Middle East

PKK Disarmament Process to Begin Early July
PKK Disarmament Process to Begin Early July

Militants from the PKK will begin laying down their weapons at a disarmament ceremony in Iraqi Kurdistan in early July, the Kurdish media outlet Rudaw reported on Monday. The move comes just six weeks after the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) announced it was ending more than four decades of guerrilla warfare in a conflict that claimed over ...

Iran Unleashes 'Wave of Repression' after Israel War
Iran Unleashes 'Wave of Repression' after Israel War

Iranian authorities have arrested hundreds of people and executed dozens in a wave of repression following the 12-day war with Israel, activists say, accusing the Islamic republic of using fear to compensate for weaknesses revealed by the conflict. Campaigners have been detained on the street or at home, executions expedited, prisoners ...

Gaza Rescuers Say Israeli Forces Kill 51 as Ceasefire Calls Mount
Gaza Rescuers Say Israeli Forces Kill 51 as Ceasefire Calls Mount

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli forces killed at least 51 people on Monday, including 24 at a seafront rest area, as fresh calls grew for a ceasefire in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory. The swift resolution of Israel's 12-day war with Iran has revived hopes for a halt to the fighting in Gaza, where more than 20 months of ...

Rescuers Evacuate 50,000 as Turkey Battles Wildfires
Rescuers Evacuate 50,000 as Turkey Battles Wildfires

Rescuers in Turkey have evacuated more than 50,000 people, mostly from the western province of Izmir, as firefighters battled a string of wildfires, the AFAD disaster agency said Monday. The worst blaze began Sunday in Seferihisar, a forested area 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of the resort city of Izmir, spreading rapidly with winds of up ...

EU Strikes New Trade Deal with Ukraine Covering Farm Imports
EU Strikes New Trade Deal with Ukraine Covering Farm Imports

The European Union said Monday it had agreed to a new long-term trade deal with Ukraine, covering imports of food products from the war-torn country that have angered EU farmers. "With this modernized agreement, we are securing trade flows from Ukraine to Europe and global markets," European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen ...

Iran Defends IAEA Break, Accuses Agency Chief of Bias
Iran Defends IAEA Break, Accuses Agency Chief of Bias

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, that Tehran halted cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog due to what he called the agency chief's "destructive" behavior towards the Islamic republic, his office said Monday. "The action taken by parliament members... is a natural response to the unjustified, ...

Armenia Tilts Toward EU as Russia Warns Against Breaking Alliances
Armenia Tilts Toward EU as Russia Warns Against Breaking Alliances

The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas urged Armenia to protect its democratic values amid "hybrid threats" from Russia on a visit to Yerevan on Monday. Ties between Armenia and its traditional ally Russia have been strained since Azerbaijan's 2023 offensive on Nagorno-Karabakh, in which Moscow did not intervene. Russia has for years been the main ...

Israeli Settlers Attack Army Base in West Bank
Israeli Settlers Attack Army Base in West Bank

Israeli civilians assaulted security forces and vandalized military vehicles and a security installation outside an army base overnight in the occupied West Bank, the military said on Monday. According to Israeli media, settlers targeted the commander of the Binyamin Regional Brigade base in the central West Bank, calling him a "traitor." The ...

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Israel "Interested" in Peace and Normalization with Lebanon and Syria

Israel is "interested" in striking "peace and normalization" agreements with its neighbors Lebanon and Syria, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday. "Israel is interested in expanding the Abraham Accord circle of peace and normalization," Saar said at a news conference, referring to US-sponsored agreements signed in 2020 by Israel with the ...