Mali says 82 soldiers freed after captivity by armed groups in the north
Mali's army says 82 soldiers who had been held by armed groups in the country's north have been released into government custody. The announcement was made on Thursday in a statement aired on state television. The army said the soldiers were now safe and under the care of the authorities.According to the statement, the men had been held hostage by fighters linked to al-Qaeda and a separatist rebel group since attacks in April. The army said the release was the result of a process that began immediately after their capture. The Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front said separately that it had... [Continue Reading]
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Day News Recap: Middle East tensions deepen as Ukraine ports hit and markets swing on commodities
Iran said the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked, even as the United States claimed control of the waterway and mediators tried to revive stalled talks, underscoring the risk of a wider confrontation. A separate report said Iranian leaders are weighing how long they can sustain the war with the United States and Israel as economic strain deepens. đź”— đź”—Violence also escalated across Yemen and Lebanon. Houthi attacks killed civilians and soldiers and hit targets across Yemen and beyond, while Yemeni government forces said they repelled a Houthi assault in Taiz province. Lebanon accused Israel of strikes, incursions and demolitions in... [Continue Reading]
Mali pardons Frenchman sentenced in alleged coup plot case
Mali has granted a presidential pardon to French national Yann Vezilier, who had been sentenced to 20 years in prison over an alleged coup plot. The decision was announced on Thursday and was accompanied by his immediate removal from Malian territory. It marks a notable shift in a case that had added to already strained relations between Bamako and Paris.According to the Malian government, the pardon does not challenge the findings of the court that convicted him. The government said the act of clemency followed an adversarial trial in which the rights of the defence were respected. It also said... [Continue Reading]
Lebanon accuses Israel of strikes and demolitions in the south amid fragile ceasefire
Lebanon has accused Israel of carrying out strikes, incursions and demolitions in the country's south, saying the attacks wounded several people and destroyed homes and civilian infrastructure. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the actions amounted to a serious breach of international law and international humanitarian law. His comments came after Israel's defence minister said Israeli forces were destroying underground infrastructure and houses in southern Lebanon.Salam rejected Israel's claim that the villages it had destroyed were military sites, saying the argument did not justify the destruction of homes, the displacement of residents or efforts to stop them returning. He said the... [Continue Reading]
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Lebanon abolishes death penalty as parliament backs historic reform
Lebanon's parliament has approved a law abolishing capital punishment, confirming a major change to the country's criminal justice system. The vote took place on Tuesday in the 128-member assembly, and the new penalty replaces death sentences with life imprisonment with aggravated hard labour. The reform makes Lebanon the first country in the Middle East to formally end the death penalty.The move gives legal force to a long-standing pause in executions. Lebanon has observed an unofficial moratorium since January 2004, but courts have continued to issue death sentences, and 85 people were still facing such sentences at the end of 2025,... [Continue Reading]
Venezuela and Israel restore consular relations after diplomatic thaw
Venezuela and Israel have agreed to restore consular relations, marking a notable shift after years of severed ties. The announcement was made on Tuesday and follows a period of warming contacts between the two governments. It also comes after Israeli emergency assistance in Venezuela following twin earthquakes that damaged the South American country.Venezuela's foreign minister, Felix Plasencia Gonzalez, said the decision came after Israel deployed a team to Venezuela in response to the earthquakes. He said the two governments had agreed to continue bilateral technical cooperation linked to emergency and recovery efforts. They also plan to establish a coordination mechanism... [Continue Reading]
North Korea-linked Kimsuky group accused of using AI in spear-phishing attacks
A South Korean cybersecurity firm says the North Korea-linked hacking group Kimsuky has been using artificial intelligence to support spear-phishing attacks against military, diplomatic and academic targets. The report says the group has been creating malicious files disguised as legitimate documents, including research reports and invitations. It says the activity has been taking place since 2026.The firm, Genians, said the group has used AI-generated documents in a pattern of attacks and has relied on offline tools including Ollama, GPT-4All and Msty. According to the report, those tools allow large language models to run without an internet connection, which can make... [Continue Reading]
Lebanese soldiers wounded as Israeli troops allegedly enter Zawtar al-Gharbiyah
Three Lebanese soldiers were wounded in southern Lebanon while they were dealing with unexploded ordnance in the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah, according to the Lebanese army. The injuries came after residents and the village mayor said Israeli troops entered the village overnight and built an earth barrier near the village square. The incident adds a new layer to an already fragile border situation in the south.Mayor Abed Ezzeddine said residents were surprised to see the barrier, which he placed about 100 metres from the village square. The Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli force advanced into the... [Continue Reading]
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ICC urges Chad and Venezuela to reverse withdrawal plans amid wave of departures
The body overseeing the International Criminal Court has called on Chad and Venezuela to abandon plans to leave the tribunal, warning that the moves could weaken the global fight against impunity. In a statement issued from The Hague on Friday, the Assembly of States Parties said it had noted both decisions with concern. It urged the two countries to remain committed members and to raise grievances through dialogue inside the assembly rather than by withdrawing.The appeal comes as the court faces what the statement described as its most serious wave of departures since it was founded in 2002. Five countries... [Continue Reading]
Houthi attacks kill at least 10 in Yemen's Marib as fighting intensifies
Houthi attacks in Yemen's Marib province have killed at least 10 people, including eight members of government forces and two civilians, according to officials and a military source cited in the supplied material. The strikes hit the oil-rich province on Friday and were reported to have affected both military positions and civilian areas. The violence marks a further escalation in a region that has been relatively stable under a truce that began in 2022.A Yemeni military source said 12 others were wounded in the attacks on government forces, while the health minister for the Saudi-backed government said shelling struck residential... [Continue Reading]
Fear the Shia, Arm the Sunnis: The Uncomfortable Numbers Behind America’s War Narrative
“When fear is managed carefully enough, a nation can be taught to look away from the blood on the floor and stare instead at the shadow on the wall.” A friend of mine, whose name I will not reveal because he asked me not to, sat across from me over dinner and placed a question on the table that would not leave me alone. He was born into a Muslim Shia background, and for the angle of this article, that detail matters, not because I wish to reduce a man to a sect, but because sect has become one of... [Continue Reading]
The Great Uncoupling: Abu Dhabi’s Sovereign Gambit
The UAE’s decision to cut ties with OPEC is far more than a mere adjustment of energy policy, for it functions as a political telegram written in barrels and sent directly to the heart of the global order. For nearly six decades, Abu Dhabi operated within the rigid architecture of producer discipline, where it accepted the rituals of quotas, the formality of communiqués, and the heavy burden of collective restraint. It played the long game of oil diplomacy with a patient hand, balancing its own massive national ambitions against the gravity of cartel discipline and the delicate logic of Gulf... [Continue Reading]
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The Mirage of the Umbrella: The Shifting Sands of the U.S.-Israel-GCC Alliance
As I sat in a recent debate at the historic Carlton Club in London, listening to Faisal Abbas, the Editor-in-Chief of Arab News, I felt a tangible shift in the room, not because a new fact had been revealed, but because an old illusion had finally lost its last breath. The old-world order has not merely changed, it has evaporated, leaving the Gulf to realize it is no longer watching a distant fire from the safety of marble towers and air-conditioned ministries, but is instead standing directly inside the smoke. The GCC today is caught in a lethal crossfire between... [Continue Reading]
Navigating the Perils of Information in a Global Age
Navigating the Perils of Information in a Global Age In today’s world, where information flows ceaselessly and unchecked, the stakes for migrants have never been higher. Critical thinking is not just a skill, it’s a lifeline. The ability to sift fact from fiction, especially in matters as consequential as migration, is essential for individuals, communities, and the institutions that serve them. The migration landscape is uniquely vulnerable to the hazards of mis-, dis-, and mal-information, collectively known as MDM. The consequences of inaccurate or misleading information can ripple far beyond the individual, affecting entire communities and the systems that govern... [Continue Reading]



