WORLD

ANKARA, 12 August 2026 (Kamran Raja): Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed hope that more countries will join the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement signed last week by Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, saying the alliance could eventually expand to include countries across the region.Speaking to the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat daily, Erdogan said the vision behind the agreement was not limited to the three founding countries. He said appropriate conditions could emerge in the future for all countries in the region to come under its umbrella.The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was signed last Friday as the Middle East continues to face the consequences of the US-Iran war, which has involved regional players and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. ...

TEHRAN, 11 August, 2026 (Ghufran): Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has appointed several senior military commanders to key positions within the country’s armed forces, according to Iranian media reports, in a major reshuffle of the country’s military leadership amid the ongoing war.Major General Ali Abdollahi has been appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, while Amir Kioumars Heidari has been named Deputy Chief of the General Staff. Major General Ahmad Vahidi has also been appointed commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), one of the country’s most powerful military and security institutions.In another key appointment, Major General Mostafa Izadi has been named deputy commander of the IRGC, while Hojjatoleslam Taeb has been appointed head of t...

DAMASCUS, 11 August, 2026 (Nosheen): A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced ousted President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia after finding him guilty of serious crimes committed during the country’s nearly 14-year-long war. The court convicted Assad of premeditated and intentional killings, including the deaths of children, torture, arbitrary arrests and crimes against humanity.The verdict marks the first conviction against Assad, who was ousted in a rebel offensive in December 2024 that brought an end to decades of authoritarian rule by his family in Syria. Assad reportedly fled Damascus as rebel forces advanced on the capital and is currently residing in Moscow. The Syrian conflict, which began in 2011, resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and caused widespread des...

BOGOTA, 11 August, 2026 (Ghufran): At least 111 people have been killed after a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia early Monday, causing buildings to collapse in several cities and leaving people trapped under the rubble.According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake struck at a depth of around 107 kilometers near San Jose del Palmar in the Choco province on Colombia’s Pacific coast. The tremor was felt across the country, including in major cities. Authorities warned that significant casualties and widespread damage were possible as rescue teams continued operations in affected areas.The highest reported number of fatalities was recorded in Risaralda province, where Governor Juan Diego Patino said 42 people had died. In Pereira, a building with a severely dam...

BUNIA, Congo _11 August, 2026 (Kamran Raja): The death toll from Congo’s rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak has surpassed 2,000, with health authorities facing major challenges in reaching affected communities because of armed conflict, poor road networks and work stoppages by health workers over unpaid salaries.According to government data released Tuesday, the outbreak has recorded 4,381 confirmed cases, including 2,011 deaths. The current outbreak was officially declared on May 15, although health authorities said genetic sequencing indicated that it had begun months earlier, in February. The death toll has risen at an alarming pace, reaching the first 1,000 deaths in around nine weeks and doubling in only about three weeks.Health officials have described the situation as increasingly ala...

MOSCOW, 11 August, 2026 (Kamran Raja): Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has condemned the terrorist attack carried out against civilian facilities in Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan, saying that at least 13 people were killed, most of them foreign nationals.According to preliminary information cited by Zakharova, eight citizens of Uzbekistan and one citizen of Tajikistan were among those killed, while around 20 other foreign nationals sustained injuries in the attack on August 10.Zakharova said the attack targeted facilities where citizens of Russia’s friendly countries live and work, alleging that the perpetrators sought to create divisions between the nations and undermine their relations. “The terrorist attacks perpetrated by Ukrainian militants have claimed the lives of not...

TASHKENT, 10 August, 2026 (Kamran Raja): Seven Uzbek citizens were killed in a drone attack in Russia’s Tatarstan region on Monday, according to the Uzbek Consulate in Kazan. The consulate did not immediately provide further details about the victims. Earlier, local authorities said at least 13 people, including a child, were killed and 39 others injured in a Ukrainian drone attack targeting industrial and civilian sites in the city of Nizhnekamsk in Tatarstan. Between two and three million citizens of Uzbekistan, Central Asia’s most populous country, work in Russia, with remittances from migrant workers forming an important part of the Uzbek economy. Uzbekistan has maintained a careful diplomatic balance over the war in Ukraine, preserving close relations with Russia while also emphasizin...

WASHINGTON, 09 August, 2026 (Nosheen): Pop superstar Taylor Swift has made her music unavailable to US President Donald Trump’s political accounts on TikTok after a Trump-affiliated account used her song August in a video featuring Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. The Team Trump TikTok video showed the couple watching fireworks with the message, “Mood because it’s August and Donald Trump is your president,” and was captioned, “I’m sure Taylor Swift is going to be super excited we used her song!” The song has since been removed, with TikTok displaying a notice saying, “This sound isn’t available.” The incident follows earlier use of Swift’s songs Father Figure and The Fate of Ophelia by Trump-affiliated accounts, both of which have subsequently become unavailable on those political accou...

RIYADH, 09 August 2026 (Nosheen): Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognized government have strongly condemned the attack on an oil tanker operated by the United Arab Emirates’ state-owned energy company ADNOC while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz.The two countries joined Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar and Syria in condemning the incident, which the UAE has blamed on Iran. According to the UAE, the attack did not result in any injuries.In a statement, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the attack as a serious violation of maritime security and safety, warning that such incidents could also threaten the security of global energy supplies.The Saudi ministry said the Kingdom holds Iran responsible for the consequences of what it described as continued acts of aggression ...