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US approves possible $5b weapons sale to Saudi Arabia amid Middle East tensions

The United States on Friday approved a possible $5 billion sale of bombs, guidance kits and related equipment to Saudi Arabia amid heightened tensions in the Middle East and repeated attacks on the kingdom during the US-Israeli war against Iran. The US State Department said the proposed sale was intended to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s airborne and homeland defence capabilities, help it counter current and future regional threats and improve interoperability with US forces and other Gulf partners. The department said the package would also support US foreign policy and national security objectives by strengthening the security of Saudi Arabia, which it described as a major non-NATO ally. Read: High-ranking US military officials subjected to polygraph tests over information leaks: CBS The proposed sale included thousands of guidance kits and bombs, as well as fuzes, target detectors, containers, support equipment, spare parts and technical assistance. Boeing was identified as...

New York's Muslims reclaim their city after 9/11 backlash

Asad Dandia was eight when he watched the September 11, 2001 attacks on television at his Pakistani-immigrant parents' home in New York. Then came the backlash -- years of Islamophobia as Americans processed attacks that had killed nearly 3,000 people. There was anger, suspicion, and worse. At 19, Dandia experienced a police informant posing as a friend to infiltrate his family home, part of a now-disgraced surveillance effort purportedly seeking to detect Islamic extremism. Today, though, the 33-year-old historian finds a New York transformed: one with its first Muslim mayor, public prayers in Times Square and new mosques rising across the city. "Twenty-five years after 9/11, we mourn, and we grieve what happened, and at the same time, we recognize that I am not responsible for what happened," he told AFP. "I don't deserve to be targeted for what happened, and I am as much of a New Yorker as anybody else in that respect," said Dandia, who leads wal...

After heatwaves, will EU pivot back to the climate fight?

Is climate change set for a comeback as a top European Union priority, after a deadly summer of record-breaking heatwaves across Europe? The fight against global warming is expected to feature prominently in a key policy speech by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen this month, after two years critics say were marked by major environmental rollbacks. With Europe barely emerging from a sweltering summer, climate would have been hard to ignore in the normally sprawling "State of the European Union" address - a yearly speech setting out political priorities for the next 12 months. After years as a leading EU cause, climate concerns have taken the backseat to defence and industry goals over the past couple of years - to the frustration of environmentalists. Read: Europe's hottest town says climate change is reshaping daily life The bloc has notably watered down new green rules for businesses and proposed abandoning a ban on the sale of new internal combustion eng...

Feminist activist Gloria Steinem dies at age 92

Gloria Steinem, the American writer, lecturer, activist and organiser who fought for gender equality and women's civil and reproductive rights for more than five decades, has died, her foundation said. She was 92 years old. The co-founder and consulting editor of Ms Magazine championed the feminist movement from the late 1960s onwards and inspired generations of women. "From reluctant spokesperson to a beacon of positive change, hers is a singular journey — an American leader who can speak to us all," film and theater ‌director Julie Taymor said of Steinem in a 2017 New York Times interview. Taymor directed the 2020 film "The Glorias", depicting Steinem's life across the years and based on her 2015 best-selling autobiography "My Life on the Road". She was also the subject of a 2018 play, "Gloria: A Life" and a 2011 HBO documentary "Gloria: In Her Own Words". Steinem said she considered herself "an en...

Houthis target Yemen's western coast with 14 ballistic missiles: army

Houthi fighters targeted populated districts along Yemen's western coast in Taiz and Hodeidah provinces with 14 ballistic missiles and drone attacks, the Yemeni Armed Forces Media Centre said on Thursday. Air defences intercepted several drones in the Taiz front and others over districts along the western coast, the centre quoted a military source as saying. The source praised the "high combat readiness" of Yemeni armed forces, saying morale remained high and military units across different sectors maintained a high level of vigilance and preparedness. The ballistic missiles did not hit positions of forces deployed along the western coast, the source said. Read More: Yemeni army says it foiled Houthi boat attack near Red Sea islands It added that Yemeni forces suppressed sources of hostile fire and threats in the Al-Kadaha sector of the Al-Barh front in western Taiz province, amid reciprocal ground clashes in the area. Yemen has witnessed a relative lull since ...

Iran warns US against Israeli attack on south Lebanon ridge held by Hezbollah, sources say

Iran has warned the United States that it would respond forcefully to an Israeli offensive on a mountainous ridge in southern Lebanon where Iranian military personnel are holed up alongside Hezbollah fighters, three officials briefed on the message told Reuters. The message, delivered last month, highlights Iran's continued direct involvement in the ground fighting in southern Lebanon and its readiness to retaliate against Israeli attacks there as the regional war enters its seventh month. Hezbollah is believed to have built an underground command centre and weapons stores within the Ali al-Taher ridge, which has a commanding view of southeastern Lebanon, according to Lebanese security sources, and has become one of the most contested pieces of ground in the Israel-Hezbollah war. Hezbollah has said in public statements that it controls the hill and will confront any Israeli advances. Its officials have referred to a "facility" there, but have declined to provide d...

1 in 5 children in 21 countries face tech-facilitated sexual abuse, UNICEF says

An estimated 20 million children aged 12 to 17, or nearly 1 in 5, experienced at least one form of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation and abuse in a single year across 21 countries, UNICEF said. The findings are included in a new report titled Through Children’s Eyes: How Digital Technologies Enable Child Sexual Abuse, which combines survey data with testimonies from children who experienced abuse. “The report reveals a painful reality. More than 20 million children across the countries studied were subjected to unwanted explicit sexual content or exploitation online, often in the digital spaces where they learn, play, and connect with friends,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said. “Many children suffer in silence, unsure where to turn for help. We cannot look away,” she added. The report estimated that more than 15 million children were exposed to unwanted sexual content, while 9 million were asked to engage in sexual con...