Footage of the men, including Kahlout, stripped down to their underwear, with some of them appearing to hand over weapons, was last month aired by Israeli media, which reported the alleged surrender of Hamas fighters. The clips sparked outrage on social media, with Hamas denying the individuals were members of...

King Abdullah, in a meeting Sunday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, called on the United States to press Israel for an "immediate ceasefire" and to put an end to the humanitarian crisis brought by the Gaza war. King Abdullah had also warned Blinken against "the catastrophic repercussions of...

The Houthi rebels say they are acting in support of Hamas, targeting Israel and Israeli-linked vessels to push for a stop to the war in the Gaza Strip. In response to the Hothis attacks, the United States set up a multinational naval task force last month to defend shipping interests...

Baku, Azerbaijan-- The UAE and Azerbaijan have discussed ways to enhance cooperation in renewable energy, environmental protection, culture, education, and other areas that contribute to sustainable development. The discussion on the deepening of ties took place in a meeting between Shaikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United...

In a statement, Hizbollah said that it targeted the "enemy's northern command centre" in the Israeli city of Safed with "several suicide drones". The attack, according to Hizbollah, an ally of Hamas, was part of its response to the killings of top field commander Wissam Tawil on Monday and Hamas...

Paris, France - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Middle East leaders will attend a World Economic Forum in Davos next week dominated by the war in Gaza, the WEF said Tuesday. Argentina's libertarian new president, Javier Milei, French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese Premier Li...

PARIS, FRANCE - The year of 2023 was the hottest on record, with the increase in Earth's surface temperature nearly crossing the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius, EU climate monitors said on Tuesday. Climate change intensified heatwaves, droughts and wildfires across the planet, and pushed the global thermometer 1.48 C...

RAMALLAH, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES - Everyone in Gaza is going hungry and about 2.2 million people are surviving day by day on almost nothing, routinely going without meals, said a Jerusalem-based non-profit organization B'Tselem. The desperate search for food is relentless, and usually unsuccessful, leaving the entire population – including babies,...

The proposed text affirms "the sustainable choice of using nuclear energy as a competitive and carbon-free" source of electricity. But the proposed text sets no such targets for building renewable capacity, in particular wind and solar, whereas previous energy laws did.

The US secretary of state -- on his fourth Middle East tour since the war broke out -- was back in Israel on Tuesday to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his war cabinet, including opposition figure Benny Gantz. He also voiced hope that, after the war, Israel...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia--Jasem Mohamed Al Budaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, have reviewed relations in a meeting in Riyadh. The meeting discussed the latest developments and updates in both the regional...

US top diplomat Antony Blinken also said all the leaders on his tour, which took him to six countries before heading to Israel, had agreed to work with the US to help Gaza's recovery and long-term stability. He was speaking after meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a lavish...

In an attempt to lower recriminations in the relations between the two countries, President Joe Biden met Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November for talks that both sides described as a qualified success. Beijing and Washington have butted heads in recent years on flashpoint issues from technology...

"We have repeatedly expressed our views to the authorities of the countries of the region, including Iraq, and declared that the presence of American forces in any form whatsoever... would not help to maintain stability and peace," said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - The Federation of Saudi Chambers and the National Center for Marketing and Price Study at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus signed on Monday a memorandum of understanding to boost investment and trade between the two countries. The memo was signed at the federation's headquarters...

On his fourth regional trip since the war began, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia after talks in Abu Dhabi. Blinken "emphasized the importance of preventing further spread of the conflict", during talks with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a US...

Witnesses told AFP that two rockets were fired at the car -- one hit the front of the vehicle and the other hit Hamza who was sitting next to the driver. The Israeli army told AFP that it had "struck a terrorist who operated an aircraft that posed a threat...

The prime minister has presided over breakneck economic growth, but her government has been accused of a ruthless opposition crackdown. Her party faced almost no rivals in the seats it contested, but it avoided fielding candidates in a few constituencies to avoid the legislature being branded a one-party institution.

Tripoli, Libya -- Libya's state-owned energy firm said on Sunday it had declared a state of "force majeure" at Al-Sharara oilfield after production at the major facility was suspended due to protests. The National Oil Corporation (NOC) said in a statement it had taken legal action for the southwestern oilfield, which...

Jordan's king urged Blinken to push for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the humanitarian crisis brought by three months of war. King Abdullah, whose country signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, also reaffirmed the need for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian question.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported early Sunday that a major deployment of Israeli forces was under way in Jenin. Violence has intensified in the West Bank following an unprecedented attack on Israel launched from the Gaza Strip by Hamas on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of...

HALEU fuel is needed to power many of the next generation of advanced nuclear reactors, including so-called small modular versions that the UK intends to use. The first plant of the uranium fuel will be in northwest England and is scheduled to be operational by the 2030s, the government said.

The footage from the cemetery in Al-Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City showed bodies wrapped in bags and laid out on mounds of soil. Other bodies were strewn around smashed up graves, as a dozen men clad in masks worked with shovels to rebury them, the video showed.

The army spokesman told reporters that its forces dismantled "the Hamas military framework in the northern Gaza Strip" and that Palestinian fighters were now operating in the area only sporadically and "without commanders". He said the army is now concentrating on dismantling Hamas in the centre of the Gaza Strip.

Dubai, UAE - The Emirates is to put 84 people on trial for terror-related offenses, state media said on Saturday. The Gulf state's attorney general ordered the trial of "mostly members of the terrorist organization of (the) Muslim Brotherhood", official news agency WAM said. In 2013, the UAE tried 94 activists,...

The European Union foreign policy chief warned against a regional conflict that would involve Lebanon, as border clashes intensified nearly three months into Israel's war with Hizbollah ally Hamas. “It is absolutely necessary to avoid Lebanon being dragged into a regional conflict," Josep Borrell said during a press conference in...

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has called on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to use his current Middle East tour to end Israel's "aggression" as war rages in Gaza. The top US diplomat arrived in Turkey on Friday at the start of a trip that includes planned...

Beirut, Lebanon - Lebanon's Hizbollah fired on Saturday over 60 rockets at an Israeli military base, the group said, describing the barrage as a response to the killing of Hamas's deputy leader in Beirut. "As part of the initial response to the crime of assassinating the great leader Sheikh Saleh al-Aruri......

TEHRAN, IRAN - A bombing attack in southern Iran claimed by the Islamic State group has killed 91 people, state media said on Saturday, raising an earlier toll after two victims had succumbed to wounds. The two blasts in Kerman on Wednesday hit crowds at a memorial ceremony near the tomb...

The French leader posted a photograph of an airman standing on the cargo ramp of a military plane, with parachutes visible in the sky below. The supplies dropped by France and Jordan were equipped with systems that remotely guided them to a Jordanian field hospital operating in the territory, the...

Sudani, whose government relies on support from Tehran-aligned parties, has repeatedly said in recent weeks he would like to see foreign troops leave Iraq. But the latest remarks came amid soaring regional tensions, with the repercussions of the Israel-Hamas war, raging for nearly three months, increasingly felt in Iraq and...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned into one of the Muslim world's harshest critics of the scale of death and destruction happening in Gaza -- and of Washington's support for Israel. The US State Department on Friday announced $10 million rewards for information about five alleged Hamas foreign operatives...

Peace Now said in the report published on Thursday there had been an increase in the activities of some settlers who are "marginalizing" the Palestinians in the territory, noting a "record" number of new settlements since the outbreak of fighting. Acts of violence by settlers against Palestinians in the West...

DUBAI, UAE –  The Dubai Center for Family Businesses, which operates under the Dubai Chambers umbrella, has released a ‘Sample Article of Association for Family Businesses’ to outline effective management, governance procedures and corporate best practices. This will help promote growth and continuity among family businesses in Dubai. The Sample...

Annalena Baerbock will hold talks with Israel's new Foreign Minister Israel Katz, as well as President Isaac Herzog, foreign ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer told a regular press conference on Friday. She will also meet with Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas and foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki.

NEW YORK, US - Former US president Donald Trump's businesses received at least $7.8 million from foreign governments including China during his time in the White House, a congressional report claimed. Officials from Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey and Democratic Republic of Congo were among some 20 countries' representatives who paid money...

More than 80 percent of the displaced Lebanese are staying with relatives, according to the report, and only 2 percent housed in 14 collective shelters spread across the south of the country, mainly in the coastal city of Tyre and in the Hasbaya region. The rest have rented apartments or...

According to the navy, it "responded swiftly to a maritime incident in Arabian Sea involving a hijacking attempt" of a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier ship. The incident comes at a time when many vessels have been rerouted from the Red Sea, where Yemen's Houthi rebels have carried out drone and missile...

The commander of Sudanese paramilitary forces Mohamed Hamdan Daglo wrote on X, previously Twitter, that he had apprised South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in a meeting in Pretoria about "the root causes of the war and the factors contributing to its persistence." Daglo has also met regional leaders in Kenya,...

Battling aftershocks and roads littered with gaping holes and blocked by frequent landslides, thousands of rescuers from all over Japan are trying to reach hundreds of people in stranded communities in the Ishikawa region. Two elderly women were pulled from the rubble, but hopes of finding other survivors are fading...

Washington, United States - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna agreed to seek steps to avoid a wider Middle East war following strikes in Lebanon and Iran, the State Department said on Thursday. In a telephone call the day before, the two top diplomats "discussed...

Baghdad, Iraq - A "US strike" in Baghdad on Thursday killed a military commander of the Hashed al-Shaabi, the ex-paramilitary force said, with an Iraq security official reporting two deaths in a drone attack. "A drone targeted the logistical support headquarters of Hashed al-Shaabi," mainly pro-Iranian former paramilitary units integrated into...

Saudi Arabia and Qatar condemned comments by two Israeli ministers calling for Palestinians to emigrate from the Gaza Strip. Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Monday called for promoting "a solution to encourage the emigration of Gaza's residents" and the re-establishment of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip.

Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, who was sworn in as emir last month, named Sheikh Mohammed Sabah al-Salem Al-Sabah, a popular ex-foreign minister, as the new premier. He replaces Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf al-Ahmed al-Sabah, son of the late emir whose death has raised hopes of a political shift in the country.

Beirut, Lebanon - Four Hizbollah fighters were killed overnight in southern Lebanon, the Iran-backed movement announced on Thursday, in what Lebanese state media said were Israeli strikes on the border town of Naqura. The deaths, which according to a source close to the powerful group include a local Hizbollah leader, follow...

ACCRA, GHANA - A United Arab Emirates delegation led by Dr. Rashed Ali Al Kaabi, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Security and Military Affairs, participated in the United Nations’ Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting here. The ministerial meeting was the first to be held in Africa with previous sessions taking place...

The World Bank raised its target for climate-related projects from 35% of its annual financing to 45%. Given that the Bank's lending commitments in the most recent financial year were less than $130bn, the only way to get close to this target is by encouraging far greater private sector participation,...

Rafah, Palestinian Territories--Hunger is everywhere at Rafah zoo, in Gaza's far south, as internally displaced Palestinians seek shelter from the war between cages and animals die of starvation. "The situation is very tragic, there's no food, water, medicine, or anything," its owner Ahmed Jumaa said, a parrot perched on his shoulder....

The two explosions -- labelled a "terrorist attack" by state media and regional authorities -- came amid high Middle East tensions over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and the killing of a Hamas senior leader in Lebanon on Tuesday. The unclaimed attacks, which sparked fears of a widening conflict in...

Antony Blinken will leave Washington on Thursday evening on a trip that will include Israel, marking his fourth trip to the region and fifth to Israel since Hamas fighters carried out the deadliest-ever attack inside Israel on October 7. No details have been offered about which Arab country he will...