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US, Israel Differ Over Future of Gaza   

Fri, 01/19/2024 - 06:52
Israel and the US appear to be on a collision course on how to deal with the Gaza Strip after the war ends. One-third of Israelis want Israel to maintain control over Gaza, and one-quarter want to rebuild Jewish settlements there. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem. Camera: Ricki Rosen
Categories: Iraq

Pakistan, Iran Hint at De-escalation as Cross-border Strikes Raise Tensions

Fri, 01/19/2024 - 00:38
Tensions have been high between neighbors Pakistan and Iran since each conducted airstrikes on the other’s territory this week in pursuit of militants. Analysts say statements show both sides want to de-escalate. VOA’s Pakistan bureau chief Sarah Zaman reports. VOA footage by Wajid Asad.
Categories: Iraq

Owner: Iran Releases Crew Member of Seized Greek Tanker

Fri, 01/19/2024 - 00:05
Athens, Greece — One crew member of an oil tanker seized by Iran last week in the Gulf of Oman has been released and is on his way to Athens, the vessel's Greek owner said Thursday. Eighteen Filipinos and one Greek were on the St. Nikolas, which is now anchored near the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. "The Greek cadet, escorted by Greece's ambassador in Iran, is on a flight to return home," the ship's owner Empire Navigation said in a statement. It said the...
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US, China Call on Pakistan, Iran to Avoid Escalation

Thu, 01/18/2024 - 19:49
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US Sanctions UAE Shipping Firm for Violating Russian Crude Oil Price Cap

Thu, 01/18/2024 - 19:11
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury on Thursday said it imposed sanctions on a United Arab Emirates-based shipping company for violating the $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian crude oil exports in its first such enforcement action this year. The Treasury said in a statement that the Office of Foreign Assets Control designation sanctions were imposed on Hennesea Shipping Co Ltd, which it said was the beneficial owner of 18 mostly older tankers acquired in late 2022. The Treasury said it...
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Israel Ranks Among World’s Worst Jailers of Journalists, Report Finds

Thu, 01/18/2024 - 16:48
Washington — Israel’s ongoing response to last year’s Hamas attack has included a spike in arrests of Palestinian journalists in the occupied West Bank, a report released Thursday found. The country in 2023 ranked as the sixth-worst jailer of journalists globally, with 17 behind bars, all of them jailed after the October 7 terror attack, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ. The annual report, which captures a snapshot of journalists jailed for their...
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Indonesia Sends Hospital Ship With Aid for Gaza  

Thu, 01/18/2024 - 15:18
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Airstrikes Attributed to Jordan Kill at Least 9 Civilians in Syria

Thu, 01/18/2024 - 14:08
Beirut, Lebanon — At least nine civilians, including two children, were killed Thursday in airstrikes on Syria likely to have been carried out by Jordan against drug-traffickers, a monitor and media outlet reported. The kingdom has tightened controls along its frontier with Syria in recent years and its armed forces occasionally announce operations to foil drug and weapon smuggling attempts from its war-torn neighbor. "Jordanian warplanes carried out air strikes targeting residential...
Categories: Iraq

Pakistan Launches Retaliatory Strikes Against ‘Terrorist Hideouts’ in Iran

Thu, 01/18/2024 - 09:29
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan said Thursday its military carried out strikes against “terrorist hideouts” in neighboring Iran two days after Tehran bombed what it said were “Iranian terrorists” sheltering on Pakistani soil. The Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said its “highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision” military strikes killed a “number of terrorists” in Iran’s border province of Sistan-Baluchistan in what was codenamed “Death to Terrorist.” “Pakistan fully respects the...
Categories: Iraq

US Redesignates Houthi Rebels as Terrorist Group

Thu, 01/18/2024 - 07:49
The U.S. military carried out another attack against missile launch sites inside Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen after a Houthi attack late Wednesday that damaged a U.S.-owned commercial ship sailing in the Gulf of Aden. The attacks came as the United States redesignated Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels as a global terrorist organization following weeks of missile and drone attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf. But as VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb...
Categories: Iraq

Kurds Question Iraq’s Will and US Loyalty After Iran Attacks Their Capital

Thu, 01/18/2024 - 05:39
Irbil/Washington — Kurdistan Region’s authorities are grappling with the consequences of a deadly Iranian missile attack on their capital city this week, as officials question the will of the Iraqi government and the loyalty of the U.S. government to help them deal with increasing Iranian pressure. “If the Iraqi government does not take a serious stance against these attacks, there will be no meaning left of Iraq’s sovereignty,” Peshawa Hawramani, the spokesperson of the Kurdistan...
Categories: Iraq

Iran Targets Terror Outfit Jaish Al-Adl Inside Pakistan

Thu, 01/18/2024 - 04:25
WASHINGTON — Iran launched missiles and drones Tuesday into Pakistan's Balochistan province, officially stated to be aimed at the Sunni separatist group Jaish al-Adl, or Army of Justice. Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan has a porous border with Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province. Locals on the Pakistan side of the border say Jaish al-Adl has training camps in Kohe Sabz and the surrounding mountains in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. Fakhar Hayat Kakakhel, a...
Categories: Iraq

US Strikes Houthi Missiles in Yemen

Thu, 01/18/2024 - 04:14
WASHINGTON — U.S. forces carried out airstrikes late Wednesday on 14 Houthi missiles in western Yemen, U.S. Central Command said. The missiles were loaded to be fired and were an “imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region,” a USCENTCOM statement said. "The actions by the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists continue to endanger international mariners and disrupt the commercial shipping lanes in the Southern Red Sea and adjacent waterways," General Michael...
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WHO Official: Gaza's Health Care System Collapsing

Thu, 01/18/2024 - 01:30
united nations — A World Health Organization official who recently returned from the Gaza Strip said on Wednesday the health care system is rapidly deteriorating, and more staff, supplies and access are urgently needed. “I’ve seen the health care system collapsing before my eyes,” Sean Casey, WHO Health Emergency Officer, told reporters at the United Nations. Casey spent five weeks in Gaza, starting in early December, and he met with medical professionals and patients across the...
Categories: Iraq

Sweden Summons Iranian Charge D'Affaires Over Detained Swedes

Wed, 01/17/2024 - 22:49
copenhagen — Sweden has summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires to demand the immediate release of Swedish citizens being held in custody in Iran, the Swedish foreign ministry said on Wednesday. "The Government is working intensively and tirelessly to secure the release without delay of Swedish citizens detained in Iran for no apparent reason," the ministry said in a statement. "In late 2023, a man with Swedish and Iranian citizenship was detained for no apparent...
Categories: Iraq

Pakistan Suspends Diplomatic Ties With Iran to Protest Cross-Border Deadly Raid 

Wed, 01/17/2024 - 18:51
Islamabad — Pakistan announced Wednesday it was recalling its ambassador to Iran and suspending all bilateral engagements with the country to protest an overnight "unprovoked" deadly cross-border airstrike by Iranian security forces. The unprecedented move by Islamabad came after Tehran claimed "missile and drone strikes" by the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Tuesday night destroyed alleged bases of an anti-Iran militant group, Jaish al-Adl or the Army...
Categories: Iraq