Author: Gulf News Week
Tourism Development Fund’s major agreements at TOURISE 2025 also include a sustainable Riyadh hotel and a heritage-focused Jeddah partnership, advancing the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. RIYADH – In a significant move to expand its sustainable tourism offerings, the Saudi Tourism Development Fund (TDF) sealed deals worth more than SR700 million ($186.6 million) during the TOURISE 2025 forum. The signings highlight a strategic drive to create destinations that merge luxury with ecological and social responsibility, directly supporting the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 economic diversification agenda. The centerpiece of the announcements is the Basqat Mantis project in the AlUyaynah area. Slated to be the largest resort under…
The US mission to the UN warned Palestinians could suffer “grave consequences” if the body did not back its plan soon.The United States has called on the United Nations Security Council to officially back its draft resolution aimed at bolstering President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, warning that Palestinians could suffer “grave consequences” if it does not.The call came as Russia presented the council with its own “counter-proposal” on Gaza, challenging Washington’s draft, according to a copy seen by the Reuters news agency.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Trump formally asks Israel’s president to pardon Netanyahu after Gaza…
Chartered plane carrying group of Palestinian passengers was second to land in South Africa in recent weeks.South Africa has allowed more than 150 Palestinian airline passengers to disembark, after they were kept on a plane for almost 12 hours by the country’s border police, authorities said.South Africa’s Ministry of Home Affairs authorised the passengers to get off the plane on Thursday night after a local humanitarian organisation guaranteed to provide the passengers with accommodation during their stay in South Africa if needed.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Will Gaza ceasefire change South Africa’s ICJ genocide case against Israel?list…
Victor Osimhen’s brace against Gabon puts Nigeria through to CAF World Cup playoff final on Sunday against DR Congo.Star forward Victor Osimhen scored twice in extra time to clinch a 4-1 semifinal victory for Nigeria over Gabon on Thursday and set up a Confederation of African Football (CAF) 2026 World Cup qualifying final against the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).Captain Chancel Mbemba was the Congolese hero in the second semifinal, scoring in the first minute of added time to beat eight-time World Cup qualifiers Cameroon 1-0 in torrential rain in Rabat.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Ronaldo…
Calls for justice grow as Israeli settlers set Hajja Hamida Mosque ablaze in latest attack on Palestinians in West Bank.An Israeli settler arson attack on a mosque in the occupied West Bank has drawn international condemnation, as a wave of intensified violence against Palestinians continues unabated across the area.Israeli settlers set fire to the Hajja Hamida Mosque in the Palestinian village of Deir Istiya, near Salfit in the north of the West Bank, around dawn on Thursday, local residents told media.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Israeli forces kill three in Gaza as settlers attack in occupied West…
The Africa CDC said it had recorded about 300,000 confirmed and suspected cases of cholera so far in 2025, a rise over last year.Africa is experiencing its worst outbreak of cholera in the past 25 years, with Angola and Burundi seeing renewed surges that suggest active transmission of the disease, according to African medical officials.On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a public health agency for the African Union, said it had recorded about 300,000 confirmed and suspected cases of cholera so far in 2025. In addition, it had logged more than 7,000 deaths.Recommended Stories list…
Raghad al-Assar, 12, continues to suffer trauma after her home in central Gaza was bombed, killing two of her sisters.Twelve-year-old Raghad al-Assar lay unconscious in a Gaza mortuary for eight hours after she was declared dead following an Israeli attack on her home in central Gaza last year.“We were sitting in our home like everyone else when suddenly bullets, planes and drones came down on us,” she told media.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Gaza’s ‘lost generation’ lose childhood to family care roleslist 2 of 3Trump formally asks Israel’s president to pardon Netanyahu after Gaza trucelist 3 of…
The US president is pushing a UN resolution that would revive the mandate structure of 100 years ago almost entirely, simply replacing the UK with the US as the authority in control.The Trump administration is pushing an Israeli-crafted resolution at the UN Security Council (UNSC) this week aimed at eliminating the possibility of a State of Palestine. The resolution does three things. It establishes US political control over the Gaza Strip. It separates Gaza from the rest of Palestine. And it allows the US, and therefore Israel, to determine the timeline for Israel’s supposed withdrawal from Gaza, which would mean…
Sudan’s people are enduring the world’s largest displacement crisis. They need more than emergency relief – they need peace and lasting recovery.This week in al-Afad camp in Sudan, where hundreds of families have arrived after fleeing the fall of el-Fasher, I sat with a mother who had travelled thousands of kilometres with her five-year-old daughter and elderly mother. Her little girl had undergone brain surgery in a military hospital before they were displaced. Now she sits quietly beside her mother – docile, detached, no longer playing as children should. The mother spoke of being beaten, of bodies left along the…
Conditions at Syrian al-Hol and al-Roj camps are “inhuman, dangerous, and degrading”, independent report says, urging UK to comply with international obligations.The United Kingdom government should voluntarily facilitate the return of former repentant ISIL (ISIS) member Shamima Begum and others living in Syrian camps and deprived of British nationality, a new report has urged.The Independent Commission on UK Counter-Terrorism Law, Policy and Practice said the current stance of the government towards nationals and former nationals detained in Syrian camps was “increasingly untenable” as they were living under “inhuman” conditions.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Australia repatriates 17 women…