Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry is using artificial intelligence applications within an integrated work system to serve pilgrims and complete their procedures, Saudi Press Agency reported on April 30. Hajj this year begins on June 4 and ends June 9 with more than 1.8mn people visiting the Kingdom during the period, according to official statistics. Thousands more also […]
Saudi Arabia has announced a temporary suspension on issuing new short-term visas including business visit visas (both single and multiple-entry), e-tourist visas, and family visit visas for citizens of 14 countries, including Nigeria. The moratorium, set to take effect on April 13, 2025, applies to nationals of India, Egypt, Pakistan, Yemen, Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, […]
The United Nations says at least 100 children have been killed or injured every day in Gaza since the strikes resumed on March 18, even as the United States underscores continued support for Israel. “Nothing justifies the killing of children,” Philippe Lazzarini, chief of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), posted on X on Saturday. He […]
Israel said it killed a commander of the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Friday in a strike in the Lebanese port city of Sidon that also killed his adult son and daughter. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the strike as a “flagrant attack on Lebanese sovereignty” and a breach of the November 27 ceasefire […]
Israel has ordered fresh forced evacuation in Rafah, southern Gaza, as the military announced it plans to expand its renewed assault on the enclave. Avichay Adraee, the military’s Arabic language spokesperson, revealed this on X on Monday morning. He noted that the army was returning to “fight with great force” in Rafah, which is one […]
Egypt has put forward a new proposal aimed at restoring the Gaza ceasefire deal as Palestinian health authorities said Israeli strikes have killed at least 65 people in the enclave in the past 24 hours. Security sources told Reuters that the proposal, made last week, follows an escalation in violence after Israel resumed air and […]
The Israeli military says it is carrying out “extensive strikes” in the Gaza Strip, with the Hamas-run health ministry reporting that at least 330 Palestinians have been killed. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was targeting what it called “terror targets” belonging to Hamas. Mahmoud Abu Wafah, the deputy interior minister in Gaza and […]
Israel ordered all of Gaza’s electricity supply to be cut off on Sunday in an effort to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining Israeli hostages held in the territory. Energy minister Eli Cohen’s announcement came a week after Israel cut off all aid supplies to the territory, which has a population of more than two […]
Two men were publicly flogged in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province on Thursday after they were found guilty of sexual relations by a court operating under strict Islamic law. While gay sex is not illegal elsewhere in Indonesia — the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation — it is outlawed in Aceh, which imposes a version of […]
The Israeli government is preparing to receive the bodies of four hostages from Gaza on Thursday and is working on bringing back six living captives on Saturday, an Israeli security official said on Monday. If the two handovers are successful, only four hostages, all presumed dead, would remain in Gaza out of the 33 due […]
Hamas has said it is committed to implementing the Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel and will continue releasing hostages as scheduled, raising hopes that a resumption of the war can be averted. Following talks in Cairo, the Palestinian armed group said mediators from Egypt and Qatar had confirmed they would “remove obstacles”. There was no […]
The Gaza ceasefire will end if Hamas does not return Israeli hostages by midday on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said. He warned of a return to “intense fighting” if they are not released. Hamas said on Monday it would postpone Saturday’s scheduled release of hostages after accusing Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire. Mr […]
A spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas says the group is postponing the next scheduled release of Israeli hostages, blaming what he says are Israeli violations of the ceasefire deal. Three hostages held in Gaza are due to be freed on Saturday in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. Israel’s Defence Minister […]
Hamas has confirmed that its military chief, Mohammed Deif, has been killed. Israel’s military said it had killed Deif in July last year, but Hamas had not confirmed this until now. Israel says Deif was one of the figures responsible for planning the 7 October attacks in southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed […]
Ten Palestinians were killed and several others injured in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Tammoun, southeast of Tubas in the occupied West Bank, late on Wednesday, Palestinian health officials said. The Palestinian Health Ministry said ten bodies and several wounded people were taken to Tubas Governmental Hospital after the strike. Meanwhile, the Israeli […]
Benjamin Netanyahu has been invited to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House next week, the Israeli prime minister’s office has said. The visit, yet to be confirmed by the Trump administration, is set to take place on 4 February. Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the Israeli PM is the first […]
Iraq’s parliament has reportedly passed several laws including the one that will effectively legalise child marriage for girls as young as nine. According to Mail Online, the amendments to Iraq’s personal status law will give Islamic courts increased authority over family matters, including marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Iraqi law currently sets 18 as the minimum […]
Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP on Tuesday that four Israeli women hostages will be freed in return for Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, in the second such release under a ceasefire deal. Nunu said the Palestinian Islamist movement would release “four Israeli female detainees in exchange” for a second group of Palestinian prisoners. Meanwhile, Qatar […]
The first 90 Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel under the terms of the Gaza ceasefire deal were freed hours after an agreement took effect on Sunday. The prisoners’ release deal is aimed at halting the fighting that has devastated the coastal territory, local media cited Israeli authorities as confirming. Local media outlets, including […]
Israel’s security cabinet was set to meet Friday after final details of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal were ironed out, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, with the United States “confident” the truce would begin as planned this weekend. If approved by Israel’s cabinet, the ceasefire agreement would take effect Sunday and involve […]
