Author: Gulf News Week

Exclusive: Iranian general’s warning about Luna Al-Shibl resurfaces as evidence points to targeted killing, not accident. A years-old warning from Iran’s most powerful commander is casting a long shadow over the mysterious death of Syrian presidential adviser Luna Al-Shibl, according to a new investigative report. Al-Majalla magazine has published what it claims is a transcript of a late-2019 encounter where Iran’s Quds Force chief, General Qassem Soleimani, confronted Syrian security chief Ali Mamlouk about Al-Shibl. Spotting her leaving Mamlouk’s office, Soleimani dismissed her official title, insisting, “She is a spy,” and pointed to a suspicious disparity between her past and present…

Non-Oil Sector Expands 4.3% as Vision 2030 Reforms Gain Traction; World Bank and IMF Revise Forecasts Upward RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s economy expanded by 4.8 percent in the third quarter of 2025, according to official data released on Tuesday, reflecting broad-based growth across hydrocarbon and non-oil sectors amid the Kingdom’s ongoing economic transformation. The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) reported that oil activities jumped 8.3 percent year-on-year, while the non-oil sector—a critical pillar of the Vision 2030 diversification agenda—grew by 4.3 percent. Government activities also increased by 1.4 percent. “Non-oil activities were the main contributor, adding 2.4 percentage points to overall…

Ehud Barak explored many business ventures with Jeffrey Epstein, including a deal to sell a US tycoon’s oil empire.An Israeli drone company, malaria testing technology, and the proposed sale of an American billionaire’s oil and gas empire are among the many previously unknown business ventures that former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak discussed with the late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, leaked emails reveal.Epstein served as a trusted financial adviser, fixer, concierge, sounding board, and even friend to the ex-Israeli leader during a long-running relationship that blurred professional and personal boundaries, the emails suggest.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist…

Latest Assault Heightens Tensions with Afghanistan, Accused of Harboring Militant Group PESHAWAR: Militants from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) killed six Pakistani soldiers in an attack on a northwestern checkpoint late Monday, officials said, marking the latest violence to shake the volatile border region near Afghanistan. The assault in Kurram district involved a “heavy exchange of fire” after more than a dozen insurgents targeted the security post, a local official told AFP. Four soldiers were wounded and two attackers were also killed in the clash, the source added. Pakistan has witnessed a significant uptick in militant violence along its western frontier…

The ruling comes months after the Tufts doctoral student was freed from ICE detention where she was held for opposing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.The United States government must restore Rumeysa Ozturk’s student visa record, a federal court has ruled, months after the Tufts student was released from immigration detention where she was being held for speaking out against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.United States District Judge Denise Casper delivered an interim ruling on Monday that US President Donald Trump’s administration must restore Ozturk’s name to a database of foreign students administered by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), known…

Israel says it targeted Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, adding pressure to a US-brokered ceasefire.Israel’s military has carried out waves of air attacks in southern Lebanon, causing damage to several homes, according to Lebanese state media, as anger mounts over repeated Israeli violations of a ceasefire with Hezbollah agreed upon last year.Lebanon’s National News Agency reported late on Monday that Israeli jets targeted Mount Safi, the town of Jbaa, the Zefta Valley, and the area between Azza and Rumin Arki in “several waves”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Waymo runs into safety concerns and competition as it expands…

STC says Aden, the base of the Saudi-backed and internationally-recognised government, also under their control.Yemen’s main southern separatist group has claimed broad control of the southern part of the country, marking a major shift in power for the area.Amr al-Bidh, a senior official of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), told the Reuters news agency on Monday that the group had extended its presence in all southern provinces – including the port of Aden, the base of the internationally-recognised government over the past decade – following a military operation codenamed “Promising Future” launched last week.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1…

The project, set to be completed in six years, is the first of its kind between the two Gulf nations.Saudi Arabia and Qatar have signed a formal agreement to construct high-speed rail connecting their capitals, the first project of its kind between the two Gulf states that were once deeply at odds.According to a statement in official Saudi media on Monday, the “high-speed electric passenger railway” would connect Riyadh’s King Salman International Airport with Doha’s Hamad International Airport.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Qatari PM hopes ‘momentum’ now to end Israel’s Gaza war; Hamas deliberateslist 2 of 3The…

The agency’s commissioner-general condemns raid as a direct violation of international law.Israeli forces have raided the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in occupied East Jerusalem, seizing items and replacing the UN flag with Israel’s flag.In a statement on X, the agency’s commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, said Israeli police, accompanied by municipal officials, forcibly entered its compound in Sheikh Jarrah early on Monday morning.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Syria’s Prison of Secrets: The Search for Sednaya’s Missinglist 2 of 4How US pressure is squeezing Venezuela’s already fragile economylist 3 of 4After…

When al-Assad fell, Mohamad Yamen finally felt free. On the first anniversary, he speaks of his hopes for the future.Damascus, Syria – In 2013, Mohamad Yamen, then nine years old, fled from the Damascus suburb of Jobar with his family.The Assad regime flattened Jobar, making it uninhabitable. Yamen and his parents moved to the Abbasiyyin neighbourhood of Damascus, where he continued his studies and dreamed of moving to Spain.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4How opposition forces toppled Syria’s Assad a year agolist 2 of 4Baraa in Syrialist 3 of 4One year since the fall of Bashar al-Assad: A…