A friendly dance competition carries on an ancient Sahara festival tradition

Dancers perform on the last day  of the Sebeiba festival in Djanet,  a southeastern Algerian oasis town in the Sahara desert. (AP)
Dancers perform on the last day of the Sebeiba festival in Djanet, a southeastern Algerian oasis town in the Sahara desert. (AP)
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Updated 11 July 2025
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A friendly dance competition carries on an ancient Sahara festival tradition

A friendly dance competition carries on an ancient Sahara festival tradition
  • Sebeiba is a core tradition of the Tuareg people, native to the Sahara and parts of West Africa
  • The festival is a proud tradition of the Tuareg in Djanet. Some call it the Sebeiba celebration, or the ‘war dance without bloodshed’ or ‘the dance of peace’

DJANET, Algeria: In one hand, the dancers hold swords symbolizing battle. In the other, a piece of cloth symbolizing peace. They dance a shuffling “step-step” to the beat of drums and chanting from the women encircling them, all adorned in their finest traditional garments and jewelry.

They’re performing the rituals of the 3,000-year-old annual Sebeiba festival of Djanet, a southeastern Algerian oasis town deep in the Sahara, just over 200 km from the Libyan border.

Sebeiba is a core tradition of the Tuareg people, native to the Sahara and parts of West Africa. The Tuareg are Muslim, and their native language is Tamasheq, though many speak some combination of French, Modern Standard Arabic, Algerian Arabic (Darija) and English.

The festival lasts 10 days, and ends with a daylong dance competition between two neighborhoods in Djanet — Zelouaz, or Tsagit, and El Mihan, or Taghorfit. The winner is decided by judges from a third neighborhood, Adjahil, by selecting the group with the most beautiful costumes, dances, jewelry, poetry and songs.

The Tuaregs in Djanet say there are two legends explaining the significance of Sebeiba, though oral traditions vary. The first says the festival was put on to celebrate peace and joy after Moses defeated the Pharaoh in the Exodus story.

“In commemoration of this great historical event, when God saved Moses and his people from the tyranny of the oppressive Pharaoh, the people of Djanet came out and celebrated through dance,” said Ahmed Benhaoued, a Tuareg guide at his family’s tourism agency, Admer Voyages. He has lived in Djanet all his life.

The second legend says the festival commemorates the resolution of a historic rivalry between Zelouaz and El-Mihan.

“The festival is a proud tradition of the Tuareg in Djanet,” Benhaoued said. “Some call it ‘the Sebeiba celebration,’ or ‘the war dance without bloodshed’ or ‘the dance of peace.’”

Today, Sebeiba is also a point of cultural pride. Recognized by UNESCO since 2014 as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Sebeiba coincides with Ashoura, a day marking the 10th day of Muharram, or the first month of the Islamic year. Some in Djanet fast for up to three days before Sebeiba.

This year, Ashoura and Sebeiba fell on July 6, when temperatures in Djanet reached about 38 C. Still, more than 1,000 people gathered to watch Sebeiba at a sandy square marking the center point between the two neighborhoods, where the festival is held each year.

Each group starts at one end of the square — Zelouaz to the north and El-Mihan to the south.

The dancers are young men from the neighborhoods dressed in dark robes accented by bright yellow, red and blue accessories and tall, maroon hats called Tkoumbout adorned with silver jewelry.

The men’s dances and women’s chants have been passed down through generations. Children participate in the festivities by mimicking the older performers. Boys brandish miniature swords and scarves in their small hands and girls stand with the female drummers.

This year, El-Mihan won the dance competition. But Cheikh Hassani, director of Indigenous Institutional Dance of Sebeiba, emphasized that despite the naming of a winner, the festival remains a friendly celebration — meant above all to honor their ancestors in a spirit of unity.

“Sebeiba is not just a dance,” Hassani said. “People used to think you just come, you dance — no, it represents so much more. For the people of Djanet, it’s a sort of sacred day.”

While the most widely known part of Sebeiba is the dance competition on the last day, the nine days leading up to it are also full of celebration. Tuareg from Libya and from other cities in the Algerian Sahara come to gatherings each night, when the temperature has cooled, to watch the performers rehearse.

Hassani said the generational inheritance of the festival’s customs helps them keep the spirits of their ancestors alive.

“We can’t let it go,” he said. “This is our heritage, and today it’s become a heritage of all humanity, an international heritage.”

According to legend, Benhaoued said, there will be winds and storms if Sebeiba is not held.

“It is said that this actually happened once when the festival was not held, so a woman went out into the streets with her drum, beating it until the storm calmed down,” the Tuareg guide added.

About 50 foreign tourists joined the people of Djanet for the final dance competition, hailing mostly from European countries such as France, Poland and Germany. Several also came from the neighboring countries of Libya and Niger.

Djanet is one of many Algerian cities experiencing an increase in tourism over the past two years, thanks to government efforts to boost the number of foreign visitors, especially to scenic sites like the Sahara, which makes up 83 percent of the North African country’s surface area.

The government introduced a new visa-on-arrival program in January 2023 for all nonexempt foreign tourists traveling to the Sahara. Additionally, the national airline, Air Algerie, launched a flight between Paris and Djanet in December 2024 during the winter season, when tourists from across the world travel to Djanet for camping excursions deep into the Sahara.

“The Sebeiba isn’t just something for the people of Djanet,” Hassani said. “We have the honor of preserving this heritage of humanity. That’s an honor for us.”

 


Israel and Hamas agree to first phase of Gaza peace plan

 Israel and Hamas agree to first phase of Gaza peace plan
Updated 09 October 2025
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Israel and Hamas agree to first phase of Gaza peace plan

 Israel and Hamas agree to first phase of Gaza peace plan
  • A number of hostages will be released
  • Aid will be allowed into Gaza

WASHINGTON/CAIRO: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had reached a long-sought deal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release under his plan for ending the two-year-old war in the Palestinian enclave.

Just a day after the second anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel that triggered Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza, indirect talks in Egypt yielded an agreement on the initial stage of Trump’s 20-point framework.

The deal, if implemented, would bring the two sides closer than any previous effort to halt a war that had evolved into a regional conflict, drawing in countries such as Iran, Yemen and Lebanon, and reshaping the Middle East.

“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” Trump said on Truth Social.

“This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace,” Trump added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a written statement, referring to the hostages held by Hamas: “With God’s help we will bring them all home.” He said he would convene his government on Thursday to approve the agreement.

Hamas confirmed it had reached an agreement to end the war, saying the deal includes an Israeli withdrawal from the enclave and a hostage-prisoner exchange. But the group called on Trump and guarantor states to ensure Israel fully implements the ceasefire, it added in a statement.

Trump said earlier that a deal was almost done and that he may travel to Egypt this weekend, possibly leaving as soon as Saturday.

“All Parties will be treated fairly!” he said on Truth Social. “This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkiye, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen.

Successful completion of the deal would mark the biggest foreign policy achievement so far for a president who took office in January promising to quickly end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, only to be confronted with obstacles and complexities he had apparently not foreseen.

Senior envoys from the US, Qatar and Turkiye had joined the talks, apparently adding momentum to discussions launched on Monday in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Trump sent his son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Israel was represented by Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Despite the hopes raised for ending the war, crucial details are yet to be spelled out, including the timing, a post-war administration for the Gaza Strip and the fate of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Gaza authorities say more than 67,000 people have been killed and much of the enclave has been flattened since Israel began its military response to the Hamas cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Around 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage back to Gaza, according to Israeli officials, with 20 of the 48 hostages still held believed to be alive.


US targets Chinese companies over drone components used by Hamas, Houthis

US targets Chinese companies over drone components used by Hamas, Houthis
Updated 09 October 2025
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US targets Chinese companies over drone components used by Hamas, Houthis

US targets Chinese companies over drone components used by Hamas, Houthis
  • 10 China companies in sanctions list for facilitating the purchase of components allegedly found in weaponized Houthi drones
  • 5 more companies also sanctioned after components were found in weaponized drones operated by Hamas

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Wednesday it was adding 15 Chinese companies to its restricted trade list for facilitating the purchase of American electronic components found in drones operated by Iranian proxies including Houthi and Hamas militants.

Ten companies in China were placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List for facilitating the purchase of components found in weaponized unmanned aircraft systems operated by proxies including Yemen’s Houthi militants, according to a post in the Federal Register.

Five additional Chinese companies were listed after information that around October 7, 2023, Israel Defense Forces recovered numerous weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operated by Iranian proxies including Hamas, the post said, and the debris showed multiple US-origin electronic components.

Hamas-led militants staged an attack in Israel that day that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and triggered the war in Gaza.

In all, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 29 entries to the list.

Arrow China Electronics Trading in Shanghai and other Chinese cities and Arrow Electronics (Hong Kong) are among the companies being placed on the list over US components for weaponized drones operated by Iranian proxies like the Houthis.

Both companies are subsidiaries of Centennial, Colorado-based Arrow Electronics, a components distributor which says it had global 2024 sales of $28 billion.

The companies have been and are continuing to operate in compliance with export regulations and the law, according to a statement from the US-headquartered company.

“We are in discussion with BIS concerning these listings and will provide further details as soon as they become available,” Arrow spokesperson John Hourigan said in the statement. “In the meantime, we will work to minimize supply chain disruptions to our partners.”

The US also added another Chinese company to the list for being part of an illicit network that obtains and supplies UAV and other components to front companies of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force (IRGC-QF).

Companies are placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List for activities deemed contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests. Licenses are required to export to companies on the list, and are likely to be denied. 


Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli settler in West Bank near Ramallah

Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli settler in West Bank near Ramallah
Updated 09 October 2025
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Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli settler in West Bank near Ramallah

Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli settler in West Bank near Ramallah
  • Palestinian Red Crescent Society says 26-year-old Jihad Mohammed Ajaj was hit by several bullets
  • The settler stopped Palestinian vehicles on a main road before opening fire, says the head of local town council

LONDON: A 26-year-old man was killed on Wednesday evening when an Israeli settler opened fire on a group of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, east of Ramallah.

Jihad Mohammed Ajaj was shot on a main road between the towns of Deir Jarir and Silwad. He was taken to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah but could not be saved, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Fathi Hamdan, the head of Deir Jarir Council, said the settler had stopped Palestinian vehicles on the road before shooting at a group of people who approached him.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Ajaj was hit by several bullets, and two other people were wounded, one in the groin and the other in the abdomen.

Attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank have increased sharply since October 2023. They have blocked roads used by Palestinians, targeted private and commercial properties, and sabotaged agricultural land in a number of places over the past two years.

Ajaj is the 13th Palestinian killed by Israeli settlers this year, and the 34th since Oct. 7, 2023, Wafa said.


UN staff member released from Houthi detention in Yemen, UN spokesperson says

UN staff member released from Houthi detention in Yemen, UN spokesperson says
Updated 09 October 2025
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UN staff member released from Houthi detention in Yemen, UN spokesperson says

UN staff member released from Houthi detention in Yemen, UN spokesperson says
  • 53 UN staff remain detained by Houthis, some have been held since 2021

A United Nations staff member who was recently detained by Yemen’s Houthi authorities has been released, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday.

“We continue to urge the de facto authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all UN and humanitarian workers who are supporting the most vulnerable people in Yemen,” Dujarric said.

He did not provide information about the timing or circumstances of the detention, which comes after nine other UN personnel were detained by Houthis.

Dujarric said 53 UN staff remain detained by Houthis, adding that some have been held since 2021.

Yemen has been the focus of one of the world’s largest humanitarian operations during a decade of civil war that disrupted food supplies. WFP says it provided assistance to 15.3 million people, or 47 percent of the population, in 2023.

WFP was among the UN offices raided by Houthis in the Yemeni capital Sanaa in August. Eleven UN personnel were detained as a result of the raid.

The raid, which followed an Israeli strike on Sanaa that killed the prime minister of the Houthi-run government and several other ministers, was condemned by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who described the detentions as “intolerable.”

Houthi officials said last month that the UN personnel’s legal immunities should not shield espionage activities.

The Houthi-run foreign ministry also accused the UN of bias for condemning what they called “legal measures taken by the government against spy cells involved in crimes,” while failing to denounce the Israeli attack.


Who are the prominent Palestinians held in Israeli jails?

Who are the prominent Palestinians held in Israeli jails?
Updated 08 October 2025
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Who are the prominent Palestinians held in Israeli jails?

Who are the prominent Palestinians held in Israeli jails?

JERUSALEM: A senior Hamas official said on Wednesday that negotiators from his group and Israel had exchanged lists of prisoners and hostages who would be released should a deal be reached during the ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks in Egypt.

Following are some of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. It is not yet clear if any of them will be released:

Abdullah Al-Barghouti: He was sentenced to 67 life terms in 2004 by an Israeli military court for his involvement in a series of suicide attacks in 2001 and 2002 that killed dozens of Israelis.  

A father of three, he was born in Kuwait in 1972. In 1996, he moved with his family to live in Beit Rima village near Ramallah in the West Bank.

Ibrahim Hamed: He was handed 54 life terms after he was arrested in 2006 in Ramallah. He is accused by Israel of planning suicide attacks that killed dozens of Israelis. 

Hamed, who had been on Israel’s wanted list for eight years before his arrest, was the top West Bank commander of the Izz El-Deen Al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas military wing. 

Hassan Salama: Born in Gaza’s Khan Younis refugee camp in 1971, Salama was convicted of orchestrating a wave of suicide bombings in Israel in 1996 that killed dozens of Israelis and wounded hundreds more. 

He was sentenced to 48 life terms in jail. Salama said the attacks were a response to the assassination of Hamas bombmaker Yahya Ayyash in 1996. Salama was arrested in Hebron in the West Bank later that year.

Marwan Al-Barghouti: A leading member of the Fatah movement that controls the Palestinian Authority, Barghouti is seen as a possible successor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. 

He made his name as a leader and organizer in both of the Intifadas, or uprisings, waged by the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1987. 

He was arrested in 2002, charged with orchestrating gun ambushes and suicide bombings and sentenced to five life terms in 2004. 

Ahmed Saadat: Saadat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was accused by Israel of ordering the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi in 2001. 

Pursued by Israel, he took shelter at the Ramallah headquarters of Arafat. Under a deal with the Palestinian Authority in 2002, Saadat stood trial in a Palestinian court and was incarcerated at a Palestinian Authority jail, where he was held under international supervision. 

The Israeli military seized Saadat in 2006 following the withdrawal of the foreign monitors, and put him on trial in a military court. He was sentenced to 30 years in jail in 2008.