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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman offered to host mediation talks between Russia and Ukraine in a phone call Thursday with Russian leader Vladimir Putin as the conflict entered its second week. The Gulf state’s de facto leader called for a “political solution” after the Russian invasion and also reiterated his support for the OPEC+ group of oil producers, which includes Russia, to stabilise oil markets. “The crown prince explained the kingdom’s… support for efforts […]
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday made his first visit to Israel since taking office, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and international efforts to forge a new Iran nuclear deal. Scholz toured Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and laid a wreath. He was later due to meet Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and visit the Knesset, or parliament. The two heads of government — both relatively new to […]
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – The World Bank on Tuesday announced more than $1 billion in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan, stating the money will go to UN agencies and international NGOs while remaining “outside the control” of the country’s Taliban rulers. The reallocation from the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) follows the $280 million in ARTF funds disbursed last December, and is aimed at supporting the humanitarian response over the critical winter months. The […]
Israelis, Arabs and Iranians landed back in their home countries Tuesday to the tearful relief of relatives, as evacuations of nationals caught up in the Russian invasion of Ukraine gathered pace. The Middle Eastern evacuees had been forced to make harrowing escapes through the war zone to board repatriation flights in neighbouring countries, after Ukraine closed its airspace to civilian traffic at the start of the invasion last week. One of the first flights, bringing home Israeli evacuees, […]
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed vowed Tuesday to maintain energy market stability, the UAE’s state news agency said. They agreed in a phone call on the “need to maintain the stability of the global energy market,” said the news agency WAM, as oil prices surge due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sheikh Mohammed was also briefed by Putin on “the developments of the crisis with Ukraine”, WAM […]
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) – A five-year-old boy trapped for three days down a well in a remote Afghan village has died, several Taliban officials said Friday. The child, named Haidar, slipped Tuesday to the bottom of a well being dug in Shokak, a parched village in Zabul province, around 400 kilometres (250 miles) southwest of the capital Kabul. Rescuers worked non-stop to try to reach the boy, who officials said was still alive Friday morning […]
KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (AFP) – Kuwaiti women are angry after the military, having allowed female soldiers in combat roles, decided they need the permission of a male guardian and banned them from carrying weapons. Activists have decried the policy as “one step forward, two steps back” after the defence ministry also decided that women in the armed forces, unlike civilians, must wear head coverings. The moves have sparked an online backlash in Kuwait, usually regarded […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) – Saudi Arabia has said it filled and fortified thousands of abandoned wells across the country, after the tragic death of a boy in Morocco following failed rescue efforts. Five-year-old Rayan, who spent five days trapped down a well, was laid to rest on Monday in his village of Ighrane in Morocco’s Rif mountains. Following last week’s tragic incident, Saudi Arabia’s ministry of environment, water and agriculture said on Sunday: “To […]
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) – The United Nations has demanded the Taliban provide information on two more women activists allegedly detained by the group this week — bringing to four the number missing this year. Since returning to power in August the Taliban have cracked down on dissent by forcefully dispersing women’s rallies, detaining critics and beating local journalists covering protests. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said late on Thursday it had sought […]
by Jay Deshmukh with Rouba El Husseini Agence France-Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) – The Taliban are inching closer towards international recognition but any concessions Afghanistan’s new rulers make will be on their terms, the regime’s foreign minister said in an interview with AFP. In his first interview since returning from talks with Western powers in Oslo, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi also urged Washington to unlock Afghanistan’s assets to help ease a humanitarian crisis. No […]
by Mohamad Ali Harissi Agence France Presse DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday said it prevented another drone attack over its territory, after Washington said it will send a warship and fighter jets to help defend its Gulf ally as conflict with Yemeni rebels intensifies. The UAE, a major financial hub and part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels for seven years, announced the “interception and […]
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) – A United Nations report seen Sunday says the Taliban and its allies allegedly killed more than 100 former Afghan government members, security personnel and people who worked with international forces. The report, an advance copy of which was seen by AFP, describes severe curtailing of human rights by Afghanistan’s new fundamentalist rulers. In addition to the political killings, women’s rights and the right to protest have also been curbed. […]
