Tauhierah Salie

INTERNATIONAL Iran has added 24 United States officials and people to its blacklist of sanctioned individuals over charges of “terrorism” and violations of human rights of the Iranian people. On Saturday, the Iranian foreign ministry announced it has targeted nine individuals for “their involvement in terrorist acts”. These, among others, include George W Casey Jr, former Chief of Staff of the US Army and Commanding General of Multi-National Forces in […]

INTERNATIONAL Sri Lankans are continuing to demand President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation, with thousands rallying in the capital, Colombo, saying neither he nor members of his family could be trusted to steer the country out of its deepening economic crisis. At the Galle Face Green on Colombo’s waterfront on Saturday, students, teachers, lawyers, actors and architects – many of whom said they were protesting for the first time – chanted “madman Gota” […]

INTERNATIONAL Polls are open in France for a presidential election that has been characterised by demagoguery and a lack of a political agenda. Incumbent Emmanuel Macron, seeking a second term, seemed like a runaway for most of the campaign, banking on his “statesman” role in the Russia-Ukraine war. If he were to succeed, he will become the first president in 20 years, since Jacques Chirac, to do so. But that view […]

INTERNATIONAL The European Union (EU) has said that its continued support for Tunisia is dependent on it returning to the democratic course and constitutional institutions. Meanwhile, the opposition expressed its rejection of the system of voting for individuals during the parliamentary elections. On Thursday, the EU expressed its "serious concern" over the recent developments in Tunisia after President Saied dissolved Parliament and started judicial prosecutions against MPs who participated in the last […]

INTERNATIONAL Wandering in his scrap metal workshop in Khan Younis City in the southern Gaza Strip, Ibrahim Baraka looks despairingly at small mountains of old and discarded batteries. "I have more than 600 tonnes of these batteries. They cost me more than one million shekels ($310,000). Can you imagine I can't make use of them?" he says. Israel bombed Gaza's sole power plant in 2006. Since then, the supply of […]