Qatar urges Israel, Hamas to seize ‘window of opportunity’ for Gaza truce
US President Donald Trump voiced optimism on Friday about a new ceasefire in Gaza saying an agreement involving Israel and...Geostrategy
Conflicts and related fatalities triple since 2000, fueling extreme poverty: WB
Washington, United States -- Conflicts and related fatalities have more than tripled since the early 2000s, fueling extreme poverty, the...Geostrategy
Hamas releases video of two Israeli hostages alive in Gaza
Hamas's armed wing released a video on Saturday showing two Israeli hostages alive in the Gaza Strip, with one of...Israeli media identified the pair in the undated video as Elkana Bohbot and Yosef Haim Ohana, who were kidnapped during Hamas's October 7, 2023
Since the ceasefire collapsed, Hamas has released several videos of hostages, including of the two appearing in Saturday's video.
Rubio urges India, Pakistan to communicate to ‘avoid miscalculation’
Washington, United States - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged India and Pakistan to restore direct communication to "avoid...Rubio placed telephone calls to the rivals' top diplomats and, for the first known time since the conflict erupted, also spoke with Pakistan's army chief
The stepped-up diplomacy came as the conflict intensified between the nuclear-armed neighbors, with Pakistan launching counterattacks after India struck three of its air bases
Israel not part of Gaza food aid plan: envoy
Israel would not be involved in food distribution under a US-led plan for the Gaza Strip but would provide "necessary military...Despite imposing a now two-month-long blockade of aid on Gaza, Israel has asserted there is no humanitarian crisis in the territory.
The US-led initiative has been met with international criticism as it appears to sideline the United Nations and existing aid organisations
Pakistan says India has brought neighbours ‘closer to major conflict’
Pakistan charged India Friday with bringing the nuclear-armed neighbours "closer to a major conflict", as the death toll from three...Most of the more than 50 deaths were in Pakistan during Wednesday's air strikes by India and included children
Pakistani military sources said that its forces had shot down 77 Indian drones in the last two days
Iran top diplomat to visit Saudi, Qatar before Trump tour
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Saturday, his ministry said, days before US President...Araghchi is due to hold talks with senior Saudi officials in Riyadh before heading to Doha for a conference on Arab-Iranian dialogue
The Iranian top diplomat later said meetings in Saudi Arabia would cover the latest on the nuclear talks with the United States
Kurdish PKK says held ‘successful’ meeting on disbanding
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) held a "successful" meeting this week with a view to disarming and disbanding, a...On February 27, Ocalan urged his fighters to disarm and disband, ending a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned there will be harsh consequences "if the promises are not kept"
US says new foundation to spearhead Gaza aid
Israel has imposed a blockade for two months on Gaza, leading UN agencies and other humanitarian groups to warn of...State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the foundation was non-governmental and would make an announcement "shortly," without offering further details
"We welcome moves to quickly get urgent food aid into Gaza... in a way that the food aid actually gets to those to whom it's intended," Bruce told reporters
First responders in Gaza say running out of supplies
Gaza City, Palestinian Territories - First responders in Gaza said Thursday that their operations were at a near standstill, more...Over 20 independent experts mandated by the UN's Human Rights Council demanded action on Wednesday to avert the "annihilation" of Palestinians in Gaza
The UN's agency for children, UNICEF, warned that Gaza's children face "a growing risk of starvation, illness and death" after UN-supported kitchens shut down
Pakistan and India accuse each other of waves of drone attacks
India and Pakistan accused each other Thursday of carrying out waves of drone attacks, as deadly confrontations between the nuclear-armed...India launched missiles on Wednesday it said targeted "terrorist camps", and Pakistan retaliated with a barrage of artillery strikes, with at least 48 deaths reported on both sides
The South Asian neighbours have fought multiple wars over Kashmir since they were carved out of the sub-continent at the end of British rule in 1947
Israel threatens to do to Iran what it has done to Hamas
Israel will do to Iran what it has done to Hamas in Gaza, Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Thursday, days...Along with Hezbollah and Hamas, Yemen's Huthi rebels are part of Iran's "axis of resistance" against Israel and its ally the United States
Hezbollah began launching attacks in October 2023 in support of its ally Hamas following its unprecedented attack on southern Israel
