Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

Yemeni activist who revealed sexual abuse by Houthis ‘being held by Saudi intelligence’

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Samira al-Houri disappeared after allegations that claims of female prisoners being raped were embellished

A prominent Yemeni human rights activist who revealed sexual abuse by Houthis in the country’s jails has been detained for more than a year by Saudi intelligence and her whereabouts is unknown, her friends have claimed.

The claim about Samira al-Houri’s disappearance has been made by Ali Albukhaiti, a prominent Yemeni politician and writer, who told the Guardian he decided to go public after he felt all private diplomatic avenues to secure her release had been exhausted. Albukhaiti drew parallels with the case of Jamal Khashoggi, the murdered Saudi journalist and dissident, saying although he had no evidence about her fate he feared for her safety.

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Brent crude price rises after Saudi Arabia agrees to cut oil output

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Price gained more than 2% on Monday morning to touch one-month high of $78.73

The price of Brent crude has risen after Saudi Arabia agreed to cut its output to firm up oil prices after a weekend of tense talks.

Saudi ministers agreed to cut 1m barrels per day (bpd) from its output from next month at a meeting of the Opec+ group of oil-producing nations in Vienna.

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Saudi Arabia warns Snapchat users that ‘insulting’ regime is a criminal offense

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Users of the social media app have faced legal consequences for posts – some private – that are critical of Saudi authorities

Saudi state media issued an explicit warning that it is a criminal offense to “insult” authorities using social media apps such as Snapchat, the California-based messaging app whose chief executive recently forged a new “cooperation” deal with the kingdom’s culture ministry.

The threat – which was originally televised in April and then deleted – has gained new resonance as more cases emerge in which Snapchat users and influencers in the kingdom have been arrested by authorities and, in some cases, sentenced to decades-long prison sentences.

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Sudan officials fear for historical artefacts threatened by fighting

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Warring factions urged to preserve heritage after video clip appears to show fighters raiding Khartoum museum

Heritage officials in Sudan have pleaded with warring factions to preserve tens of thousands of historical artefacts threatened by fighting in the capital, Khartoum, that is in its eighth week.

A video clip circulating on social media on Friday appeared to show fighters from the Rapid Support Forces entering the bioarchaeology lab of the National Museum in Khartoum and opening storage containers containing mummies and other remains.

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Sudan fighting escalates after breakdown in ceasefire talks

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The latest shaky truce between country’s army and RSF paramilitary came to an end on Saturday evening and has not been extended

Fighting has intensified in several areas of Khartoum after a ceasefire deal expired, residents of Sudan’s capital reported, as activists said a new outburst of violence in North Darfur state had left at least 40 people dead.

The ceasefire between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began on 22 May and expired on Saturday evening.

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‘Last resort’: government faces legal action to force repatriation of Australians from Syrian refugee camps

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Seventeen women and nine children will take the government to court, arguing that Australia has ‘effective control’ of their detention and the power to set them free

Australian mothers and children held in a Syrian detention camp will take the Australian government to court in an attempt to compel the government to bring them home.

Seventeen Australian women and nine children – the wives, widows, and children of slain or jailed Islamic State fighters – held in the Roj camp in north-east Syria, will file a writ of habeas corpus in the federal court on Monday morning, arguing that Australia has “effective control” of their detention and the power to set them free.

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Uganda says 54 African Union peacekeepers killed in Somalia by al-Shabaab militants

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Death toll one of heaviest since pro-government forces launched offensive against jihadists last August

Fifty-four Ugandan peacekeepers died when militants besieged an African Union base in Somalia last week, Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, has said, in one of the worst recent attacks by al-Shabaab jihadists in the war-torn country.

“We discovered the lifeless bodies of 54 fallen soldiers, including a commander,” Museveni said in a Twitter post late on Saturday.

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Killer of three Israeli soldiers was Egyptian border police officer, says army

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Netanyahu calls deaths of three members of Israel Defence Forces on Sinai border a terrorist attack

A man who shot and killed three Israeli soldiers in a rare incident on the Sinai border with Egypt has been identified by the Israeli military as a member of the Egyptian border police.

Two Israel Defence Forces (IDF) combat soldiers were killed early on Saturday morning at a military post near Mount Harif, in the Negev desert, the army said. The discovery of their bodies a few hours later triggered a manhunt in which a third soldier was killed, as well as the assailant. A fourth Israeli soldier sustained minor injuries in the shootout.

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Three Israeli soldiers killed along Egyptian border

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Details about gunman, who Israeli army says was also killed after a manhunt, have not been released

Two Israeli soldiers have been killed in a rare shooting along the Egyptian border, triggering a manhunt in which a third soldier and the “assailant” were killed, the army said.

A fourth soldier, a non-commissioned officer, was lightly wounded and evacuated to hospital, it added. The military said an assailant was in Israeli territory when he opened fire at troops. The soldiers returned fire, killing the gunman.

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Iraq’s oil boom blamed for worsening water crisis in drought-hit south

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Pollution from gas flaring – the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction – is also a major concern in the oil-rich but extremely dry south

Western oil companies are exacerbating water shortages and causing pollution in Iraq as they race to profit from rising oil prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Water scarcity has already displaced thousands and increased instability, according to international experts, while Iraq is now considered the fifth most vulnerable country to the climate crisis by the UN. In the oil-rich but extremely dry south, wetlands that used to feed entire communities are now muddy canals.

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Home Office could forcibly separate non-cohabiting couple before their wedding

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Youssef Mikhaiel is at risk of forced removal to Egypt before he marries Sarah Bradley

A couple planning to marry soon could be forcibly separated by the Home Office because they are not cohabiting before their wedding.

Sarah Bradley, 29, a British digital marketing teacher, and Youssef Mikhaiel, 28, an Egyptian man who graduated from the University of Glasgow with a degree in aeronautical engineering, met in February 2022 through a Christian dating app.

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Sudan: 27 reported killed in shelling of market in poor area south of Khartoum

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Tanks believed to have attacked area residents say is not close to any military target

Twenty-seven people have been killed and 106 injured after a market in a poor area south of Khartoum was shelled, according to local residents.

Six tank shells were fired from al-Shajara, one of the few areas the army controls in the Sudanese capital, towards the neighbourhood of Mayo, residents said.

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Jordan’s crown prince cements status with glitzy wedding to Saudi architect

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Celebrities and UK royals watch Prince Hussein marry Rajwa Alseif in marriage seen to secure succession and boost state ties

Jordan’s monarchy has cemented the role of its 28-year-old crown prince with a wedding attended by global royalty, including Britain’s Prince and Princess of Wales, in a glittering show seeking to buttress the succession and move on from a painful family scandal.

Crown Prince Hussein married Rajwa Alseif, a 29-year-old Saudi architect linked to her own country’s ruling dynasty, on Thursday afternoon in a match seen as boosting Amman’s rocky relationship with its more powerful and oil-rich neighbour.

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At least 60 children die trapped in Khartoum orphanage amid Sudan conflict

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Infants, toddlers and older children died from fever or lack of food while trapped in deteriorating conditions

At least 60 infants, toddlers and older children have perished over the past six weeks while trapped in harrowing conditions in an orphanage in Sudan’s capital as fighting raged outside.

Most died from lack of food and from fever. Twenty-six died in two days over the weekend.

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Australian child pleads with prime minister to be rescued from Syrian detention camp

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Exclusive: ‘I have spent half my life in a tent closed off by gates like a prison,’ says the child, who is under 10, in a voice message to Anthony Albanese

An Australian child trapped in a Syrian detention camp has pleaded directly with prime minister Anthony Albanese to be rescued and brought home.

“I am one of the children left behind in Roj camp and I have spent half my life in a tent closed off by gates like a prison,” a voice message sent to the prime minister’s office says. “I have never been to school, laid in grass or climbed a tree.”

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Royal fever sweeps Jordan ahead of crown prince’s wedding

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Photos of bridal party of Crown Prince Hussein’s fiancee, Rajwa Al Saif, go viral as celebrations break from modest traditions

Jordan is gearing up for Crown Prince Hussein’s wedding on Thursday, an event already greeted with fireworks, concerts and social media frenzy in the usually quiet desert kingdom.

The eldest son of King Abdullah II will marry his Saudi fiancee, Rajwa Al Saif, at the grand royal wedding with regional monarchs, the US first lady, Jill Biden, and the king of the Netherlands among the guests.

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Iran begins trial of journalist who covered Mahsa Amini’s death

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Niloofar Hamedi appears in court over her reporting on woman whose death sparked mass protests

A revolutionary court in Iran has begun the trial of a journalist behind closed doors on charges linked to her coverage of a Kurdish-Iranian woman whose death in custody last year sparked months of unrest, her husband has said.

Mahsa Amini’s death while held by the “morality police” for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code unleashed a wave of mass anti-government protests for months, posing one of the boldest challenges to the country’s clerical leaders in decades.

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Sudan’s rival factions agree to extend shaky ceasefire after rebuke from mediators

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The US and Saudi Arabia have called out both sides for specific breaches to the previous week-long ceasefire

Sudan’s warring sides have agreed to extend a shaky ceasefire in their battle for control of the country, after the two key international mediators signalled impatience with persistent truce violations.

The five-day extension of the ceasefire between Sudan’s military and its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, was announced in a joint statement late Monday by Saudi Arabia and the United States.

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Fighting continues in Sudan as week of ceasefire nears its end

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Violence in recent days has stopped aid getting to civilians, as fears grow war will escalate

Gunshots and artillery fire have rocked the Sudanese capital on the last day of a frequently breached ceasefire, as calls to arms stoked fears the six-week war would intensify.

People said they could hear street battles in northern Khartoum, as well as artillery fire in the south of the city of more than 5 million people, which has been turned into a war zone.

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Heavily pregnant woman who escaped from Sudan gives birth to ‘miracle baby’

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Woman’s husband has been granted asylum in UK and has been trying to get her a visa to join him

A heavily pregnant woman who was shot at, escaped an overturned car and had to walk for hours in the middle of the night to reach a border crossing with her three-year-old daughter has given birth to a miracle baby, her husband has said.

The woman had been trapped in the war-torn Sudanese capital, Khartoum, after fighting broke out last month, while her husband, who works as a carer in Wolverhampton, tried to get her a UK visa.

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