Category: 2. Middle East

Iraqi authorities on Monday launched a probe into a mass die-off of fish in the southern marshlands, the latest in a string of such events in recent years.

One possible cause for the localised die-off could be a shortage of oxygen sparked by low water flow, increased evaporation and rising temperatures fuelled by climate change.

Another possible reason could be chemicals used by fishermen to make it easier to catch their prey, local officials and activists told AFP.

AFP images showed large…

Two former Australian foreign ministers have joined growing calls for sanctions on Israel for blocking food to starving civilians in Gaza.

Gareth Evans and Bob Carr called for Australia to join the UK, France and Canada in signalling the use of targeted sanctions if Israel fails to stop its renewed military offensive in the enclave and lift all restrictions on aid, local broadcaster SBS News reported today.

The two joined Labor Party lawmaker and former…

Syrian authorities announced yesterday evening the reopening of the Al-Arida border crossing with Lebanon from tomorrow, ahead of the Eid Al-Adha holiday.

“We kindly inform travellers that the Al-Arida border crossing with Lebanon will open for passenger movement on Tuesday morning,” Syria’s Land and Sea Ports General Authority said in a statement.

The authority added that the decision was made “despite ongoing restoration and maintenance work, in order…

At least eight people were injured yesterday when a man set people on fire during a demonstration in the US state of Colorado staged to raise awareness on captives being held in Gaza, local authorities said.

“After receiving updated information, law enforcement officials have now identified eight victims: Four women and four men aged 52 to 88 were taken to Denver metro hospitals,” the Boulder Police Department said.

“This attack happened at a regularly…

Britain’s Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, said yesterday that the UK considers Morocco’s autonomy proposal as the most feasible basis to resolve the conflict over the Western Sahara, Reuters reports.

The long-frozen conflict pits Morocco, which considers the territory as its own, against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which seeks an independent state in the desert territory.The autonomy plan submitted by Morocco in 2007 stands “as the most credible,…

Sudan’s new Prime Minister Kamil Idris has dissolved the country’s caretaker government, state news agency SUNA reported late yesterday according to Reuters.

SUNA did not specify when a new government, the first since war broke out between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, would be announced.

Idris was appointed by army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, Sudan’s head of state. The RSF has said since earlier this year that it would…

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric said yesterday that he will step up pressure against Israel over its war on Gaza among other initiatives during his government’s last nine months in office, Reuters reports.

In a wide-ranging three-hour speech from Congress in the coastal city of Valparaiso that marked his last annual address, Boric also discussed crime, infrastructure, the economy and abortion rights.

In comments that sparked the largest amount of cheers and…

More than a million Muslim pilgrims poured into the holy city of Mecca ahead of the annual hajj, with authorities vowing to hold a safer pilgrimage amid searing desert heat and a massive crackdown on illegal visitors.

Temperatures were forecast to exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) this week as one of the world’s largest annual religious gatherings officially commences on Wednesday.

The hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, must be performed at least once by all Muslims with…

More than a million Muslim pilgrims poured into the holy city of Mecca ahead of the annual hajj, with authorities vowing to hold a safer pilgrimage amid searing desert heat and a massive crackdown on illegal visitors.

Officials have beefed up heat mitigation measures hoping to avoid a repeat of last year’s hajj, which saw 1,301 pilgrims die as temperatures reached 51.8 degrees Celsius (125.2 Fahrenheit).

Temperatures were forecast to exceed 40 degrees Celsius this week as one of the world’s…