News – Middle East

TAIPEI — President William Lai has pledged to uphold Taiwan’s self-governing status in his most high-profile public address since taking office earlier this year. In a thinly veiled reference to China’s claim over the island, Lai said he would “uphold the commitment to resist annexation or encroachment upon our sovereignty.” …

LONDON — UK pharmaceutical giant GSK says it will pay as much as $2.2bn (£1.68bn) to settle thousands of cases in US courts over claims that a discontinued version of its heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer. The firm announced that it had reached agreements with 10 law firms who represent …

JERUSALEM — Amid gunfire and Israeli artillery shelling, Palestinian medics say that they have begun moving premature babies and other patients away from Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabalia refugee camp, as troops and tanks encircle it. The Israeli military has been carrying out its third ground offensive in the area …

WASHINGTON — In the two-and-a-half months since Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, Kamala Harris swiftly secured the Democratic presidential nomination, headlined the party’s most rapturous convention since 2008, brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in new campaign donations and surged past Biden’s poll numbers from earlier this year. …

Children play in a school turned into a temporary shelter for displaced people, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday. United Nations officials warned Wednesday that Lebanon was staring down a “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis as the number of internally displaced people hit 600,000 and Israel presses its offensive against Hezbollah. Hezbollah said its …

Saudi Gazette report JAZAN — The pilot survived when a plane crashed during a routine mission to combat insect disease vectors in the Al-Harith governorate in the southern Jazan region. The pilot is in stable condition, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The Saudi National Center for the Prevention and Control …

Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — The Ministry of Health announced the arrest of two people for practicing the medical profession without a license, in the Hail region. They included a Saudi woman and an Arab national who also engaged in advertising this on a number of social media platforms. The …

Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Saudi Arabia and Oman discussed on Wednesday enhancing the trade and economic partnership between the two countries at a time when the trade volume between the two neighbors reached SR 36.8 billion and the Saudi exports to Oman amounted to SR 22.5 billion. The discussions …

A boy mourns near the body of his father and other Palestinians, who were killed in an Israeli strike at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on Wednesday. REUTERS Medics and colleagues of Al Jazeera photojournalist Fadi al-Wahidi, who was reportedly shot by Israeli troops …

The United States is incredibly concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, particularly in northern Gaza, the State Department said on Wednesday, adding it is the subject of very urgent discussions between Washington and Israel. “It has been the subject of some very urgent discussions between our two governments,” State …