Author: Gulf News Week

Zeynep Sonmez wins in straight sets to enter the third round of a Grand Slam for the second time in six months.Amid deafening cheers and a sea of red flags, Turkiye’s Zeynep Sonmez has entered the third round of the Australian Open by defeating Anna Bondar in straight sets in the first tennis Grand Slam of the year.Playing at one of the smaller show courts at Melbourne Park, the world number 112 wrapped up the 6-2, 6-4 win in 90 minutes on Wednesday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Naomi Osaka’s outfit, entrance and win headline Australian Open day…

Due to severe weather conditions, schools were shut in the capital, Tunis, and the towns of Nabeul, Sousse and Beja.At least four people have been killed in Tunisia after the heaviest rainfall in the country for more than 70 years caused flooding.All four people were killed in Moknine in the Monastir governorate on Tuesday, according to Khalil Mechri, a civil defence spokesperson.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3The Arab Spring hasn’t ended, and Arab regimes know itlist 2 of 3Activists decry state of Tunisia’s democracy, 15 years after Arab Springlist 3 of 3Sixty years ago, the world tried…

The Arab Organisation for Human Rights UK (AOHR UK) calls for targeted financial and travel sanctions against the Israeli leader for committing genocide against Palestinians. An Arab human rights non-governmental organisation (NGO) has filed a request for United Kingdom sanctions to be lodged against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over “incitement to violence and genocide against Palestinians” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.British law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn filed the request on Tuesday with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on behalf of the Arab Organisation for Human Rights UK (AOHR UK), seeking targeted financial and travel sanctions against the…

B’Tselem’s latest report sounds alarm on abuse, dozens of deaths of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.At least 84 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons since October 2023 after being subjected to systematic abuse, including physical and psychological violence, inhuman conditions, deliberate starvation and denial of medical treatment, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem says.Israeli authorities were still holding 80 of their bodies and refusing to return them to their families, the organisation said in a report released on Tuesday, which listed the names of the 84 deceased prisoners, including one minor, and the facilities in which they died.Recommended Stories…

Syrian government’s control of energy reserves from Kurdish-led SDF has raised hopes of return to pre-war production levels.The Syrian government’s takeover of key oil and gas fields from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the country’s northeast has raised hopes for the revival of its dilapidated energy sector after years of war and international sanctions.Syrian officials announced on Sunday that the government forces had taken control of several oilfields, including al-Omar, Syria’s largest, and the Conoco gas complex in the country’s north and northeast.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Syria-SDF ceasefire hangs in balance after renewed clashes,…

The destruction comes as Israel clamps down on NGOs providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.Israel has begun bulldozing buildings inside the headquarters of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in occupied East Jerusalem, as the far-right government clamps down heavily on humanitarian groups that provide desperately needed aid to Palestinians in Gaza.UNRWA said in a statement on Tuesday that Israeli forces had confiscated staff devices and forced them out of their headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘Enormous pain in my heart’: Palestinian evictions mount in East Jerusalemlist 2 of…

Syria’s government, Kurdish-led forces trade blame on violence, escaped ISIL fighters as negotiations reach dead end.Tensions between the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been escalating, days after they announced a ceasefire, which is being severely tested by renewed fighting, involving the withdrawal of the latter’s forces from areas west of the Euphrates River.Talks in Damascus between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF leader Mazloum Abdi, also known as Mazloum Kobani, have faltered, and Abdi has returned to the northeast.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Will the Syrian army end up controlling Kurdish-held areas?list…

Authorities are confiscating assets of people backing protesters to pay for damages incurred during the unrest.Tehran, Iran – Iranian officials continue to promise harsh punishments for “rioters” arrested during recent nationwide protests as they trade barbs with United States President Donald Trump amid an ongoing digital blackout.“Our main work at the judiciary about the recent developments has just started,” judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei wrote in a post on X on Monday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Yemen faces worst food crisis since 2022, aid group warnslist 2 of 3Trump asks Putin to join Gaza ‘board of peace’ even…

As Washington hails next stage of truce, Gaza sees a stark disconnect between promises and the deadly reality.Gaza – When Steve Witkoff announced “phase two” of the ceasefire, it sounded like the update everyone has been desperate for here in Gaza. Something in the way he said it – phase two – really made it sound like things might finally be turning the corner.In less than 24 hours, another announcement followed. The White House named the members of a new “Board of Peace”, tasked with overseeing a technocratic committee that would manage the day-to-day governance of post-war Gaza. The committee…

Syrian army tells media Arabic it is now in complete control of city of al-Shaddadi in northeast Syria.The Syrian army has announced a curfew in the city of al-Shaddadi in the country’s northeast after the escape of ISIL (ISIS) fighters from the city’s prison amid clashes with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), according to the state news agency, SANA.The Syrian army told media Arabic on Monday that it was now in complete control of the city and the prison housing suspected ISIL detainees as its troops searched al-Shaddadi and its surrounding areas for the escaped fighters.Recommended Stories list of…