Libya’s parliament wants the government it has appointed under Fathi Bashagha to be based for now in Sirte, it said on Tuesday, amid a stalemate over control of the capital Tripoli where another administration refuses to hand over power. The move repre…
Despite ‘fatigue’, donors pledge another $6.7 billion for Syria, neighbours
An international donor conference raised $6.7 billion for Syria and its neighbours on Tuesday despite what the European Union’s foreign policy chief said was “a certain fatigue” with the war there, now in its 12th year. The pledges, which were slightly…
Israel wounds three Palestinians, arrests 12 in West Bank
Three Palestinians were wounded with live bullets by Israeli forces late on Monday, while tens more asphyxiated due to inhaling tear gas, in various Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank. In the city of Nablus, north of the West Bank, Israel…
A year after Israel’s war on Gaza, survivors still mourning
Although a year has passed since Israel’s war on the besieged Gaza Strip, dozens of Palestinians in the enclave who survived the attack still smell death and see destruction everywhere they go. In May 2021, Israel launched an 11-day military campaign o…
UK voices ‘concern’ over LGBTQ asylum seekers in Rwanda
The UK Home Office acknowledged that asylum seekers who identify as LGBTQ+ are more likely to face discrimination in Rwanda, but has not ruled out the deportation of vulnerable people to East Africa. In a 101-page report published last week, the Britis…
UK govt ‘used deniable fiddle’ to hide Saudi arms payments
The UK government has been accused of complicity in a clandestine web of bribery involving a former Saudi king, his son and senior Saudi officials to secure lucrative arms deals. The British government orchestrated a “deniable fiddle” so they could sen…
UN ‘concerned’ over Iran’s lack of cooperation
The UN atomic energy watchdog chief said Tuesday that he was “extremely concerned” about Iran’s lack of cooperation as the EU seeks to unblock talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. Talks between world powers and Iran have stalled since mid-March as ne…
Syrian rights groups urge UN probe into Tadamon massacre
A number of prominent Syrian human rights groups appealed to the United Nations on Monday to open an investigation into the 2013 Tadamon massacre. The groups urged Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US envoy to the UN, to look into the massacre, in which 41 civi…
Israel forms first council for illegal settlements since 90s
Israel will establish its first local council for illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank for the first time in 24 years. Israel’s commander of soldiers in the occupied West Bank, Yehuda Fuchs, on Monday signed a decree to unify the illegal settl…
White House confirms Jordan king’s visit to Washington
Jordan’s King Abdullah II will visit Washington on Friday for talks with US President Joe Biden, the US government confirmed on Tuesday. The trip “will reinforce the close friendship and enduring partnership between the United States and Jordan”, the W…