Author: Akiner Balbay

Australia’s federal budget is on track for a wafer-thin $1.1bn deficit this year, with a strong labour market and commodity prices fuelling expectations the eventual result will be a second Labor surplus. The mid-year economic and fiscal outlook, released on Wednesday, revealed a $12.8bn improvement for the 2023-24 financial year compared with the May budget and a total of $39.5bn more in federal coffers over the four years to 2026-27. The Albanese government has resisted calls to offer more assistance to households, pointing to existing measures including energy bill relief and cheaper childcare and gambling that saving improvements in revenue…

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Monday called for increasing delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict. In a phone call, the two sides discussed the latest developments in Gaza and the West Bank and the need to immediately end the deadly Israel-Hamas conflict, according to a statement published on the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website. The Iranian foreign minister expressed regret over the U.S. veto on a UN Security Council resolution on Friday that demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, describing the move as a green light to…

A total of 115 people have been killed in Lebanon as of Wednesday since border clashes with Israel started in early October, a Lebanese military source said. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israel stepped up its assaults on Wednesday by using heavy artillery to hit the outskirts of 28 towns and villages in southern Lebanon. The source said that Israeli drones and warplanes on Wednesday destroyed six homes and damaged 20 more in southern Lebanon. In the southern Lebanese village of Khiam, the bodies of two civilians were recovered from the rubble of a house destroyed…

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned on Wednesday that the situation in the region will worsen if Hamas and Israel fail to reach a sustainable cease-fire, according to a statement released by Lebanon’s Council of Ministers, the cabinet. During his meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Beirut, the Iranian top diplomat praised the four-day humanitarian truce reached between Hamas and Israel earlier in the day, and emphasized the need to reach a permanent cease-fire. Mikati, for his part, emphasized the need of reaching a comprehensive cease-fire, putting an end to Israel’s attacks on Gaza, and moving toward a…

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes the agreement reached by Israel and Hamas on the release of hostages, with the mediation of Qatar supported by Egypt and the United States, said his spokesman on Wednesday. “This is an important step in the right direction. But much more needs to be done,” said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for Guterres. The United Nations will mobilize all its capacities to support the implementation of the agreement and maximize its positive impact on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, said the spokesman.  source

Eight members of the Iraqi paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces were killed and four others were wounded on Wednesday by U.S. airstrikes near the Iraqi capital Baghdad. A statement by the Hashd Shaabi said that at 2:30 a.m. (2330 GMT on Tuesday), the U.S. aircraft attacked positions of the Hashd Shaabi forces in the Jurf al-Nasr area, south of Baghdad, leaving eight of its fighters killed and wounding four others. “We affirm our strong condemnation of this hostile act, which represents a blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty,” the statement said. Meanwhile, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the…

The Syrian air defenses on Wednesday thwarted an Israeli missile attack near the Syrian capital Damascus, the Syrian army said in a statement. The incident occurred at around 15:10 Wednesday local time (1210 GMT) when two missiles were launched from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, targeting military sites in the vicinity of Damascus, according to the statement. The Syrian air defenses destroyed one of the missiles while the other caused limited material damage. While the military statement didn’t give more details, the pro-government Sham FM radio said the attack took place south of Damascus, specifically in the al-Sayeda…

Israel and Hamas on Wednesday confirmed their agreement on a Qatar-mediated proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza. In exchange for Hamas to release hostages, the Israeli side agreed to release Palestinian prisoners and allow more humanitarian aid to enter the besieged enclave, said the Israeli government in a statement. Under the deal, at least 50 hostages, mainly children and women, would be freed for the release of about 150 female and teen Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons, said the statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. The hostages will be released in smaller groups over a span of four…

Egypt reiterated Tuesday its absolute rejection of the Palestinians’ “forced displacement” from the Gaza Strip to the country’s Sinai Peninsula, which borders the war-torn Palestinian enclave. Speaking at a parliament session, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly also expressed Egypt’s “complete rejection of liquidating the Palestinian issue without a just solution,” stressing that “in any case, it (the solution) will never happen at Egypt’s expense.” “Egypt will not hesitate to use all measures to safeguard its borders in the event of any scenario regarding the displacement of Palestinians into Egyptian territories,” he was quoted by a cabinet statement as saying. Madbouly…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and a joint delegation of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries agreed on the urgent need to establish an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza following their talks in Moscow on Tuesday. The delegation was composed of Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki and Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Hissein Brahim Taha. All sides recognized a commonality in approaches with regard to ways in…