In a historic step towards justice for victims of war crimes, the Lebanese gov’t has instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to file a declaration providing the ICC with jurisdiction to investigate war crimes committed on Lebanese territory since Oct 7

hrw.org/news/2024/04/2…

NEW - Two expat workers killed in drone attack at Iraq’s northern Khor Mor gas field, an advisor to Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister tells @reuters.

Power outage in Kurdistan as gas field goes offline.

Diesel imports make up nearly 8% of GDP. This, more than any technical or financial excuses, explains why the ruling elite has no incentive in changing the status quo, experts say thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024…

This is Caroline Fohlin from Emory University being arrested at a protest in Atlanta today.

Superb piece by Ben Bartenstein

'Saad Hariri has become an initial port of call for many looking to meet Sheikh Tahnoon. Those who pass the ex-premier’s smell test (often over a cup of Argentine mate) may get an introduction to Lasky for final vetting'

bloomberg.com/news/newslette…

Masked man arrests female philosophy professor as part of worrying crackdown on peaceful anti-war protest, raising concerns about authoritarian drift and erosion of civil liberties in....the United States.

This is a map of Beirut's diesel generators—a not-so-silent killer.
A recent AUB study exposes their role in doubling carcinogenic pollutants since pre-crisis levels, when Lebanese massively turned to these polluting alternatives amid widespread blackouts.
Najat Aoun Saliba

April 25 (Reuters) - A Palestinian civil defence team on Thursday called on the United Nations to investigate what it said were war crimes at a Gaza hospital, saying nearly 400 bodies were recovered from mass graves after Israeli soldiers departed the complex.

Iraq hanged 11 militants sentenced to death on terrorism charges this week, local security officials said.

Amnesty International said many more people may have been executed in secret given a 'disturbing lack of transparency'

Read: reuters.com/world/middle-e…

JERUSALEM, April 24 (Reuters) - Israel's military has conducted all necessary preparations to take Rafah, which it deems the last Hamas bastion in Gaza, and can launch an operation the moment it gets government approval, a senior defence official told Reuters on Wednesday

German police have charged someone with “using anti-constitutional and terrorist symbols” for posting “From RISA (chicken shop) to the Spree (river), Palestine will be free” on Instagram

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is in custody on espionage charges, makes a heart-shaped gesture behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants as he attends a court hearing in Moscow, Russia, April 23, 2024. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva

DUBAI, April 23 (Reuters) - Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group said on Tuesday it had launched a drone attack targeting Israeli military bases north of the city of Acre, in its deepest attack into Israeli territory since the Gaza war began.

NEW - Iraq finds that the massive explosion at a PMF base last weekend was not the result of a missile attack and there were no warplanes or drones in the sky at the time.

PMF, which includes pro-Iran armed groups, had initially claimed it was an attack

Hundreds of bodies found in mass graves in Khan Younis
channel4.com/news/hundreds-…

A coalition of Columbia faculty speak on behalf of Columbia students, in support freedom of expression and against recent police arrests of students on the Columbia University campus, in New York City, U.S., April 22, 2024, REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

Here is the list of 26 deals Turkey’s Erdogan signed with Iraq today, including military and defence industry cooperation, and military training agreements:

1- Strategic Framework for Joint Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Turkey and the Government of the…

Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence of its claims that employees of the UN relief agency UNRWA are members of terrorist organisations, an independent review led by the former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna has said.

The Colonna report, which was commissioned…

Lebanon’s inflation slowed to double digits (70.4%) for the first time in almost four years due to a stable pound in the market and the dollarization of the economy.

While pricing goods in dollars eased inflation, it threatens to worsen the hardship for those who earn in pounds.

NEW - Iraq, Turkey, Qatar and UAE sign agreement to cooperate on Iraq’s Development Road project that seeks to create a new transit corridor from Asia to Europe via Iraq and rival the Suez Canal.

The 1,200 km road and rail project is priced at $17bn.