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Iraq

Houthi Attacks on Commercial Ships Have Upended Global Trade in Vital Red Sea Corridor

Voice of America - Mon, 12/18/2023 - 23:54
LONDON — The attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthi rebels have scared off some of the world's top shipping companies and oil giants, effectively rerouting global trade away from a crucial artery for consumer goods and energy supplies that is expected to trigger delays and rising prices. BP said Monday that it has "decided to temporarily pause all transits through the Red Sea," including shipments of oil, liquid natural gas and other energy...
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France Urges Lebanese Leaders to Work on Bringing Calm Along Border With Israel

Voice of America - Mon, 12/18/2023 - 23:39
BEIRUT — France's foreign minister urged Lebanese leaders on Monday to work on reducing tensions along the border with Israel, warning that the Israel-Hamas war could still spread to other parts of the region.  Catherine Colonna's visit to Lebanon came a day after she visited Israel, where she called for an "immediate truce" aimed at releasing more hostages, getting larger amounts of aid into Gaza and moving toward "the beginning of a political...
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Egypt's El-Sissi Elected to Third Presidential Terms With 89.6% of Vote

Voice of America - Mon, 12/18/2023 - 18:21
CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who has ruled with an unquestioned grip for the past nine years, won reelection to a third, six-year term in office, election authorities announced Monday. He ran against three virtually unknown opponents. El-Sissi recorded a landslide victory, securing 89.6% of the vote, the National Election Authority said. Turnout was 66.8% of more than 67 million registered voters. "The voting percentage is the highest in the history of...
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Iraqis Vote in First Provincial Elections in a Decade

Voice of America - Mon, 12/18/2023 - 13:09
Baghdad — Iraqis voted Monday in the first provincial council elections in a decade, which are expected to strengthen powerful Shiite pro-Iran groups. The vote comes at a time of widespread disillusionment among the country's 43 million inhabitants, with endemic corruption eating away at the oil-rich nation. Ballots are being cast in 15 Iraqi provinces but not in three which are Kurdish and operate under a separate autonomous system. The election is seen as a key test for the...
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Israel Uncovers 'Biggest Hamas Tunnel' Near Gaza Border

Voice of America - Mon, 12/18/2023 - 01:14
Gaza/Israel Border — Israeli forces battling Hamas said they had uncovered an unusually large concrete and iron-girded tunnel, designed to carry carloads of militant fighters from Gaza right up to the border. Razing or disabling hundreds of kilometers of underground passages and bunkers is among the aims of the offensive Israel launched after Hamas gunmen went on a killing and kidnapping spree in its southern towns and army bases on Oct. 7. Among sites that Hamas overran in that attack was...
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Israeli Military Chief Says More Than 1,000 Captives Taken in Gaza

Voice of America - Mon, 12/18/2023 - 00:46
Jerusalem — Israeli forces have taken more than 1,000 people captive in the war against Hamas in Gaza, Israel's military chief said on Sunday. Addressing soldiers inside the bombarded enclave, Chief of the General Staff Major-General Herzi Halevi said that when combatants "lay down their arms and raise their hands, we arrest them, we don't shoot them." "We get a lot of intelligence from the captives we have, we already have over a thousand," Halevi said in a...
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In Captivity, Israeli Mother Found Strength to Survive in Her 2 Daughters

Voice of America - Mon, 12/18/2023 - 00:06
Tel Aviv, Israel — Tantrums, tears, temperature, toilet accidents. These travails of childhood are familiar to any parent. But for Doron Katz Asher, the daily whims of children took on a new, frightening dimension while in Hamas captivity with her two young daughters. If the girls cried, militants would bang on the door of the room where she was being held. When they were hungry, she didn't always have anything to feed them. She slept with one eye open, always keeping watch over her...
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Pentagon Chief in Middle East as Israel Under Growing Pressure to Protect Civilians

Voice of America - Sun, 12/17/2023 - 23:12
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in the Middle East in a bid to strengthen regional security as Israel continues its war against Hamas. Israel is facing growing pressure to protect civilians in its military operations and secure the release of all the hostages kidnapped during Hamas’s October 7 terrorist incursion. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias has the latest.
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Calls for Cease-fire in Gaza Growing

Voice of America - Sun, 12/17/2023 - 22:33
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Researchers Cite Western Progress in Curbing Electronics Transfers to Russian-Iranian Drone Facility 

Voice of America - Sun, 12/17/2023 - 20:17
Washington — U.S. and Ukrainian researchers say Western nations are making progress in trying to curb illicit transfers of Western electronic components to a Russian facility suspected of making Iranian-designed attack drones, but that more needs to be done. The White House released a U.S. intelligence finding June 8 asserting Russia was receiving Iranian materials needed to build an attack drone manufacturing plant in its Alabuga special economic zone. Russia has said it relies on its own...
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Kuwait Buries Late Emir Sheikh Nawaf in Funeral Attended by New Ruler

Voice of America - Sun, 12/17/2023 - 14:46
AL-SIDDEEQ — Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah, whose six-decade career in public service primarily focused on domestic issues, was buried on Sunday following a prayer service. His successor, Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, 83, was seen shedding a tear at the prayer service attended by members of the ruling Al Sabah family and speaker of Kuwait's parliament. Sheikh Meshal had been Kuwait's de facto ruler since late 2021, when a frail Sheikh Nawaf handed over...
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How Houthi Attacks on Ships in Red Sea Affect Global Trade

Voice of America - Sun, 12/17/2023 - 11:16
LONDON — Yemen's Houthi rebels have escalated attacks on ships passing through the Red Sea during the Israel-Hamas war, raising concerns about the impact on the flow of oil, grain and consumer goods through a major global trade artery. Israeli-linked vessels have been targeted, but the threat to trade has grown as container ships and oil tankers flagged to countries such as Norway and Liberia have been attacked or drawn missile fire while traversing the waterway between Africa and the...
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Al Jazeera to Refer Killing of Cameraman in Gaza to War Crimes Court

Voice of America - Sun, 12/17/2023 - 03:45
cairo — Al Jazeera is preparing a legal file to send to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over what it called "the assassination" of one of its cameramen in Gaza, the Qatari-based network said on Saturday.  The cameraman, Samer Abu Daqqa, was killed by a drone strike on Friday while reporting on the bombing of a school used as a shelter for displaced people in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Qatar-based broadcaster.  Al Jazeera said Israeli drones fired missiles at...
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Kuwait's Ruling Emir Dies at 86

Voice of America - Sun, 12/17/2023 - 01:29
Dubai, united Arab emirates — Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, Kuwait's ruling emir, died Saturday after a three-year, low-key reign focused on trying to resolve the tiny, oil-rich nation's internal political disputes. He was 86.  Kuwait state television broke into programming with Quranic verses just before a somber official made the announcement.  "With great sadness and sorrow, we — the Kuwaiti people, the Arab and Islamic nations, and the friendly peoples of the world —...
Categories: Iraq