Skip to main content

Sea, sand and stranded vehicles: on patrol with Qatar desert rescuers

With the rev of an engine and a last tremendous pull, Raghdan Salem Zodeh's SUV was freed from the sand and rising tides near a resort in the desert state of Qatar.

Zodeh, 47, a Syrian living in the Gulf emirate, had become stuck near the on-rushing tide, his wheels spinning in sea-sodden sand, before volunteers from the Aoun Qatar rescue team came to wrench him out with towing cables.

"The guys here are all chivalrous, they are all helpful," Zodeh told AFP, after waiting just 10 minutes to be rescued.

Many head into the Qatari desert in the cooler months, spilling out of the capital Doha to barrel down dunes in all-terrain vehicles

Iran rules out 'direct talks' with US on nuclear issue

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday dismissed the possibility of direct negotiations with the United States on his country's nuclear programme.

His remarks came a day after Washington announced fresh sanctions on Tehran targeting more than 30 vessels and people, including the head of the national oil company, accused of involvement in brokering the sale and shipment of Iranian oil.

The sanctions were the latest to be imposed since US President Donald Trump reinstated his "maximum pressure" policy towards Iran, reprising his approach during his first term.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (R) ruled out direct nuclear talks with the US during a visit by his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov

Mother of jailed UK-Egyptian hospitalised amid hunger strike


The mother of a Egyptian-British activist jailed in Cairo has been hospitalised as her hunger strike approached 150 days, her family said Tuesday.

Laila Soueif, 68, has lived on only coffee, tea and rehydration sachets since September 29, 2024, the date that marked five years in detention for her son Alaa Abdel Fattah.

She was taken to a London hospital overnight Monday to Tuesday, the 149th day of her protest, due to "dangerously new lows" in her blood sugar levels, blood pressure and sodium levels, her campaign said in a statement.

Laila Soueif has been on a hunger strike to demand her son's release from an Egyptian jail since September 29, 2024

Six newborns die as cold snap grips Gaza: civil defence

Gaza's civil defence agency said on Tuesday that six newborn babies have died in a cold snap which has gripped the war-ravaged Palestinian territory over the past week.

"As a result of a severe cold wave and the lack of heating, we have recorded the deaths of six newborns during the past week up until today," agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

Meteorologists say temperatures have fallen to zero degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) in recent days as a cold front has gripped the eastern Mediterranean.

Many Palestinians in Gaza have struggled to keep warm in the makeshift shelters they have been forced to improvise in the rubble of their own homes.

Syria leader vows state 'monopoly' on weapons at post-Assad dialogue conference

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa pledged Tuesday to ensure a state monopoly on weapons at a national dialogue conference, saying his country was at a "new historic phase" after Bashar al-Assad's overthrow.

Hundreds of people are attending the conference at the presidential palace in Damascus, hastily organised by the authorities as part of the war-torn country's post-Assad transition.

Syria's new interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa addresses a national dialogue conference in Damascus on the country's future after Bashar al-Assad's overthrow.

Stuck in eternal drought, UAE turns to AI to make it rain

In the marbled halls of a luxury hotel, leading experts are discussing a new approach to an age-old problem: how to make it rain in the UAE, the wealthy Gulf state that lies in one of the world's biggest deserts.

Decades of work and millions of dollars have been ploughed into easing endless drought in the oil-rich UAE, whose mainly expatriate population is soaring undeterred by a dry, hostile climate and hairdryer summer heat.

Despite the United Arab Emirates' best efforts, rainfall remains rare.

The UAE's population is concentrated in the coastal cities of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah

Islamic Jihad says Israeli tanks part of 'plans to annex West Bank by force'

Palestinian militants said on Monday that an unusual deployment of Israeli tanks in the occupied West Bank, part of a major offensive that has displaced tens of thousands, may be a step toward annexation.

The torn-up streets surrounding the Jenin refugee camp in the territory's north were empty on Monday, an AFP journalist reported, as three Israeli Merkava tanks stationed at higher vantage points overlooked the area.

Displaced camp residents occasionally entered through a back alley to retrieve belongings from their homes.

Some displaced residents have entered Jenin refugee camp through a back alley, potentially risking their lives to retrieve belongings

Islamic Jihad accuses Israel of wanting to 'annex West Bank by force' after tanks deployed

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad on Monday accused Israel of wanting to "annex the West Bank by force" after Israel deployed tanks into the occupied territory for the first time in decades.

Israel said on Sunday its troops would remain for many months in refugee camps in the northern West Bank, after tens of thousands of Palestinians living there were displaced by an intensifying, weeks-long military operation.

People look on as Israeli tanks enter the Jenin camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank, on February 23, 2025. Israel on February 23 said troops would stay in West Bank refugee camps for the coming year, announcing expanded military operations including tank deployments, after the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Israel says army to stay in evacuated West Bank camps for 'coming year'

Israel said on Sunday its troops would remain for many months in refugee camps in the occupied West Bank, after tens of thousands of Palestinians living there have been displaced by an intensifying military operation.

The military began a major raid against Palestinian militants in the West Bank's north a month ago, just after a truce went into effect in the Gaza Strip, a separate Palestinian territory.

The West Bank offensive has gradually expanded, spanning multiple refugee camps near the cities of Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas.

Palestinian children and journalists disperse as Israeli tanks enter the Jenin camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank, on February 23, 2025

Lebanon not battleground for 'wars of others', leader tells Iran

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun told a visiting Iranian delegation on Sunday that the war-scarred country was "tired" of external conflicts playing out on its territory.

The high-level delegation was in Beirut for the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, the slain leader of Tehran-backed Hezbollah which fought a war with Israel last year that ended in a November truce.

"Lebanon has grown tired of the wars of others on its land," Aoun told the Iranian officials, according to a statement shared by the newly appointed president, a former army chief seen as close to the West.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (R), seen as close to the West, in his meeting with Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf