Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

What was actually achieved at Trump and Xi’s ‘stalemate summit’ in Beijing?

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US president has said he and Chinese leader ‘settled a lot of different problems’ but has given little detail on solutions

Donald Trump’s whirlwind trip to Beijing – the first US presidential visit in nearly a decade – wrapped up with much fanfare but little clarity about what was actually achieved.

Trump said on Friday he and Xi Jinping, China’s leader, “settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve”. But he didn’t provide much detail on what those solutions were.

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UAE to complete second oil pipeline bypassing strait of Hormuz by 2027

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State oil company fast-tracks previously undisclosed project, which is expected to double export capacity

The United Arab Emirates has announced it will complete a new oil pipeline bypassing the strait of Hormuz by next year to secure its future crude exports against the threat of disruption.

The current blockade of the vital waterway, through which 20% of oil and seaborne gas flowed before the Iran war, is approaching the 11-week mark, sending energy prices soaring around the world and throttling Gulf economies.

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Israeli nationalists chant ‘death to Arabs’ in violent Jerusalem Day march

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Far-right Jewish marchers call for Palestinian villages to ‘burn’ as they storm through Muslim quarter of Old City

Israeli nationalists chanted “death to the Arabs”, “may your villages burn” and “Gaza is a graveyard” in a state-sponsored march through Jerusalem to mark the anniversary of the city’s capture and annexation.

The annual assertion of Jewish control over Palestinian East Jerusalem has grown more extreme in recent years, and Thursday’s event culminated with the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, unfurling an Israeli flag in front of the al-Aqsa mosque, the holiest Islamic site in the city.

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Iran says ships entering strait of Hormuz must cooperate after vessel seized

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Docked ship reportedly seized outside UAE port by “unauthorised personnel”

The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has said ships entering the strait of Hormuz must cooperate with the Iranian navy as reports emerged of a ship being seized outside a United Arab Emirate port and taken towards Iranian waters.

The UK Maritime Trading Organisation said the docked ship was seized by “unauthorised personnel” while it was anchored off the coast of the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah near the southern entry to the strait of Hormuz.

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‘Inevitable’ jet fuel shortages will drive up air fares this summer, says Willie Walsh

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Impact of disruption from Iran war may be felt into 2027 even if strait of Hormuz reopens, says aviation body boss

Increases in air fares for travellers in Europe are “inevitable” over the peak summer period because of the high cost of jet fuel, according to the head of the international aviation body.

While some airlines faced with weak demand have reduced their European fares recently, Willie Walsh, the former British Airways boss who leads the International Air Transport Association, said there was no way carriers could absorb the extra costs in the long run.

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Remains of second US soldier who went missing during military exercises in Morocco have been recovered

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Mariyah Symone Collington and Kendrick Lamont Key Jr, who also died, had fallen off a cliff during an off-duty hike

The remains of the second US army soldier who went missing during military exercises in Morocco have been recovered, the army said on Wednesday, ending a multinational search operation that deployed air, naval and artificial intelligence assets.

The soldier was identified as Spc Mariyah Symone Collington of Taveres, Florida, the US Army Europe and Africa said in a statement. She was 19 years old.

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Israel’s ruling coalition proposes early elections amid ultra-Orthodox anger at Netanyahu

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Prime minister under pressure over failure to grant military service exemptions as multi-party government looks at risk of collapse

Israel’s ruling coalition has submitted a proposal to dissolve parliament to pave the way for early elections as the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, came under mounting pressure from ultra-Orthodox parties.

The move, initiated by Netanyahu’s rightwing Likud party, came as Netanyahu appeared to be facing a possible collapse of his fractious coalition.

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Family of British couple jailed in Iran say they have lost contact

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Lindsay and Craig Foreman were given 10-year sentences after entering the country on a motorcycling trip

The “terrified” family of a British couple jailed for 10 years in Iran on spying charges have said they have lost all contact with them.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both 53, were arrested in January 2025 while travelling through Iran during an around-the-world trip by motorcycle.

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Benjamin Netanyahu says he made secret trip to UAE at height of Iran war

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Emirates’ foreign ministry rejects claims that Netanyahu visited country, describing them as ‘baseless’

Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed he made a secret trip to the United Arab Emirates at the height of the Iran war to meet the president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

“This visit has led to a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the UAE,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said on Wednesday night.

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UAE’s secret attack on Iran risks drawing Gulf states into the war

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If current precarious ceasefire between US and Iran ends, Emirates are more likely to be targeted by Tehran

The risk of some Gulf states becoming embroiled in a direct war with Iran has risen after it was reported the United Arab Emirates had secretly launched a major attack on Iran during the conflict.

In addition, Kuwait has said that at least four members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had been captured trying to carry out “terrorist attacks” on the Kuwaiti-owned Bubiyan Island, the largest island in the Kuwaiti coastal chain.

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Middle East crisis live: Iran could enrich uranium to weapons grade if attacked, senior lawmaker warns

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Ebrahim Rezaei says in social media post that the country could enrich its stocks of uranium to 90% and will review such a move in parliament

Iran has expanded its definition of the strait of Hormuz into a “vast operational area” far wider than before the war, according to a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy in comments likely to anger the US.

The strait is no longer viewed as a narrow stretch around a handful of islands but instead has been greatly enlarged in scope and military significance, according to Mohammad Akbarzadeh, deputy political director of the IRGC Navy, the state-affiliated Fars news agency reported this morning.

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Israeli MPs back special tribunal with death penalty powers for alleged 7 October attackers

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Knesset approves plan for livestreamed trials in military court, which has drawn comparisons to Eichmann trial

Israeli lawmakers have approved setting up a livestreamed special tribunal with the power to sentence to death Palestinians convicted of taking part in the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 that triggered the war in Gaza.

The measure was passed by 93 votes to none in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel’s parliament, reflecting widespread support among Israel’s Jewish majority for punishing those found responsible for the deadliest single attack in Israel’s history. The remaining 27 lawmakers were absent or abstained from voting.

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More than 110 Nobel laureates call on Iran to release gravely ill activist Narges Mohammadi

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As human rights advocate is treated in Tehran hospital after transfer from Zanjan prison, prize winners demand her freedom

More than 110 Nobel laureates have called for the immediate and unconditional release of Narges Mohammadi, the imprisoned Iranian human rights activist and Nobel peace prize laureate, after she was transferred to hospital amid concerns over her rapidly deteriorating health.

In a statement released on Tuesday, 112 Nobel laureates urged the Iranian authorities and the international community to act “without delay” to secure Mohammadi’s release and ensure her continued access to medical treatment.

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Internal displacements caused by violence or conflict at record high in 2025

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The 32.3m surpasses those caused by disasters for the first time, as 82.2m people displaced in total around world

The number of internal displacements triggered by conflict or violence around the world reached a record high in 2025, surpassing the number of disaster-driven internal displacements for the first time.

A report published by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) shows that by the end of 2025 there were 32.3m conflict-driven internal displacements. That is 60% higher than those recorded the previous year, and – for the first time since data collection began in 2008 – above displacements driven by natural disasters, which reached 29.9m in 2025.

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Trump says ceasefire with Iran on ‘life support’ after rejecting peace proposals

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US president says he is considering restarting naval escorts in strait of Hormuz in attempt to end Iranian blockade

Donald Trump has said the ceasefire with Iran is on “life support” and that he is considering restarting US navy military escorts of ships through the strait of Hormuz in an attempt to end the Iranian blockade of the vital waterway.

The US president dismissed Iran’s peace proposals as stupid, and denied he was under any domestic pressure to reach a deal.

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Israeli troops jailed for desecration of Virgin Mary statue in Lebanon

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IDF says two soldiers will spend weeks in military prison over incident it said was viewed with great severity

Two Israeli soldiers will spend weeks in military prison for the desecration of a Christian object after one stuck a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon and the other photographed it.

The photo of the soldier, a cigarette dangling from his own mouth, went viral and sparked widespread outrage. It was the latest act by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon to be denounced as anti-Christian.

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Trump calls Iran’s response to peace plan ‘totally unacceptable’ as ceasefire frays

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US president expresses ire at Tehran’s reported demands, as drones strike Gulf nations and Israel warns war ‘not over’

Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian response to a US peace proposal as “totally unacceptable”, on a day the month-old ceasefire showed signs of fraying as drone strikes were reported around the region and Benjamin Netanyahu warned the war was “not over”.

The Iranian counter-proposal was passed to Washington through Pakistani mediators.

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Nobel laureate’s smuggled memoir details beatings and neglect in Iranian prisons

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Writing by Narges Mohammadi, arrested 14 times for activism, offers a disturbing insight into treatment

In an exclusive extract of writing smuggled from prison in Iran, the Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has described the “torture” of solitary confinement, and her systematic medical neglect by the prison system.

The writing from the past decade will be part of a soon to be published memoir that gives a rare and alarming insight into the treatment of Mohammadi, who is in critical condition. It details beatings, constant interrogations, deprivation of medical care and long stretches in solitary confinement during her numerous imprisonments.

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threaten US sites in Middle East if tankers come under fire

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Revolutionary Guards issue warning as Trump awaits Iran’s response to Washington’s latest proposal for peace deal

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have threatened to target US sites in the Middle East if its tankers come under fire, Iranian media reported on Saturday, as Washington was left waiting for Tehran’s response to its latest negotiating position.

“Any attack on Iranian tankers and commercial vessels will result in a heavy attack on one of the American centres in the region and enemy ships,” the force said, a day after US strikes on two Iranian tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

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Neither US nor Iran can sustain strait of Hormuz standoff indefinitely

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Simply hanging on could be a disaster for Iranians, while Trump needs to resolve this economic crisis he created

Exchanges of fire between Iran and the US demonstrate the serious instability of the situation in the Middle East. Though the US strikes late on Thursday were just “a love tap”, according to the US president, Donald Trump, the reality is that neither side can continue the high-stakes standoff in the strait of Hormuz indefinitely.

The US and its ally Israel demonstrated a comprehensive military superiority over Iran – taking minimal casualties in the 38-day war – but Washington has both failed to translate that into strategic dominance and allowed Iran to take control of the strait, driving up the oil price.

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