Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

Workers at Dubai’s Expo 2020 likely to have suffered dangerous heat stress

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Exclusive: ‘World’s greatest show’ could be linked to cardiorespiratory failures in labourers building infrastructure

Thousands of migrant construction workers employed on huge infrastructure and building projects ahead of next year’s Expo 2020 exhibition in Dubai are likely to have been exposed to dangerous levels of heat stress, a Guardian investigation has found.

Dubai will host the Expo 2020 next year, in which 190 countries will come together to celebrate themes of mobility, innovation and sustainability in a series of bespoke, themed pavilions across a 4.38 sq km site in Dubai South economic zone.

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UK stance on Khashoggi murder betrayed by unlawful arms sales to Saudis

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The UK government’s continued loyalty to Saudi Arabia is causing its ‘rigorous and robust’ arms export control regime to descend into tatters

Wednesday marked the anniversary of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Outrage at his death at the time served as a trigger for public reckoning over US and UK support for Saudi Arabia and its involvement in the war in Yemen.

At that point, the war was three and a half years old, notable for airstrike attacks on civilians and a blockade that has pushed millions into famine – violations of international law, some of which that may amount to war crimes. The murder of a prominent western-friendly journalist seemed to be the final straw.

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At least seven killed as Iraqi security forces fire on protesters

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More violence marked second day of angry rallies against unemployment and corruption

At least seven people have been killed and dozens wounded in clashes across Iraq, as security forces fired live ammunition and teargas for the second day to disperse anti-government protesters demanding jobs, improved services and an end to corruption.

The deaths brought the overall number of protesters killed in two days of violence to nine. Protests on Tuesday had left two dead – one in Baghdad and another in the city of Nasiriyah – and over 200 wounded.

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Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu faces pre-trial corruption hearing

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Leader also fighting to save political career after failing to secure election wins this year

Defence lawyers representing Benjamin Netanyahu have presented their arguments against looming bribery, fraud and breach of trust indictments as a long-awaited pre-trial hearing begins.

Wednesday’s closed-door hearing, the culmination of three years of investigations, arrives at an especially fraught time for Israel’s longest-serving leader. Netanyahu is also fighting for his political life after failing to secure a clear win in two elections this year.

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Trump to blame for failure of US-Iran nuclear talks – Rouhani

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Iranian president tells cabinet the country had been ready to accept terms of French UN plan

The Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, has told his cabinet that while the country had been ready to end its nuclear stand-off with the US broadly on terms set out by France at the United Nations, Donald Trump was not prepared to make public an apparent private offer to lift sanctions.

Although his account is inherently not impartial, it is the fullest version of behind-the-scenes diplomacy at the UN general assembly provided by the Iranians.

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Dead at 24: did heat kill Doha World Cup worker Rupchandra Rumba? | Pete Pattisson

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The Nepali’s sudden death was attributed to ‘natural causes’ – but like hundreds of other young migrants who die in Qatar each year he worked in extreme temperatures

Revealed: hundreds of migrant workers dying of heat stress in Qatar each year

It is a grim place to die: a bunk bed in a filthy, crowded room, deep within Qatar’s largest labour camp, thousands of miles from home.

As Rupchandra Rumba lay there in the early hours of 23 June, his friends heard him struggle for breath.

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Revealed: hundreds of migrant workers dying of heat stress in Qatar each year

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As construction boom hits its peak ahead of Fifa World Cup, Guardian analysis shows workers toiling in potentially fatal temperatures

Dead at 24: did heat kill Doha World Cup worker Rupchandra Rumba?

Migrant labourers are being worked to death in searing temperatures in Qatar, with hundreds estimated to be dying from heat stress every year, a Guardian investigation can reveal.

This summer, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers toiled in temperatures of up to 45C for up to 10 hours a day as Qatar’s construction boom hit its peak ahead of the Fifa World Cup 2022.

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Aftershocks from Jamal Khashoggi’s murder still shake the Middle East

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Reputation of the Saudi Crown Prince may never recover after the assassination a year ago


In a region largely inured to savagery, the murder of Jamal Khashoggi a year ago has left an extraordinary impact. Rarely in modern history has the death of one man been so consequential.

When the dissident and writer walked into his country’s consulate in Istanbul on 2 October last year, Saudi Arabia was enjoying a moment in the global spotlight. Its ambitious leader had embarked on an extensive reform programme that was starting to overcome doubters.

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Iran sentences four men for spying for US and UK

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One man sentenced to death and others receive long sentences in further blow to efforts to calm US-Iranian tensions

Iranian courts have sentenced one man to death for spying for the US and jailed two others for 10 years for the same crime, as well as imprisoning a fourth person for six years for spying for Britain, an Iranian judiciary spokesman has said.

“One person has been sentenced to death for spying for America … but the ruling has been appealed,” Gholamhossein Esmaili told the judiciary’s news website, Mizan, on Tuesday.

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Moroccan journalist jailed for abortion that she says never happened

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Critics say Hajar Raissouni’s one-year sentence is a crackdown on criticism government

A Moroccan journalist has been sentenced to a year in prison on charges of having an illegal abortion and premarital sex, in a trial observers say was concocted to crack down on criticism of the government.

A Rabat court sentenced journalist Hajar Raissouni to one year in prison, on charges of “having an illegal abortion and sexual relations outside marriage”. Her fiancee, Prof Rifaat al-Amin was given a one-year sentence for alleged complicity.

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Art that survived Isis and Saddam regimes to go on display in London

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Emotionally powerful exhibition of Iraqi Kurdish artists will include paintings peppered by bullets

Kurdish artworks that survived Saddam Hussein’s use of chemical weapons as well as Islamic State’s cultural vandalism will go on display at a London gallery this week.

Iraqi Kurdish artists have made paintings and art installations from artefacts including Assyrian reliefs from 700 BC peppered by Isis bullet holes and the farewell “death” notes of a charity worker smuggling aid to Isis-controlled Mosul.

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Somali militants attack US drone base and European convoy

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Al-Shabaab claims its fighters launched raid on military base west of Mogadishu

A US military base used to launch drones and a European military convoy have been hit in separate attacks in Somalia.

A Reuters journalist saw a seriously damaged armoured vehicle bearing a small Italian flag sticker in the capital, Mogadishu, on Monday. It was unclear if there were any casualties.

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Crunch time for Netanyahu as talks with rival politicians break down

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Prime minister had potentially up to six weeks to form coalition but negotiations with the opposition stalled just days in

Benjamin Netanyahu could inform Israel’s president that he is unable to form a government as early as this week after unity talks with rival politicians broke down at the weekend, his Likud party said.

Israel has entered a period of political paralysis after an inconclusive election on 17 September. Neither Likud nor the opposition Blue and White party, led by ex-military general Benny Gantz, won a clear lead.

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Houthis claim to have killed 500 Saudi soldiers in major attack

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Yemen militant group says it captured further 2,000 troops in operation in Saudi Arabia

Houthi rebels in Yemen say they have killed 500 Saudi soldiers, captured a further 2,000 and seized a convoy of Saudi military vehicles.

The extraordinary claims at a press conference on Sunday, involving still photographs and inconclusive videos of captured soldiers, many not in uniform, could not be corroborated, and there was no independent confirmation from Saudi Arabia.

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Bodyguard to Saudi king reportedly shot dead by friend

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State TV offers few details on death of Maj Gen Abdulaziz al-Fagham in ‘personal dispute’

A prominent bodyguard to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has been shot and killed in what authorities described as a personal dispute, according to state TV, offering few details on an incident that has shocked the kingdom.

There were tributes on social media for Maj Gen Abdulaziz al-Fagham, with many including images of the bodyguard at work. One picture showed him bending down to apparently help tie the shoes of the king, the 83-year-old ruler of the oil-rich kingdom.

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Egypt’s Tahrir Square on lockdown as regime moves to stifle protests

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Security forces patrol Cairo, a week after rare rallies appeared to catch Sisi regime off guard

Egyptian security forces have blocked access to Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the highly symbolic focal point of the 2011 revolution, as part of a wide-ranging crackdown aimed at heading off planned protests against the president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

Barricades and checkpoints on surrounding streets and the Qasr al-Nil Bridge diverted traffic on Friday afternoon, and three metro stations underneath the square were closed. Security officials stopped and searched pedestrians in the vicinity.

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Saudi Arabia to open itself up to foreign tourists for first time

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Kingdom eyes holidaymakers as part of plan to diversify economy away from oil

Saudi Arabia will begin offering visas on Saturday for the first time to non-religious tourists, days after the country was criticised at the UN for its grim human rights record.

The kingdom – which has imprisoned and tortured women’s rights activists, carries out regular public executions, and was responsible for the high-profile murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Kashoggi – has said it is opening up to holidaymakers as part of a push to diversify its economy away from oil.

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UK-flagged tanker seized by Iran released and heading for Dubai

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Stena Impero, detained by Revolutionary Guards in July, departs Bandar Abbas

The British-flagged Stena Impero tanker that was seized by Iran in July has left the port of Bandar Abbas and is making its way to Dubai after more than two months in captivity.

“The vessel has left the port of Bandar Abbas and is transiting to Dubai for the crew to disembark and receive medical checks and debriefing,” said a statement from Stena Bulk, the Swedish company that owns the vessel. At normal speed it would reach Dubai within half a day.

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The Palestinian entrepreneur bringing power to Gaza

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Energy blackouts had been a feature of daily life for almost as long as Majd Mashharawi could remember. Then a visit to Japan changed everything

When Palestinian entrepreneur Majd Mashharawi left Gaza for the first time in 2017, she counted herself lucky to be among a small minority able to get away from a place described by its residents as the world’s largest open-air prison.

But during her visit to Japan, what most caught her eye were the lights in the streets. The Palestinian enclave she comes from is notorious for its power cuts. Mashharawi, 25, decided to do something about the problem on her return to Gaza.

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EU may be forced to withdraw from nuclear deal, Iran told

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EU warns it may have no choice if Iran takes further steps away from deal

The European Union has privately warned Iran that it will be forced to start withdrawing from the nuclear deal in November if Tehran goes ahead with its threat to take new steps away from the deal.

Iran has already taken three separate calibrated steps away from the deal, and has warned it will take a fourth in November unless the US lifts economic sanctions.

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