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Lufthansa extends flight suspensions to Beirut, Tehran until early 2025

Update Lufthansa extends flight suspensions to Beirut, Tehran until early 2025
Israel has stepped up its attacks in Lebanon, particularly Beirut where the country’s international airport is located. (AFP)
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Updated 1 min 33 sec ago
Reuters
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Lufthansa extends flight suspensions to Beirut, Tehran until early 2025

Lufthansa extends flight suspensions to Beirut, Tehran until early 2025
  • German flagship airline group extends flight suspensions over concerns of a wider conflict in the Middle East
Updated 1 min 33 sec ago
Reuters
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FRANKFURT, Germany: German airline group Lufthansa said Wednesday it was extending the suspension of flights to Beirut until the end of February amid intensifying fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Lufthansa flights to Beirut had already been suspended until November 30. It also said on Wednesday it would extend the suspension of services to the Iranian capital Tehran to the end of January. They had previously been halted until October 31.

Lufthansa group — whose carriers also include Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines — has repeatedly modified its schedule in recent months due to heightened tensions in the Middle East, as have other carriers.

It announced earlier this week it was extending the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv in Israel until November 10.

The group has said it is avoiding Israeli airspace until the end of October and will not use Iranian and Iraqi airspace “until further notice,” except for a corridor in Iraqi airspace for departures and arrivals to Irbil.

Topics: Battlefield Lebanon Lebanon Lufthansa Beirut Tehran Iran Germany

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Unicharm Gulf CEO honored with commendation from Japanese ambassador

Unicharm Gulf CEO honored with commendation from Japanese ambassador
Updated 1 min 2 sec ago
Arab News Japan 
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Unicharm Gulf CEO honored with commendation from Japanese ambassador

Unicharm Gulf CEO honored with commendation from Japanese ambassador
Updated 1 min 2 sec ago
Arab News Japan 

RIYADH: The president and CEO of Unicharm Gulf Hygienic Industries has been honored by Iwai Fumio, Japan’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, for his contribution to promoting economic and cultural relations between the two countries.

Iwai Fumio hosted a reception at his residence to celebrate the commendation of Mahdy Katbe, highlighting his strong leadership and pioneering work in the Kingdom’s consumer goods manufacturing sector.

The company has promoted female empowerment and gender equality throughout the Kingdom, while being committed to deepening understanding about Japan and its culture.

Ambassador Iwai said he was very fortunate to work with Katbe during a time of rapid social and economic transformation in Saudi Arabia.

In response, Katbe expressed his appreciation for the Commendation from Foreign Minister of Japan, and his commitment to further development of the bilateral relations.

Iwai said 2025 would mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Saudi Arabia and promised to further business and cultural exchange between the countries.

The ceremony was attended by Katbe’s family and a number of employees from Unicharm Gulf.

Germany, Qatar see need for more diplomatic efforts in the Middle East

Germany, Qatar see need for more diplomatic efforts in the Middle East
Updated 50 min 58 sec ago
Reuters
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Germany, Qatar see need for more diplomatic efforts in the Middle East

Germany, Qatar see need for more diplomatic efforts in the Middle East
Updated 50 min 58 sec ago
Reuters

BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, stressed the importance of a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and called for intensified diplomatic efforts to achieve a lasting peace in the region during talks in Germany on Tuesday, a government spokesperson said.

Topics: Germany Qatar

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Hezbollah strikes Israeli army intelligence base near Tel Aviv

Hezbollah strikes Israeli army intelligence base near Tel Aviv
Updated 47 min 35 sec ago
AFP
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Hezbollah strikes Israeli army intelligence base near Tel Aviv

Hezbollah strikes Israeli army intelligence base near Tel Aviv
  • Israel’s air force shoot down two rockets from Lebanon that set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv
  • Hezbollah fighters launched ‘a rocket salvo’ at ‘the Glilot base of the military intelligence unit... in the Tel Aviv suburbs’
Updated 47 min 35 sec ago
AFP Reuters

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said it fired rockets at an Israeli military intelligence base in the Tel Aviv suburbs Wednesday, following a night of strikes on the group’s south Beirut bastion.

Hezbollah fighters launched “a rocket salvo” at “the Glilot base of the military intelligence unit... in the Tel Aviv suburbs,” the group said in a statement, referring to a base targeted several times in recent days. It said the rocket fire was “in response to attacks and massacres committed by the Zionist enemy.”

Israel’s air force shot down two rockets from Lebanon that set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, the military said.

The downing of the rockets came shortly after Israeli forces intercepted two drones launched from the east targeting the Red Sea port city of Eilat, the military said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries in either the drone or rocket attacks.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq group said it attacked Eilat with drones twice on Wednesday. The pro-Iranian militant group said it struck “vital” targets.

Topics: Battlefield Lebanon Lebanon Israel Hezbollah

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Civilians flee Lebanon’s Tyre after Israeli evacuation warning

Civilians flee Lebanon’s Tyre after Israeli evacuation warning
Updated 23 min 50 sec ago
AFP
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Civilians flee Lebanon’s Tyre after Israeli evacuation warning

Civilians flee Lebanon’s Tyre after Israeli evacuation warning
  • Only about 14,500 people were still in Tyre on Tuesday, thousands of them displaced from other parts of the south
Updated 23 min 50 sec ago
AFP

TYRE, Lebanon: Lebanese civilians fled the southern city of Tyre on Wednesday after the Israel army issued warnings for residents to evacuate large parts of the city which is home to thousands of displaced.

“The situation is very bad, we’re evacuating people,” said Mortada Mhanna, who heads Tyre’s disaster management unit.

Bilal Kashmar, the unit’s media officer, said that many were fleeing the city and heading toward the suburbs.

“You could say that the entire city of Tyre is being evacuated,” he said, adding that the once vibrant southern hub had already been emptied of most of its residents.

Only about 14,500 people were still in Tyre on Tuesday, thousands of them displaced from other parts of the south, he said.

“Some families, who had not left the city of Tyre before, began leaving their homes to stay clear from areas that the Israeli enemy threatened to target,” Lebanon’s official National News Agency said.

People began to flee immediately after the Israeli army called on residents of large parts of Tyre to leave ahead of military operations targeting Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The army’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted a map of the affected streets in Tyre on X, saying: “You must immediately move out of the area marked in red and head north of the Awali River. Anyone who is near Hezbollah elements, facilities and combat equipment is putting his life in danger.”

On September 23, Israel launched an intensive air campaign in Lebanon, after almost a year of cross-border exchanges with Hezbollah over the Gaza war.

Since then, at least 1,552 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of health ministry figures, although the real number is likely to be higher due to data gaps.

Topics: Battlefield Lebanon Lebanon Israel

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At BRICS, Turkiye seeks to expand strategic reach

At BRICS, Turkiye seeks to expand strategic reach
Updated 23 October 2024
AFP
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At BRICS, Turkiye seeks to expand strategic reach

At BRICS, Turkiye seeks to expand strategic reach
  • Experts say the move is economically-driven and aligns with Ankara’s desire for ‘strategic autonomy’
  • ‘The Turkish government sees that the unquestioned hegemony of the West cannot continue as it is’
Updated 23 October 2024
AFP

ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s overtures toward BRICS may be a first for a NATO member, but experts say the move is economically-driven and aligns with Ankara’s desire for “strategic autonomy.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joins the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan Wednesday at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. He will meet with the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Turkiye said last month it had asked to join the group of emerging market nations. If admitted, it would be the first NATO member in a bloc which sees itself as a counterweight to Western powers.
Most of its members are sharply at odds with the West over the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and in the case of Beijing and Moscow, also its stance on the Ukraine war.
BRICS is an acronym for its five founding members although the alliance added four nations this year, three from the Middle East — including Iran which the West says is supplying Russia with drones to use against Ukraine.
But experts said Turkiye’s bid to join did not mean it will turn its back on the West, nor on Ukraine, whose top diplomat visited on Monday — let alone NATO.
“The government is continuing to deepen its ties with countries that are not members of the Western alliance, in line with the strategic autonomy that Turkiye is pursuing,” Sinan Ulgen, a researcher at the Carnegie Europe think tank, said.
“But the initiative is also partly economic: it’s expected to have a positive impact on bilateral economic relations.”
he BRICS nations represent just under half of the world’s population and around a third of global gross domestic product.
As a “platform,” it does not impose binding economic obligations on members as does the European Union, at whose door Ankara has been knocking since 1999.
Erdogan raised a similar point last month. “Those who say (don’t join BRICS) are the same people who have kept Turkiye waiting at the EU’s door for years,” he said.
“We cannot cut ties with the Turkic and Islamic world just because we are a NATO country: BRICS and ASEAN are structures that offer us opportunities to develop economic cooperation,” he said.
Ulgen said it was clear the two issues were connected.
“Turkiye would not have taken these steps (toward BRICS) if it had been able to pursue integration talks with Europe, or even with (upgrading) the customs union” which has been stalled since 1996.
Soli Ozel, an international relations professor at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University, said Turkiye was responding to an anticipated shift in the global center of gravity.
“The Turkish government sees that the unquestioned hegemony of the West cannot continue as it is,” he said.
“And like many other countries, it is trying to position itself to have more of a say if a new order emerges in an asymmetrically multipolar world.”
Ankara wanted to take advantage of the “weakening” of Western influence, he said, “particularly that of the United States, to see whether it can create more room for maneuver.”
But Turkiye remained part of “the security-conscious West and its economy certainly remains part of the European economy,” he added.
For Gokul Sahni, a Singapore-based analyst, Ankara wanted the best of both worlds.
“Turkiye wants to benefit from being West-adjacent, but — knowing it can’t ever become part of the West — it wants to partner closely with the non-Western BRICS” countries, he said.
And it was a no-risk gamble because joining BRICS “has no security implications,” he said.
“Turkiye will never leave NATO,” said Ozel, but its rapprochement with BRICS reflects “the need for change, the desire to obtain more from emerging regional powers.”

Topics: BRICS BRICS Summit 2024 Turkiye

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