Browsing: Region
People buy strawberries from a produce vendor after the second Friday noon prayers of the holy month of Ramadan in the old city of Jerusalem. A woman shops for bread from a bakery after the second Friday noon prayers of the holy month of Ramadan in the old city of Jerusalem. Source link
The US has warned Syria against relying on Chinese technology in its telecommunications sector, arguing it conflicts with US interests and threatens US national security, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The message was conveyed during an unreported meeting between a US State Department team and Syrian Communications Minister Abdulsalam Haykal in San Francisco on Tuesday. Washington has been co-ordinating closely with Damascus since 2024, when Syria’s now President Ahmed al-Sharaa ousted long-time leader Bashar al-Assad, who had a strategic partnership with China. Syria is exploring the possibility of procuring Chinese technology to support its telecommunications towers and the infrastructure of local Internet service providers, according to a Syrian businessman involved in the procurement talks. “The US side asked for clarity on the ministry’s plans regarding Chinese telecom equipment,” said another source briefed on the talks. Syria is open to partnering with US firms but the matter was urgent and export controls and “over-compliance” remained an issue, according to person familiar with the meeting in San Francisco. A US diplomat familiar with the discussions told Reuters that the US State Department “clearly urged Syrians to use American technology or technology from allied countries in the telecoms sector”.It was unclear whether the United States pledged financial or logistical support to Syria to do so. Source link
Israeli settlers set fire to vehicles and tents in the Palestinian village of Susiya on Tuesday night, residents said, in the latest incident of settler violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Videos verified by Reuters showed a masked group of men, who residents said were Israeli settlers, approaching the village near the city of Hebron, and later burning vehicles and Palestinian property. “They attack us almost every day, repeatedly, because we live near the main road… Last night they burned everywhere,” Halima Abu Eid, a Susiya resident told Reuters yesterday.The Israeli military said they had dispatched soldiers to deal with reports of “deliberate burnings of Palestinian property” and had opened an investigation into the incident. Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank has increased sharply since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October 2023, with over 800 Palestinians displaced due to settler attacks in 2026 according to United Nations data. Attacks where masked settlers arrive at night to destroy Palestinian property or attack residents have become common, as Israeli settlers seek to control large swathes of land in the West Bank. An Israeli official previously blamed settler violence on a “fringe minority”, although Reuters reporting has shown well-organised plans to take Palestinian land in public settler social media channels. The UN has documented at least 86 instances of settler violence from February 3-16, leading to the displacement of 146 Palestinians and the injury of 64. Israeli indictments of settler violence are rare. At the end of 2025, Israeli monitoring group Yesh Din said of the hundreds of cases of settler violence it had documented since October 7, 2023, only 2% resulted in indictments. Israel’s far-right governing coalition has enabled the rapid spread of settlements, with some ministers openly stating they want to “bury” a Palestinian state. Most world powers deem Israel’s settlements, on land it captured in a 1967 war, illegal, and numerous UN Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity.Israel disputes the view that its settlements are unlawful and it cites biblical and historical ties to the land. Source link
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Hamad Al Busaidi and Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi discussed in Geneva the latest developments in the Iranian nuclear file. Oman News Agency reported that both sides exchanged views on technical matters related to the Iranian nuclear file and the ongoing talks between Iran and the US during the meeting, which is coinciding with the start of the new round of indirect negotiations between them. The Omani Foreign Minister expressed his appreciation for the technical and oversight role undertaken by the IAEA in support of efforts aimed at achieving the desired progress in these talks Source link
Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi and US president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff discussed Thursday the latest developments in the US-Iranian negotiations ahead of a new round of talks between the two sides.During the meeting, the two sides reviewed the Iranian side’s perspectives and proposals, alongside the responses and queries put forth by the US negotiating team regarding addressing the fundamental components of Iran’s nuclear program and the requisite guarantees necessary to realize the desired agreement on this pivotal file. Al Busaidi emphasized to Witkoff the continued efforts to prevent any escalation, given the negotiators’ openness to new ideas and solutions and to create a supportive environment for progress and the realization of a just agreement, underpinned by guarantees capable of enduring. Source link
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed that Syria’s economy continues to show signs of noticeable turnaround, driven by accelerating economic activity due to improving consumer and investor confidence and the removal of international sanctions. IMF stated in a press release on Wednesday that progress toward national reconciliation, the continuing return of refugees, increased electricity provision, and rainfall, along with the launch of large investment projects, bode well for promising growth prospects in 2026 and beyond. It added that the central government budget recorded a small surplus in 2025 thanks to prudent spending and the cessation of central bank financing, while the 2026 budget aims to increase spending on health care and education, raise wages, and rehabilitate infrastructure, with a focus on strengthening social safety nets. The Fund also highlighted the Central Bank of Syria’s success in reducing inflation and improving the exchange rate, confirming its continued support for efforts to rehabilitate the economy and enhance the performance of key economic institutions. Source link
An Iranian delegation headed by its top diplomat set off for Geneva yesterday for talks with the US, as the Islamic republic’s president struck an upbeat tone about the prospect for a negotiated agreement to avert fresh conflict. Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened strikes if Iran fails to cut a deal on its atomic programme, and in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, the US president accused Tehran of “sinister nuclear ambitions” after he ordered a massive military deployment around the Gulf. But Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said yesterday that he had a “favourable outlook for the negotiations”, after Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his team left for Switzerland.“We are continuing the process under the guidance of the supreme leader so that we can move beyond this ‘neither war nor peace’ situation,” Pezeshkian said in a speech. Trump in his address claimed that Tehran had “already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the US of America”.He also said that Iran was “at this moment again pursuing their sinister nuclear ambitions”. But Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei yesterday refuted those claims as “simply the repetition of ‘big lies’”. The maximum range of Iran’s missiles is 2,000km (1,200 miles) according to what Tehran has publicly disclosed, though the US Congressional Research Service estimates they top out at about 3,000km — less than a third of the distance to the continental US. The West believes Iran is seeking an atomic bomb, but Tehran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful.“My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy but one thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. Hours before Trump’s speech, Iran’s Araghchi declared the two sides had “a historic opportunity”, saying a deal was “within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority”. He vowed Iran would “under no circumstances” develop atomic weapons, but insisted on its right to peacefully use nuclear technology.Iran and the US held five rounds of nuclear talks last year, but those negotiations ended after Israel’s unprecedented attack on Iran triggered a 12-day war that Washington briefly joined. Source link
TOPSHOT – This handout photograph taken and released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on February 25, 2026 shows Meghan (3L), Duchess of Sussex and Prince…
Young displaced Palestinians make their way through a waterlogged street after heavy rain in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on February 24, 2026. Under…
Internally displaced Somali children sit in front of their makeshift shelter after fleeing drought in the Lower Shabelle region to the camp in Mogadishu, Somalia February…