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Palestinians renew bid for full UN membership
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council began reviewing the Palestinians’ renewed bid for full United Nations membership on Monday, despite long-standing U.S. policy that would likely lead to a veto in the council.
“Our position is a position that is known; it hasn’t changed,” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters following a meeting of the Security Council committee that is considering the Palestinian application.
For decades, Washington has said Palestinian statehood...
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Bahrain pardons more than 1,500 in largest amnesty in years
Manama, Bahrain — Bahrain's king has pardoned 1,584 people facing criminal and "riot" charges, state media said Monday, in the largest such mass release in the Gulf nation in years.
The announcement of the royal decree carried by the official Bahrain News Agency (BNA) did not specify whether political prisoners are among those to be released, though a rights group said it was likely.
BNA said that "this royal decree reflects his majesty's keenness to maintain the...
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Saudi Arabia says Eid al-Fitr holiday to start Wednesday
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest shrines, announced Monday that the holiday of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the Ramadan fast will begin on Wednesday.
"Supreme Court declares tomorrow the last day of #Ramadan and Wednesday the first day of #Eid Al-Fitr," the official Saudi Press Agency said on its X account.
The timing of Eid al-Fitr is determined by the sighting of the crescent moon, in accordance with the Muslim lunar calendar.
Saudi media...
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Iran FM opens new Syria consulate after deadly strike
Damascus — Iran's foreign minister inaugurated the country's new consulate in Damascus on Monday, a week after a deadly strike blamed on Israel destroyed the former premises, sending regional tensions skyrocketing.
Tehran, a key Damascus ally, has vowed to avenge last Monday's airstrike on the Iranian embassy's consular section that killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members, including two generals.
The strike came against the backdrop of the...
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Top UN court opening hearings in case accusing Germany of facilitating Israel's Gaza conflict
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Preliminary hearings are opening Monday at the United Nations’ top court in a case that seeks an end to German military and other aid to Israel, based on claims that Berlin is enabling acts of genocide and breaches of international humanitarian law in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Nicaragua argues that by giving Israel political, financial and military support and by defunding the United Nations aid agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, “Germany is facilitating the...
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Yemen's Houthis say they targeted Western ships
CAIRO — Houthi forces in Yemen said on Sunday they had launched rockets and drones at British, U.S. and Israeli ships, the latest in a campaign of attacks on shipping in support of Palestinians in the Gaza war.
The Iran-aligned group said it had targeted a British ship and a number of U.S. frigates in the Red Sea, while in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean it had attacked two Israeli vessels heading to Israeli ports.
The operations took place during the last 72 hours, Houthi military...
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Report: 20 killed in clashes in Syria's restive Daraa province
Beirut, Lebanon — At least 20 people were killed in clashes Sunday in Syria's Daraa governate a day after an explosion killed a group of children, a rights monitor said.
Daraa was the cradle of the 2011 uprising against President Bashar Assad but it returned to government control in 2018 under a cease-fire deal backed by Russia.
The southern province has since been plagued by unrest.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said Ahmed al-Labbad, who "leads an armed...
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Iran to free 4 environmentalists convicted as spies
Tehran, Iran — Four environmentalists who spent more than five years in prison after being convicted of spying will be freed following a pardon from Iran's supreme leader, state media reported Sunday.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has pardoned more than 2,000 inmates to mark celebrations for the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Their release date was not immediately clear, but their lawyer Hojat Kermani said it will be "in the coming days."
"My clients were informed...
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On the Deaths of David Mixner and Senator Joseph Lieberman
Their experience of being outsiders deeply affected their political worldviews and caused them to embrace the struggles of other excluded Americans as their own.
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Israel marks 6 months since deadly Hamas attack
Israel’s prime minister says there will be no cease-fire in Gaza at the six-month mark of Hamas’ deadly October 7 attacks. This, as international pressure builds against Israel concerning the humanitarian toll of its war against the militant group in Palestinian territories. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.
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Oman urges de-escalation during Iran FM visit
Muscat, Oman — Oman's foreign minister called Sunday for de-escalation during a visit by his Iranian counterpart who started a regional tour in Muscat where he met a spokesperson for Yemen's Houthi rebels.
The visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian came almost a week after an airstrike in Damascus leveled the Iranian Embassy's consular annex and further raised regional tensions.
The attack, which Tehran blamed on Israel, killed seven Islamic Revolutionary...
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Israel says it hit Hezbollah sites in eastern Lebanon
Beirut — Israel's military said Sunday its warplanes had struck Hezbollah sites in eastern Lebanon, where the Iran-backed group has a strong presence, in retaliation for one of its drones being downed.
A source close to Hezbollah told an AFP correspondent in eastern Lebanon's Baalbek region that the strikes targeted Janta and Sifri in the Bekaa Valley, around 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the closest Israeli frontier.
The Israeli military said on Telegram that "fighter...
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'Show must go on' for Iranian journalist stabbed in London
LONDON — A journalist for an independent Iranian media outlet in London stabbed outside his home last week has returned to work, saying "the show must go on."
Pouria Zeraati, a presenter for Iran International, needed hospital treatment for leg wounds suffered in the March 29 attack.
The 36-year-old said the stabbing was a "warning shot."
"The fact that they just stopped in my leg was their choice," he told ITV News.
"They had the opportunity to kill me...
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Iran renews vow to avenge strike in Syria attributed to Israel
ISFAHAN, Iran — A top military commander Saturday renewed Iran's promise to retaliate after an airstrike earlier this week widely blamed on Israel destroyed Iran's Consulate in Syria, killing 12 people, including two elite Iranian generals.
General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran's joint chief of staff, told mourners gathered for the funeral of General Mohammad Reza Zahedi that Iran will decide when and how to stage an "operation" to take revenge. Zahedi was the...
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Iran arrests 3 suspected Islamic State group militants
Tehran, Iran — Iranian police have arrested three suspected members of the Islamic State group who were plotting attacks at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, state media reported Saturday.
Those arrested in the city of Karaj in the northwestern province of Alborz included Mohammed Zaker, who was identified as "a senior member" of the group, according to the official IRNA news agency.
"The police in Alborz province arrested three members of the Islamic State...
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For families of hostages, it's a race against time as war reaches 6 months
JERUSALEM — It’s the last wish of a dying mother, to be with her daughter once more. But six months into Israel's war against Hamas, time is running out for Liora Argamani, who hopes to stay alive long enough to see her kidnapped daughter come home.
“I want to see her one more time. Talk to her one more time,” said Argamani, 61, who has stage four brain cancer. “I don’t have a lot of time left in this world.”
Noa Argamani was abducted from a music festival October 7 when Hamas-led...
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Rights groups say Israel's strike that killed aid workers was no anomaly
CAIRO — Two basic mistakes, according to the Israeli military.
First, officers overlooked a message detailing the vehicles in the convoy. Second, a spotter saw someone boarding a car, carrying something — possibly a bag — that he thought was a weapon. Officials say the result was the series of Israeli drone strikes that killed seven aid workers on a dark Gaza Strip road.
The Israeli military has described the deadly strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy as a tragic error. Its...
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