Category: 2. Middle East

On the Doha seashore, rows of wooden dhow boats line a pier, with scores of fish on display — part of a festival seeking to revive the country’s long seafaring tradition.

Aboard the boats, men in customary sea gear — a white t-shirt and towel — pay tribute to the age-old tradition of line-fishing in the energy-rich Gulf emirate for the 11th edition of the Senyar festival.

“The feeling was amazing,” competitor Mohammed al-Hail told AFP as he returned from four days out at sea to waiting…

Roberto Firmino said he was proud of making history with his Saudi club and becoming an Asian Champions League winner, six years after lifting the prestigious European equivalent with Liverpool.

The 33-year-old Brazilian forward was an important member of Jurgen Klopp’s side who won the UEFA Champions League in 2019.

Firmino was named the AFC Champions League’s most valuable player after inspiring Al Ahli to beat Kawasaki Frontale 2-0 on Saturday as the Jeddah club became Asian champions for…

Hamas on Saturday released footage of an apparently injured Israeli-Russian hostage held in Gaza as 11 Palestinians, including three infants, were killed in a strike on the territory, its civil defence agency said.

Israel resumed major operations across Gaza on March 18 amid deadlock over how to proceed with a two-month ceasefire that had largely halted the war sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said at least 2,396 people have been killed since…

Al Ahli were crowned champions of Asia at the third attempt after the Saudi Arabian side overpowered Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale 2-0 in Jeddah on Saturday.

The Jeddah club, runners-up in 1986 and 2012, triumphed at their King Abdullah Sports City Stadium thanks to two goals in seven minutes towards the end of the first half from Brazilian Galeno and Ivory Coast captain Franck Kessie.

The Asian Champions League’s latter stages have all taken place in Jeddah.

With the win, Roberto Firmino, Edouard…

Israel was issuing orders to call up tens of thousands of reservists ahead of an expanded offensive in Gaza, Israeli media reported Saturday, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked truce mediator Qatar.

Several news outlets reported the army had begun sending the orders for reservists to replace conscripts and active-duty soldiers in Israel and the occupied West Bank so they can be redeployed to Gaza.

A military spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the reports but relatives of AFP…

The armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, released a video Saturday showing an Israeli-Russian hostage who appeared to have been injured in a strike on the Palestinian territory.

In the undated four-minute video, the hostage, wearing bandages on his head and left arm spoke in Hebrew, implying he had been wounded in a recent Israeli bombardment.

AFP and Israeli media identified the hostage as Russian-Israeli Maxim Herkin, who turns 37 a the end of May. His family urged media…

The premier of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, former diplomat and foreign minister Ahmed Bin Mubarak, announced his resignation on Saturday saying he was unable to fully exercise his powers.

Bitter disputes had for months opposed Bin Mubarak and Rashad al-Alimi, who heads the Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), two ministers and a member of the PLC told AFP.

They requested anonymity in order to speak freely.

After Iran-backed Huthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa…

United Nations special envoy Geir Pedersen urged Israel Saturday to halt its attacks on Syria “at once”, after it carried out multiple air strikes targeting the Islamist-led authorities following sectarian violence this week.

Fresh Israeli raids were reported overnight, after Israel said repeatedly that its forces stood ready to protect the Druze minority after sectarian clashes killed 119 people, mostly Druze fighters, according to a Britain-based war monitor.

Since ousting longtime ruler…

The UN human rights office on Saturday called for an independent investigation into the drone attack on a Gaza-bound aid ship in international waters off Malta and renewed its call for Israel to lift its blockade on Gaza, which it says constitutes “collective punishment”, Anadolu reports.

“We have seen the worrying reports on the incident. We are unable to independently confirm them. However, it is crucial that there be independent, impartial, and effective…

At least 57 Palestinians have died from starvation since Oct. 7, 2023 due to Israel’s ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, the Government Media Office in Gaza said Saturday, Anadolu reports.

“The number of victims of the starvation policy has risen to 57 martyrs and the toll is likely to increase amid the continued closure of crossings and the ban on the entry of food, infant formula, nutritional supplements, and dozens of essential medications,” warned the…