Asia-Pacific
Wang Yi meets Israel’s President Herzog in Baku: China readout cites Gaza access and West Bank settlements
China’s foreign ministry says Wang Yi told Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Baku that opening channels into Gaza is the…
Desk
Middle East & North Africa
Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Iraq, the Gulf, Yemen, Egypt and Libya.
Middle East & North Africa
WFP cuts Gaza food aid by a third, leaving about 500,000 people without assistance as winter nears
The World Food Programme says funding shortfalls force it to reduce Gaza assistance from 1.6 million to 1.1 million people…
Middle East & North Africa
Lebanon: Hezbollah demands its truck with 780 kg of explosives back – the army deploys in Beirut, Salam insists on the state’s arms monopoly
Tension is running high in Beirut between the Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah after the seizure of a truck carrying about…
Middle East & North Africa
Netanyahu: new 10-point security doctrine “from defence to offence” – “If we have to act alone, we will act alone”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a new ten-point national security doctrine on October 18, describing a shift from defence…
Middle East & North Africa
UK warns firms against bidding for E1 settlement tender on closing day, citing new sanctions powers
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband says the UK can now sanction individuals and companies building illegal settlements, and urges firms not…
Middle East & North Africa
Trump gives Netanyahu “Complete and Total” support nine days before Israel’s election – “There has never been a greater friend of Israel in the White House”
Donald Trump publicly backed Benjamin Netanyahu nine days before Israel’s October 27 election, calling him “strong, brave and brilliant”; Netanyahu…
Europe
EU-GCC summit planned for 24 October in Riyadh is postponed, Council of the EU says
The Council of the EU says the second EU-GCC summit, planned for 24 October in Riyadh, has been postponed. The…
Middle East & North Africa
Egypt: the National Defence Council under Sisi pledges “every form of support” to Saudi Arabia
Egypt’s National Defence Council, chaired by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, decided to provide “every necessary and possible form of support”…
Middle East & North Africa
Araghchi: the Strait of Hormuz opens on day six of Iran’s plan if the US accepts the terms – “The proposal is still on the table”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran’s seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz remains “still on the table”,…
Middle East & North Africa
BREAKING: Netanyahu on Turkey: “I hope we do not reach a direct clash” – the “Muslim Brotherhood axis” led by Ankara
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israeli reporters in Jerusalem that he hopes there will be no direct clash with…
Middle East & North Africa
Hegseth to Iran: a “choice very quickly” between the table and the “destruction America can bring” – “The military should win the Nobel Peace Prize every year”
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told Iran at the University of Tennessee that it must give up its nuclear ambitions…
Middle East & North Africa
Vance on the Iran war: “the enemy gets a vote too” – seeks a “final, durable commitment” that Tehran will not rebuild its nuclear programme
At a CBS News town hall in Michigan, Vice President JD Vance defended the administration’s Iran strategy, blamed Iranian tanker…