Author: Gulf News Week
Group’s leader urges government ‘not to hand over the country to an insatiable Israeli aggressor or an American tyrant’.Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem has accused Lebanon’s government of “handing” the country to Israel by pushing for the group’s disarmament, warning it would fight to keep its weapons.Qassem spoke in a televised address on Friday after meeting Iran’s top security chief, Ali Larijani. Tehran has long backed the Lebanese armed group.Hezbollah emerged badly weakened from last year’s war with Israel, and under United States pressure, the Lebanese government has ordered the army to devise a plan to disarm the group by the…
Iran dispatches one of its most senior politicians to Beirut in a bid to soothe tensions.This week’s visit to Lebanon of senior Iranian politician Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, is seen as an attempt to smooth any feathers ruffled by rhetoric from Tehran about Hezbollah’s disarmament.In early August, the Lebanese government, under pressure from the United States, announced that it would seek to disarm Hezbollah, long considered a principal ally of Tehran, by the end of the year.The group reacted angrily to the call to disarm with its secretary-general, Naim Qassem, denouncing the idea on Friday…
Footage shows far-right minister taunting 66-year-old Palestinian leader during jail visit.Palestinian officials have condemned far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s taunting visit to the jail cell of long-imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti.Footage of the visit shared on social media on Thursday showed the minister making threatening remarks to the 66-year-old.In the footage, Ben-Gvir is seen telling Barghouti, who has been in prison since 2002, including years in solitary confinement: “You won’t win. Whoever messes with the nation of Israel, whoever murders our children and women – we will wipe them out.”“You should know this, [this happened] throughout history,” Ben-Gvir…
Across continents and centuries, Western domination has always been achieved by feeding the few and starving the many.For all the West’s lofty claims about spreading freedom, prosperity and progress, the world remains scarred by chronic instability and mass hunger. Last month, as part of its wind-down of international food and medical aid, the United States destroyed 500 metric tonnes of emergency food aid in the United Arab Emirates. Over 60,000 tonnes of emergency food aid have remained stockpiled in warehouses around the world due to the shutdown of USAID. Meanwhile, Israel – with US and European Union support – has…
Turkiye’s president says Gaza’s fate will define the future of humanity and urges the world to act now.The humanitarian tragedy unfolding in the Gaza Strip must not be perceived merely as a conflict confined to a narrow strip of land; rather, it should be regarded as a deepening humanitarian catastrophe that wounds the collective conscience of humanity with each passing day. Israel’s months-long bombardments have targeted women, children, and the elderly, rendering cities uninhabitable. Homes, hospitals, schools, and places of worship have been reduced to rubble; essential services such as food, water, healthcare, and electricity have collapsed. Hunger, thirst, and…
Firefighter in Spain dies from severe burns, as EU assistance sent to Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Albania.Spain has recorded its third death from wildfires this week while Greece began beating back a blaze threatening its third-largest city as a heatwave that began last week continues to sweep through Southern Europe.Spanish authorities reported the death on Thursday of a 37-year-old volunteer firefighter who sustained severe burns while battling flames in the northwestern Castile and Leon region, taking the toll to three after earlier reported deaths there and near Madrid this week.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his condolences in an…
Government says blast happened in ‘depot for war remnants’; monitoring group says base used by ‘non-Syrian fighters’.An explosion at a depot for unexploded ordnance on the outskirts of Idlib city in northwest Syria has killed at least four people, state media has reported, without identifying its cause.News agency SANA, citing the Health Ministry, reported at least “four dead and five others injured” in the blast, which occurred on Thursday.The Ministry for Emergency and Disaster Management said in a statement that the “large blast” occurred “in a depot for war remnants”.War monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that…
Several aid seekers killed in southern Gaza and several others killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza City, medical sources say.At least 32 people, including 13 seeking aid, have been killed on Thursday in Israeli attacks across Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities, as four more people died from malnutrition amid a growing starvation crisis in the besieged territory.Eight people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a residential home in Gaza City in northern Gaza, medical sources told media.Two other people were killed in an Israeli attack on the city’s Tuffah neighbourhood, hospital sources told media.The killings come as…
Dubai stays ahead of its competitors because of advance planning, skills, and infrastructure developments Dubai (August 14, 2025) — As rapid urbanisation, ambitious climate goals, and swift technology adoption drive global demand for smart cities, there is an increasing need for innovative products designed to save energy and reduce costs, according to an industry expert. Sebastien Dui, Chief Executive Officer of SureFlow, explained that smart cities utilise advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and big data to enhance urban living, reduce carbon footprints, and decrease energy expenses. By integrating sensors and real-time data analytics,…
Widely rejected draft text does not limit plastic production or address chemicals used in plastic products.Negotiations to secure a global treaty to combat plastic pollution were in limbo as talks entered their final day after dozens of countries rejected the latest draft text.With time running out to seal a deal among the 184 countries gathered at the United Nations in Geneva, the talks’ chair, Luis Vayas Valdivieso, produced a draft text based on the few areas of convergence, in an attempt to find common ground.But the draft succeeded only in infuriating virtually all corners, and the text was immediately shredded…