Rafah battles intensify as Israel takes over Gaza-Egypt border strip
Israel said on Wednesday its forces had taken over the 14-kilometre Philadelphi corridor on the Gaza-Egypt borderGeostrategy
Saudi king chairs cabinet meeting after ‘recovery’
The meeting comes nearly 10 days since the royal court said the king had a lung infection and was undergoing...Geostrategy
World’s largest online cybercrime site shut in police crackdown
Genesis Market sold the identities of over two million people for as little as $0.70, allowing hackers to target bank...The website was based in Russia, according to the US Treasury, which said it had imposed sanctions against Genesis Market.
Action against criminals took place in countries including Australia, Britain, Canada, the United States and more than 10 countries in Europe.
Iran welcomes US decision to spur peace process in Yemen
TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran on Wednesday welcomed a US call to help end the long-running conflict in Yemen by backing a peace...Sunday marked the first anniversary of the UN-brokered truce between the Yemeni government and the Iran-backed rebels.
UN Yemen envoy Hans Grundberg described it as a "moment of hope" as the truce was largely holding despite lapsing in October.
WTO sees 2023 global trade growth at 1.7 percent
The World Trade Organization said 2023 global trade growth would be slightly better than feared, but would remain "subpar", weighed...The forecast was slightly better than feared last October, when the WTO projected 2023 trade growth would be as low as one percent.
The organization's economists also estimated that real global GDP growth at market exchange rates would be 2.4 percent this year.
Iran names envoy to UAE after nearly eight-year absence
Iran and the United Arab Emirates have long had close economic ties which continued even during the diplomatic chill. A...The move comes after Iran welcomed an Emirati ambassador last September ending a six-year absence
The UAE had cut the level of its diplomatic representation after neighbouring Saudi Arabia severed ties in 2016
Iran working on key pipeline to supply gas to Oman
Reza Noshadi, who heads the National Iranian Gas Company’s engineering subsidiary, said that Iran will be able to export gas...In June last year, Oman and Iran signed deals to develop two gas pipelines and an oil field along their maritime border
Oman has close ties with Iran and played a mediating role between Tehran and Washington in the build-up to the nuclear deal in 2015
UAE president discusses ties, regional situation in phone call with Netanyahu
Abu Dhabi, UAE - The UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received a phone call from Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime...Sheikh Mohamed affirmed the UAE’s ongoing commitment to ties with Israel, describing their cooperation as a strategic approach to peace and development
A separate statement from Netanyahu's office said the two leaders agreed to "continue the dialogue between them in a personal meeting in the near future."
Israeli police storm Al-Aqsa mosque to remove ‘agitators’
Israeli police stormed into the Al-Aqsa mosque on Wednesday to dislodge what it calls agitators in a move condemned as...According to witnesses, several rockets were fired from the northern Gaza Strip toward Israeli territory after the announcement of the clashes at Al-Aqsa
Clashes between Palestinians and Israelis have often erupted in the mosque compound in the Israeli-annexed Old City of east Jerusalem, particularly during the month of Ramadan
France’s Macron in China to discuss Ukraine war, trade ties
The French leader's aims include preserving and rebalancing China's trade ties with Europe as well as safeguarding French interests in...Macron will look to stand firm on Ukraine during talks with his counterpart Xi Jinping and offer "another path" from the Washington's confrontational tone
The French leader's aims include preserving and rebalancing China's trade ties with Europe as well as safeguarding French interests in the Asia-Pacific region
Trump pleads not guilty to 34 criminal charges, trial in Jan 2024
Former US president Donald Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records stemming from three pre-election hush-money...The twice-impeached Republican is the first sitting or former American president to be criminally indicted, propelling the US into uncharted political waters.
Trump's attorney says the indictment was "sad and we're going to fight it, we're going to fight it hard".
Israeli strike, fourth in a week, kills two civilians in Syria
Damascus, Syria - An Israeli air strike on Tuesday killed two Syrian civilians, state media reported, the fourth such attack on...During more than a decade of civil war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its territory, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces and Hezbollah fighters.
While Israel rarely comments on the strikes it carries out on Syria, it has repeatedly said it will not allow its arch-foe Iran to extend its footprint in the war-torn country.
