Israel plans ‘Hexagon Alliance’ in Mediterranean, Middle East to counter hostile regional blocs
Speaking ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu outlined a plan to establish what he called a “hexagon alliance system”...
Geostrategy
Gulf startup hubs: Converging strategies, diverging ambitions
Despite fierce branding as rivals, Gulf startup hubs share capital, policy, and talent structures that are quietly shaping distinct, globally...
Interview
Geostrategy
Reformist faces ultraconservative as Iran votes for president
In a contest between reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and ultraconservative Saeed Jalili, the election comes amid heightened regional tension
- The election follows a first round marked by a historically low voter turnout last week
- Regardless of the result, Iran's next president will be in charge of applying state policy outlined by the supreme leader
Geostrategy
Lebanon’s Hezbollah rains rockets on Israel as Gaza war rages
Fire and smoke billows after rockets fired from southern Lebanon hit areas in northern Israel on July 4, 2024. (AFP).
- The Israeli military said its forces were "striking launch posts in southern Lebanon"
- UN chief Antonio Guterres is "very worried about the escalation of the exchange of fire"
Geostrategy
Iraqi armed groups say ready to fight Israel if Lebanon war breaks out
Baghdad, Iraq - As war rages in Gaza and threatens to spread to Lebanon, Iraqi militant groups warn they are ready...
- A field commander of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said there would be "escalation for escalation" in the event of a full-scale war in Lebanon
- The commander, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the Iran-backed group had already sent "experts and advisors" to Lebanon
Geostrategy
Syrian-based armed Iraqi groups ready to fight Israel to support Lebanon if war breaks out
As war rages in Gaza and threatens to spread to Lebanon, Iraqi militant groups warn they are ready to enter...
- Pro-Iran armed groups so-called "Axis of Resistance" is an alliance that includes Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Huthi rebels
- In late January, a drone strike launched by Iraqi armed groups killed three US soldiers across the border in Jordan
Geostrategy
Pro-Palestinian group scales Australia’s parliament
Sydney, Australia - Protesters scaled Australia's national parliament on Thursday, unfurling banners reading "Palestine will be free", and accusing Prime Minister...
- The protest follows recent divisions within the Labor government, which suspended a Muslim senator who voted in favour of Australia recognizing a Palestinian state
- Senator Fatima Payman said she had been "exiled" after supporting the parliamentary motion - put forward by the Greens party - in defiance of government policy
Geostrategy
Israel will not allow ‘winds of defeatism’ in Hamas war: Netanyahu
After a visit to troops on Monday, he said: "I saw very considerable achievements in the fighting being carried in...
- After the October 7 attacks by Hamas, Netanyahu's right-wing government vowed to destroy Hamas and return all hostages seized during the deadly incursion by the Palestinian group
- Netanyahu made his new vow of victory after the New York Times quoted sources as saying Israel was ready to make a deal without reaching all its goals
Geostrategy
Israel strikes southern Gaza after ordering evacuations
Other parts of the Gaza Strip were reeling from continued fighting nearly nine months into the devastating conflict. Witnesses and...
- Witnesses reported multiple strikes in and around the city of Khan Yunis, where eight people were killed and more than 30 were wounded
- The bombardment came after a rare rocket barrage claimed by the group Islamic Jihad, which has fought alongside Hamas
Geostrategy
Gaza hospital chief says tortured in Israel detention
Israel's military has accused Hamas of using hospitals in the Gaza Strip as a cover for military operations. It has...
- Al-Shifa hospital director Mohammed Abu Salmiya was among dozens of Palestinians released and returned to Gaza for treatment
- Abu Salmiya said he and other prisoners were put through "severe torture" in Israeli prisons
Geostrategy
Fighting rages in Gaza City’s Shujaiya for fourth day
A Hamas official in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, confirmed that the Islamist movement had received the latest proposal but said it...
- Months of on-and-off talks towards a Gaza truce and hostage release deal have meanwhile made little progress
- Hamas said Saturday that there was "nothing new" in a revised plan presented by US mediators
Geostrategy
Hamas official says ‘nothing new’ in US Gaza proposals
Hamas insists on a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip. Hamdan said the...
- A plan presented last month by President Biden, which he said was proposed by Israel, included a six-week truce accompanied by an Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will continue the war until Hamas is totally defeated and all hostages are freed
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Israel plans ‘Hexagon Alliance’ in Mediterranean, Middle East to counter hostile regional blocs
Speaking ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu outlined a plan to establish what he called a “hexagon alliance system”...
Geostrategy
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Russia says Ukraine peace talks with Kyiv on pause as NATO bolsters defences
Russia said Friday that peace talks with Kyiv were on "pause" as President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that his Russian counterpart...
Geostrategy
Fifty reported dead in Gaza as Israel steps up attacks to capture main city
Israel has said it intends to capture the territory's largest urban centre, which it describes as one of the last...
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Jailed Istanbul mayor in court over ‘falsified degree’
Istanbul's jailed opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu went on trial Friday on charges of falsifying his university degree.
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UN General Assembly votes for Hamas-free Palestinian state
The text was adopted by 142 votes in favor, 10 against -- including Israel and key ally the United States...
- It also calls for "collective action to end the war in Gaza, to achieve a just, peaceful and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the effective implement
- The New York Declaration includes discussion of a "deployment of a temporary international stabilization mission" to the battered region.
Geostrategy
UAE summons Israel envoy over ‘cowardly’ Qatar attack, condemns Netanyahu’s statements
The UAE, along with Bahrain, was the first Gulf country to normalize ties with Israel in 2020 and has been...
- Friday's rare summoning was the strongest in a chorus of condemnations as anger boils in the Gulf over Israel's strike on a region long shielded from Middle Eastern conflicts.
- The rebuke comes amid a diplomatic frenzy over the attack with an emergency Arab-Islamic summit planned in Doha to discuss a regional response to the attack.
Geostrategy
Iran says enriched nuclear material ‘under rubble’ of facilities hit during Israel war
Tehran, Iran - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday that enriched nuclear material remained "under the rubble" of facilities...
- "All of our material is... under the rubble of the bombed facilities," said Araghchi in an interview, adding that Iran's Atomic Energy Organization was assessing the condition
- The remarks came after Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) agreed a new cooperation framework on Tuesday