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146 countries now recognise a Palestinian state

The Israel-Hamas war, raging in Gaza since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack, has revived a global push for Palestinians to be given a state of their own.

Slovenia on Tuesday became the latest country to recognise a state of Palestine, breaking with the long-held view of Western powers that Palestinians can only gain statehood as part of a negotiated peace with Israel.

This follows the same move made last week by Spain, Ireland and Norway.

According to the Palestinian Authority 137 of the 193 UN members already recognise a Palestinian state

Climate change caused 26 extra days of extreme heat in last year: report

The world experience an average of 26 more days of extreme heat over the last 12 months that would probably not have occurred without climate change, a report said on Tuesday.

Heat is the leading cause of climate-related death and the report further points to the role of global warming in increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather around the world.

For this study, scientists used the years 1991 to 2020 to determine what temperatures counted as within the top 10 percent for each country over that period.

Heat is the leading cause of climate-related death

Civil defence says 21 dead in new strike on Gaza camp that Israel denies

A civil defence official in Hamas-run Gaza said an Israeli strike on a displacement camp west of Rafah on Tuesday killed at least 21 people, after a similar strike that sparked global outrage.

Israel denied carrying out the latest reported strike, which occurred ahead of a UN Security Council meeting to discuss a Sunday strike which Palestinian officials said killed 45 people.

Despite mounting concerns over the civilian toll of its war on Hamas, Israel has shown no signs of changing course and international efforts aimed at securing a ceasefire remain stalled.

Smoke billows over Gaza after Israeli bombardment on May 28, 2024

After Raisi funeral, Iran's focus turns to vote for successor

After Iran mourned president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash, the nation's focus turns to the election for his successor, with the conservative camp seeking a loyalist to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The lead-up to the June 28 vote has opened the field to a broad range of hopefuls. The big question now is how many of them will have their candidacies approved by the Guardian Council, a conservative-dominated vetting body.

Young Iranian women eligible to vote for the first time show ink-stained fingers in a picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Security Council set to meet over deadly Rafah strike

The UN Security Council was set to convene an emergency meeting Tuesday over an Israeli strike that killed dozens in a displaced persons camp in Rafah, as three European countries were slated to formally recognise a Palestinian state.

AFP journalists on the ground early Tuesday reported fresh Israeli strikes overnight in the southern Gaza border city, where an Israeli attack targeting two senior Hamas members on Sunday night sparked a fire that ripped through a displacement centre, killing 45, according to Gaza health officials.

Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024

Spain, Ireland and Norway recognise Palestinian state

Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognised a Palestinian state on Tuesday in a coordinated decision slammed by Israel as a "reward" for Hamas, more than seven months into the devastating Gaza war.

The three European countries believe their initiative has strong symbolic impact that could encourage others to follow suit.

After Ireland's government formally approved the measure, Prime Minister Simon Harris said the aim was to keep Middle East peace hopes alive.

A Palestinian flag on a hilltop near the southern West Bank city of Hebron

Beirut design fair reborn after four years of economic crisis

A Beirut design fair has made a comeback after Lebanon's economic meltdown forced a four-year hiatus, with some pieces on display in spaces devastated in a deadly 2020 port explosion.

We Design Beirut, which ended Sunday, exhibited work from more than 150 designers and artisans for four days in several locations in the Lebanese capital.

The fair aimed "to showcase the diversity of Lebanese design despite the country's difficulties", said Mariana Wehbe, who launched the event with industrial designer Samer Alameen.

We Design Beirut was set to return in October last year but was postponed again due to the war in Gaza

Tunisian journalists demand arrested colleagues' release

Several dozen journalists demonstrated in Tunis on Monday against what they called the "repression" of freedoms and called for the release of two convicted colleagues, an AFP journalist said.

Around 60 protesters chanted "Freedom for the Tunisian press", "The police state is old news" and "The judiciary is under orders" outside the headquarters of the national journalists' union (SNJT).

Tunisian journalists protesting outside their union headquarters

Devastation after Israeli strike on Rafah camp

Men cleared away the charred debris of shelters and children salvaged food in Gaza's southern city of Rafah on Monday after an Israeli strike torched a camp for displaced Palestinians.

"People were not just injured or killed, but charred," 24-year-old Mohammed Hamad told AFP in the aftermath of the strike that killed at least 45 people.

The death toll came from the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which also said that 249 people were wounded in the strike.

Palestinians gather at the site of the Israeli strike on the camp for displaced people

Egypt opposition figure Tantawi arrested: lawyer

An Egyptian appeals court on Monday upheld a one-year jail sentence for opposition politician Ahmad al-Tantawi, who was then arrested "inside the courthouse", lawyer Nabeh Elganadi told AFP.

Tantawi, who had hoped to run against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in elections last year, was found guilty of election campaign irregularities in February.

"The sentence at the time was suspended on bail until the appeal today," Elganadi said, adding that Tantawi was arrested as soon as the decision was declared.

Tantawi, pictured here on October 12, 2023, was arrested as soon as the appeal decision was declared