Page 30 - Middle East

Egypt's Suez canal authority monitoring tensions in Red Sea amid Israel war

Iran-aligned Houthis have launched attacks against vessels in the region in protest against Israel's bombardment and invasion of Gaza that has killed almost 19,000 Palestinians

Kuwait's ruling emir, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, dies at age 86

Kuwait's ruling emir, the 86-year-old Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, has died, state television reported Saturday. Kuwait TV broke into programming with Quranic verses just before making the announcement. In late November, Sheikh Nawaf was rushed to hospital for an unspecified illness. In the time since, the tiny, oil-rich nation had been waiting for news about his health. State-run news previously reported that he traveled to the United States for unspecified medical checks in March 2021. The health of Kuwait's leaders remains a sensitive matter in the Middle Eastern nation bordering Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which has seen internal power struggles behind palace doors. Sheikh Nawaf was sworn in as emir following the 2020 death of his predecessor, the late Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah. The breadth and depth of emotion over the loss of Sheikh Sabah, known for his diplomacy and peacemaking, was felt across the region. Sheikh Nawaf previously served as Kuwait's interior and defense .

Zara yanks ads that some found reminiscent of Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza

The Spanish fashion brand Zara has pulled advertising images that to some appeared to reference Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. The images for a line of jackets included what the company called unfinished sculptures in a sculptor's studio. But some online critics said one image of a model holding a wrapped-up mannequin resembled someone holding a corpse. Other photos included a mannequin with missing limbs and a figure wrapped in fabric or plastic on the floor, according to news reports. The company apologised in a statement posted on Instagram on Tuesday and said the campaign was conceived in July and photographed in September. Hamas attacked Israeli civilians on October 7, prompting Israel's subsequent invasion of Gaza. Zara said the campaign was created with the sole purpose of showcasing craftmade garments in an artistic context. While acknowledging the offence critics took to the images, the company said these people saw in them something far from what was intended when t

Oil rises after Iran-backed Houthi attack on ship, weak sentiment weighs

A cruise missile launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen struck a commercial chemical tanker, causing a fire and damage but no casualties in the latest such attack to heighten safety risks for tankers

Palestinians say Israel is warning them to leave areas in southern Gaza

Residents say Israel has dropped leaflets over parts of southern Gaza, urging people to leave homes east of the town of Khan Younis. The leaflets also warned that Khan Younis was now a dangerous battle zone. The leaflets signaled that Israel was preparing to widen its offensive, which has so far focused largely on the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of thousands of people fled northern Gaza earlier in the war, with many taking shelter in Khan Younis and other cities in the south.

Gaza truce expires without word of extension, fresh clashes possible

A temporary truce in the Israel-Hamas war expired Friday morning, without immediate word from mediator Qatar on an extension, raising the possibility of renewed fighting. The truce expired at 7 a.m (0500 GMT) Friday. The halt in fighting began a week ago, on Nov. 24. It initially lasted for four days, and then was extended for several days with the help of Qatar and fellow mediator Egypt. During the week-long truce, Hamas and other militants in Gaza released more than 100 hostages, most of them Israelis, in return for 240 Palestinians freed from prisons in Israel. Virtually all of those freed were women and children. Reaching agreements on swaps appears to be growing harder as most women and children held in Gaza have already been released.

China presents UN with vague Mideast peace plan as US promotes its own role

China on Wednesday presented the United Nations Security Council with a four-point plan for Middle East peace in a demonstration of its ambitions to be a global superpower. But the plan was short on details, and the United States quickly reminded the council of its attempts to ease the Gaza war. China has had little role in negotiations over the Israel-Palestinian conflict, which have been largely monopolized by the United States for decades. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the council that the war shows the urgent need for a Palestinian state alongside Israel. We should revitalize the political prospects of the two-state solution with stronger determination, he said. The lack of a Palestinian state is the crux of the repeated turbulence in the Palestinian-Israeli situation, he said. US President Joe Biden and other US officials also have spoken in favor of working toward a two-state solution for the conflict. China made its biggest foray into Middle East politics when it ..

Havells' consumer durables brand Lloyd enters Middle East market

Havells India Ltd on Wednesday said its consumer durables brand Lloyd has forayed into the Middle East market through a distribution partnership with Dubai-based TeknoDome. Lloyd's focus in the Middle East encompasses a range of technologically advanced and energy-efficient products and the company has introduced a portfolio, including a premium range of ACs, front-load and semi-automatic washing machines, frost-free and side-by-side refrigerators and LED TV range, Havells India said in a statement. Havells India Chairman and Managing Director Anil Rai Gupta said the company's commitment has been expanding its international presence. "...We take pride in Making in India for the world. Lloyd has been synonymous with innovation and trust in India, and we are confident that our range of products will resonate with the preferences and lifestyle of the Middle East market," he added. On the partnership with Havells, TeknoDom Chairman and Managing Director Saket Gaurav said, "This ...

Israel war a challenge for West Asia corridor: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

The Centre aims to resolve insurance issues for domestic shippers and reduce India's logistics costs through this move

India signs deals to export 500,000 tons of new season basmati rice

After imposing a ban on non-basmati white rice exports in Jun to stabilize domestic prices, India set a floor price, or minimum export price (MEP), of $1,200 a ton for overseas sales of basmati in Aug

Israel-Hamas war: IDF raids Gaza's Shifa hospital, patients 'terrified'

Israeli forces raided Gaza's largest hospital early Wednesday, where hundreds of patients, including newborns, have been stranded with dwindling supplies and no electricity, as the army extended its control across Gaza City and the north. Shifa Hospital has become a symbol of the widespread suffering of Palestinian civilians during the war between Israel and Hamas, which erupted after the militant group killed some 1,200 people and seized around 240 captives in a surprise Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel. The hospital is also at the heart of clashing narratives over who is to blame for the thousands of deaths and widespread destruction in the besieged territory. Israel accuses Hamas of using Palestinians as human shields, while Palestinians and rights groups say Israel has recklessly endangered civilians as it seeks to eradicate the group. Mohammed Zaqout, the director of hospitals in Gaza, said Israeli tanks had entered the medical compound and that soldiers had entered buildings

PM Netanyahu says Israel will pursue war against Hamas 'to the end'

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when pressed on accountability for the October 7 attack on Israel, he such "difficult" questions until the conclusion of the ongoing war.

Hamas war: Israel takes journalists on tour in Gaza - here's what they saw

An Israeli tank rolls across a sandy moonscape, surrounded by rubble. Damaged buildings are visible in every direction. Toppled trees lie along the Mediterranean shoreline. The Israeli military escorted international journalists into the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, giving them a glimpse of the aftermath of 12 days of heavy fighting in the area. Israel has been at war against Gaza's Hamas rulers since the Islamic militant group carried out a bloody cross-border attack on October 7, killing over 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping more than 240 others. Israel responded with weeks of intense airstrikes before launching a ground operation on October 27. "It's been a long two weeks of fighting," said Lt. Col. Ido, whose last name was withheld under military guidelines. We've lost some soldiers. The initial focus of the operation was northern Gaza, near the Israeli border, before troops moved in on Gaza City, which Israel says is the center of Hamas' military ...

Israel-Hamas war: Thousands of Palestinians flee south amid battle in Gaza

Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing south on foot with only what they can carry after running out of food and water in the north, a UN agency said Wednesday, as Israel said its troops were battling Hamas militants deep inside Gaza City. Over 70 per cent of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have already fled their homes, but the growing numbers making their way south point to an increasingly desperate situation in and around Gaza's largest city, which has come under heavy Israeli bombardment. The war triggered by Hamas' October 7 assault inside Israel has entered a second month, with an increasingly dire humanitarian situation inside the besieged Palestinian enclave and no end in sight. Israel has said its war to end Hamas' rule and crush its military capabilities will be long and difficult, and that it will maintain some form of control over the coastal enclave indefinitely. About 15,000 people fled northern Gaza on Tuesday, triple the number that left Monday, according to the UN .

Fertilisers & diamonds may be hit slightly due of Mideast crisis: Crisil

Domestic credit ratings agency Crisil on Tuesday said some sectors such as fertilisers and diamonds may be slightly impacted by the conflict in the Middle East. On a broader basis, the conflict has caused only a negligible disruption in India's trade so far, it said in a note. Some sectors such as fertilisers and diamonds both cut and polished may see a slight, but manageable, impact, while for most others impact will be insignificant, it said. However, it said that the conflict which started after the surprise October 7 attacks by Hamas against Israel has driven up prices of gold and crude oil which need to be watched. It said crude oil price movements are especially important for a country like India which depends on imports, and added that elevated crude oil prices have a cascading impact on a host of other sectors that consume the oil itself or linked raw materials. The agency said India's trade with Israel is relatively low, with the country accounting for only 1.9 per ce

Oil prices head for weekly loss as geopolitical risk premium wanes

On the supply side, Saudi Arabia is expected to reconfirm an extension of its voluntary oil output cut of 1 million barrels per day through December, based on analyst expectations

74 US dual nationals left Gaza Strip as Blinken goes to Mideast, says Biden

President Joe Biden said Thursday that 74 U.S. citizens with dual citizenship have left the Gaza Strip, announcing the development as he dispatched his top diplomat to the Middle East for consultation with Israeli and Jordanian leaders concerning the Israel-Hamas war. We got out today 74 American folks out that are dual citizens," Biden said in a brief exchange with reporters as he hosted Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader for an Oval Office meeting. The White House has previously said some 500 to 600 U.S. citizens had been trapped in Gaza since the start of the Oct. 7 Israel-Hamas war. Since then, the nearly four-week-old conflict continues to rage on with no end in sight. The administration said earlier this week that a handful of Americans were among dozens of dual citizens who were able to get out of the Strip where a humanitarian crisis is unfolding. Biden made the announcement as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken set off for another frenzied trip to the Middle Eas

US to send 300 additional troops to Middle East amid ongoing war: Pentagon

The region monitored by US encompasses 20 countries, including Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the countries of the Arabian Peninsula and northern Red Sea, and the five republics of Central Asia

L&T bags ultra mega offshore project worth Rs 15k cr in Middle East

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Tuesday said it has bagged another ultra mega offshore project worth over Rs 15,000 crore in the Middle East. Projects worth over Rs 15,000 crore have been classified under the 'ultra-mega' category by the company. "The Hydrocarbon Business (L&T Energy Hydrocarbon LTEH) of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has secured a Letter of Intent for yet another Ultra-Mega Onshore project from a prestigious client in the Middle East further to the recent Ultra-Mega project award for a Gas Compression plant," the company said in a statement. The scope of work includes procurement and construction for a gas processing plant, consisting of inlet separation facilities and booster compression system, among others, in new onshore facilities and its integration with existing gas processing plants. Larsen & Toubro is a USD 23 billion Indian multinational, which operates in over 50 countries worldwide.

Sterlite Technologies expects growth in sales volume to return next fiscal

Broadband gear maker Sterlite Technologies expects optical business sales volume in the US to decline this fiscal due to inventory build-up and growth to return in the next fiscal, Managing Director Ankit Agrawal said. Speaking to PTI at the India Mobile Congress, Agrawal said that the company has about 20 per cent market share in Europe and between 10 to 12 per cent market share in the US. "We do see some inventory build-up in North America. We do expect probably another six to nine months for that inventory to reduce and then the demand to come back. Overall for this year, we do expect some volume decline. And probably from next year onwards, the volumes will come back," Agrawal said. STL in the September 2023 quarter posted a 20 per cent decline in consolidated profit at Rs 32 crore. Overall, the company has projected a dip in revenue during the current fiscal year but expects increased sales in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), India and Asia Pacific markets to fill the ..