensation amounting to USD 15,000 each, the Arab Times newspaper reported. Citing government sources, the newspaper said the compensation payments will be processed and delivered to the victims' embassies. Three other deceased were Filipinos, and the identity of one of the victims has not been established. The concerned embassies will then ensure that the funds are .

Sudan accuses UAE of fuelling war with weapons to paramilitary rivals

The Sudanese government has accused the United Arab Emirates of fuelling the 14-month war in the African country by providing weapons to a rival paramilitary force. The UAE dismissed the allegation as "ludicrous," calling "a shameful abuse by one of the warring parties". The clash came during a UN Security Council meeting at which Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee warned that atrocities are being committed along ethnic lines in Sudan's western Darfur region. She urged an immediate cease-fire in the North Darfur capital, El Fasher, which is besieged by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, "to prevent further atrocities, protect critical infrastructure, and alleviate civilian suffering". Sudanese Ambassador Al-Harith Mohamed accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of "destructively launching" its war with the Sudanese military and attacking civilians, aided by weapons from the UAE. He said that Sudan has evidence of the UAE supplying weapons and that the government wil

Iran's presidential candidates debate economic policies ahead of voting

Six presidential candidates discussed Iran's economic problems in a four-hour live debate on state TV, ahead of the June 28 presidential election following a helicopter crash last month that killed President Ebrahim Raisi and seven others. The debate on Monday was the first of five planned in the 10 days remaining before the vote in a shortened campaign to replace Raisi, a hard-line protg of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei once floated as a possible successor to the 85-year-old cleric. The candidates were to discuss their proposals and plans for Iran's spiralling economy, struggling under sanctions from the United States and other Western nations. They all promised they would try and get the sanctions lifted and introduce reforms but none offered any details. The candidates also discussed inflation, the budget deficit, Iran's housing problem and ways to fight corruption. The June 28 election comes at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's rapidl

G7 nations pledge support to specific infra projects like IMEC Corridor

Key projects include coordinating and financing efforts for corridors like the Lobito, Luzon, Middle, and India-Middle East-Europe

Israel accused of killing own citizens in 'Hannibal Directive'. What is it?

Israeli forces allegedly applied the so-called 'Hannibal Directive' and killed at least 14 Israeli civilians during the October 7 Hamas attack, claims a recent UN-backed inquiry

G7 nations commit to promoting India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor

The Group of Seven industrialised nations have committed to promoting concrete infrastructure initiatives such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) in the G7 Summit Communique issued at the end of the three-day G7 Summit, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Communique was issued on Friday evening after the customary family photo at the luxury resort of Borgo Egnazia, where the G7 also reiterated a commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law. Prime Minister Modi attended the G7 Summit at the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the host. We will further promote concrete G7 PGII (Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment) initiatives, flagship projects, and complementary initiatives to develop transformative economic corridors for quality infrastructure and investment, such as the deepening of our coordination and financing for the Lobito Corridor, the Luzon Corridor, the Middle Corridor, and the ...

Kuwait fire: MK Stalin announces Rs 5L each for families of 7 victims

Fourty-five Indians have lost their lives in the deadly fire that broke out in the 'labour accommodation' in the Mangaf area of Kuwait in the early hours of Wednesday

Highlights of the day: Six dead, 1,500 tourists stranded as landslides, rain wreak havoc in Sikkim

Catch all the latest updates from around the world here

Kuwait fire: Situation will be clear as we reach there, says minister

"An Air Force plane is on standby. As soon as the bodies are identified, the kin will be informed and our Air Force plane will bring the bodies back..." the MoS Kirti Vardhan Singh said

Activists should turn down heat: Australia PM after US consulate attack

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged activists on both sides of the Israel-Palestinian debate to turn the heat down after the US Consulate in Sydney was vandalised on Monday. CCTV footage showed a person wearing a dark hoodie using a small sledgehammer to smash nine holes in the reinforced glass windows of the building in North Sydney after 3 am, a police statement said. Two inverted red triangles, seen by many as a symbol of Palestinian resistance, were also painted on the front of the building. Albanese urged people to have respectful political debate and discourse. People are traumatised by what is going on in the Middle East, particularly those with relatives in either Israel or in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, Albanese told reporters. And I just say, again, reiterate my call to turn the heat down and measures such as painting the US consulate do nothing to advance the cause of those who have committed what is, of course, a crime to damage property, Albanes

US making biggest push to halt Israel, Hamas fighting. Is it succeeding?

In Middle East capitals, at the United Nations, from the White House and beyond, the Biden administration is making its most concentrated diplomatic push of the eight-month-old war in Gaza to persuade Israeli and Hamas leaders to take a proposed deal that would bring a cease-fire and release of more hostages. But one week into the U.S. pressure campaign, the world still is waiting for signs that the cease-fire appeal begun May 31 by President Joe Biden was working, by moving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders toward a negotiating breakthrough. For Israel and Hamas, the U.S. diplomatic press has become a public test of whether either side is ready to stop fighting at least on any terms that fall short of their professed goals, whether it's the complete crushing of the militant group or the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. For Biden, who describes the proposal as Israeli, it's the latest high-profile test of U.S. leadership in trying to convin

Yemen's Houthi rebels detain 11 UN staffers in sudden crackdown: Officials

Eleven Yemeni employees of United Nations agencies have been detained by Yemen's Houthi rebels under unclear circumstances, authorities said Friday, as the rebels face increasing financial pressure and airstrikes from a US-led coalition. Others working for aid groups also likely have been taken. The detentions come as the Houthis, who seized Yemen's capital nearly a decade ago and have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since shortly after, have been targeting shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. But while gaining more attention internationally, the secretive group has cracked down at dissent at home, including recently sentencing 44 people to death. Regional officials, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorised to brief journalists, initially confirmed at least nine UN detentions. Those held include staff from the UN human rights agency, its development programme, the World Food ...

Israel, Hamas to be listed for violations of children's rights, says UN

The UN secretary-general will list Israel and Hamas as violating the rights and protection of children in armed conflict in an upcoming annual report to the Security Council. According to the preface of last year's report, lists parties engaged in the killing and maiming of children" and in attacks on schools, hospitals and protected persons in relation to schools and/or hospitals. The head of Secretary-General Antnio Guterres' office, Courtenay Rattray, called Israel's UN Ambassador, Gilad Erdan, on Friday to inform him that Israel would be listed on the next report when it is sent to the council within a few weeks, UN spokesman Stphane Dujarric told reporters. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad also are being listed. Israel reacted with outrage, sending news organisations a video of Erdan berating Rattray, supposedly on the other end of a phone call.

Amid sanctions, Putin pivots to eastern allies for Russian investment forum

Western sanctions have not torpedoed Russia's economy, however, and Moscow has nurtured ties with China, major regional powers in the Middle East and across Africa and Latin America

Kuwait's emir names Sheikh Sabah Khalid Al Sabah as new crown prince

Kuwait's ruling emir on Saturday named the small nation's new crown prince, nearly six months after he took the throne. Sheikh Sabah Khalid Al Sabah will become next in line to the throne, the state-run KUNA news agency reported. Sheikh Sabah, 71, previously served as prime minister and as foreign minister in the country. The announcement offered no other details or comments from Kuwait's ruling emir, Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmad Al Jaber. Sheikh Meshal, 83, recently dissolved parliament for as many as four years amid the widespread political dysfunction that's gripped Kuwait. Domestic political disputes include changes to the welfare system, and the impasse has prevented the sheikhdom from taking on debt. That has left it with little in its coffers to pay bloated public sector salaries despite generating immense wealth from its oil reserves. Kuwait, a nation with around 4.2 million people that is slightly smaller than the US state of New Jersey, has the world's sixth-largest known oil