https://arab.news/c6kav
GENEVA: The United Nations warned Saturday that dire fuel shortages in the Gaza Strip had reached “critical levels,” threatening to dramatically increase the suffering in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
“After almost two years of war, people in Gaza are facing extreme hardships, including widespread food insecurity. When fuel runs out, it places an unbearable new burden on a population teetering on the edge of starvation,” seven UN agencies cautioned in a joint statement.
RIYADH: The New Global Sport Conference 2025, held alongside the closing weekend of the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, finished Monday with a series of announcements and partnerships aimed at shaping the future of gaming and electronic sports.
The event, organized by the Esports World Cup Foundation, brought together more than 1,500 delegates, including 500 CEOs from the gaming, sports, technology and investment sectors.
Senior Saudi officials, including Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal and Saudi Esports Federation Chairman Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, outlined the Kingdom’s ambitions to make gaming and e-sports a driver of future economic growth.
A key announcement was the launch of the Esports Nations Cup, the first international competition where national teams will represent their countries.
The inaugural edition is scheduled for November 2026. Ubisoft’s Francois-Xavier Deniele said: “There is something different with nations, this sentiment of pride that continues to grow around the world.”
Hans Jagnow, director of NGSC 2025, said the scale of collaboration marked a turning point for the industry.
“NGSC 2025 has solidified its role as the platform where the future of our industries is shaped,” he said. “The outcomes of this year’s conference will set the direction of our industry and drive the growth and transformation of gaming and e-sports worldwide.”
Ubisoft also unveiled a partnership with Saudi Arabia to recreate AlUla, a UNESCO World Heritage site, as free playable content in “Assassin’s Creed Mirage.”
CEO Yves Guillemot described it as “an opportunity to share Saudi Arabia’s cultural heritage with players worldwide.”
Panels and sessions featured leading figures including World Chess Champion and Esports World Cup winner Magnus Carlsen, Olympic gold medalist Alex Morgan, LA28 Olympics Chairman Casey Wasserman, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy, and game creator Hideo Kojima.
Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation, said: “Players need more opportunity, more great stages, more moments where they can become heroes.”
Morgan urged an “athlete-first approach,” while Wasserman underlined the need for inclusive competition structures.
Over the course of the conference, more than 250 meetings were held and 30 agreements signed, including with UNICEF, the World Football Summit, Savvy Games Group and AWS.
NGSC 2025 also introduced two new formats: The Foundry, focused on start-up pitches and investment, and NGSC Studio, which broadcast live sessions to more than 100,000 viewers worldwide.
The event will return to Riyadh in 2026.
TUNIS: Tunisian rights groups on Monday condemned the dissolution of an authority that sought to guarantee access to information for citizens and journalists.
The groups denounced as a setback for freedoms the closure of the National Authority for Access to Information (INAI), an independent body established in 2016 in the aftermath of the Arab Spring uprising of 2011, aiming to safeguard rights to access information.
The government told AFP it had shut down the agency earlier this month and reassigned its staff to other government roles.
The National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) said the move was made “in secret” with no major public announcement, criticizing the government’s tighter restrictions on information.
“Access to information is increasingly locked now,” SNJT head Zied Dabbar told AFP.
“We cannot speak of press freedom if there is no access to information,” he added. “From now on, there will only be the official narrative, which will lead to propaganda.”
The journalists union described the measure as “the demolition of one of the fundamental pillars” of Tunisia’s fragile democracy.
President Kais Saied, elected in 2019, has ruled Tunisia by decree since a 2021 power grab, with local and international organizations decrying a decline in freedoms in the North African country.
Many of Saied’s critics are currently behind bars, including dozens of journalists and public figures who have been prosecuted under a 2022 law incriminating “spreading false news.”
“It has become clear that the authorities want to lock all sources of information,” said Romdhane Ben Amor, head of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights. “This is a political choice to break with the constitutional bodies.”
“The space of rights and freedoms is more and more suffocated,” Ben Amor told AFP, warning that other institutions could also face closure.
CAIRO: Libya’s coast guard fired upon a vessel belonging to a humanitarian group as it searched for a migrant boat in distress in the Mediterranean Sea, the nonprofit said on Monday.
The attack, which took place the day before, appeared to be one of the most violent involving a European rescue ship and the Libyan coast guard, which receives training, equipment and funding from the European Union.
SOS Mediterranee said the confrontation took place about 40 nautical miles north of the Libyan coast, and released details and images of the incident. No casualties were reported, although the group said the vessel sustained significant damage.
The nonprofit charters the Norwegian-flagged Ocean Viking in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
A spokesperson for the Libyan coast guard didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The patrol boat used by the Libyan coast guard was a 2023 gift from Italy to Libya as part of the European Union’s support for border management program, SOS Mediterranee said.
Before it was attacked, the Ocean Viking had rescued 87 people from two migrant boats, including many from war-torn Sudan.
While searching for a third migrant boat in distress, the Ocean Viking was approached by a Libyan patrol vessel in international waters, Angelo Selim, the search and rescue coordinator on board told The Associated Press. When they were very close, he said, they started shooting for 15 to 20 minutes.
“In the beginning, I didn’t understand the noise of the shots but when the first windows exploded on my head, we all got on the floor,” Selim recalled. He added that some of the shots appeared to come from automatic weapons.
Selim said he instructed the migrants and non-essential crew members to lock themselves inside the safety room while he and the captain remained on the bridge.
Eventually, he said, the shooting stopped but the threats continued. Selim recalled the Libyan coast guard warning the Ocean Viking in Arabic over the radio: “If you don’t leave the area we will come and kill you all.”
In video and photos of the incident released by SOS Mediterranee, two men can be seen pointing weapons at the boat and several rounds of gunshots are heard. Broken windows and damaged equipment are also seen.
“This incident was not only an outrageous and unacceptable act,” SOS Mediterranee said in a statement. “This is far from isolated: the Libyan Coast Guard has a long history of reckless behavior that endangers people at sea, flagrantly violates human rights and shows total disregard for international maritime law.”
SOS Mediterranee said it issued a mayday after it was fired upon and sought protection from an Italian navy ship nearby, but didn’t receive any answer.
Frontex, the European Union’s border protection agency that often spots boats in distress and shares coordinates with the competent maritime authorities, called the incident “deeply concerning” and urged “the proper authorities to investigate the events swiftly and thoroughly.”
“Frontex remains fully committed to saving lives at sea and acts in line with international maritime law at all times. No rescuer should ever be put in danger while carrying out life-saving work,” it added.
The Ocean Viking was on its way to Italy on Monday with 87 migrants it had rescued before the attack. The group had no news of the migrants at sea they were searching for when they came under fire.
A spokesperson for the Italian ministry of interior declined to comment on the incident while the Italian coast guard did not respond to a request for comment.
“We demand a full investigation into the events of yesterday afternoon and that those responsible for these life–threatening attacks be brought to justice,” said Soazic Dupuy, director of operations at SOS Mediterranee.
BAGHDAD: Iraq wants to return hundreds of foreign women and their children detained in the country, though two foreign diplomats told AFP on Monday the process would be a lengthy one.
The initiative would exclude women condemned to death, but encompass those affiliated with the Daesh group as well as those found guilty of common crimes, an Iraqi security official told AFP.
The largest number of prisoners comes from Turkiye, Azerbaijan and Russia, he said.
There are also two French women, including Djamila Boutoutaou, who was jailed for 20 years in 2018 for her links to Daesh.
The Iraqi authorities created a committee “charged with establishing a plan for the repatriation of foreign and Arab detainees, as well as their children,” Iraqi justice ministry spokesman Ahmed Laibi said on Saturday, according to state media.
“We have hundreds of women and children in our penitentiary establishments,” he said, adding that the committee was headed by the justice minister.
Deporting the women and children would also reduce prison overcrowding, Laibi said.
Prisons in Iraq are currently at 150 percent capacity, the ministry said in July.
Around 625 foreigners and 60 of their children are held in prisons in Iraq, a judicial source said, most of them linked to Daesh.
There are also thousands of Iraqis jailed for links to the group, often following hasty trials according to NGOs.
The jihadists were routed in 2017 in Iraq, having overrun much of the north and west of the country three years before.
The justice ministry brought together several foreign diplomats on Thursday to discuss the matter.
“I’m not sure this can happen very quickly,” one European diplomat told AFP, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Repatriations “will only be possible in the case of bilateral agreements between two countries,” they said.
An Arab diplomat said “such procedures cannot be completed quickly.”
“To accelerate the process with countries that don’t have (bilateral) agreements, Iraqi authorities have proposed using memorandums of understanding,” the diplomat said.
He added that this would allow the executive power to act without waiting for parliamentary ratification.
Authors: David G. James and David J. Lohman
There are more than 15,000 butterfly species in the world, fluttering through a wide variety of habitats. Bright and beautiful, butterflies also have fascinating life histories and play an important role in our planet’s ecosystems.
“The Lives of Butterflies” showcases the extraordinary range of colors and patterns of the world’s butterflies while exploring their life histories, behavior, habitats and resources, populations, seasonality, defense and natural enemies, and threats and conservation.
