Category: 2. Middle East

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Church bells tolled in Mosul and nearby towns Monday to mark the death of Pope Francis, the first pope to visit Iraq which suffered greatly at the hands of jihadists.

In the historic Al-Tahera church in the nearby town of Qaraqosh, where the Pope prayed in 2021, dozens of worshippers gathered for an Easter mass which also became an occasion to pay tribute to their beloved Francis.

Near the altar stood an empty wooden chair on which the pope had sat when he declared in a mass that he had…

Lawyers and relatives on Monday denounced the hefty sentences handed down to Tunisian opposition figures in last week’s mass trial as “fabricated” and “unfounded”, and said they will appeal.

A court in Tunis in the early hours of Saturday handed down jail terms of up to 66 years to around 40 defendants, including vocal critics of President Kais Saied.

They were accused of “conspiracy against state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group” among other charges, according to their…

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Shiite Islam’s highest authority in Iraq, offered his condolences on Monday for the death of Pope Francis, praising his work promoting “peace and tolerance”.

Sistani, 94, who met the late pontiff in 2021 in the first-ever papal visit to Iraq, said in a statement issued by his office that it was an “important milestone” in supporting interfaith dialogue and “rejecting violence and hatred”.

Francis had a “special role in serving the causes of peace and tolerance, and…

Church leaders, regional officials and Egypt’s Al-Azhar — Sunni Islam’s foremost religious institution — offered condolences this week following the death of Pope Francis, whose passing on Monday at the age of 88 drew tributes across the Middle East.

Francis passed away following struggles with a respiratory illness, having been hospitalized for more than a month starting in mid-February. His last public appearance was on Sunday, when he greeted the crowd outside the Vatican for…

Oman Airports has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Iraq’s Teebat Karbala Company to oversee the preparation and launch of Karbala International Airport — a key aviation project set to transform Iraq’s air transport sector.

The agreement was formalised on Saturday by Oman’s Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, Saeed bin Hamood Al Mawali, who also chairs Oman Airports, and Hassan Rashid Jawad Al Abayji, Chairman of…

The April 21 death of Pope Francis triggered a period of mourning in the Catholic Church, but also kick-started the race for his successor.

Whether diplomats, theologians, mediators or Vatican insiders, here are 15 cardinals who are among the potential favourites to become the next pope, known as the “papabili”, divided by region.

This list however is by no means exhaustive and Francis’s successor could well be someone else.

EUROPE

Pietro Parolin (Italy), 70, Vatican Secretary of State

The…

Israel has cancelled the entry visas of 27 left-wing French parliamentarians and officials just two days before their planned visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, according to a statement released by the group on Sunday, as reported by France 24.

This development comes shortly after Israel barred two British Labour MPs from entering the country, and amid heightened diplomatic tensions following French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that…