Author: Gulf News Week
The draw for the fourth round of AFC qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup has been made in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.The draw for the fourth round of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup has revealed the fate of the final six teams from the continent vying for a place at next summer’s 48-team expanded edition. Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the back-to-back AFC Cup winners, had already secured home advantage for the next round of qualifiers before Thursday’s draw, which was made at AFC House, the headquarters of the football governing body on the…
Georges Ibrahim Abdallah’s prison release on July 25 is conditional: He must leave France and never return. A French court has ordered the release of pro-Palestinian Lebanese fighter Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who has been imprisoned for 40 years for his role in the killings of two foreign diplomats in France in the early 1980s. The Paris Appeals Court ordered on Thursday that Abdallah, 74, be freed from a prison in southern France on July 25 on the condition that he leave French territory and never return. The former head of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Brigade was sentenced to life imprisonment in…
In Gaza, summer no longer brings light – it brings thirst, hunger, and grief. The sun itself has been turned against us.This summer in Western Europe, there is constant talk of “unprecedented heatwaves”. According to the media, authorities are working hard to help people cope with and protect themselves from the adverse effects of sweltering temperatures. As someone in Gaza, it is hard not to be grimly amused by this panic. After all, as temperatures began to rise, my homeland – at least what remains of it – has been transformed into an open-air furnace. Now, in the middle of…
Ahmed al-Sharaa has vowed to hold those responsible for abuses against the Druze minority accountable.Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has said that protecting the country’s Druze citizens and their rights is a priority, as he announced that local leaders will take control of security in the city of Suwayda in a bid to end sectarian violence in the south and in the wake of deadly Israeli strikes in Damascus. The Syrian leader made the statements in a televised speech on Thursday, addressing days of fierce clashes between Druze armed groups, Bedouin tribes and government forces in the predominantly Druze city of…
US president has focused attention on the Gulf, visiting the region in first foreign policy trip of his second term.President Donald Trump has hosted Qatar’s prime minister for a private dinner and met with Bahrain’s crown prince at the White House as part of a United States effort to address regional issues, including securing a Gaza ceasefire, and promote diplomatic ties with the Gulf region. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, the Qatari prime minister and a member of the country’s ruling family, had a private dinner with Trump on Wednesday evening. Before this meal, Trump met with…
Musallet, a US citizen who ran an ice cream shop in Florida, was killed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.Sayfollah Musallet was a brother, a son and an ambitious young man who was just at the beginning of his life. That is the message his family has repeated since July 11, when the 20-year-old United States citizen was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the village of Sinjil in the occupied West Bank. That message, they hope, will prevent the Florida-born Sayfollah from becoming “just another number” in the growing list of Palestinian Americans whose killings never…
Plans first suggested by defence minister propose keeping 600,000 Palestinians in area and not allowing them to leave, except for abroad.Israel is ploughing ahead with a plan to build what critics have described as a “concentration camp” for Palestinians on the ruins of Rafah in southern Gaza, in the face of a growing backlash at home and abroad. The suggestion, first mooted by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz earlier this month, anticipates an area that could accommodate an initial group of some 600,000 already displaced Palestinians in Gaza, which would then be expanded to accommodate all of the enclave’s pre-war…
Syria begins withdrawing army from Suwayda, but Israel promises to continue to ‘operate vigorously’ in the Druze-majority city.Israel has carried out powerful air strikes near Syria’s presidential palace and on the military headquarters in the heart of Damascus, a major escalation in its bombardment of the neighbouring country. At least three people were killed and 34 others were wounded in the attacks on Damascus on Wednesday, Syrian state media reported, citing the Ministry of Health. While targeting Damascus, the Israeli military continued to pound areas in southern Syria, including Suwayda, where a new ceasefire deal has been struck after four…
Al-Jaleel NGO provides vital aid to disabled Palestinians but faces demolition under Israeli military plans in Jenin.The Al-Jaleel Society for Care and Community-based Rehabilitation has provided essential services to disabled Palestinians in Jenin refugee camp for decades. But now, after repeated Israeli attacks, the centre has been destroyed, and its staff have discovered that it sits in an Israeli-designated demolition zone. Al-Jaleel’s staff have received no official notice, but in early June, the Israeli army published an aerial map showing several buildings in the area that were set to be destroyed, including the rehabilitation centre. Zaid Am-Ali, senior advocacy officer…
Israel continues to bomb Syria, ostensibly in support of Druze forces in the southwest, even after ceasefire is declared.What started as a local conflict in southern Syria between local Druze and Bedouin communities over the weekend escalated on Wednesday into Israel bombing Syria’s Ministry of Defence and other targets in the capital Damascus. At least three people were killed in the Damascus attacks, the Syrian Ministry of Health said. Other Israeli air attacks on Wednesday hit the southwestern provinces of Suwayda and Deraa. Suwayda – where the majority of the population are members of the Druze religious group – had…