The Israeli company behind the controversial Pegasus spyware has been added to a US trade blacklist. Pegasus has reportedly been used by nation states to target the phones of rights activists and journalists. The US has now put its maker, NSO Group, on its “entity list”, banning business dealings with them. NSO Group said it […]
Lebanon’s oldest English-language newspaper, The Daily Star, has closed down, in a further sign of the country’s deepening economic crisis. Editor-in-chief Nadim Ladki emailed its journalists to say “with a heavy heart” that all staff were being laid off. The Daily Star was founded in 1952, becoming one of the Arab world’s first English-language newspapers. […]
Yemen crisis At least nine people have been killed in a car bombing near an airport in Yemen’s temporary capital, Aden. Another 12 people are believed to have been injured in Saturday’s explosion – described as a “terrorist bombing” by Prime Minister Mueen Abdulmalek Saeed. Eyewitnesses say women and children are among the casualties. […]
By Yolande Knell BBC News, Jerusalem The leaders of six Palestinian civil society organisations branded terrorist groups by Israel say the move will harm human rights unless it is reversed. Last week Israel declared that the groups were a front for a militant faction which has committed deadly attacks against it since the 1960s. Israeli […]
Saudi Arabia has ordered Lebanon’s ambassador to leave within 48 hours over “insulting” comments by a Lebanese minister. The kingdom has also imposed a blanket ban on all imports from Lebanon. The move comes days after remarks by Lebanon’s information minister about the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen sparked outrage in the kingdom. Lebanon’s prime […]
Facebook’s announcement that it is changing its name to Meta has caused quite the stir in Israel where the word sounds like the Hebrew word for “dead”. To be precise, Meta is pronounced like the feminine form of the Hebrew word. A number of people have taken to Twitter to share their take on the […]
Israel’s government has advanced plans for more than 3,100 new homes in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. A planning committee gave its final approval for 1,800 housing units and preliminary approval for 1,344 others. The announcement follows a public rebuke of Israeli policy from US President Joe Biden’s administration. It warned that it […]
Killing of Jamal Khashoggi Saudi Arabia’s crown prince suggested using a “poison ring” to kill the late King Abdullah, a former top Saudi intelligence official has alleged. In an interview with CBS, Saad al-Jabri said Mohammed bin Salman told his cousin in 2014 that he wanted to do so to clear the throne for […]
Israel’s government has approved plans to spend billions of dollars to improve conditions for its large Arab minority, which has long complained of being marginalised. It will earmark funding to help sectors including housing, education and employment over the next five years. Ministers also passed a plan to spend almost $1bn (£730m) to tackle high […]
By Sarbas Nazari BBC News “I had to get rid of our unborn baby. It was the toughest decision of my entire life,” says Mitra, a 27-year-old interior designer living in Tehran with her partner. Mitra and Mohsen, a 32-year-old doctor, moved in together under an arrangement known as a “white marriage” – a form of […]
