Author: Gulf News Week

While the confrontation was inevitable, the union’s power has been weakened, analysts say.Tunisia’s General Labour Union (UGTT) is poised to take on President Kais Saied in a protest scheduled for August 21.The union called for a protest against what it says are government attempts to undermine workers’ rights, and the use of intimidation to curb strikes, referring to a three-day UGTT transport strike at the end of July.Since he seized power on July 25, 2021, Saied has radically undermined the role of parliament and political parties while granting himself vastly increased powers through a constitution revised according to his edicts.Yet…

Iran’s FM sceptical about resuming talks with the US, says Iran cannot break ties with UN nuclear watchdog.Iran believes the moment for “effective” nuclear talks with the United States has not yet arrived, its top diplomat has said, adding that Tehran would not completely cut off cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog.“In my opinion, we have not yet reached the point of maturity where effective negotiations with the US can take place,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in remarks carried by state media on Wednesday.Tehran suspended negotiations with Washington, which were ostensibly aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, after…

It is not yet known if the man targeted might be ISIL’s supreme leader, Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi.A US-led coalition has captured a senior member of the ISIL (ISIS) group in northwest Syria, the SANA state news agency and a war monitor have reported, while another Syrian security source and Syria’s state-owned Al-Ekhbariya said the man targeted was killed as he tried to escape.It was not immediately clear on Wednesday if the man might be ISIL’s supreme leader. Two years ago, ISIL announced that a man called Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi was named as its new leader after Turkish authorities…

Italy’s national football team are due to play Israel in two World Cup qualifiers ahead of the 2026 tournament.The Italian Football Coaches’ Association (AIAC) is pushing for Israel to be suspended from international competition over the war on Gaza.Ahead of Italy’s crucial World Cup qualifiers against Israel in the next two months, the AIAC says “Israel must stop. Football must also take action.”The AIAC has written a formal letter to the Italian football federation, to be forwarded to European and world football’s governing bodies, calling for Israel to be suspended.“The AIAC Board of Directors unanimously believes that, given the daily…

Location of E1 is significant because it is one of the last geographical links between Bethlehem and Ramallah.Israel has given final approval for a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank that experts say would damage plans for any future territorially contiguous Palestinian state in the territory.Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who announced the plan on August 14, hailed the decision as “historic” and framed the approval as a rebuke to Western countries that announced their plans to recognise a Palestinian state in recent weeks.“The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions,”…

A passenger bus carrying Afghan returnees from Iran struck a motorcycle and a fuel truck, triggering a huge fire.The death toll from a bus crash in western Afghanistan has risen to 79, after two survivors died from their injuries, an interim Taliban administration official said.The incident occurred late on Tuesday in Herat province’s Guzara district, when a passenger bus carrying Afghan returnees from Iran struck a motorcycle and a fuel truck, triggering a huge fire.At least 19 children were among those killed, Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesman for the interim Interior Ministry, told reporters in Kabul on Wednesday.Mohammad Janan Moqadas, chief…

Israel’s military says it will call up 60,000 reservists and lengthen the service of an additional 20,000 reservists.Israel will call up 60,000 reservists in the coming weeks as it pushes forward with a plan to seize Gaza City, the military has said, even as mediators pursue efforts to secure a ceasefire in the 22-month war.The military said on Wednesday that Defence Minister Israel Katz approved plans to begin operations in some of Gaza’s most densely populated areas, and that it would call up 60,000 reservists and lengthen the service of an additional 20,000 reservists.The announcement comes as human rights groups…

Accusations of shooting civilians at will have led some observers to conclude that Israeli soldiers are ‘gamifying’ war.The Israeli military, which styles itself as the “most moral army in the world”, may be routinely committing war crimes, according to analysts in Israel and doctors who have worked in Gaza.While killings, beatings and the arbitrary arrest of Palestinians are not new to the Israeli army, a long process of dehumanisation, the infiltration of far-right ideologies in the army and a lack of accountability have led to a scenario where Israeli soldiers can do as they please without even needing an operational…

Israeli PM accuses French president of stirring anti-Semitism, and claims Australian PM has abandoned Australian Jews.A diplomatic row between Israel and Paris has broken out after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused French President Emmanuel Macron of fuelling “the anti-Semitic fire” in France by planning to recognise Palestinian statehood.Netanyahu’s accusation against the French leader was contained in a letter, seen by the AFP news agency on Tuesday, which claimed that anti-Semitism had “surged” in France since President Macron’s recent announcement that he will recognise Palestine as a state at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly next month.The French…

Israel bombards Gaza City, where many are trapped, as ceasefire deal Hamas has accepted hangs in balance.At least 18,885 children are among the more than 62,000 Palestinians killed by Israel since the start of its genocidal war in Gaza nearly two years ago, Gaza’s Government Media Office has said.The staggering, grim toll comes as the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said on Tuesday that no place is safe for children in the enclave, where Israeli-induced starvation is rife due to Israel’s blockading of desperately-needed aid and medical supplies.UN-run schools have become shelters for “hundreds of thousands of people”…