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Israel conducts airstrike in Iran, US media say, citing Israeli, US officials

Fri, 04/19/2024 - 06:14
WASHINGTON — Israel carried out a predawn aerial strike inside Iran on Friday. The New York Times and The Washington Post cited Israeli officials as saying Israel had carried out an airstrike in Iran. U.S. officials were cited by multiple news outlets as calling it a missile strike. The location or target of the apparent Israeli strike was not immediately identified. About an hour after the reports emerged, an Israeli military spokesperson contacted by VOA said he had no comment "at...
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Arrests of Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University create more tension on campus

Fri, 04/19/2024 - 05:59
New York — More than 100 Columbia University students were arrested Thursday, culminating months of on-and-off student protests on campus since October 7 when the war between Israel and Hamas began. Columbia has seen numerous protests with students voicing their support for Palestinians and against Israel's bombing of Gaza that has resulted in the deaths of about 33,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry. The arrests were authorized by university President Minouche...
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US vetoes Palestinian bid for full UN membership

Fri, 04/19/2024 - 03:50
united nations — The Palestinians failed to pass a major hurdle in their renewed effort to seek full United Nations membership on Thursday when the United States vetoed a Security Council resolution recommending their admission. “It remains the U.S. view that the most expeditious path toward statehood for the Palestinian people is through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority with the support of the United States and other partners,” said U.S. Deputy U.N....
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Chinese official criticizes US for its UN votes on Gaza cease-fire

Fri, 04/19/2024 - 02:23
jakarta, indonesia — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticized the United States on Thursday for its votes on previous United Nations resolutions for a Gaza cease-fire, following talks in Jakarta with his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi. During the talks, Wang highlighted the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East, and he called on all parties to exercise restraint in the conflict. “The conflict in Gaza has lasted for half a year and caused a rare...
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Turkey’s leader to visit Iraq in bid for support against Kurdish rebels

Thu, 04/18/2024 - 21:49
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan travels to Iraq next week for the first time in 12 years. Erdogan is looking for Iraqi support in his war on Kurdish rebels based in Iraq and as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, the visit also aims to counter Iran’s influence.
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Iran warns Israel against attacking nuclear sites

Thu, 04/18/2024 - 21:47
Tehran, Iran — A senior Revolutionary Guards general threatened on Thursday to target Israel's "nuclear facilities" if it strikes Iran’s sites, state media reported, anticipating retaliation for Tehran's weekend attack. Israel has vowed a response to the Iranian aerial attack, which was mostly intercepted. World leaders have urged de-escalation. Violence involving Iran-aligned groups across the Middle East has soared since the start of the Israel-Hamas war with the...
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Google fires 28 workers protesting contract with Israel

Thu, 04/18/2024 - 19:38
New York — Google fired 28 employees following a disruptive sit-down protest over the tech giant's contract with the Israeli government, a Google spokesperson said Thursday. The Tuesday demonstration was organized by the group "No Tech for Apartheid," which has long opposed "Project Nimbus," Google's joint $1.2 billion contract with Amazon to provide cloud services to the government of Israel. Video of the demonstration showed police arresting Google...
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Pakistan to host Iran's president Monday for official bilateral talks

Thu, 04/18/2024 - 16:24
Islamabad — Pakistan announced Thursday that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will pay a three-day official visit to Islamabad, starting April 22, as the neighboring countries seek to mend relations after an unprecedented exchange of antiterror missile strikes on each other’s territory. “He is coming. We welcome them,” Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told reporters in the Pakistani capital. “The visit is on the card for April 22nd, 23rd and 24th. We are obviously making full preparations for...
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Israeli airstrikes kill Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon

Thu, 04/18/2024 - 14:28
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At UN, Iran warns Israel against retaliation

Thu, 04/18/2024 - 08:41
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Egypt’s Rafah border: The costs of fleeing Gaza

Thu, 04/18/2024 - 06:35
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Egyptian firm offers escape from Gaza – for $5,000 a head

Thu, 04/18/2024 - 06:08
London/Cairo — From her home in Cairo, Etemad Abu Tahoun watches with terror as -- hour by hour -- the television news relays the devastation wrought on Gaza. Her only son, 23-year-old Momen, is trapped in the Palestinian territory. A brief, broken video call confirms he is still alive – before the signal cuts off. She is trying to crowdfund enough money to pay for her son’s escape. "I will help him to escape from the killing," she said. "And his presence will be my...
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Chief of relief agency UNRWA pushes back against Israeli accusations

Thu, 04/18/2024 - 03:46
UNITED NATIONS — The head of the embattled U.N. agency that assists Palestinian refugees said Wednesday that as famine is taking hold across Gaza, the agency is facing an Israeli campaign to push it out of the occupied Palestinian territories and prevent it from carrying out its humanitarian mission. "In Gaza, the government of Israel seeks to end UNRWA's activities," Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told the U.N. Security Council. "The agency's requests to...
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Sister demands release of Israeli-Russian researcher kidnapped in Iraq

Thu, 04/18/2024 - 01:45
washington — As U.S. President Joe Biden was hosting Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Monday, a group of demonstrators held a protest outside the White House, demanding the release of a Princeton doctoral candidate kidnapped in Iraq a little over a year ago. Elizabeth Tsurkov was abducted in Baghdad in March 2023 shortly after her arrival in the Iraqi capital. The dual Israeli-Russian citizen had traveled to Iraq to conduct fieldwork for her dissertation. "We have tried...
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King Abdullah: Jordan will not be battleground in Israel-Iran confrontation

Wed, 04/17/2024 - 21:40
Amman — Jordan’s King Abdullah says his country will not be a battleground for any party in the confrontation between Israel and Iran and the protection of its citizens and sovereignty are paramount. Iran’s recent attack on Israel underscores Jordan’s delicate geopolitical location. The kingdom was geographically sandwiched, sitting between Israel on one side and Iran and its proxies on the other - as Iranian drones and ballistic missiles flew over Jordanian airspace on their way to Israeli...
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India treads carefully amid rising Middle East tensions

Wed, 04/17/2024 - 19:08
New Delhi — Mounting hostility between Israel and Iran is creating a diplomatic problem for India, which has long-standing and important relations with both countries. Kallol Bhattacherjee, a senior foreign affairs analyst, says in the event of an Iran-Israel war, New Delhi cannot afford to support or oppose either of them. Speaking to VOA, Bhattacherjee said 7 million Indians work in the Gulf countries and send more than $90 billion in foreign exchange to India annually. In the event of a...
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