Category: 2. Middle East

Seven civilians were killed and three others injured in artillery shelling by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur in western Sudan, the army said on Sunday, Anadolu reports.

A military statement said that displaced civilians in the Zamzam refugee camp and other areas across Darfur are facing “inhumane and discriminatory treatment” by the RSF militia, including road blockades and property theft.

There was no…

Palestine condemned on Sunday Israeli police assaults on Christians during the Holy Saturday celebrations as “racist” and “a blatant violation of the freedom of worship and access to holy sites”, Anadolu reports.

On Saturday, Israeli police clashed with Palestinian Christians during the Holy Saturday observances at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem.

“We decry the arbitrary actions, assaults, and restrictions imposed by…

Lebanon will place all weapons under state control, but will wait for the “right conditions” to determine how to execute it, President Joseph Aoun said on Sunday, Anadolu reports.

“The Lebanese people do not want war, and therefore the armed forces are the only body responsible for Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence,” he said following a meeting with Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al-Rai.

He said the state will deal with the issue of…

The United States slashing foreign aid risks piling pressure on already acute humanitarian crises across the globe, a World Health Organization official said Sunday, also warning against withdrawing from the UN agency.

Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has effectively frozen foreign aid funding, moved to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and other programmes, and announced plans to leave the WHO.

Washington, which had long been the WHO’s biggest…

China and Egypt held their first joint air force drill, Chinese media reported on Sunday, Anadolu reports.

Named “Eagles of Civilization 2025,” the joint air force exercise kicked off at an air base in Egypt on Saturday morning, with China deploying fighter jets, early warning aircraft, tanker aircraft and helicopters to the drill, state-run CCTV reported.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force’s J-10C fighter jet, YU-20 aerial tanker…

Chinese satellite company Chang Guang Satellite Technology on Saturday rejected an allegation from the US that it is supporting Houthis by providing them intelligence, Global Times reported, Anadolu reports.

This came after US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce stated that Chang Guang Satellite Technology was “directly aiding Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen by providing satellite imagery used to target US and international vessels in the Red Sea,”…

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein discussed developments in US-Iran talks with United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar on Saturday, according to the UAE’s official news agency, WAM, Anadolu reports.

Hussein, who arrived in Abu Dhabi, said talks remain the best means to resolve disputes and avoid escalation in the region.

The meeting between Hussein and Al Marar included discussions on ways to strengthen…

Meeting in Istanbul, Groups of Parliaments in Support of Palestine on Saturday urged Israel’s Knesset to withdraw all laws and legislative initiatives that are incompatible with its obligations under international law and to ensure an immediate and lasting ceasefire for the implementation of all phases of the ceasefire agreement declared in Gaza on Jan. 15, Anadolu reports.

A declaration released following the meeting of 14 parliament speakers, including from…

Thousands of Israelis demonstrated Saturday in central Tel Aviv to demand the return of hostages in the Gaza Strip, even at the cost of ending the war in the enclave, Anadolu reports.

The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said thousands gathered in Hostages Square, including hundreds of family members of the captives.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, reaffirmed Saturday that he would not end the 19-month war until “Hamas’s civil and military…

The Houthi group announced Saturday that it shot down a second US MQ-9 drone within 24 hours in the skies above the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, Anadolu reports.

Yahya Sare’e, the group’s spokesperson, said that “air defenses shot down an American MQ-9 drone with a locally made surface-to-air missile while it was conducting hostile activities over Sanaa.”

Sare’e said it was the second drone that the group’s air defenses succeeded in downing within 24…