Author: Gulf News Week
With no clear majority, formation of next government will require intensive deal-making among strongest blocs.A coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has emerged as winner in Iraq’s parliamentary election, according to electoral authorities.The Independent High Electoral Commission said on Wednesday that al-Sudani’s Reconstruction and Change coalition received 1.3 million votes in Tuesday’s election, about 370,000 more than the next closest competitor.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Iraqis hold little hope for change as polls close in electionlist 2 of 3Iraq parliamentary elections: What we knowlist 3 of 3Iraq votes amid shifting power balanceend of listSpeaking…
IOM chief calls for ceasefire to allow aid groups to reach Sudanese civilians trapped in war-torn Darfur region.The head of the United Nations’ migration agency has called for a ceasefire and a humanitarian corridor to help tens of thousands of civilians trapped in el-Fasher, the city in Sudan’s Darfur region that fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) last month.Amy Pope, director-general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told media on Wednesday that “the primary concern is getting access” to residents who have been largely cut off from humanitarian aid and services in el-Fasher.Recommended Stories list of 3…
Iran’s near-bomb-grade uranium stockpile ‘a matter of serious concern’ after 12-day war with Israel, watchdog says.The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not been able to verify Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium since Israel and the United States struck the country’s nuclear sites back in June, according to a new report.The watchdog circulated a confidential report to member states, claiming it had been unable to carry out “long overdue” inspections of seven of the sites targeted in the so-called 12-day war, including major facilities Fordo and Natanz.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Iran ‘not in hurry’ to…
The pardon of the 81-year-old author comes after Germany appealed for his release on ‘humanitarian grounds’.Algeria has agreed to pardon French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who has been detained for a year on charges of “undermining national unity”.Algeria’s presidency announced plans to free the 81-year-old writer on Wednesday, saying President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had accepted a request from his German counterpart to pardon him on “humanitarian grounds”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Algeria sentences author Boualem Sansal sentenced to five years in prisonlist 2 of 3France expels 12 Algerian officials as tensions escalatelist 3 of 3Rebel Writers: Algerian Voicesend of…
US president calls corruption charges against Israeli PM ‘unjustified’, describing Netanyahu as ‘formidable’ leader.United States President Donald Trump has sent a letter to Israel’s President Isaac Herzog asking him to pardon Benjamin Netanyahu, slamming the corruption charges against the Israeli prime minister as “political” and “unjustified”.Trump’s letter on Wednesday comes a month after the US-brokered ceasefire came into effect in Gaza, ushering in a fragile truce amid daily Israeli attacks and aid restrictions.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3More than 70 athletes call on UEFA to ban Israel over rights abuseslist 2 of 3Israel returns unrecognisable bodies of…
Analysts say Israel is not upholding its end of the ceasefire and looking for reasons to strike a depleted Hezbollah.For months, Israel has threatened another military escalation against Lebanon, claiming it would be a punishment for the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) not moving quickly enough to disarm Hezbollah.But analysts told media that Lebanon’s government and army have undertaken to disarm the group, which has fought Israel several times since the 1980s, most recently from September to November 2024.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘Our land is not for sale’: Indigenous people protest at COP30 in Brazillist 2 of…
Iran spends 90 percent of its water on low-yield agriculture in a pursuit of self-sufficiency that exacerbates drought.Tehran, Iran – Authorities are scrambling to provide drinking water across Iran, particularly in the capital, Tehran, as Iranians grapple with the effects of multiple ongoing crises.If there is no rain by next month, water will have to be rationed in Tehran; in fact, the city of 10 million may even have to be evacuated, President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a speech on Friday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Iran dismisses US accusation of plot to kill Israeli ambassador in Mexicolist…
Israel has faced calls to allow aid into northern Gaza through the crossing, which has been closed for two months.Zikim crossing, the main entry point into the devastated northern Gaza Strip, has been reopened to allow the flow of humanitarian aid into the region, according to Israeli officials.The announcement on Wednesday came two months after Israel shut the crossing, and followed repeated calls from United Nations aid agencies to allow aid to flow directly into the hard-hit northern part of Gaza.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘You can do anything’: Israeli war crimes in Gaza aired in UK…
Without robust, built-in health protections, sanctions kill civilians as surely as bombs and bullets, as Iran’s broken health system makes clear.In international diplomacy, economic sanctions are often portrayed as a clean and humane alternative to war, a supposedly civilised way to pressure governments into compliance with international law without shedding blood. Yet this reassuring narrative hides a devastating truth: sanctions can destroy the health and wellbeing of ordinary people. While they are intended to weaken regimes, they often end up crippling the targeted state’s ability to provide basic healthcare to the very citizens those measures claim to protect. The mechanisms…
Accident would add to more than 1,000 migrant deaths in central Mediterranean crossings this year.Forty-two migrants, including 29 from Sudan, eight from Somalia, three from Cameroon and two from Nigeria, have been missing at sea and presumed dead since their boat overturned off the coast of Libya, according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM).Their rubber vessel, packed with 49 migrants, capsized on November 3, six hours after departing the northwestern coastal town of Zuwara, the IOM said on Wednesday, citing survivors.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Greece’s Crete sees surge in boat arrivals despite harsher…