Page 20 - Middle East

Biden to announce aid port on Gaza's coast as cease-fire talks stall

President Joe Biden will announce Thursday that he is directing the U.S. military to help set up a temporary port off the Gaza coast to establish a sea route for food and other direly needed aid for Palestinian civilians trapped in the Israel-Hamas war, senior U.S. administration officials said. The announcement signals further deepening U.S. involvement in the war and the escalating conflicts and tensions in the region. The move also shows the Biden administration resorting to a highly unusual workaround to deliver aid to Gaza's 2.3 million civilians, in the face of restrictions that U.S. ally Israel has placed on overland aid deliveries. Meanwhile, hopes for reaching a cease-fire before the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts in the coming days, stalled Thursday when Hamas said its delegation had left Cairo, where talks were being held. The outline for the cease-fire would have including a wide infusion of aid into Gaza. A widening humanitarian crisis across Gaza .

Indian warship INS Kolkata rescues crew of drone-hit vessel in Gulf of Aden

Indian warship INS Kolkata has rescued 21 crew members, including one Indian national, after their Barbados-flagged cargo vessel was hit by a missile in the Gulf of Aden, a Navy spokesperson said on Thursday. The crew members had abandoned bulk carrier MV True Confidence after it caught fire following the attack on Wednesday. INS Kolkata, deployed for maritime security operations in the Gulf of Aden, arrived at the scene of action at 4.45 pm and rescued 21 crew members, including one Indian national, from a life raft using its integral helicopter and boats, Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said. Critical medical aid was provided to the injured crew by the ship's medical team, he said. The rescued crew, including the critically injured personnel, have been evacuated to Djibouti by INS Kolkata. The Indian Navy warship swiftly responded to the maritime incident in Gulf of Aden, Madhwal said. The Barbados-flagged vessel was reportedly hit by a drone approximately 55 nm sout

S Africa asks ICJ to impose emergency measures on Israel over Gaza 'famine'

The health officials in Gaza reported that over 30,000 people have died in the strip during the five-month conflict

Manish Prasad appointed president and MD for SAP Indian Subcontinent

Prasad succeeds Kulmeet Bawa, who takes on a global role for SAP

India beats rivals in West Asia private capital deals since 2020: Reports

India accounted for more than half of all Asia deals with West Asia investors and 58% of the capital invested in Asia during the period, outpacing China and Southeast Asia

Ships entering Yemeni waters must obtain permit, says Houthi minister

In normal times, more than a quarter of global container cargo - including apparel, appliances, auto parts, chemicals and agricultural products like coffee - move via the Suez Canal

Reckitt's quarterly sales down after investigation into West Asia business

Some investors criticised the company's "vague" outlook for this year, as Reckitt shares slumped to their lowest point since March 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic

Red Sea attacks add urgency to alternate Mideast trade route: Govt

India has taken the first steps with the UAE to begin work on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, or IMEC, Sunjay Sudhir said in an interview in Abu Dhabi

Foreign aid delays making life 'very difficult' on front line: Zelenskyy

Delays in weapons deliveries from Western allies to Ukraine are opening a door for Russian battlefield advances, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says, making the fight very difficult along parts of the front line where the Kremlin's forces captured a strategic city last weekend ahead of the war's two-year anniversary. Zelenskyy and other officials have often expressed frustration at the slowness of promised aid deliveries, especially since signs of war fatigue have emerged. European countries are struggling to find enough stocks to send to Kyiv, and US help worth USD 60 billion is stalled over political differences. That appears to be playing into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Even so, more help is heading Ukraine's way, as Sweden announced Tuesday its biggest aid package so far and Canada said it was expediting the delivery of more than 800 drones. Zelenskyy, in his daily video address late Monday, said Russia has built up troops at some points along the ..

Russia, China accuse US, UK of attacking Yemen rebels' military sites

Russia and China on Wednesday accused the United States and Britain of illegally attacking military sites used by Yemen's Houthi rebels to launch missiles at commercial vessels in the Red Sea, disrupting global shipping. US deputy ambassador Robert Wood and UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward countered that the Houthi attacks are illegal, and their proportionate and legal action against the Yemen rebels are being taken in self-defense. Woodward said the Houthi attacks are driving up the costs of global shipping, including the costs of food supplies and humanitarian aid in the region. But Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky and China's U.N. envoy Zhang Jun argued that the U.N. Security Council never authorized military action against Yemen. The clashes came at a council meeting where U.N. special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said promising efforts to restore peace to Yemen have been slowed by rising regional tensions linked to the war in Gaza and "in particular the militar

PM Modi pushes ahead with Mideast-Europe corridor despite widening conflict

Both leaders agreed, though, to take the first step to operationalise part of the ambitious India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, or IMEC, he said

Blasts hit gas pipeline in Iran, official calls it an act of sabotage

Explosions struck a natural gas pipeline in Iran early Wednesday, with an official blaming the blasts on a sabotage and terrorist action in the country as tensions remain high in the Middle East amid Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Details were scarce, though the blasts hit a natural gas pipeline running from Iran's western Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province up north to cities on the Caspian Sea. The roughly 1,270-kilometer (790-mile) pipeline begins in Asaluyeh, a hub for Iran's offshore South Pars gas field. Saeed Aghli, the manager of Iran's gas network control center, told Iranian state television that a sabotage and terrorist action caused explosions along several areas of the line. There are no known insurgent groups operating in that province, home to the Bakhtiari, a branch of Iran's Lur ethnic group. Aghli did not name any suspects in the blasts. In the past, Arab separatists in southwestern Iran have claimed attacks against oil pipelines. However, attacks against

Northern Gaza residents can return once it's clear of militants: Israel

Israel's top general says the army will not allow residents of northern Gaza to return to their homes until the area is completely cleared of militants. At a press conference Tuesday, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi said that although many of the estimated 15,000 Hamas militants originally in northern Gaza had been killed or wounded, rocket launches and attacks against Israeli troops are still occurring there. He says residents will return there when it is safe to return and there are no more terror activities. Northern Gaza was the first target of Israel's ground invasion in late October, after weeks of heavy airstrikes and artillery shelling. Most of the more than 1 million people living there fled in the opening weeks of the war, which has flattened entire neighbourhoods. Israel is now threatening to expand its operation to the southern city of Rafah, where over half of Gaza's population is sheltering. Halevi says the army is weighing different options to evacuate Rafah, though no final ...

Infrastructure major L&T bags 'significant' orders in Middle East

Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Tuesday said that its hydrocarbon division has bagged "significant orders" from a client in the Middle East. The company did not disclose the order value. However, according to its classification, significant orders value in the range of Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,500 crore. "The Hydrocarbon vertical, L&T Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH) of Larsen & Toubro (L&T), has secured an onshore order and an offshore order from a prestigious client in the Middle East," the infrastructure major said in a stock exchange filing. The scope of work for the onshore order comprises engineering, procurement and construction of an enclosed ground-flare system and demolition of existing facilities, reducing flame and smoke visibility to the nearby ongoing large-scale residential developments. The offshore order involves mainly brownfield work including upgradation of shutdown systems in existing offshore platforms. Larsen & Toubro is a USD 23 ...

What would be the implications of collapse of Israel-Egypt peace treaty?

It was a warm handshake between the unlikeliest of statesmen, conducted under the beaming gaze of President Jimmy Carter. Sunlight streamed through the trees at Camp David, Maryland, as Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin solidified a landmark agreement that has allowed over 40 years of peace between Israel and Egypt. It has served as an important source of stability in a volatile region. That peace has held through two Palestinian uprisings and a series of wars between Israel and Hamas. But now, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to send Israeli troops into Rafah, a city in Gaza on the border with Egypt, the Egyptian government is threatening to void the agreement. Here's a look at the history of the treaty and what could happen if it is nullified. HOW DID THE TREATY ORIGINATE? It was 1977, and Begin, Israel's new prime minister, opposed ceding any of the land Israel had conquered a decade earlier in the 1967 Mideast war. Those lands

Houthi rebels suspected of attack targeting ship in Bab el-Mandeb Strait

A ship came under attack by two missiles in the key Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Monday, the latest assault believed to have been carried out by Yemen's Houthi rebels. No one was wounded in the attack and the ship was continuing on its journey, the British military's United Kingdom Trade Operations centre said in a statement. It wasn't clear how much damage was done to the ship. The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack, but it often takes the rebels several hours to acknowledge their assaults. The rebels have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. That has disrupted shipments through the waterways and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects them.

Iran marks 45th anniversary of Islamic Revolution as tensions escalate

Iran marked on Sunday the 45th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution amid tensions gripping the wider Middle East over Israel's continued war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of Iranians marched through major streets and squares decorated with flags, balloons and banners with revolutionary and religious slogans. In Tehran, crowds waved Iranian flags, chanted slogans, and carried placards with the traditional Death to America and Death to Israel written on them. Some burned US and Israeli flags, a common practice in pro-government rallies. There was a heavy security presence in the major cities across the country. The anniversary came a month after a deadly attack by the extremist Islamic State group in the central city of Kerman that left at least 95 people dead during the commemoration for prominent Iranian general Qassem Soleimani whom the US killed in a 2020 drone strike. Iran has tried to blame the US and Israel for the attack as the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Str

Israeli drone strike kills two, injures others in Sidon, Lebanon

An Israeli drone struck a car near Lebanon's southern port city of Sidon on Saturday, killing at least two people and wounding two others, security officials said. The strike came as tensions across the Middle East grow with the Israel-Hamas war, a drone attack last month that killed three US troops in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border, and attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels on vessels passing through the Red Sea. The drone strike near the coastal town of Jadra took place about 60 kilometres from the Israeli border, making it one of the farthest inside Lebanon since violence erupted along the Lebanon-Israel border on October 8. An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the target of the strike in Sidon was Hamas official Basel Saleh, who was "injured to an unknown extent". The official said Saleh was responsible for enlistment of new Hamas recruits in Gaza and the West Bank. Two Lebanese security officials said the strike damaged a c

Parl highlights: Lok Sabha adjourned sine die as Budget session concludes

LIVE Updates: From Pakistan election results to Elon Musk's firm Neuralink ditching Delaware to reincorporate in Nevada, catch all the latest news here

Biden order attaches human rights conditions to US military aid for Israel

A new directive by President Joe Biden appeared to ease a split among Democrats over his military support for Israel's war in Gaza, with lawmakers on Friday praising the order authorizing a swift cutoff of military aid to countries that violate international protections of civilians. For Biden, the commitment to conditioning U.S. military aid for Israel and other allies and strategic partners will help him shore up support among center-left Senate Democrats for his proposed $95 billion supplemental assistance package, which is aimed primarily at military aid for Ukraine in its war with Russia and for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza. Democratic senators on Friday called Biden's directive meant to bring breadth, oversight, deadlines and teeth to efforts to ensure foreign governments don't use U.S. military aid against civilians historic. This is a sea-change in terms of how you approach U.S. military aid and its impact on civilians, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said.