Category: 2. Middle East

DAMASCUS/CAIRO (Reuters) -Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday that protecting Druze citizens and their rights is “our priority”, as Israel vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria.

In his first televised statement after powerful Israeli air strikes on Damascus on Wednesday, Sharaa addressed Druze citizens saying “we reject any attempt to drag you into hands of an external party”.

“We are not among those who fear the war. We have spent…

CAIRO (Reuters) -Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday that protecting the Druze citizens and their rights is “our priority”, as Israel vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria.

In his first televised statement after the powerful Israeli airstrikes on Damascus on Wednesday, Sharaa addressed Druze citizens saying “we reject any attempt to drag you into hands of an external party”.

“We are not among those who fear the war. We have spent our…

NEW YORK: Children in Gaza are suffering from the worst starvation rates since the war between Israel and Hamas began in October 2023, aid officials told the UN Security Council on Wednesday, in a devastating assessment of the conditions young Palestinians in the territory face as they try to survive.

“Starvation rates among children hit their highest levels in June, with over 5,800 girls and boys diagnosed as acutely malnourished,” said the UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom…

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Homeland Security Department said on Tuesday a deportation flight carrying immigrants from different countries had landed in Eswatini, in a move that follows the U.S. Supreme Court lifting limits on deporting migrants to third countries.

In late June, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s administration to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own without offering them a chance to show the harms…

(Reuters) -Syria’s Druze have reached a ceasefire agreement with the Syrian government in Sweida that will take immediate effect, Druze religious leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou said in a video broadcast by state media on Wednesday.

An earlier ceasefire announced on Tuesday night collapsed after only a few hours. There was still fire from government forces in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida after the announcement was made, according to a Reuters witness.

(Reporting by Yomna Ehab and Hatem…

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel launched a national advertising campaign on Wednesday urging its citizens to resist the lure of spying for Iran, warning that the consequences far outweigh any financial reward.

The unusual drive comes a month after Israel fought a 12-day war with Iran over its nuclear programme and follows an apparent surge in efforts by Tehran to recruit Israelis for espionage.

The campaign, entitled “Easy Money, Heavy Cost,” will run on radio, major internet…

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran is ready to respond to any renewed military attack, the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in comments carried by state TV on Wednesday, adding Tehran was capable of giving a bigger blow to adversaries than the one delivered during the 12-day Iran-Israel war last month.

(Reporting by Parisa Hafezi, Dubai newsroom; Editing by Alex Richardson)

By Ammu Kannampilly, Jonathan Landay and Jessica Donati

(Reuters) -With 1,100 metric tons of emergency food rations nearing expiry in a U.S. government warehouse in Dubai after President Donald Trump’s aid freeze, it took a warning of “wasted tax dollars” for a top U.S. official to eventually agree to a deal for the supplies to be used, sources told Reuters.

The deal saved 622 metric tons of the energy-dense biscuits in June, but 496 metric tons, worth $793,000 before they expired this month,…

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -An Istanbul court on Wednesday sentenced Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the main rival of Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan, to a fresh prison term, state broadcaster TRT reported, extending a crackdown on the opposition.

Imamoglu, who has been in jail pending trial since March over separate corruption charges, was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison for insulting and threatening the chief Istanbul prosecutor.

The prison sentence must be confirmed by two…

THE HAGUE (Reuters) -Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday rejected Israel’s request to withdrawarrest warrantsagainst its prime minister and former defence minister while the ICC reviews Israeli challenges to its jurisdiction over the conduct of theGaza war.

In a decision published on the ICC website, judges also rejected an Israeli request to suspend the wider ICC investigation into alleged atrocity crimes in the Palestinian Territories.

The ICCissuedarrest warrants…