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For the first time in decades, the number of nuclear warheads is on the rise. Nuclear testing is back on the table and global military spending…
Al Sadd coach Roberto Mancini expressed deep pride after leading his side to the Qatar Stars League title for the third consecutive season on Monday, stressing that the achievement reflected ‘the significant work carried out within the club throughout the campaign, as well as the team’s stability and continuous development’. On Monday Al Sadd beat Al Shamal 3-2 in the final round of the QSL campaign at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha. Al Sadd have now won the league crown for the 19th time. Speaking after the title triumph, Mancini, 61, said on Monday: “First of all, I would like to congratulate the players, the technical and administrative staff, and Al Sadd fans on this important title. Winning the league for the third consecutive time is not easy; it is the result of daily hard work and great commitment from everyone within the team. From the beginning of the season, we knew the challenge would be difficult, but the players showed strong character and a winning mentality that helped us overcome every obstacle.” Mancini, who joined Al Sadd last November, added on Monday: “What distinguishes Al Sadd this season is that we did not rely on one player or a specific group. We had a complete team capable of finding solutions in different situations. We were the most consistent in terms of performance compared to other teams, and we were able to impose our playing style in most matches. This reflects the great work done by the players in daily training.” Mancini also noted that the title race was highly competitive, saying: “This season’s league was full of challenges, and all teams performed well. What made the difference for us was our high level of focus and constant desire to win. When you have a group that believes in what it does and works with a unified spirit, results come naturally in the end.” He concluded in a story posted on Al Sadd website: “I am also proud of the individual development many players have shown throughout the season. We saw clear improvement in physical, technical, and mental aspects, which is an important part of the team’s project. Success is not only about winning titles, but also about developing players and maintaining the team’s identity.” Related Story Source link
The flow of Iraqi fuel oil shipments through Syrian territory towards the port of Baniyas in Tartus governorate on the Mediterranean Sea constitutes a qualitative step that paved the way for a strategic corridor for oil flows towards the Mediterranean.Director of Corporate Communications at the Syrian Petroleum Company Safwan Sheikh Ahmad said that this step reflects Syria’s return to playing an important role as an energy corridor in the region, and the country’s preparedness for operational capabilities.He explained that the ongoing transport operations are carried out according to an integrated logistics system that currently relies on land transport via dedicated tankers, where the receiving, unloading and storage operations are organised within prepared facilities, leading to re-pumping via the Baniyas outlet.He revealed that the transition to the level of pipelines, including historical projects such as Kirkuk-Baniyas, requires broader arrangements, in addition to infrastructure rehabilitation and modernisation works. He also pointed out that this route provides direct revenues related to transit and storage services.Ahmad noted that Syria has a unique geographical location that qualifies it to be a pivotal energy corridor towards the Mediterranean Sea. With the development of infrastructure and the strengthening of partnerships, this role can be expanded to include a wider range of transport and export operations in light of the regional need to diversify supply routes and enhance their reliability.Director of Local and International Relations at the General Authority for Ports and Customs in Syria, Mazen Alloush, echoed similar views pertaining to the latest developments. Alloush explained that the procedures included simplifying and standardising customs transactions, adopting dedicated routes so as to ensure convoys reach their destination with high efficiency and without registering obstacles.He pointed out that the authorities faced several challenges due to the damaged infrastructure they inherited from the previous regime. For example, Al Tanf crossing, which is the passage through which Iraqi fuel convoys pass needed comprehensive rehabilitation. Despite this, he said that things are smooth as the authorities are addressing these challenges through continuous maintenance. Alloush added that the Authorities are working in light of regional changes to implement a strategic vision to enhance Syria’s role as a regional energy transit corridor, through developing the infrastructure of border crossings in parallel with rehabilitating ports and modernizing their operational infrastructure, introducing modern operating systems and increasing capacity, adopting advanced operating models, as well as developing the customs work system in line with international standards. He noted that Syria has a pivotal strategic location on the regional energy transport map, with its geographical advantages and logistical infrastructure that qualify it to play an active role in transporting and exporting Iraqi oil and the oil of other countries to the Mediterranean Sea. He pointed out that reactivating this role in light of the current changes serves common economic interests and enhances opportunities for regional integration. Concluding his remarks to QNA, Alloush stressed the Authority’s commitment to providing a safe and efficient transit environment that supports trade and energy in the region, and contributes to consolidating Syria’s position as a key player in the regional energy equation. Source link
A Syrian court conducted the first hearing Sunday in the trial of ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad and senior figures from his government, one of whom appeared in person.Assad and his brother Maher have fled Syria and will be tried in absentia, but one of their relatives, former security official Atef Najib, was in the dock in handcuffs.”Today we begin the first trials of transitional justice in Syria,” judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan declared as he opened the session.”This includes a defendant in custody, present in the dock, as well as defendants who have fled justice,” he said.A judicial source, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the proceedings marked the beginning of preparations for the trials of Assad, his brother and other prominent figures like Najib.Najib, who was arrested in January 2025 in the aftermath of the collapse of the Assad government, appeared in court in Damascus in a striped prison jersey.He previously headed Syria’s political security branch in the southern province of Daraa, where Syria’s 2011 uprising first erupted.He is accused of leading a broad campaign of repression and arrests there.Assad fled to Moscow as Islamist-led forces closed in on Damascus in December 2024, ending more than five decades of his family dynasty’s rule.The judge did not question Najib during Sunday’s session, which was dedicated to “preparatory administrative and legal procedures”, and announced that a second hearing would be held on May 10.The judicial source said in-person trials will include Wassim al-Assad, another relative of the ousted president, former grand mufti Ahmed Badreddin Hassoun, as well as military and security officials arrested by the new authorities in recent months. Source link
An Israeli military vehicle drives in Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel, April 26, 2026. REUTERS Hezbollah on Sunday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s accusation that it was jeopardising a ceasefire and said it would keep responding to Israel’s own violations and occupation of south Lebanon.In a statement, Hezbollah said its attacks on Israeli targets in southern Lebanon and northern Israel were “a legitimate response to the enemy’s persistent violations of the ceasefire since the first day of the announcement of the temporary truce”.”Hezbollah affirms clearly and firmly that the enemy’s continued ceasefire violations… and above all its continued occupation of Lebanese territory and violations of its sovereignty will be met with a response and a resistance that is present and ready to defend its land and people,” the statement said.Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting that “Hezbollah’s violations are, in practice, dismantling the ceasefire”, and said that “we are acting vigorously in accordance with arrangements agreed with the United States and, incidentally, also with Lebanon”.Under the terms of the truce, which came into force on April 17 and was recently extended for three weeks, Israel reserves the right to respond to “planned, imminent or ongoing attacks”.It has kept up deadly strikes on Lebanon and its troops are operating inside what it calls the “yellow line”, which demarcates a ribbon of Lebanese territory around 10 kilometres (six miles) deep along the length of the border, where Lebanese have been warned not to return.Hezbollah said that the extension of the truce “was supposed to, according to Lebanese authorities, lead to a real ceasefire… but instead (Israel) escalated its aggression and attacks”.The group has strongly criticised Lebanese authorities and urged them to end their direct engagement with Israel after the two countries’ ambassadors to the United States met in Washington twice this month.US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire days after the first landmark meeting between the representatives of the two countries — which have no diplomatic relations — and the truce extension at the second encounter on Thursday.Hezbollah said that Lebanese authorities had gotten themselves into “a dangerous predicament when they chose to appear together in a disgraceful photograph” with Israeli representatives.It said the government had “remained silent and been incapable of fulfilling their most basic national duties towards their land and people, watching as the enemy blows up homes and burns” Lebanese land, Hezbollah said.Authorities must “provide a clear explanation to their people about the pretext the enemy uses from an agreement that grants them the freedom to attack, destroy and kill”.”We will not wait for or bet on disappointing diplomacy that has proven its failure, nor on an authority that has failed to protect the nation,” Hezbollah added. Related…
Chinese and Cambodian nationals believed to be Huione Pay creditors clash with police and security personnel during a protest near the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC)…
Israel’s caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid speaks with former prime minister Naftali Bennett during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, September 18, 2022. File Photo Two of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most formidable political rivals said on Sunday they were joining forces in a bid to oust his coalition government in the upcoming election expected later this year.The former prime ministers – right-wing Naftali Bennett and centrist Yair Lapid – issued statements announcing the merger of their parties, Bennett 2026 and There is a Future.”This move is intended to unite the bloc, put an end to internal divisions, and focus all efforts on winning the critical upcoming elections – and leading Israel forward into the future,” opposition leader Lapid said.Bennett’s office said the new party will be called Together, and that he will be its leader.JOINING FORCES ONCE MOREBennett and Lapid have joined forces before, putting an end to Netanyahu’s successive 12-year tenure in a 2021 election, only to form a coalition government that survived barely 18 months.Before that, they muscled their way into his 2013 coalition government in a move that left Netanyahu’s traditional ultra-Orthodox allies out.Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, made a comeback when he won the November 2022 election and formed the most right-wing government in Israel’s history.But Hamas’ 2023 attack on southern Israel, which plunged the Middle East into turmoil and saw Israel fighting on multiple fronts, left Netanyahu’s security credentials in tatters and polls since then have successively predicted that he will lose the next election, due by the end of October.Netanyahu, a polarising figure at home and abroad and the most dominant Israeli politician of his generation, has shown remarkable political survival skills in the past, however.SHIFTING POLITICAL MAPBennett, 54, a pugnacious former army commando turned tech millionaire has been trailing Netanyahu in election polls. An April 23 survey by Israel’s N12 News found Bennett securing 21 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, against 25 seats for Netanyahu’s Likud.It found Lapid’s party securing only seven seats, down from the 24 it currently holds, but with Netanyahu’s coalition of right-wing and religious parties commanding only 50 seats, against at least 60 seats for Bennett and Lapid’s likely coalition that would include several smaller factions.The survey was on par with previous polls by academic institutions and other Israeli media, which have put Bennett as the top contender against Netanyahu, though the political map could still shift and change.Lapid, 62, a telegenic former TV news anchor who writes pop songs and thrillers, speaks as the voice of Israel’s secular middle class, which has become increasingly incensed by what it sees as an unfair tax and military service burden.Netanyahu’s ultra-religious political allies have been seeking an exemption for their communities – who have low employment and many state benefits – from the conscript military.It is a hot-button issue in Israel that has become all the more pressing since the military has warned of being over-stretched and with the last two years exacting the highest military death toll in decades.Both Lapid and Bennett have made it a central issue for their campaign. They have also criticised Netanyahu for failing to leverage military gains into strategic wins over Iran and the groups it supports in Lebanon and Gaza – Hezbollah and Hamas. …
Palestinians in the West Bank and central Gaza voted yesterday in municipal elections, the first since the Gaza war erupted, marked by low turnout and a narrow slate of contenders.Nearly 1.5mn people were registered to vote in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as well as 70,000 people in Gaza’s Deir el-Balah area, according to the Ramallah-based Central Elections Commission (CEC). Electoral workers begin counting votes after the close of polling stations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Al-Bireh. – AFP “We are very pleased to exercise democracy in spite of the many challenges we face, both locally and internationally,” Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas told journalists after voting in Al-Bireh, Wafa news agency said. He added that eventually elections will be held across the Gaza Strip.“Gaza is an inseparable part of the state of Palestine. Therefore, we have worked by all means to ensure that elections take place in Deir al-Balah to affirm the unity of the two parts of the country together,” Abbas said. Early yesterday a steady trickle of voters headed to polling stations in the West Bank. By 5pm (1400 GMT), turnout in the West Bank reached 40.62%, the CEC said.However, participation in Deir el-Balah was significantly lower, at just 21.2%, by the time polls closed there at 6pm. In the previous municipal elections in March 2022, turnout was 53.7% in West Bank cities.Voting in the West Bank ended at 7pm, with a notable late surge of women voters in Jericho, an AFP journalist said. Voters arrive to…
Medical sources in the Gaza Strip announced today that the death toll from the Israeli occupation’s aggression on the territory has risen to 72,593 martyrs, with 172,399 wounded, since Oct. 7, 2023.The sources explained that hospitals in the Strip received seven martyrs and 18 wounded over the past 24 hours. They noted that the total number of martyrs since the ceasefire on October 11 has risen to 817, while the number of wounded has risen to 2,296, in addition to 762 bodies that have been recovered.The sources indicated that there are still a number of victims under the rubble and in the streets, as ambulance and rescue teams have been unable to reach them so far. Source link
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has called on his people to conserve electricity, warning that while there were no shortages at present, the US and Israel aimed to sow “dissatisfaction” among the Iranian people.“We have asked our dear people, who are now ready and present on the ground, a simple request. And that is to reduce their own electricity and energy consumption,” the president said on state TV. “We do not need people to sacrifice for the time being, but we do need to control consumption,” he added. “Instead of 10 lights, two lights should be turned on in the house – what is wrong with that?”Despite the US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran, there have been no reported power cuts in Tehran in recent days. Pezeshkian accused Iran’s enemies of hitting infrastructure and imposing a blockade “so that the current satisfaction turns into dissatisfaction”.US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to wipe out Iran’s power infrastructure, but has so far not followed through. Even before the current war with the United States and Israel, however, Iran suffered frequent power outages during the winter and summer peaks in demand.According to the International Energy Agency, Iran generates nearly four-fifths of its electricity from burning natural gas, a resource in which it is self-sufficient thanks to vast gas fields. It supplements this with low-quality heavy fuel oil, known as mazout, used at older power stations.Nevertheless, ageing infrastructure, a lack of investment and the impact of fierce international sanctions that cut off access to technology and investment have left the electricity grid unable to cope with demand. Pezeshkian has previously launched several public awareness campaigns to reduce energy use. Source link