Author: Gulf News Week

International court has repeatedly decried US sanctions amid its ongoing investigation into Gaza war crimes.Washington, DC – The United States has issued a new round of sanctions against staff members at the International Criminal Court, citing a recent ruling blocking Israel’s effort to halt a Gaza war crimes investigation.Thursday’s sanctions target two judges: Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3ICC judge speaks out on impact of US sanctionslist 2 of 3‘We need to make it work’: Can international law deliver justice?list 3 of 3Sudan militia leader sentenced to 20 years…

Representatives from Israel and Lebanon, as well as US, French, UN officials to meet for second direct meeting on ceasefire.Beirut, Lebanon – A crucial meeting bringing together Israeli and Lebanese representatives, among others, is scheduled to take place on Friday, with the potential relaunch of an expanded Israeli war on Lebanon hanging over the gathering.The meeting in the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura is the second to include civilian representatives from Lebanon and Israel, after the first took place on December 3, amid Israeli attacks. The meetings are ostensibly to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah…

Natural gas agreement worth approximately $35bn comes amid frayed relations over Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.Egypt has said that Cairo’s natural gas deal with Israel is a “purely commercial” arrangement and that there are no “political dimensions” to the deal.On Thursday, Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS)  said the agreement was struck by private energy companies under market rules and without government involvement.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3The real reason Israel wants to open the Rafah crossinglist 2 of 3Israel kills seven people in Gaza, says Rafah crossing to partially reopenlist 3 of 3Egypt’s economy stabilises, but poverty…

Arrests made at protests supporting imprisoned Palestine Action hunger strikers, as Gaza death toll surpasses 70,000.Police in the United Kingdom have made their first arrests since announcing their intent to crack down on people making public calls to “globalise the Intifada” after Australia’s Bondi Beach attack, speciously linking largely peaceful protests against Israel’s genocidal war with a deadly targeting of a Jewish festival.London’s Metropolitan Police posted on X late on Wednesday that it had made four arrests at pro-Palestinian protests held outside the Ministry of Justice in Westminster, “all involving the alleged shouting or chanting of slogans involving calls for…

AFC have sanctioned India’s Mohun Bagan for refusing to visit Iran for their Asian Champions League match in September.Indian club Mohun Bagan Super Giant have been banned from Asian Football Confederation competitions and ordered to pay more than $100,000 for refusing to travel to Iran for an Asian Champions League Two clash with Sepahan SC in September, the Asian football body said in a statement.In a decision on Wednesday, the AFC’s disciplinary and ethics committee excluded Mohun Bagan from the next edition of the Asian competition they qualify for, up to the 2027-28 season.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1…

Blackouts hit Khartoum and Port Sudan as intensifying drone warfare cripples infrastructure and kills civilians.Major cities across Sudan, including the capital, Khartoum, and coastal city Port Sudan, have been plunged into darkness after drone strikes hit a key power plant in the country’s east.Flames and smoke rose from the facility in Atbara, River Nile state on Thursday, which is controlled by the government-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and under attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the ongoing civil war that has ripped the nation apart.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘New world disorder’: Sudan, Palestine…

The continued Israeli bombardment has drawn sharp criticism from the UN, which has recorded dozens of civilian deaths.Israeli warplanes have struck multiple areas across southern and eastern Lebanon, targeting sites in al-Jabour, al-Qatrani and al-Rayhan in the south, as well as Buday and Hermel in the Bekaa Valley, according to an media correspondent on the ground.The raids, which also hit Wadi Al-Qusayr near the town of Deir Siryan, mark the latest in a relentless pattern of strikes since a ceasefire took effect in late 2024.Israel claimed the operations targeted Hezbollah operatives and weapons facilities in what Hezbollah officials have said…

Eman Abu al-Khair mourns as cold claims her newborn’s life, exposing the harsh realities faced by displaced families.Khan Younis, Gaza Strip – With a pale face and unrelenting tears, Eman Abu al-Khair sits inside her tent, clutching a small bag of her infant’s clothes. Her newborn had died of hypothermia the day before.The devastated mother, 34-years-old, still cannot believe she lost her baby, Mohammed, alive for just 14 days. Amid the devastation left by Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, she simply wasn’t able to keep him warm enough.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Winter storms worsen Gaza humanitarian…

Sheikh Mohammed calls for urgent move to second phase as winter storms worsen humanitarian crisis in Gaza.Qatar’s prime minister has warned that daily Israeli breaches of the Gaza ceasefire are threatening the entire agreement, as he called for urgent progress towards the next phase of the deal to end Israel’s genocidal war on the besieged Palestinian enclave.Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani made the appeal following talks with United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Wednesday, where he stressed that “delays and ceasefire violations endanger the entire process and place mediators in a difficult position”.Recommended…

Residents of a Copenhagen estate challenge Denmark’s “ghetto” policy, arguing it illegally targets “non-Western” communities and forces displacement. COPENHAGEN — The European Court of Justice is set to rule Thursday on whether Denmark’s controversial “ghetto” redevelopment law constitutes unlawful discrimination against immigrant communities. The legislation requires social housing estates with a majority of “non-Western immigrants and their descendants” to renovate and convert at least 60% of units to market-rate rentals by 2030. Danish authorities say the policy aims to reduce segregation and dismantle “parallel societies” in high-crime neighborhoods. But residents of Copenhagen’s Mjolnerparken estate, who brought the case in 2020,…