Author: Gulf News Week

Iranian state media describe the confrontation as ‘tense’, while US military says the encounter was ‘professional’.Iran has said it warned a United States Navy destroyer to change course as it approached Iranian territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman, but the US has claimed the confrontation was “professional” and had “no impact” on its naval mission. Iranian state media published video and images of Wednesday’s incident – the first direct encounter reported between Iranian and US forces since the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June – taken from a helicopter dispatched to confront the USS Fitzgerald guided missile…

Local media report that 24 firefighters and rescuers were trapped by the wildfire, and that victims were ‘burned alive’.At least 10 firefighters and rescue workers were killed and 14 others injured while battling a wildfire in Turkiye’s northwestern Eskisehir province, authorities said, as several fires rage in central and western areas of the country where temperatures are soaring. Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ibrahim Yumakli said on Wednesday that five forestry workers and five rescuers trying to tackle the blaze were killed when 24 firefighters became trapped in the wildfire earlier in the day. Winds whipped up by the…

Aid groups warn of ‘mass starvation’ in Gaza amid a blockade, while Israeli attacks kill dozens of others across the enclave.At least 10 more Palestinians have starved to death in the besieged Gaza Strip, health officials say, as a wave of hunger crashes over the enclave. The latest starvation deaths bring the death toll from malnutrition since Israel’s war began in October 2023 to 111, most of them in recent weeks. At least 100 other Palestinians, including 34 aid seekers, were killed in Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Wednesday. The World Health…

Knesset lawmakers vote 71-13 in favour of annexation, raising questions about the future of a Palestinian state.Israel’s parliament has approved a symbolic measure calling for the annexation of the occupied West Bank. Knesset lawmakers voted 71-13 in favour of the motion on Wednesday, a non-binding vote which calls for “applying Israeli sovereignty to Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley” – the Israeli terms for the area. It said that annexing the West Bank “will strengthen the state of Israel, its security and prevent any questioning of the fundamental right of the Jewish people to peace and security in their homeland”.…

Both the army-backed government and RSF-backed alliance are increasingly rewarding loyal armed groups on the ground.In June, the Sudanese Armed Forces appointed Prime Minister Kamil Idris to lead the civilian cabinet in Port Sudan, the wartime capital on the Red Sea coast. Idris wanted an overhaul, to appoint a team of technocrats to run the new government. But Gebreil Ibrahim and Mini Arko Minawi – leaders of two powerful armed groups from Darfur  – refused to leave their posts, and army leader Abdelfattah al-Burhan overruled Idris to keep them there. “Burhan’s concession to Ibrahim and Minawi allows them to keep…

In his latest column for the NYT, Bret Stephens tries to excuse a uniquely horrific crime with uniquely horrific journalism.The Israelis certainly owe Bret Stephens a favour. Yesterday, The New York Times opinion columnist took to the pages of the United States newspaper of record to promote his latest deranged argument, headlined: “No, Israel Is Not Committing Genocide in Gaza”. Never mind that numerous global institutions, ranging from various United Nations bodies to Amnesty International, have determined that Israel is committing just that. These are organisations that hardly throw the G-word around lightly, but Stephens knows better. And he will…

As Europe fortifies its borders, growing numbers of North Africans are moving southwards into other African countries.Cairo, Egypt – When Ahmed Ginah first left his village in Egypt’s northern delta for the Tanzanian capital in 2017, it was with little more than a dream. Four years later, he named his company after that dream. “When I first came to Tanzania at 28, no one imagined why I would head south,” Ginah, who is lightheartedly called the “Mayor of Egyptians in Dar-es-Salaam”, told media, saying that in the minds of many of his friends and family back home, countries in sub-Saharan…

In an interview with media, Iran’s president insists Tehran’s uranium enrichment programme will continue.Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has said his country is prepared for any war Israel might wage against it, adding he was not optimistic about the ceasefire between the countries, while confirming Tehran is committed to continuing its nuclear programme for peaceful purposes. Pezeshkian made the comments in an exclusive interview with media aired on Wednesday, one of his first since the end of the 12-day conflict with Israel last month, in which the United States intervened on Israel’s behalf, launching strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The comments…

Media network urges action to end forced starvation that threatens Gaza’s entire population, including those risking their lives to shed light on Israel’s atrocities.media Media Network has urgently called upon the journalistic community, press freedom organisations, and relevant legal bodies to take decisive action to halt the forced starvation and crimes against journalists and media professionals in Gaza. For more than 21 months, the Israeli bombardment and the systematic starvation of the nearly two million people of Gaza have pushed an entire population to the brink of survival. The journalists on the ground, who have courageously reported on this ongoing…

Paris-based news agency says freelance contributors facing ‘appalling’ situation in the war-ravaged enclave.French news agency Agence France-Presse has urged Israel to facilitate the immediate evacuation of its freelance journalists from Gaza, warning that they face an “appalling” and “untenable” situation in the war-ravaged enclave. AFP, one of the world’s largest news services, made the appeal on Tuesday after an association of its journalists warned that their colleagues in Gaza were facing starvation. “For months, we have watched helplessly as their living conditions deteriorated dramatically,” the Paris-based agency said in a statement. “Their situation is now untenable, despite their exemplary courage,…