Amnesty urges war crimes probe into Israeli destruction in Lebanon
Amnesty International said Tuesday that the Israeli army's extensive destruction of civilian property in south Lebanon, including after a ceasefire...
Geostrategy
Over 12,000 Wi-Fi breaches recorded in UAE since start of year
Abu Dhabi, UAE -- The UAE Cyber Security Council (CSC) has warned of the serious risks posed by using open...
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Geostrategy
Iran summons Italian envoy in rebuke over protests
TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran has summoned the Italian ambassador to protest "interventionist" policies, the foreign ministry said late Thursday, a day...
- The Islamic republic has been gripped by protests since the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd.
- Iran says hundreds of people have been killed in the unrest, including members of the security forces, and thousands have been arrested nationwide.
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10 oil field workers killed in Syria attack, says state media
BEIRUT, LEBANON - An attack in eastern Syria killed 10 oil field workers, state news agency SANA reported on Friday, a...
- In addition to 10 dead, two others have been wounded in a terrorist attack that targeted three buses transporting workers from al-Taim oil field, state media said.
- The agency did not provide any information on the nature of the attack in the Kurdish-held area or who may be behind it,
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Benjamin Netanyahu sworn in as Prime Minister of Israel
Israel's hawkish veteran Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in as prime minister after a stint in opposition, heading what analysts call...
- Netanyahu, 73, who is fighting corruption charges in court, already served as premier longer than anyone in Israeli history, leading the country from 1996-1999 and 2009-2021
- Netanyahu was ousted in June 2021 by a motley coalition of leftists, centrists and Arab parties headed by Naftali Bennett and former TV news anchor Yair Lapid.
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Netanyahu’s controversial concessions to Israel govt partners
Jerusalem-- Israel's newly sworn-in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has granted major concessions to far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies to cement a...
- Bezalel Smotrich, head of the extreme-right Religious Zionism formation, will oversee civilian affairs in the occupied West Bank.
- Government recognition of illegal outposts established in the West Bank without government approval within 60 days.
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Dubai court authorizes jailed Brit’s fraud extradition, say lawyers
DUBAI, UAE - A Dubai court Thursday authorized the extradition of a British national wanted over an alleged 1.7 billion...
- Hedge fund trader Sanjay Shah was arrested in Dubai in June, but the emirate's Court of Appeal in September rejected an extradition request by Denmark.
- Shah is accused of running a scheme for three years from 2012 in which foreign firms pretended to own shares in Danish companies and claimed tax refunds.
Turkish court upholds rights leader’s life sentence
Paris-born activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala was sentenced to life in jail without the possibility of parole in April on...
- Kavala was first charged with funding the wave of 2013 protests that some analysts view as the genesis of Erdogan's more authoritarian posture in the latter half of his two-decade
- He was best known as a soft-spoken businessman who was spending part of his wealth to promote culture and projects aimed at reconciling Turkey and its arch-nemesis Armenia
Tunisia’s Saied downplays puny poll turnout, slams critics
Saied lashed out at unnamed critics, accusing such rivals of "drowning in corruption and treachery" and of "plotting against the...
- Just 11.2 percent of registered voters took part in the December 17 polls for a neutered parliament, which capped Saied's overhaul of the political system
- Turnout - initially announced at just under nine percent - was the lowest since the 2011 revolution that overthrew dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
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Tunisian prosecutors move to try 13 judges on ‘terror’ charges
The move comes nearly seven months after President Kais Saied sacked 57 judges, accusing them of corruption and blocking enquiries...
- Defence lawyer Ayachi Hammami said the 13 were among 49 judges reinstated in Aug. But the justice ministry has been investigating his 13 clients for "terrorist crimes".
- "This case is purely political," Hammami said. The accused judges are to appear before the Supreme Judicial Council (CSM) on January 24, he told AFP.
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Saudi Arabia seizes 30 tons of mildly narcotic shrub khat
Khat, or qat, is a leaf which is packed into the cheek and slowly chewed, releasing chemicals similar to amphetamines...
- Saudi border authorities seized 29.2 tons of khat in the country's south, near the border with Yemen, as well as in the north, near Jordan.
- More than 360 smugglers were arrested, most of them Yemeni but also some Ethiopians and Saudis, SPA said.
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Rare hail brings winter white to desert hotspot Kuwait
Kuwait City, Kuwait--Kuwait, one of the hottest countries on Earth, has been hit by a rare hail storm that delighted children...
- Pictures and videos of southern roads partially blanketed in hail and ice spread online to celebrate the rare weather event.
- Kuwait's meteorological department said precipitation since Tuesday had reached up to 63 millimetres but that the weather was clearing up.
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Amnesty urges war crimes probe into Israeli destruction in Lebanon
Amnesty International said Tuesday that the Israeli army's extensive destruction of civilian property in south Lebanon, including after a ceasefire...
Geostrategy
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Israel thanks US Senate for approving military aid
Israel's foreign minister on Wednesday thanked the US Senate for approving $13 billion in military aid that he said sent...
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Lebanon’s Hizbollah launched ‘dozens’ of rockets at Israel after civilian deaths
Hizbollah fighters fired "dozens of Katyusha rockets" at northern Israel "as part of the response to the Israeli enemy's attacks...
Tunisia, Algeria, Libya hold ‘advisory’ meeting to create new regional coalition
The meeting was decided on by Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune, Libya's head of presidential council Mohamed Al-Menfi and Tunisian President...
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Syria has held ‘meetings’ with US: Assad
The United States was among the first to cut ties with Assad over the repression of anti-government protests that sparked...
- The United States was among the first to cut ties with Assad over the repression of anti-government protests that sparked war in 2011
- Last year Syria returned to the Arab fold, seeking better ties with wealthy US-allied Gulf states, in the hope they can help fund reconstruction
Iran, Israel appear to pull back from brink as US approves military aid
Iran downplayed Israel's reported retaliation for its unprecedented drone and missile attack, tamping down fears that escalating attacks between the...
- Aiming to bolster Israel's defences including its Iron Dome air defence system, the US House of Representatives approved $13 billion in new military assistance for the country
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the aid bill, writing on X, that it "demonstrates strong bipartisan support for Israel and defends Western civilization."
Calls for calm after reported Israeli strike on Iran
An unidentified Israeli official told The Washington Post the "strike" was retaliation for Iran's drone and missile barrage and was...
- Israeli officials made no public comment on the attack and Iranian officials played down its significance
- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Israeli micro-drones used in the operation had caused no deaths or damage