No permit, no hajj: Saudi intensifies crackdown after heat deaths
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia is ramping up a crackdown on unregistered worshippers at next week's hajj pilgrimage, a...Geostrategy
With AI and more shade, Saudi Arabia set for a searing hajj
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- With artificial intelligence, more shade and misting machines, Saudi authorities are preparing to welcome more than...Geostrategy
Saudi Arabia signs MoUs with four countries for development in mining industry
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has signed four Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the...The roundtable highlighted the need for governments and industry to achieve economic and social development for local communities.
A total of 79 governments, 13 international organizations, 15 NGOs and seven business associations took part in the roundtable.
Iran’s navy seizes oil tanker off Oman in dispute with US
The announcement came hours after a British-navy maritime security agency said armed men boarded the Greek-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged St Nikolas...Iran has responded with tit-for-tat measures in the past after seizures of Iranian oil shipments. US sanctions target Iranian oil sales in a bid to reduce Iran's energy exports.
The Islamic republic has been under crippling US sanctions reimposed following Washington's 2018 withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal.
South Africa accuses Israel of genocide at top UN court
A world away from the death and destruction in Gaza and Israel, robed lawyers battled it out over technical legal...South Africa has lodged an urgent appeal at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to force Israel to "immediately suspend" its military operations in Gaza
Top lawyer for South Africa Adila Hassim said Israel's bombing campaign aimed at the "destruction of Palestinian life" and had pushed Palestinians "to the brink of famine"
EU court’s adviser says $2.6bn fine on Google be upheld
Google suffered a legal blow at the European Court of Justice when the body's adviser recommended that a US$2.6 billion...The opinion will feed into a legal battle Google has been waging to overturn the fine the European Commission hit it with in 2017.
The commission determined that Google abused its dominant position by favoring its own Google Shopping service.
Israel army claims two journalists slain in Gaza strike were ‘terror operatives’
Israeli army said Mustafa Thuria was identified in a document found by troops in Gaza to be a member of...Hamza Wael Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuria, who also worked as a video stringer for AFP and other news organizations, were killed on Sunday
The Israeli army said that both the deceased journalist were members of Gaza-based fighters organizations actively involved in attacks against IDF
Chinese foreign minister to visit Egypt, Tunisia this week: ministry
Wang's overseas travel will coincide with another trip abroad by a top Chinese official, Premier Li Qiang, this week. Li...Wang's visit to Egypt will follow that of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is set to meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo
China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and supportive of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
WHO urges Israel to allow aid delivery in ‘indescribable’ Gaza
"Delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza continues to face nearly insurmountable challenges," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference....Ghebreyesus said that WHO teams have had to cancel six planned missions to northern Gaza since December 26 due to lack of assurances of safe passage.
"People are standing in line for hours for a small amount of water, which may not be clean, or bread, which alone is not sufficiently nutritious," he said.
Germany resumes arms exports to Saudi Arabia after 5 years
Berlin has loosened its stance on weapons exports to the kingdom recently, with the government praising Saudi Arabia's "constructive approach"...Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit confirmed a report that Berlin gave a green signal for the export of 150 Iris-T air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia.
The newly approved Iris-T missiles could "be fired from aircraft at airborne targets, that is to say missiles, drones and so on", he said.
India’s Russian oil imports fall to 11-month low as price cap rises
Indian refiners bought 1.45 million barrels per day of Russian oil last month, their lowest amount since last January and...Since the invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago, India has bought hundreds of millions of barrels of cut-price Russian crude, saving itself billions of dollars
But the price of Russian crude has risen in the face of OPEC+ production cuts and increased demand from China, analysts say, making it less attractive to Indian customers
Blinken tells Abbas US backs ‘tangible steps’ for Palestinian state
Blinken "underscored the United States' position that all Palestinian tax revenues collected by Israel should be consistently conveyed to the...Palestinian statehood was anticipated following the Oslo Accords of the 1990s but talks have been moribund for years
As part of efforts to stabilize the territory, Blinken called on Israel to hand over revenues owed to the Palestinians in full
