Author: Gulf News Week

Indonesia face Saudi Arabia, who are cohosting the final AFC qualifiers for football’s 2026 FIFA World Cup with Qatar.Who: Indonesia vs Saudi Arabia What: FIFA World Cup AFC qualifiers Where: Alinma Bank Stadium at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia When: Wednesday, October 8, at 8:15pm (17:15 GMT) How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on media Sport from 5:15pm (14:15 GMT) advance of our live text commentary stream.Indonesia face Saudi Arabia as the fourth round of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifiers for the FIFA 2026 World Cup kick off on Wednesday, with six teams still hoping…

A landmark deal to integrate the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with state institutions has stalled as both sides accuse each other of violence.Syria’s government has declared a ceasefire between its security forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, after at least one person was killed and four people were injured in overnight violence.Murhaf Abu Qasra, Syria’s minister of defence, announced the ceasefire on Tuesday after meeting with Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), saying the two sides had “agreed on a comprehensive ceasefire across all fronts and military positions in northern and…

Italy host Israel in a World Cup qualifier on October 14, in Udine where the stadium only holds 6,000 spectators.Israel’s World Cup qualifying match in Italy next week is expected to attract more pro-Palestinian protesters outside the football stadium in Udine than ticket-holding spectators inside the arena.Protesters already approached the gates of Italy’s training centre in Florence last week to demand that the match not be played because of the war in Gaza — part of a national strike that saw millions of activists take to the streets.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Italy to propose global ceasefire…

Saber Ben Chouchane, who was given the death penalty over posts insulting President Kais Saied, is released.A Tunisian man who had been sentenced to death over Facebook posts deemed offensive to President Kais Saied has been pardoned and released from prison, his lawyer and a human rights group say.Saber Ben Chouchane left jail overnight and was at home with his family, his lawyer Oussama Bouthelja told news agencies on Tuesday, after a wave of criticism from human rights groups over the case.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘Conspiracy trial’ restarts: What’s Tunisia’s history with death penalty?list 2 of…

The trauma of the Hamas-led attacks on Israel continues to define and justify its bombing of Gaza, analysts say.Two years into its war on Gaza, having killed more than 67,000 people, forced a famine upon countless others and attacked its neighbours repeatedly, Israel stands isolated on the world stage and divided at home, analysts say.Taking the podium at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in late September, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced an audience of backs as delegate after delegate walked out in protest over what many call Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of…

Pontiff expected to appeal for peace in Middle East and address the region’s Muslims and Christians.Pope Leo XIV has chosen Turkiye and Lebanon as the destinations for his first trip abroad as pontiff.The Vatican said on Tuesday that Leo, the first pope who hails from the United States, will travel to Turkiye from November 27-30, followed by Lebanon from November 30-December 2.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Israel kills three in Gaza Catholic church bombinglist 2 of 3Pope Leo prays for China’s Catholics, a thorny issue in his papacylist 3 of 3Pope Leo XIV meets Ukraine’s Zelenskyy after…

Israel got creative with new methods of mass torture and murder, giving us a choice of how we die.When Israel started its attack on October 7, 2023, nearly all of us in Gaza had the sense that this was going to be brutal.Yet, no one thought it would continue for two long years. No one thought that the world would allow this to happen for so long.I was 16 years old when Israel launched the 2014 attack on Gaza. The aggression lasted 51 days, and it felt like a lifetime then. Now, the 2014 assault feels like a blink of an…

Israel has killed or injured more than 10 percent of Gaza’s population over the past 24 months.It has been two years since Israel launched its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.Israel’s assault on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, in response to attacks on southern Israel by fighters from the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, and other Palestinian groups, during which 1,139 people died and about 240 were taken into Gaza as captives.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3I have lost everything, all I have left is hope that the bombs will stoplist 2 of 3Ceasefire or…

The Egyptologist and former minister of antiquities will be the first Arab to lead the UN’s cultural organisation.The board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has nominated Egypt’s Khaled el-Enany, an academic and former minister of tourism and antiquities, as its next head, before the organisation’s general conference next month.If confirmed, el-Enany, a professor of Egyptology at Cairo’s Helwan University, would become the first Arab director-general of the organisation, which oversees the UN’s handling of cultural heritage, alongside international cooperation in other areas, including science and education.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4On huge…

A member of Syria’s internal security forces was killed and three were injured, along with civilians, in Aleppo clashes.The Syrian army and the United States-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have reportedly called a truce in two areas of Aleppo city after a member of the Syrian security forces was killed in an SDF attack on a checkpoint in the city, according to news media.The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on Tuesday that three members of Syria’s internal security forces and several civilians were also injured in the SDF attacks on checkpoints in the Sheikh Maqsoud and al-Ashrafieh neighbourhoods…