Category: 2. Middle East

Asra Media has affirmed that Palestinian prisoner Abdullah Barghouti is facing systematic attempts to kill him in Israel’s Gilboa Prison and his health condition has reached a life-threatening stage, the Palestinian Information Centre has reported.

In a statement on Tuesday, Asra Media said that it had received information confirming that Barghouti has been exposed to repeated brutal physical attacks that left injuries all over his body, including bruises,…

Israel’s security establishment has informed senior ministers that the chances of reaching a new agreement between the United States and Iran are now significantly higher, according to a report by Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (Kan) yesterday.

The report said the latest assessment by Israeli security officials marks a shift from earlier evaluations, which viewed an agreement between Washington and Tehran as unlikely.

In light of this development,…

Iran will hold nuclear talks in Rome on Friday with Britain, France and Germany, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday. The aim, Reuters has reported, is to improve strained ties at a time of high-stakes nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington.

The meeting will precede a fourth round of nuclear talks this weekend between Iran and the United States, also to be held in Italy.

“In my opinion, the three European countries have lost their role [in…

Palestinian activist Susan Abdelkader Bishara was shot and killed yesterday evening in the city of Tira, located in the southern Triangle area within Israel, Sama News Agency reported.

According to local sources, Bishara, who was in her forties, suffered multiple gunshot wounds. She was transferred to hospital, where she later died from her injuries.

Her death raises the number of crime-related fatalities within the Palestinian community inside the 1948…

UAE state media reported on Wednesday that security services had thwarted an attempt by Sudanese military leaders and others to illegally transfer ammunition to Sudan’s army. The report by the WAM news agency said the UAE authorities had found about five million rounds of ammunition on a private plane at an airport and had made a number of arrests.

There was no immediate response from Sudan’s armed forces, which have repeatedly accused the UAE of arming the…

Jewish and Muslim students at Harvard University faced bigotry and abuse as the Massachusetts campus was affected by protests last year, according to two reports released on Tuesday that found many felt shunned by peers and professors for expressing political beliefs, Reuters has reported.

Harvard and other universities face extraordinary pressure from US President Donald Trump’s administration over allegations of anti-Semitism and leftist bias. The reports,…

An Iranian man convicted of espionage and intelligence cooperation with Israel was executed today, Iranian state media reported, Reuters reports.

Entangled in a decades-long shadow war with Israel, Iran has put to death many individuals it accuses of having links with Israel’s Mossad intelligence service and facilitating the latter’s operations in the country, notably assassinations or acts of sabotage meant to undermine its nuclear programme.

Read: Israel…

Iraq’s buffalo population has more than halved in a decade as the country’s two main rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, suffer from severe droughts that endanger the livelihood of many farmers and breeders, Reuters has reported.

“People have left… We are a small number of houses remaining,” said farmer Sabah Ismail, 38, who rears buffalo in the southern province of Dhi Qar. “The situation is difficult… I had 120 to 130 buffalo; now I only have 50 to…

The Israeli Beersheba District Court yesterday sentenced an Israeli man to ten years imprisonment after finding him guilty of contacting Iranian agents, some of them inside Iran, and discussing a plot to assassinate senior Israeli officials.

According to Israeli media, 72-year-old Moti Maman, from the city of Ashkelon, was convicted in December on charges of contact with a foreign agent and entering an enemy state without authorisation, after he visited Iran…

Somalia has banned entry to Taiwan passport holders citing compliance with a UN resolution, the island’s foreign ministry has revealed, blaming Chinese pressure on Mogadishu at a time that Taiwan is boosting ties with Somaliland, Reuters has reported.

Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 but has not gained widespread international recognition for its independence. The region has been mostly peaceful while Somalia has grappled with three decades of civil…