Author: Faadi Kazemi

Pope Francis issues a heartfelt plea for peace in Palestine, Israel, and Ukraine, urging dialogue over conflict and remembering the suffering of those affected. Pope Francis once again turned his prayers to peace in the world. Following the Regina Coeli in Saint Peter’s Square on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Pope Francis once again expressed his hope that dialogue, negotiation, and diplomacy might prevail in the Middle East. He urged against succumbing to “the logic of assertion.” “I continue to watch with concern and sorrow the situation in the Middle East. I reiterate the plea not to yield to the…

All men in Russia are required to do a year-long military service, or equivalent training during higher education, from the age of 18. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree setting out the routine spring conscription campaign, calling up 150,000 citizens for statutory military service, a document posted on the Kremlin’s website showed on Sunday (31 March). All men in Russia are required to do a year-long military service, or equivalent training during higher education, from the age of 18. In July Russia’s lower house of parliament voted to raise the maximum age at which men can be conscripted to 30…

The United States has reportedly approved a plan to attack Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for the killing of three soldiers five days ago. US broadcaster CBS News reported on Thursday that the White House has approved the targeting of Iranian personnel and facilities inside the two countries in response to the drone attack on Sunday at the Tower 22 base near the border between Syria and Jordan. It did not provide any further details but said, quoting unnamed US officials, that weather will be a major factor in the timing of the strikes as Washington purportedly wants better visibility to…

Kuwait’s leader Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah has died at the age of 86, Kuwaiti state TV announced. The sheikh had led the oil-rich nation for the last three years after taking over from his half brother, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah. The crown prince, 83-year-old Sheikh Mishal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, has been named as his successor. Kuwait has announced 40 days of mourning and government offices are to close for three days. “With great sadness and sorrow, we mourn… the death of Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah” a statement aired on state TV said. Sheikh Nawaf was named crown prince in…

The British government facilitated millions of pounds of payments to senior Saudi Arabian officials over decades to win and maintain lucrative contracts, lawyers representing a former civil servant accused of corruption said on Monday, Reuters reports. Jeffrey Cook, the former managing director of an Airbus subsidiary, GPT Special Project Management, is accused of paying nearly 9.7 million pounds ($12.2 million) to middlemen to win contracts with the Saudi Arabian National Guard. Cook, formerly a civil servant with Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD), is charged with one count of corruption between 2007 and 2012, alongside John Mason. Both men deny the charges and…

The health authorities in the Gaza Strip, on Monday, said no fuel had reached the hospitals in the northern parts of the enclave despite the humanitarian pause, Anadolu Agency reports. Early on Monday, the Palestinian crossing authority told Anadolu that some 150 aid trucks entered Gaza on Sunday, including 7 gasoline trucks, as part of the terms of the agreed humanitarian pause in Gaza. On 24 November, the humanitarian pause initially set for four days between Israel and the Palestinian factions entered into force at 7 a.m., local time (GMT0500). The humanitarian pause agreement includes the release of 50 Israeli captives from Gaza in…

Political leaders in the Welsh Parliament have called for peace in the Middle East in response to the events in Israel and Gaza. First Minister Mark Drakeford said the events have a “real impact here in Wales in our own communities”. All party leaders condemned the attacks on civilians by Hamas. But Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said the siege of Gaza cutting water and energy supplies was impossible to justify. Welsh Conservative Andrew RT Davies meanwhile said Israel’s right to protect its borders must be supported. They spoke in the Welsh Parliament on Tuesday afternoon. Mr Drakeford said…

Mediator, Qatar, said on Monday a deal had been reached to extend a truce between Israeli and Hamas forces in Gaza by two days, continuing a pause in seven weeks of warfare that has killed thousands and laid waste to the Palestinian enclave, Reuters reports. a Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a post on social media platform X. Hamas also said it had agreed a two-day extension to the truce with Qatar and Egypt, who have been facilitating indirect negotiations between the two sides. There was no immediate comment from Israel. Before the statements, the head of Egypt’s State Information Service,…

Questions are being asked about possible organ theft with the Israeli army holding the bodies of dozens of Palestinians killed during its genocide in the Gaza Strip since 7 October. Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has called for an independent international investigation into the issue. Euro-Med Monitor has documented the Israeli army’s confiscation of dozens of dead bodies from Al-Shifa Medical Complex and the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, and others from the vicinity of the so-called “safe corridor” — Salah al-Din Road — designated for displaced people heading to the central and southern parts of the enclave. According…

The Uncle of one of the three Palestinian students shot in the US state of Vermont this weekend said, on Monday, that his nephew had fled violence in the Occupied West Bank, believing that he would be safe in the US, Anadolu Agency reports. Speaking at a press conference, along with Burlington Mayor, Miro Weinberger, Police Chief Jon Murad and Hisham Awartani’s uncle, Rich Price, Kinnan Abdalhamid’s uncle, Radi Tamimi, said they are “still in shock” over the shooting of the three students as they were speaking Arabic, and were wearing keffiyehs. The three students who were shot Saturday evening have been…