Israel arms exports to UAE, Bahrain, Morocco rise sharply after 2023
Sales to countries considered part of the Abraham Accords -- the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco who signed groundbreaking...Business Geostrategy
Saudi hosts urge pilgrims to stay indoors during hajj high point
Makkah, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi authorities have asked pilgrims performing the hajj to remain in their tents for several hours...Geostrategy
Global rice output in 2024/25 likely to expand by 1.5%: FAO
Rome, Italy -- The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released a new Cereal Supply and Demand...FAO’s latest forecast for 2025 wheat production is pegged at 795 million tons, on par with the previous year.
FAO’s new forecast for world cereal utilization in 2024/25 stands at 2 870 million tons, a 1.0 percent increase over the 2023/24 level.
Hamas armed wing releases video of apparently injured Israeli hostage
The armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, released a video Saturday showing an Israeli-Russian hostage who appeared to have...In the undated four-minute video, the hostage, wearing bandages on his head and left arm spoke in Hebrew, implying he had been wounded in a recent Israeli bombardment
AFP and Israeli media identified the hostage as Russian-Israeli Maxim Herkin, who turns 37 a the end of May. His family urged media not to disseminate the video
Murderer of Palestinian-American boy sentenced to 53 years
Washington, United States - An Illinois man was sentenced to 53 years in prison on Friday for the murder of...Joseph Czuba, 73, was convicted in February of fatally stabbing Wadea Al-Fayoumi and attacking the boy's mother, Hanan Shaheen
Czuba was the family's landlord and the attack took place a week after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023
Israel launches new Syria strikes amid Druze tensions
Israel launched more than 20 air strikes inside Syria late Friday, a war monitor said, following up an attack near...The strikes came amid Israeli warnings to the Damascus government not to harm the Druze minority, following recent sectarian clashes
An Israeli military statement said its forces had "struck a military site, anti-aircraft cannons and surface-to-air missile infrastructure in Syria."
Israel says intercepts missile fired from Yemen
The Israeli military said Friday it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen, where Huthi rebels recently claimed responsibility for a...Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels have not claimed responsibility for the Friday launch, but said Sunday they had launched a "hypersonic missile" at the Nevatim air base
The Huthis are part of Iran's "axis of resistance" against Israel and the United States, portraying themselves as defenders of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing war
Israel strikes near Damascus presidential palace over Druze violence that kills over 100 people
Israel has since then attacked hundreds of Syrian military sites and on Friday announced its "fighter jets struck adjacent to...Israel has attacked hundreds of Syrian military sites and on Friday announced its "fighter jets struck adjacent to the area of the palace" in the capital Damascus
Israel sees the new forces in Syria as jihadists and has warned them to protect the Druze minority, with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying his country could otherwise respond."
How much blood is enough to satisfy ‘political objectives’: WHO on Gaza
"We are breaking the bodies and the minds of the children of Gaza. We are starving the children of Gaza,...Israel strictly controls all inflows of international aid vital for the 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
It halted aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2, days before the collapse of a ceasefire that had significantly reduced hostilities after 15 months of war.
Slower growth expected in MENA region in 2025: IMF
"Growth is still projected to increase in 2025 and 2026, but at a considerably slower pace than anticipated last October,"...The lender lowered growth projections from 4 percent to 2.6 percent for 2025, and from 4.2 percent to 3.4 percent for 2026.
In 2024, average growth in the region slowed to 1.8 percent -- from 2.1 percent the year before -- due to "ongoing conflicts and extended voluntary oil production cuts".
UAE to lift three-year Lebanon travel ban: statement
Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- The United Arab Emirates will lift a ban on its citizens travelling to Lebanon that...The decision was announced a day after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with his UAE counterpart Mohamed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi.
In 2021, the UAE imposed a travel ban on its citizens and withdrew diplomats from Beirut in solidarity with Riyadh after a Lebanese minister criticized Saudi intervention in Yemen.
Two-State solution nearing point of no return: UN chief
He renewed calls for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and full humanitarian access. He...Guterres expressed deep concern over the worsening crisis in Gaza, where nearly 2,000 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire collapsed in March
He renewed calls for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and full humanitarian access
