Category: 2. Middle East

Farmer Hadi Saheb cannot wait to see his wheat fields flourish in the heart of the desert after he tapped into groundwater reserves in water-starved Iraq.

He is just one of many Iraqis who have turned to drilling wells in the desert to help sustain the country’s agriculture.

It is a risky move that threatens to deplete the groundwater in a nation already battered by frequent drought and scarce rainfall.

Although Iraq’s fertile plains traditionally stretch along the once-mighty Tigris and…

Tunisian authorities on Thursday set fire to tents housing sub-Saharan African migrants, an AFP correspondent said, in a new drive to clear their informal camps.

Many migrants arrived in Tunisia after crossing the deserts of Algeria and Mali, hoping to reach Italy. But tighter controls on the sea route have left them stranded.

For nearly two years, olive groves around El Amra, a town near the city of Sfax, served as informal camps for thousands of the migrants but on April 4 authorities began…

The world’s only research centre on mycetoma, a neglected tropical disease common among farmers, has been destroyed in Sudan’s two-year war, its director and another expert say.

Mycetoma is caused by bacteria or fungus and usually enters the body through cuts. It is a progressively destructive infectious disease of the body tissue, affecting skin, muscle and even bone.

It is often characterised by swollen feet, but can also cause barnacle-like growths and club-like hands.

“The centre and all…

President Donald Trump announced Thursday he will sit for an interview with the reporter who uncovered a major security lapse after being inadvertently added to a group chat in which top US officials shared secret military strike plans.

The Atlantic magazine editor Jeffrey Goldberg was propelled to global fame — and roundly attacked by Trump and other cabinet officials — after publishing details of the sensitive exchanges on the Signal app in the run up to US strikes on rebel Huthis in…

Gaza rescue teams and medics said Israeli air strikes killed at least 53 people on Thursday, as the military issued fresh evacuation orders ahead of a planned attack.

Israel resumed its military offensive in the Gaza Strip on March 18, after the collapse of a two-month ceasefire that had brought a temporary halt to fighting in the blockaded Palestinian territory.

Israel’s army chief, visiting troops in Gaza on Thursday, threatened a “larger” offensive in Gaza if hostages seized in the Hamas…

Gaza rescue teams and medics said Israeli air strikes killed at least 55 people on Thursday, as the military threatened an even larger offensive if hostages were not freed soon.

Israel resumed its military assault in the Gaza Strip on March 18, after the collapse of a two-month ceasefire that had brought a temporary halt to fighting in the blockaded Palestinian territory.

Israel’s army chief, visiting troops in Gaza on Thursday, threatened to expand the offensive in Gaza if hostages seized…

Iran’s ambassador to the Netherlands was summoned, on Thursday, after the Dutch intelligence agency said it suspected Tehran of being behind two assassination attempts in Europe,  a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, Reuters reports.

The Dutch general intelligence agency, known as the AIVD, said in its annual report published on Thursday that two men were arrested in June 2024 in the Dutch town of Haarlem after an assassination attempt there on an Iranian…

US President Donald Trump struck back at Harvard University on Thursday as a “threat” to democracy, Anadolu Agency reports.

“Harvard is an anti-Semitic, Far Left Institution, as are numerous others, with students being accepted from all over the World that want to rip our Country apart.

“The place is a Liberal mess, allowing a certain group of crazed lunatics to enter and exit the classroom and spew fake ANGER AND HATE. It is truly horrific!” Trump…