Author: Gulf News Week

Train derails as it travels to Cairo from the western Mediterranean province of Matrouh, on the country’s north coast.A passenger train has derailed in western Egypt, killing at least three people and injuring 94 others, authorities have said, in the latest in a number of rail crashes in the country in recent years.The train derailed on Saturday as it travelled to the capital Cairo from the western Mediterranean province of Matrouh, on the country’s north coast, railway authorities said in a statement.Seven of its wagons went off the tracks, with two of them overturning.The Health Ministry detailed deaths and injuries,…

An international effort bringing together volunteers from all over the world aims to break the siege on Gaza.Barcelona, Spain – Volunteers from across the world have come together in the main hall of one of Spain’s oldest labour unions, the UGT – once a registration centre for international volunteers who came to Spain to fight fascism during the Spanish Civil War.Now it has trained the nonviolent international volunteers – Palestine supporters, activists, journalists and politicians – who will sail on the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza on Sunday.“We are not heroes. We are not the story. The story is the people…

Prabowo Subianto says some parliament policies to be revoked as he also promises stern action against rioters and looters.Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto says political parties have agreed to revoke a number of perks and privileges for parliamentarians in a major concession to people taking part in antigovernment protests that have killed at least five people.Protests over what the demonstrators have criticised as excessive pay and housing allowances for parliamentarians started on Monday and expanded into riots on Thursday after one person, a motorcycle rideshare driver, was killed in a police action at a protest site.Rioters ransacked or set ablaze the…

More than 50 ships are heading to Gaza to challenge Israel’s illegal blockade and deliver urgent humanitarian aid.A global fleet of boats is preparing to set sail for Gaza as part of an international maritime initiative aimed at delivering humanitarian aid to starving people in Gaza.The first convoy, consisting of dozens of small civilian vessels carrying activists, humanitarians, doctors, seafarers, and humanitarian supplies, is scheduled to depart from Spanish ports on August 31, to meet up in Tunisia with a second wave on September 4.Organisers describe the Global Sumud Flotilla as the largest maritime mission to Gaza, bringing together more…

Sudan’s civil war saw a number of developments on the battlefield as well as in diplomacy and the humanitarian crisis.Sudan’s civil war between the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary has produced the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.Estimates suggested tens of thousands of people have died from combat and thousands more have perished from disease and hunger brought on by the war, now well into its third year.There have been many significant military and political developments this month. Here are the key updates:Fighting and military control The SAF is consolidating its control over the…

The newly discovered tombs are believed to date back to the Hellenistic or Hellenistic-Seleucid period.Archaeologists in drought-hit Iraq have discovered 40 ancient tombs after water levels in the country’s largest reservoir declined, according to an antiquities official.The tombs, believed to be more than 2,300 years old, were unearthed at the edges of the Mosul Dam reservoir in the Khanke region of Duhok province in the country’s north.“So far, we have discovered approximately 40 tombs,” Bekas Brefkany, the director of antiquities in Duhok and leader of the archaeological work at the site, said on Saturday.A worker at the archaeological site in…

Syrians continue to grapple with effects of mass enforced disappearances under removed longtime leader Bashar al-Assad.Syria is marking its first International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad, as the country grapples with lingering questions over the fate of the many thousands who disappeared during the country’s civil war.In a report released on Saturday to coincide with the annual commemoration, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said this year holds “particular significance” as it received a major increase in the number of cases since al-Assad was toppled in December.Desperate families flocked…

Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesperson calls on countries to exert pressure on Washington before next month’s UN annual meetings.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s office has urged the United States to reverse a decision to revoke the Palestinian leader’s visa, just weeks before he was set to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.The Palestinian presidency expressed “astonishment” at Washington’s decision on Friday to rescind the visas for Abbas and 80 other Palestinian officials before next month’s high-level meetings at UN headquarters.Abbas has addressed the General Assembly for many years and generally leads the Palestinian delegation.“We call upon the American administration…

Houthis say Ahmed al-Rahawi and a number of ministers were killed in Israel’s attack on Sanaa this week.Yemen’s Houthis have confirmed that an Israeli air strike earlier this week killed the prime minister of the group’s government in the capital, Sanaa.Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed in a Thursday strike in Sanaa along with a number of ministers, the Houthis said in a statement on Saturday.Al-Rahawi, who served as prime minister in areas of the divided country that the group controls, was targeted along with other members of the Houthi-led government during a workshop, the statement said.The Houthis said “several” other ministers were…

My special-needs daughter resisted the genocide with a dream.A few days ago, my 30-year-old daughter Yasmin, who has special needs, walked up to me in our little place at the school shelter. Her steps were gentle, but determined. And I could see her eyes glittering with joy. I listened intently as she was struggling to speak.“Dad…, I ate…chocolate!” she said triumphantly.My mind started to race, trying to work out what I had heard. Where did Yasmin get chocolate?For many years, Yasmin has lived in a world that has its own rhythm, its own language of affection and wonder. Unfortunately, when…