Turkey has hardened its attitude toward both Israel and its Western supporters, particularly the US, as the relentless Israeli attacks on the besieged enclave of Gaza sent the death toll among Palestinians shockingly up. Turkey's decision came on the eve of what promises to be a difficult visit to Turkey...

According to a statement posted by Hamas on Telegram, Israel "directly" bombed citizens' home, saying that most of the dead were women and children. Gaza's health ministry said that "more than 30 (dead) arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the massacre committed by the occupation in Al-Maghazi...

Dubai, UAE - Middle East powers should maintain their push to de-escalate the region through trade and economic ties despite the Israel-Hamas war, a senior United Arab Emirates official said on Saturday. The sudden flare-up in Gaza, after a deadly attack by Hamas, follows a period of fence-mending in the region including...

Berlin, Germany - Thousands took to the streets of Berlin on Saturday in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza amid ongoing bombardments by Israel after the deadly Hamas attack on its territory on October 7. "We estimate the number of demonstrators at around 3,500, but more are arriving," a police spokeswoman told...

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said at least 15 people were killed when a UN school sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinians was hit by an Israeli strike. "The massacre at the Al-Fakhura school committed by the occupation (Israel) left 15 martyrs and 70 wounded," ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told...

Erdogan said that Turkey was not breaking off diplomatic relations with Israel. "Completely severing ties is not possible, especially in international diplomacy," Erdogan said. He said MIT intelligence agency chief Ibrahim Kalin was spearheading Turkey's efforts to try and mediate an end to the war.

DOHA, QATAR - Qatar has agreed to supply Sinopec with natural gas for 27 years, the Gulf emirate's state-owned energy company said on Saturday, its second such deal with the Chinese firm.   Doha will supply three million tonnes of gas a year under the deal, QatarEnergy said, announcing another agreement granting...

Jerusalem - The Israeli military said on Saturday it had struck "two cells" and a Hizbollah post in response to attempted firing from Lebanon as cross-border shelling continued while Israel fights Hamas in Gaza. The latest skirmishes came a day after Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned that the war between...

The UN human rights chief said that he was absolutely "disgusted" by the "sharp rise in hatred globally" since the war between Hamas and Israel began on October 7. Volker Turk strongly deplored the surge in cases of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other hate-speech, both online and offline.

Dubai, UAE-- A day after Bahrain's parliament announced that its ambassador to Israel is being recalled, the Jewish state said it had not been informed about such a move, adding that relations with the Gulf state were “stable”. According to Israel's Foreign Ministry, the country has not received any “announcement...

After discussing with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu the idea of "humanitarian pauses" to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas and to allow aid into Gaza, he arrived in Amman where he will also join a meeting of foreign ministers of five Arab countries to be attended by a...

Astana, Kazakhstan - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, saying "crimes against humanity" were being committed in Gaza. Erdogan has strongly supported the Palestinians in the face of Israel's war with Hamas, attending pro-Palestinian rallies and positioning himself as a mediator...

Gaza health ministry says 9,227 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children, have been killed in relentless Israeli bombardment and ground assaults. On Friday, Hamas said an Israeli strike hit a convoy of ambulances transporting the wounded from Gaza city towards Rafah in the south.

NEW YORK, US  - Hamas is ready for a "complete compromise" deal on the issue of swapping hostages with Israel, Ghazi Hamad, a senior member of the Palestinian group's political bureau, said in an interview with NBC News. “We want these people to go home,” Hamad said. “And, also, we...

AFP is the only one of the world's three major international news agencies currently operating a live video feed from Gaza City, which has not been interrupted despite the damage. The unmanned AFP camera broadcasting live 24/7 captured the moment of the strike, a few minutes before midday on Thursday.

DUBAI, UAE –The Dubai Customs apprehended a traveler arriving from a European country who was trying to smuggle various small drugs that were cleverly concealed within his luggage. The items included 292 hallucinogenic pills, five hallucinogenic stamps, 13.84 grams of hallucinogenic powder, 7.38 grams of crack cocaine and 274.59 grams...

Beirut, Lebanon - Lebanon's army on Thursday retrieved the bodies of two shepherds killed by Israeli fire, official media said, raising to 66 the number killed in Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas war began, according to an AFP tally. Lebanon's southern border has seen tit-for-tat exchanges, mainly between Israel and Hamas ally...

Baghdad, Iraq - An international summit in Baghdad on "regional stability" planned for late November has been postponed due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, an Iraqi official told AFP on Thursday. The third edition of the Baghdad conference "for economic integration and regional stability", co-organised by France, "is postponed until further...

Tunis, Tunisia - Tunisia's parliament on Thursday began debating a bill that would criminalize any normalization of ties with Israel as fighting rages between Israeli forces and Gaza's Hamas rulers. The draft bill defines "normalization" as "recognition of the Zionist entity or the establishment of direct or indirect ties" with it,...

DUBAI, UAE - Bahrain has recalled its Ambassador from Israel and decided to suspend economic relations with Tel Aviv in a show of support for the Palestinian people. Bahrain’s move comes amid Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip, the Council of Representatives which is the lower house of parliament of...

During parliamentary hearings, State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the move to revoke the treaty was a response to the United States' "cynicism" and "boorish attitudes" on nuclear weapons.

"Russia is dependent on willing third-country individuals and entities to resupply its military and perpetuate its heinous war against Ukraine and we will not hesitate in holding them accountable," said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a statement. The Treasury added on Thursday that Russia has been exploiting "otherwise legitimate economic...

London, United Kingdom – UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday hosts political and tech leaders at the inaugural global AI safety summit, predicting the technology will radically alter society for generations to come. The release of ChatGPT and other generative AI systems, which are capable of quickly producing text,...

For the first time after weeks of deadly fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants since the Hamas attacks of October 7, the Rafah border crossing opened on Wednesday to let people out of Gaza. In a meeting with foreign diplomats, assistant foreign minister Ismail Khairat said Egypt was preparing "to...

The Hamas government in Gaza said that 195 people had been killed in Israeli strikes this week on Jabalia refugee camp. Meanwhile hundreds more wounded and foreign passport holders hoped to escape the war-torn Gaza Strip as Israeli forces bombed and fought intense ground battles with Hamas.

Washington, United States - Saudi Minister of Defense, Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz met the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing war in Gaza which has so far killed around 9000 Palestinians and...

Panama City, Panama - The operator of the Panama Canal, the passageway for cargo ships between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, said Tuesday that it would gradually limit the number of daily crossings due to drought. Traffic will be reduced to 25 ships a day from Friday, down from 29, and...

The bombing campaign by Israel in Gaza has killed more than 8,500 people, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

"This is just the latest atrocity to befall the people of Gaza where the fighting has entered an even more terrifying phase, with increasingly dreadful humanitarian consequences," UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said.

The border opening with Egypt provided the first glimmer of hope in the flaring humanitarian crisis in Gaza which the UN and other aid agencies have described as "unprecedented". Israel has pounded Gaza for more than three weeks in retribution for the worst attack in the country's history, when Hamas...

Jerusalem--Nine Israeli soldiers were killed during combat operations in Gaza on Tuesday, the military said, bringing the total number of troops killed since October 7 to 326. Two soldiers were also seriously wounded in fighting in the Palestinian territory on Tuesday, according to the military, which has been waging a...

London, UK-- Bahrain and the UK have discussed way to boost bilateral cooperation in trade, investment and economic fields between the two countries. The discussions were held between Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Bahrain's Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Lord Tariq Ahmad, Minister of State for the Middle East,...

The South American nation also announced it was sending humanitarian aid to Gaza. The leaders of both Colombia and Chile also spoke out Tuesday against the Israeli offensive on Hamas, which the Hamas-controlled health ministry says has now killed more than 8,500 Palestinians -- two-thirds of them women and children.

Tunis, Tunisia - The leader of Tunisian opposition party Ennahdha, Rached Ghannouchi, 82, had his jail sentence on terrorism-related charges raised to 15 months on appeal, his party said in a statement on Tuesday. An earlier ruling in May had sentenced Ghannouchi to 12 months in jail with the same fine...

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK - Nordic migration and justice ministers on Tuesday announced a deal to strengthen efforts for migrants to return to their countries of origin, and to deport illegal residents to third countries. Denmark has spearheaded harder lines on migrants in the Nordics and stepped up initiatives to discourage immigration and...

His wearing of the badge, which has come to symbolize the oppression of Jews since its imposition in Nazi-occupied Europe, was swiftly criticized by Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, which urged him to wear the Israeli flag instead.

As relentless bombardment of Gaza continues, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the Palestinian Authority should retake control of the Gaza Strip from Hamas, with international players potentially filling a role in an interim.

ABU DHABI, UAE - Trade between the two countries is on an upswing with volumes this year expected to surpass that of last year, Radha Krishna Panday, Ambassador of Canada to the UAE, told the Emirates News Agency (WAM). He said that the UAE has created a value-added platform that...

SHENYANG, CHINA – Investments in the country’s northeast have grown over the past years as several multinational corporations put in more money or enhanced investments in the area. One such investment is in the mega Saudi-Chinese petrochemical project in Panjin City, Liaoning Province, by Aramco and joint venture partners NORINCO...

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said Monday his government was working hard to get Thai citizens home. About 30,000 Thais were working in Israel, many in the agricultural sector, when the conflict erupted. At least 32 Thais have been killed in the conflict and 19 wounded.

Israeli prime minister said ceasefire would amount to surrendering to the Gaza Strip's rulers Hamas and said that the international community must demand the captives "be freed immediately, unconditionally". Netanyahu also told a press conference that other countries must give more help in the struggle to free more than 230...

Moscow, Russia - Russia on Monday blamed "external interference" for an anti-Israel riot that closed an airport in the Muslim-majority region of Dagestan the previous day. "Yesterday's events at Makhachkala airport are, to a large extent, the result of external interference," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Russian police on Monday...

United Nations - The United Nations on Monday warned that Syria was at its "most dangerous" point in a long time as violence surges and as "spillover" from the Israel-Hamas war starts to have an impact. Syria has "seen growing instability and violence, exacerbated by the lack of a meaningful...

India's navy chief, Admiral R. Hari Kumar, told reporters on Monday that "every effort" was being made by the government to "get relief for our personnel".

"Dozens" of tanks entered the Zaytun district for over an hour, witnesses told AFP, saying they were "firing at any vehicle" driving along the main Salahedin Road. Warplanes also bombed the road, leaving large craters in it. More than 8,300 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombardments since Oct 7.

Dubai, UAE--A top Hamas official called on Egypt Sunday to take "decisive" action to expedite aid to Gaza amid criticism over the pace of vital supplies reaching the war-torn Palestinian territory. "Egypt should not remain a spectator," Hamas politburo member Musa Abu Marzouk said in a statement. "We expect a...

A string of attacks have been carried out against US forces in Iraq and Syria as well as increasing exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the Lebanon border since the Gaza conflict began. Late Sunday, the Israeli military said it was striking "Hezbollah terrorist targets in Lebanon".

Taybeh, Palestinian Territories -- Within an hour, the Bedouin village of Wadi al-Seeq in the occupied West Bank had been completely emptied, its 200 residents fleeing on foot with their sheep and goats. On October 12, five days after the start of the war between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers, residents...

Paris, France -- Facing record-shattering temperatures and a geopolitical tinderbox, countries are scrambling to lay the groundwork for crucial UN climate talks next month tasked with salvaging global warming goals laid out in the landmark Paris deal. Ministers meet next week in the United Arab Emirates to grapple with flashpoint issues,...

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday said Israel's ongoing bombardment of Gaza "may force everyone" to act in the latest warning issued by the Islamic republic since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Israel has been pounding the tiny Palestinian territory since Hamas fighters stormed across the border...