Updates: Israel slaps ban on United Nations and kills more than 150 in Lebanon and Gaza
Shunning international pressure, Israeli parliament passed a bill banning a United Nations aid agency, and also intensified its strikes against...Geostrategy
Beirut’s suburbs ravaged by Israeli air raids as Blinken urges de-escalation with Iran
Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold destroyed six buildings in the deadliest assault since the war began, despite U.S....Geostrategy Uncategorized
Tunisia heads for ‘new republic’ in dialogue without political parties
Tunisia's President Kais Saied on Friday appointed a loyalist law professor to head a committee charged with writing a constitution...Saied has vowed to scrap the country's 2014 constitution and draft a replacement to be put to referendum in July
Saied has also created three other committees to focus on socio-economic issues, the judiciary and on national dialogue
Russian army says Mariupol steelworks ‘totally liberated’
Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed president Putin of "the end of the operation and the complete liberation of the...Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed president Putin of "the end of the operation and the liberation of the city of Mariupol."
On May 20, the last group of 531 Azov regiment of Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol surrendered to Russian army, Russian official has confirmed
US urges Lebanon leaders to form a government swiftly
State Department spokesman Ned Price said: "We urge those elected and the country's political leaders to heed the Lebanese people's...Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite militant movement, with its allies lost a parliamentary majority in Sunday's vote as independents made a surprise breakthrough.
The US statement saluted the holding of elections on time but voiced concerns about "allegations of vote buying, clientelism and reports of intimidation."
Syria lambasts Erdogan plan to return million refugees
Syrian authorities on Friday rejected plans by Turkey to return one million Syrian refugees to a "safe zone" on the...Erdogan in early May said Ankara was aiming to encourage1 million Syrian refugees to return to their country by building them housing and local infrastructure.
Turkey is today home to more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees, who fled after a civil war broke out in 2011 in Turkey's southern neighbour.
Trawling Iraq’s threatened marshes to collect waste
The swamps, nestled between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, are one of the world's largest inland deltas and were declared...The UN classifies Iraq "as the fifth most vulnerable country in the world" to climate change, having already witnessed record low rainfall and high temperatures in recent years.
An official said that tourists have returned, but one of the main visible sources of pollution in the area are visitors who throw away their "plastic waste".
Two Iran activists out on bail sent to jail again on ‘plotting supicion’
Earlier this week Tehran academic Saeed Madani Ghahfarokhi was arrested on suspicion of "maintaining links abroad and carrying out activities...One of the accused, Kevyan Samimi, is a veteran dissident who served jail time both before and after the Islamic revolution of 1979.
State news agency IRNA said women's rights and labor activist Narges Mansouri was also arrested again.
Israel’s government in minority after Arab MP resigns from Knesset
The MP Zoabi said: "Again and again the heads of the coalition have taken hawkish, rigid and right-wing stances regarding...Several opposition lawmakers, including Zoabi and members of the Arab Joint List, are bitterly opposed to the current opposition leader.
Former PM Benjamin Netanyahu -- in office from 1996 to 1999, and again from 2009 until June 2021 -- is outspoken about his desire to topple the Bennett government.
Lebanon winning independent candidates celebrate: ‘change has begun’
When Firas Hamdan was injured at a protest near Lebanon's parliament two years ago, the then activist never imagined he...13 independent politicians who emerged from a mass anti-government protest movement in 2019, made it to parliament on a reformist platform at elections on Sunday.
Youths aspiring for change in Lebanon have rejoiced at the victories of independents.
Nearly 60 mn people internally displaced worldwide in 2021
Last year, new internal displacements from conflict surged to 14.4 million marking a 50-percent jump from 2020 and more than...Last year, new internal displacements from conflict surged to 14.4 million marking a 50-percent jump from 2020 and more than doubling since 2012, the report showed
More than eight million people have already been displaced within the war-ravaged country since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February
Yemen’s Houthi rebels consider extending truce
Yemen's Houthi rebels said Wednesday they are considering renewing a United Nations-brokered truce with the government which expires in two...The two-month ceasefire, which went into effect on April 2, coinciding with the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, has made a considerable positive impact
According to United Nations figures, more than 150,000 people have died in Yemen's war and millions have been displaced
