Author: Gulf News Week

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…

The reported attack on the Midvolga-2 comes days after Ukraine hit two other Russian-flagged ships in the Black Sea.A Russian-flagged tanker in the Black Sea has reported being attacked off the Turkish coast, the third such vessel to have been targeted within a week.The Turkish Directorate General of Maritime Affairs said on Tuesday that the Midvolga-2 had reported coming under attack about 130km (80 miles) from land.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Trump’s Russian oil waiver gives Orban a win at Hungary’s expenselist 2 of 4Russia’s ‘shadow vessels’ using false flags to skirt sanctions, report sayslist 3 of…

The fall of the city, a gateway to western Sudan’s Darfur region, over which the RSF recently seized control, could have huge effect on the war.The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has refuted a claim by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that it has seized control of the West Kordofan town of Babnusa.Sudan’s military government said in a statement issued on Tuesday that it had repelled an attack by the RSF. The paramilitary outfit had claimed the previous day to have taken full control of Babnusa, a key city in the vast central Sudanese region of West Kordofan.Recommended Stories list…

Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri allegedly committed serious crimes at Libya’s Mitiga Prison from 2015 to 2020, The Hague-based ICC says.The International Criminal Court (ICC) says it has taken Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri, who is wanted for allegedly committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in Libya between 2015 and 2020, into custody.El Hishri was “surrendered to the custody” of the court in The Hague, the Netherlands, on Monday, by authorities in Germany, where he was arrested on July 16 this year.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy released from prison pending appeallist…

Martyrs’ Square became the symbolic backdrop for interfaith solidarity amid the country’s political paralysis.Pope Leo has called for “coexistence” during the second day of his visit to Lebanon, gathering clerics from across the religious spectrum on both sides of a former civil war dividing line, and appealing for unity in a region fractured by violence.Standing in Martyrs’ Square on Monday, a site that once marked the “green line” dividing Muslim west and Christian east Beirut during the 1975–90 civil war, Leo said Lebanon showed that “fear, distrust and prejudice do not have the final word”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist…

When peacemaking ignores truth, it risks turning war crimes into opinion and genocide into a story with two sides.In her latest book titled Girlhood at War, political science scholar Vjosa Musliu tells the story of the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo, through the eyes of her 12-year-old self. Musliu explains how following the end of the war, international organisations were quick to offer workshops on reconciliation and peacebuilding for Serbs and Albanians who lived in Kosovo.In the final chapter, “Little Red Riding Hood”, she describes one such session she attended as a teenager in 2002. Led by facilitators from Belgium and…

US President Trump warns against actions that could ‘interfere with Syria’s evolution’ amid new Israeli incursions and strikes.United States President Donald Trump has called on Israel to maintain “strong and true” dialogue with Syria, adding it is very important “that nothing takes place that will interfere with Syria’s evolution into a prosperous state”.The statement on Truth Social on Monday came days after Israel launched its latest incursion and strikes on Syria, killing 13 people in the countryside outside of Damascus in what the fledgling government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa decried as a “war crime”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1…

Samar and Abdulrahman had everything ready for their new baby. But rains have ruined their plans as they try to survive in Gaza.Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip – The first heavy rain of the winter season arrived not as a blessing, but as a new catastrophe for Samar al-Salmi and her family.Early in the morning, torrents of water crashed through their worn-out tent in a displacement camp, jolting them awake as the ground beneath them turned into a muddy pool.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3What does Netanyahu want to be pardoned for and is it possible?list 2 of…

Rift between leaders was laid bare at inaugural conference for party cofounded by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.The United Kingdom’s new left-wing political party, Your Party, cofounded by former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, has become mired in a bitter divide between its leaders.On Saturday, Your Party cofounder Zarah Sultana said she would skip the first day of the newly formed group’s inaugural two-day conference following a serious disagreement over who could attend.What is Your Party?After the UK’s last general election in 2024, which the Labour Party won in a landslide following 14 years of Conservative Party rule, Corbyn and…

The Israeli prime minister is facing corruption charges that could see him sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday asked President Isaac Herzog to pardon him for bribery and fraud charges to end his five-year corruption trial.Netanyahu is facing three separate corruption cases filed in 2019: Case 1000, Case 2000, and Case 4000, which involve allegations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.Here is what we know:What is Netanyahu’s argument?Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing and claims the corruption trial is a “deep state” conspiracy, a politically orchestrated “witch-hunt” by rivals and the media.He has also…