Author: Gulf News Week
Case seen as test of judicial independence amid crackdown on opposition members including 2028 presidential candidate.A Turkish court has thrown out a case against the country’s main opposition party that would have unseated its leader, Ozgur Ozel, on grounds that the charges had no substance.The case, which centred on allegations of vote buying and procedural irregularities at a 2023 congress held by the Republican People’s Party (CHP), was dismissed by the Ankara court on Friday, after the judge found it had “no basis”, according to news agency AFP.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Is Turkiye Israel’s next target…
Explosions were heard in the vicinity of Khartoum International Airport amid uncertainty over its reopening.The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have targeted Sudan’s capital Khartoum and its main airport with drones for a fourth consecutive day, as the government-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) attempts to resume air traffic after regaining control of the city several months ago.Drones and surface-to-air missiles were heard above the capital in the early hours of Friday morning, residents living close to the Khartoum International Airport told media, before loud explosions went off.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3RSF attack on hospital in Sudan’s…
Israeli forces kill child in Nablus, in the occupied territory, as settlers destroy property near Ramallah.A Palestinian child has died of wounds sustained during an Israeli military raid in the Askar camp in Nablus, in the latest violence against civilians in the occupied West Bank, as a fragile ceasefire in Gaza brings little respite to Palestinians in the destroyed enclave.Israeli forces on Friday also stormed the town of Aqaba, north of Tubas in the West Bank, and made a number of arrests earlier today in Hebron and Tal.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3In the occupied West Bank,…
Israeli forces carry out air attacks in southern and eastern Lebanon in violation of US-brokered ceasefire.At least four people have been killed in Israeli air strikes on eastern and southern Lebanon, according to the country’s Ministry of Health, the latest violation of the ceasefire agreement signed last November.An attack on Thursday targeted the mountainous areas in the east, killing two people, the ministry said. It later said two others were killed in a separate strike in Arabsalim in southern Lebanon. The official National News Agency (NNA) reported that an elderly woman was among those killed.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist…
The US and Israel have long been close allies, but is Washington now emphasising its dominance?A succession of high-ranking US officials have found themselves in Israel in recent days – first special envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner on Monday, then Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday.Their focus has been clear – to stop the US-backed Gaza ceasefire deal from collapsing. And that essentially means ensuring that the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not back out of the agreement, which ended two years of war earlier this…
US Vice President Vance decries ‘political stunt’, says Trump would not back annexation of occupied West Bank.US Vice President JD Vance said President Donald Trump would oppose Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank, and it would not happen, suggesting a move by Israeli lawmakers towards that end looked like a “stupid political stunt”.A bill applying Israeli law to the West Bank, a move tantamount to annexation of a territory that Palestinian leaders seek for part of a future independent state, won preliminary approval from Israeli lawmakers on Wednesday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3China faces ‘profound’ changes,…
Forty-one aid organizations accuse Israel of ‘arbitrarily’ rejecting aid shipments into famine-struck Gaza.The hunger crisis in Gaza remains “catastrophic” two weeks after the ceasefire took effect, the UN’s health agency has warned, as international aid groups demanded Israel stop blocking humanitarian deliveries.Supplies entering the besieged enclave are not meeting the nutritional needs of the people living there, aid groups announced Thursday, while the UN’s World Food Programme said that supplies into Gaza were still far short of its daily target of 2,000 tonnes because only two crossings into the Palestinian territory are open.“The situation still remains catastrophic because what’s entering…
FIFA confirms change of name to Afghan Women United, dropping ‘refugee’ from the team name ahead of the tournament.A FIFA-organised tournament involving the Afghanistan women’s refugee team has been moved from the United Arab Emirates to Morocco, the world football governing body said, with the four-team friendly competition set to begin on Sunday.The “FIFA Unites: Women’s Series” tournament, originally scheduled to run from October 23-29 in Dubai, also features the national women’s teams of the UAE, Chad and Libya.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4South Africa thump Pakistan by eight wickets to draw Test serieslist 2 of 4Why…
Khartoum International Airport briefly reopened on Wednesday before being hit again by drone strikes.The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have targeted Sudan’s capital Khartoum and its main airport with drones, a day after the first passenger flight in two years landed in the city amid the civil war.The government-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) intercepted the drones on Thursday, which caused no damage, a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press news agency. The RSF and SAF did not immediately acknowledge the attack.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3RSF drone strike kills dozens in…
Real peace demands Palestinian statehood, Ukrainian neutrality and the courage to defy the war lobby.United States President Donald Trump styles himself as a peacemaker. In his rhetoric, he claims credit for his efforts to end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. Yet beneath the grandstanding lies an absence of substance, at least to date.The problem is not Trump’s lack of effort, but his lack of proper concepts. Trump confuses “peace” with “ceasefires,” which sooner or later revert to war (typically sooner). In fact, American presidents from Lyndon Johnson onward have been subservient to the military-industrial complex, which profits from endless…