Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

Second migrant rescue boat defies Salvini and docks in Italy

Posted on by

Mediterranea’s Italian-flagged Alex arrives in Lampedusa with 41 shipwrecked migrants

A charity rescue vessel brought 41 shipwrecked migrants into port in Lampedusa on Saturday, the second boat to defy far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini’s bid to close Italian ports to them.

Mediterranea’s Italian-flagged Alex arrived in port where a strong police presence was waiting for them but everyone remained on board after spending two days with the rescued migrants and asylum-seekers on the sailboat.

Continue reading...

Survivor of shipwreck off Tunisia describes vessel going down

Posted on by

Malian was one of four out of over 80 people on board who were rescued after raft sank

One of only four survivors after an inflatable raft carrying more than 80 people capsized off the coast of Tunisia has recounted his ordeal as 54 rescuees from a separate shipwreck headed to Malta.

Soleiman Coulibaly, from Mali, said he had spent two days clinging to a piece of wood after the engine caught fire and the inflatable sank.

Continue reading...

Bust of Tutankhamun sold at auction for £4.7m despite Egypt protests

Posted on by

The ‘rare and beautiful’ 3,000-year-old sculpture goes under the hammer in defiance of claims it was stolen

A brown quartzite head of young king Tutankhamun has sold at auction in London for more than £4.7m despite Egyptian demands for its return.

The more than 3,000-year-old sculpture, displayed at Christie’s London auction house, shows the boy king taking the form of the ancient Egyptian god Amen.

Continue reading...

Joss Stone ‘detained and deported’ from Iran

Posted on by

Singer says authorities did not believe she would not be playing a public show

The British singer Joss Stone says she has been deported from Iran, claiming the authorities believed she would play an unsanctioned concert in the country, where there are strict restrictions on female musicians performing in public.

In a video posted on Instagram, the 32-year-old said: “We got detained and then we got deported,” while dressed in a white headscarf, adding that she was on a “blacklist” and that the authorities “don’t believe we wouldn’t be playing a public show” on what would have been the final leg of her world tour.

Continue reading...

More than 80 feared dead as migrant boat capsizes off Tunisia

Posted on by

Four men were pulled from sinking vessel with one later dying in hospital, says official

More than 80 people trying to reach Europe from Libya are feared dead after their boat capsized off the coast of Tunisia, according to the UN migration agency.

The boat sank on Wednesday off the port town of Zarzis and 82 of the migrants who had been onboard were missing, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. Fishermen pulled four men from the sinking boat, said Lorena Lando, the agency’s head in Tunisia. One of the four died later in hospital.

Continue reading...

Iran fury as Royal Marines seize tanker suspected of carrying oil to Syria

Posted on by

Iran summons UK ambassador over incident off Gibraltar as tensions escalate over nuclear deal

Royal Marines have helped seize an Iranian supertanker suspected of carrying oil to Syria off the coast of Gibraltar, escalating tensions between the UK and Tehran as the agreement aimed at halting Iran’s nuclear programme unravels.

A detachment of nearly 30 British troops working with the Gibraltarian police intercepted the vessel, believed to be carrying 2m barrels of oil, in a dramatic manoeuvre Spain said had been conducted at the request of the US.

Continue reading...

Libya may shut migrant detention centres after deadly airstrike

Posted on by

Reports suggest guards shot at refugees as they tried to flee after first missile hit

Libya’s government is considering closing all migrant detention centres in the wake of an airstrike that killed 53 people after it was reported that guards shot at detainees trying to flee the attack.

Overnight the air force of Gen Khalifa Haftar kept up its bombardment of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, mounting raids on the international airport.

Continue reading...

UN calls for inquiry into Libya detention centre bombing

Posted on by

Attack widely blamed on warlord Khalifa Haftar, which left at least 44 dead, labelled ‘war crime’

The United Nations has called for an independent inquiry into the bombing of a Libyan migrant detention centre that left at least 44 dead and more than 130 severely injured, describing the attack as “a war crime and odious bloody carnage”.

The detention centre east of Tripoli was housing more than 610 people when it was hit by two airstrikes. The bombing was attributed to the air force of Gen Khalifa Haftar by the Italian interior minister, Matteo Salvini, as well as by the UN-recognised Government of National Accord.

Continue reading...

Why attack on Libya detention centre was grimly predictable

Posted on by

The EU has long been aware of the terrible plight of migrants detained or trapped in Libya

Shocking as the precise circumstances are behind the deaths of at least 44 people in an airstrike that hit a detention centre in Tajoura in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, it is a predictable incident.

Even as footage circulated online claiming to show blood and body parts mixed with rubble and migrants’ belongings from the air raid blamed on the forces of the warlord Khalifa Haftar, it emerged the detainees had been housed in a hangar next to a weapons store – the likely target of the strike.

Continue reading...

Tripoli detention centre hit by airstrike, killing at least 44 people – video

Posted on by

At least 44 people have been killed after an airstrike hit a detention centre on the outskirts of the Libyan capital, according to an official in the UN-supported government. The death toll is the highest that has been reported from an airstrike since forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive to take the city three months ago

Continue reading...

Khalid Al Qasimi, UAE sheikh and fashion designer, dies aged 39

Posted on by

Son of the ruler of Sharjah has died, three weeks after showing at London fashion week

The fashion designer Khalid Al Qasimi has died, it has been announced. He was the crown prince and second son of Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, the ruler of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, where a three-day period of mourning has been decreed with flags ordered to fly at half-mast. Details surrounding the cause of death were not officially disclosed.

The designer, also known as Sheikh Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi, showed his spring/summer 2020 collection for his eponymous brand, Qasimi, on the London fashion week men’s showcase three weeks ago to critical acclaim. The 39-year-old designer was a graduate in architecture and fashion design from Central Saint Martins in London and presented his first collection, which was launched in collaboration with the designer Elliott James Frieze, in the capital in 2008.

Continue reading...

Syria accuses Israel of ‘heinous aggression’ after airstrikes

Posted on by

Syria accuses Israel of ‘practising state terrorism’ after strikes reported to have killed at least 15 people

Syria has accused Israel of “heinous aggression” after alleged Israeli airstrikes killed several civilians.

“Israeli authorities are increasingly practising state terrorism,” the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official Sana news agency on Tuesday. “The latest heinous Israeli aggression falls within the framework of ongoing Israeli attempts to prolong the crisis in Syria,” it added.

Continue reading...

EU powers resist calls for Iran sanctions after breach of nuclear deal

Posted on by

Focus is on averting further breaches and UK says it remains committed to 2015 deal

European leaders have resisted calls to start reimposing sanctions on Iran after the country said it had for the first time broken the terms of the nuclear deal it signed with foreign powers in 2015.

Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said on Monday it had allowed its stockpile of low-enriched uranium to exceed 300kg. The move is a carefully calibrated and reversible step intended to put pressure on Europe to do more to help mitigate the effect of crippling US sanctions.

Continue reading...

Stray missile from Syria-Israel clash lands in Cyprus – video

Posted on by

A stray missile has exploded in mid-air over villages in northern Cyprus, thought to have been fired by Syrian forces in response to an Israeli attack. Hours after the projectile struck the area at about 1am local time (11pm BST) debris was still being discovered in Turkish Cypriot villages

Continue reading...

Scores of protesters wounded and seven dead on Sudan’s streets

Posted on by

Security forces block roads and fire teargas in Khartoum in first protests since army crackdown

Seven people have died and nearly 200 have been wounded during huge demonstrations in Sudan, the first large-scale protests since a crackdown on a camp early in June left at least 128 people dead.

Tens of thousands took part in protests across the country. In Khartoum, the capital, protesters demanded that the ruling transitional military council (TMC) hand over power to civilians, as security forces fired teargas at them.

Continue reading...

Captain defends her decision to force rescue boat into Italian port

Posted on by

Carola Rackete says act of ‘disobedience’ in Lampedusa was necessary to avert tragedy

An NGO rescue boat captain who has risked jail time after forcing her way into Lampedusa port in Italy with 40 migrants onboard has defended her act of “disobedience”, saying it was necessary to avert a tragedy.

“It wasn’t an act of violence, but only one of disobedience,” the Sea-Watch 3 skipper, Carola Rackete, told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Sunday, as donations poured in for her legal defence.

Continue reading...

Syrian refugees forced to destroy their own homes in Lebanon

Posted on by

Demolition ordered by military leaves 5,000 families homeless again, says charity

Syrian refugees in Lebanon are being forced to tear down their own homes in the face of an aggressive new campaign by the Lebanese authorities to pressure refugees into returning home.

In the border town of Arsal, informal settlements that house 55,000 refugees were the scene of frantic activity under the hot summer sun on Friday as young men took apart the breeze-block homes with pickaxes, hammers and drills, covering the ground in rubble and dust.

Continue reading...

Russia and Saudi Arabia agree to extend deal with Opec to curb oil output

Posted on by

Vladimir Putin says deal due to expire on Sunday will be extended by six to nine months

Russia has agreed with Saudi Arabia to extend by six to nine months a deal with Opec on reducing oil output, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said, as oil prices come under renewed pressure from rising US supplies and a slowing global economy.

The Saudi energy minister, Khalid al-Falih, said on Sunday that the deal would most likely be extended by nine months and no deeper reductions were needed.

Continue reading...

G20: May asks Saudi prince for transparency in Khashoggi case

Posted on by

Prime minister urges open legal process over murder and raises Yemen concerns

Theresa May has raised concerns about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the humanitarian cost of the conflict in Yemen during a face-to-face meeting with the Saudi crown prince at the G20 summit in Osaka.

The prime minister held a bilateral meeting with Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday at what will be May’s final global summit before she steps down in July.

Continue reading...

Iran says progress made in nuclear talks is still not enough

Posted on by

Expectations are not being met in discussions with world powers, claims Iranian envoy

Iran said some progress had been made at a meeting with world powers on its nuclear accord – but probably “still not enough” to keep the landmark 2015 deal alive.

“It was a step forward, but it is still not enough and not meeting Iran’s expectations,” said Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, after the talks on Friday. “I don’t think the progress made today will be enough to stop our process – but the decision will be made in Tehran.”

Continue reading...