CAIRO (REUTERS) – The owner of a container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March says the canal authority was at fault over its grounding as it disputes the vessel’s detention and a compensation claim, a lawyer representing the owner said on Saturday (May 22). The Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container […]

JERUSALEM (REUTERS) – Israel will end local Covid-19 restrictions following a successful vaccine roll-out that has nearly stamped out new infections, the country’s Health Ministry said on Sunday (May 23). With the majority of the population having received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and about 92 per cent of those 50 and older inoculated or recovered, Israel […]

LOD, Israel — Years before the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Lod erupted in mob violence, a demographic shift had begun to take root: Hundreds of young Jews who support a religious, nationalist movement started to move into a mostly Arab neighborhood with the express aim of strengthening the Israeli city’s Jewish identity. A similar change […]

TEHERAN (AFP) – At least nine people were injured in a blast on Sunday (May 23) at a plant producing explosive materials in Iran’s central province of Isfahan, ISNA news agency reported. The blast ocurred at Sepahan Nargostar Chemical Industries at 4am local time (2330 GMT) due to “unclear reasons still being investigated,” said Mr […]

He is, in the popular sobriquet, the King of Israel, the “magician” who through his gifts and guile has governed Israel for 15 years in all, outlasting political rivals, waving away corruption charges, sapping Palestinian aspirations and now, again, turning conflict to his advantage. There is, it seems, no way around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. […]

NEW YORK (NYTIMES) – Health officials and international aid groups are watching to see if nearly two weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas militants led to a wave of new coronavirus cases in Gaza. The United Nations warned Monday (May 17), at the start of the second week of fighting, of a potential surge […]

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) – US President Joe Biden on Friday (May 21) said the Democratic Party still supported Israel and he was praying that the ceasefire between Israelis and Hamas would hold. Speaking at a White House news conference, Mr Biden said a two-state solution was the only answer to resolving the conflict between the two […]

With the daily bombardment by the Israeli military aimed at Hamas militants embedded in civilian neighborhoods at an end, at least for the moment as a fragile cease-fire held, residents across Gaza were able to assess for the first time on Friday the scale of the damage wrought by the latest round of conflict. For […]

The government of the Philippines, one of the largest sources of foreign labor in Israel, said on Thursday that it would temporarily stop sending its citizens to work there because of the conflict. The announcement came a day after a rocket attack by Hamas militants killed two Thai agricultural workers and wounded at least seven […]

NEW YORK (REUTERS) – Facebook set up a 24/7 “special operations centre” last week to respond to content posted on its platform about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict amid violence in the region, the company said on Wednesday (May 19). Misinformation, hate speech and calls for violence about the conflict have circulated on social media platforms amid […]