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Arab Americans, US Muslims Fear Bias Attacks After October 7

Voice of America - Tue, 03/19/2024 - 19:47
Fear of retaliation and reprisals has spread through Arab American and U.S. Muslim communities since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, and the start of Israel’s war in Gaza. As VOA’s Dora Mekouar reports, many Arab Americans say they haven’t felt this on edge since the September 11 terror attacks more than 20 years ago. Camera: Adam Greenbaum
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Washington to Host Israeli Team to Discuss Rafah Ground Invasion Plans

Voice of America - Tue, 03/19/2024 - 06:49
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to send a delegation to the U.S. to discuss Israeli plans for a ground invasion into Gaza’s crowded city of Rafah — a plan the White House has described as a “mistake.” Meanwhile, aid groups warn that famine is looming for the besieged exclave. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House.
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US Destroys Houthi Missiles, Drones in New Yemen Strike

Voice of America - Tue, 03/19/2024 - 06:37
washington — The U.S. military said it destroyed seven missiles and three drones Monday in areas of Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels that presented threats to merchant ships and U.S. Navy vessels. Iran-backed Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea region since November in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians during Israel's war against Hamas militants in Gaza. United States Central Command forces operated "in self defense" when they engaged and destroyed...
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Iranians Tighten Belts for Persian New Year Festivities

Voice of America - Tue, 03/19/2024 - 02:57
Tehran, Iran — Millions of Iranians will travel to be with their families for Nowruz, the Persian New Year, Wednesday but economic troubles in the sanctions-hit country are weighing on the festivities. Iranians will celebrate the start of the year 1403 at exactly 26 seconds past 6:36 a.m. on March 20, matching the astronomical time of the spring equinox. Globally, some 300 million people will wish each other "Happy New Year" ("Nowruz mobarak") including in Iran,...
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Al Jazeera: Reporter Released After Being Detained, Beaten in Gaza

Voice of America - Tue, 03/19/2024 - 02:46
washington — An Al Jazeera journalist covering a hospital raid in Gaza on Monday was beaten and detained by Israeli forces for around 12 hours, the network said. Al Jazeera reported that members of the Israel Defense Forces assaulted their Arabic language correspondent, Ismail al-Ghoul, destroying his equipment and arresting him along with other media and hospital workers. Al-Ghoul had been forced to strip naked before being led away by the soldiers, Al Jazeera said. He was released late...
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Rights Violations in Iran May Be Crimes Against Humanity, UN Investigators Find

Voice of America - Mon, 03/18/2024 - 20:54
GENEVA — Iran’s violent repression of peaceful protests and widespread, systematic violations of human rights could, in many cases, amount to crimes against humanity, according to a U.N. fact-finding mission. The three-member team on the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, in its first report to the U.N. Human Rights Council, accuses the Iranian government of a litany of crimes in connection with the protests that erupted following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini on...
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Despite Offers to Mediate, China Distances Itself from Mideast Turmoil 

Voice of America - Mon, 03/18/2024 - 19:02
Amman — For years, China has sought to raise its profile by offering to broker conflicts and disputes in the Middle East, but analysts say Beijing’s limited involvement in the Gaza war shows China continues to put its self-interests first. In a recent article in Foreign Policy magazine, Yun Sun, China Program director at the Stimson Center in Washington said that China’s role in brokering the Saudi-Iran rapprochement last year raised hopes it could chart a way to de-escalate tensions in the...
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Famine Imminent in Northern Gaza, Food Security Experts Warn

Voice of America - Mon, 03/18/2024 - 18:00
United Nations — Famine is imminent in the northern Gaza Strip between now and May, and the rest of Gaza’s population is facing crisis levels of hunger and worse, a United Nations-backed food security report concluded Monday. “More than half of all Palestinians in Gaza —1.1 million people — have completely exhausted their food supplies and are facing catastrophic hunger, according to the report,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters Monday after the release of the...
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Iran Inks Big Contracts to Increase Oil Production 

Voice of America - Sun, 03/17/2024 - 20:39
Tehran — Iran on Sunday sealed contracts worth billions of dollars with domestic companies to boost its oil production in the face of Western sanctions. In a ceremony broadcast on state TV, the oil ministry and Iranian businesses signed deals worth $13 billion to increase daily oil production in six major fields. Shana, the official news agency for the oil industry, labelled the deals as Iran's "biggest oil contracts in the past decade" and said they aimed to add 350,000...
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Greece Alarmed by Rising Tides of Migrants 

Voice of America - Sun, 03/17/2024 - 16:45
Athens — Greece is facing increasing illegal immigration as the Gaza crisis continues. The trend has Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and senior European Union officials heading to Egypt Sunday to sign an aid package worth just over $8 billion intended to help ease migration. A surge in illegal migration has seen numbers entering Greece swell by more than 400% in the last month alone. Palestinians rank high in these flows but Egyptians are increasingly following suit. “There is no...
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European Union Announces $8 Billion Package of Aid for Egypt

Voice of America - Sun, 03/17/2024 - 16:08
Cairo — The European Union on Sunday announced a $8 billion aid package for cash-strapped Egypt amid concerns that economic pressure and conflicts and chaos in neighboring countries could drive more migrants to European shores. The deal is scheduled to be signed during a visit by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and the leaders of Belgium, Italy, Austria, Cyprus and Greece, according to Egyptian officials.  The package includes both grants and loans over the next three...
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Airstrikes in Syria Hit Several Sites, Wound Soldier, Military Says

Voice of America - Sun, 03/17/2024 - 06:07
beirut — Airstrikes hit several sites in southern Syria early Sunday wounding a soldier, Syrian state media reported.  State news agency SANA, citing an unnamed military official, said air defenses shot down some of the missiles, which came from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights around 12:42 a.m. local time. The strikes led to "material losses" and the wounding of a soldier, the statement said.  The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an...
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Indian Navy Frees Cargo Ship From Somali Pirates After Shootout

Voice of America - Sun, 03/17/2024 - 00:38
Washington — The Indian navy has freed the hijacked MV Ruen cargo ship in Somalia's Puntland region Saturday after a 24-hour standoff and shootout, and it has detained 35 pirates, according to Puntland Ports Minister Ahmed Yasin Salah. The crew is reported to be unharmed. The pirates — who allegedly hijacked the Maltese-flagged bulk cargo vessel on December 14 — exchanged heavy gunfire with the Indian navy Friday. "The Indian navy successfully conducted the operation, which has...
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