Author: Gulf News Week
Israeli PM’s office said talks are an initial bid ‘to establish a basis for a relationship and economic cooperation’.Israel and Lebanon are set to conduct their first direct diplomatic talks in decades as they dispatched civilian envoys to a body that monitors their rocky 2024 truce.Lebanon, which does not recognise Israel, announced on Wednesday that its delegation for the talks will for the first time be led by a civilian. Israel also said it is sending a diplomat as part of a delegation.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3What’s happening in Lebanon, a year into the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire?list…
Cricket icon joins as Education Ambassador and advisor for Queen Elizabeth’s School launch in Dubai Sports City. DUBAI – Legendary England cricketer Sir Alastair Cook has partnered with Queen Elizabeth’s School to support the launch of its first international campus in Dubai, where he will help develop an elite sports programme aimed at nurturing student-athletes. Cook, who captained England and remains one of Test cricket’s most celebrated opening batters, attended the school’s launch event in Dubai Sports City on Thursday in his capacity as Education Ambassador. Beyond ambassadorial duties, he will take an active advisory role in designing high-performance sports…
Remains believed to be an Israeli hostage found in northern Gaza; sample will be transferred via the Red Cross, say militant officials. GAZA CITY – Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad announced on Wednesday that they will send a forensic sample to Israel from a body recovered in the Gaza Strip, which they suspect may be that of an Israeli hostage. According to officials from both factions who spoke to AFP, their joint military teams discovered the remains under the rubble in the Beit Lahia area of northern Gaza. A Hamas representative stated that a sample would be transferred…
NGO documents accounts of atrocities during paramilitary force’s April assault on the North Darfur facility.Rights group Amnesty International has called for a war crimes investigation into an assault by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a displaced persons camp in Sudan’s North Darfur state earlier this year.A report issued by the NGO on Wednesday documents accounts of atrocities committed by the RSF during a large-scale attack on the Zamzam camp. The RSF has been accused of indiscriminate killing and mass rape, among other crimes, numerous times amid its conflict with the military government of Sudan that has been running…
Tunisia opposition says charges are fabricated, as police enforce a five-year prison sentence.Police in Tunisia have arrested prominent opposition figure Ayachi Hammami at his home to enforce a five-year prison sentence after an appeals court upheld convictions against dozens of the administration’s political opponents on charges of conspiracy against state security.The court last week confirmed jail terms ranging from four to 45 years for opposition leaders, business figures and lawyers accused of plotting to overthrow President Kais Saied, who has conducted a crackdown on opposition figures for years.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Hong Kong residents demand answers…
An Israeli drone strike in Khan Younis, Gaza also killed photojournalist Mahmoud Wadi.Israeli forces have killed two Palestinian teenagers in separate incidents in Hebron and Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.The Israeli army said 17-year-old Muhannad al-Zughair was shot dead in the Abu Daajan area of Hebron after what it claimed was a ramming attack that injured two soldiers.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Sudan’s paramilitary RSF claims control of key city of Babnusalist 2 of 4Trump’s boat bombings: How the US has long used ‘double-tap’ strikeslist 3 of 4Was ex-Honduras leader Hernandez victim of Biden ‘set-up’, as…
US is pushing for a non-aggression pact between Israel, Syria, but Netanyahu has shown little appetite for compromise.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said an agreement with Syria is achievable, outlining expectations that Syrian authorities establish a demilitarised buffer zone stretching from Damascus to Jabal al-Sheikh, which Israel currently occupies.Netanyahu’s comments on Tuesday came a day after US President Donald Trump said he wanted both Syria and Israel to “have a long and prosperous relationship together”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4AI threatens to widen inequality among states: UNlist 2 of 4Sudan’s paramilitary RSF claims control of key…
Analysts and a human rights group say Israel’s genocide in Gaza has not stopped, despite the ceasefire.On October 10, 2025, a ceasefire was supposed to have put an end to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.But two months on, Israel has violated the ceasefire more than 500 times, killing at least 356 Palestinians, and sending the total death toll in Gaza above 70,000.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3The illusion of Western peacemakinglist 2 of 3Photos: Pope prays at site of 2020 Beirut port explosionlist 3 of 3Is entertainment making us better, or quietly reshaping us for the worse?end…
A look at corruption cases involving Israeli prime ministers.Benjamin Netanyahu is the first sitting prime minister in Israel to stand trial after being accused of corruption, but he is hardly the only one to have been mired in such scandals.Nearly all Israeli prime ministers since 1996, including Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon, and Ehud Olmert, alongside Netanyahu, have been investigated on charges of corruption, as have several other cabinet ministers, Knesset members, and mayors.Here is an overview of the major corruption scandals in Israel over the past two decades.Benjamin NetanyahuThe sitting prime minister of Israel was indicted in three cases –…
Capping off symbolic three-day visit, the Pontiff urged Lebanese unity and the pursuit of peace and justice.Pope Leo XIV has offered prayers at the site of the 2020 Beirut port blast, one of the final stops in his three-day visit to Lebanon.The Catholic leader prayed silently and lit a lamp on Tuesday morning at a monument to the more than 220 people that were killed and 6,500 injured in the explosion. The United States-born pontiff has urged peaceful coexistence across the Middle East during his inaugural trip abroad.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Pope Leo visits Blue Mosque in…