DUBAI: Iranian workers have staged a series of protests as employers failed to pay wages due to the country’s worsening economy, local Radio Farda reported.
Municipal workers, coal miners, machine manufacturers, and nurses are among those to take part in protest gatherings during the past month.
The sanctions imposed by the US since 2018 and lately the COVID-19 pandemic, have worsened Iran’s already weakened economy, which has lost most of its pre-sanction oil income.
A group of nurses and medical staff have protested since the beginning of May against what they referred to as “discrimination in payments and tariffs in Iran’s health system.”
The nurses said they did not get paid for their work. Dozens of nurses and other medical staff have died while treating a large number of coronavirus patients.
Iran is one of the most affected countries in the Middle East with a total of 133,521 infected cases and 7,359 deaths.
Unpaid workers protest in Iran amid economic downturn
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Unpaid workers protest in Iran amid economic downturn
- A group of nurses and medical staff have protested since the beginning of May
- Dozens of nurses and other medical staff have died while treating a large number of coronavirus patients
Palestinian children denied access to quality education by Israeli violence and repression
BEIRUT: A lost generation of Palestinian children is being denied an education by Israeli violence and repression, experts said on Monday.
In the occupied West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem, constant fighting has paralyzed movement and more than 800,000 young people had their access to school restricted in 2024, according to a new report by the Occupied Palestinian Territory Education Cluster, which includes UN agencies.
In Gaza, where almost every school has been reduced to rubble by Israeli bombing, children had just begun to return to classes in bombed-out buildings when Israeli airstrikes resumed on March 18. Nearly half of the 400 people killed that day were children.
“The ability of Palestinian children to access quality education in the West Bank or in Gaza has never been under more stress,” said Alexandra Saieh, global head of humanitarian policy and advocacy at the charity Save the Children.
The Palestinian Ministry of Education recorded more than 2,200 incidents of violence targeting the education system in the West Bank in 2024, according to the new report. These included attacks on schools by armed settlers and the detention of students or teachers by Israeli security forces.
At least 109 schools were attacked or vandalized. More than half of Palestinian students reported being delayed or harassed on their way to school, and many were physically assaulted. Every day, children in the West Bank run the gauntlet of Israeli roadblocks, checkpoints and settler attacks on their way to school.
"Checkpoints are also increasing risks of violence for students, their caregivers and teachers from Israeli forces or from settlers who, in some areas, have taken advantage of the fact that cars are not able to move to damage them and attack passengers,” the report said.
Since January, thousands of Israeli troops have swept through refugee camps and cities and demolished houses and infrastructure, including roads children use to get to school.
Putin thanks UAE’s president for facilitating exchange of thousands of Russian, Ukrainian prisoners of war
- Vladimir Putin, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan held phone call on Monday
- Sheikh Mohamed stresses UAE’s support for initiatives to resolve crisis in Ukraine
LONDON: Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the UAE’s mediation efforts — which have facilitated the exchange of thousands of war prisoners from Russia and Ukraine — during a phone call with the UAE’s President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
The UAE’s mediation has resulted in the release of 3,233 prisoners of war from Russia and Ukraine since 2024. Last week’s exchange saw the release of 175 prisoners from each side.
Putin and Sheikh Mohamed on Monday discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation and reaffirmed their strategic partnership to benefit their countries, the Emirates News Agency reported.
Putin expressed his appreciation to Sheikh Mohamed for the successful mediation efforts made by the UAE, the WAM added.
Sheikh Mohamed thanked the Russian government for its cooperation in successfully facilitating the war captives exchange initiative. He emphasized the UAE’s commitment to humanitarian efforts and support for initiatives to resolve the crisis in Ukraine and mitigate its impact.
The two leaders addressed various regional and international issues, with the UAE’s president reiterating his nation’s commitment to fostering peace globally, as well as advocating for initiatives to resolve conflicts.
Clashes displace 15,000 families in Sudan’s North Darfur: UN
- The town is one of the northernmost urban centers in the vast desert between Sudan and Libya, where the RSF and an army-allied coalition of armed groups known as the Joint Forces have battled for months
KHARTOUM: Fighting in Sudan’s war-torn North Darfur state displaced around “15,000 households” from the town of Al-Malha within 48 hours, the United Nations’ migration agency said Monday.
From Thursday to Friday, the clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army and its allied militias forced the families to flee “primarily to other locations” within the same area, said the International Organization for Migration.
Since April 2023, the war between the RSF and the army has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted over 12 million and created the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.
In North Darfur alone, nearly 1.7 million people are displaced and around two million people face extreme food insecurity, according to UN figures.
The RSF claimed on Thursday to have seized Al-Malha, which lies at the foot of a mountainous region 200 kilometers (124 miles) northeast of the North Darfur state capital El-Fasher.
At least 45 civilians were killed in the attack, according to a toll shared by activists in El-Fasher.
In their statement, the RSF said they had “encircled the enemy... leaving more than 380 dead” in Al-Malha.
The town is one of the northernmost urban centers in the vast desert between Sudan and Libya, where the RSF and an army-allied coalition of armed groups known as the Joint Forces have battled for months.
El-Fasher is the only state capital still under the control of the army, which this week recaptured the presidential palace in Khartoum, some 800 kilometers away.
Following months of army gains in central Sudan, analysts say the RSF is determined to consolidate its hold on Darfur, where the Joint Forces have intercepted key supply lines from Chad and Libya since last year.
North Darfur is facing one of Sudan’s worst mass starvation crises, with famine already declared in three displacement camps around El-Fasher.
According to UN projections, it is expected to spread to five more areas, including the state capital itself, by May.
Tunisia probes ride-hailing apps for money laundering
- Tunisian authorities said they have seized about 12 million dinars ($3.8 million) from accounts linked to multiple ride-hailing apps
TUNIS: Tunisia has launched an investigation into alleged money laundering and tax fraud involving ride-hailing applications, the interior ministry said on Monday.
Authorities also said they were suspending the apps.
“The financial division of the National Guard has uncovered suspicions of money laundering and tax evasion among operators of private taxi ride-hailing apps,” the ministry said in a statement.
The statement did not name the apps, but a source familiar with the matter told AFP the main company under scrutiny was the Estonia-based Bolt.
The ride-hailing app, operating in more than 500 cities from over 45 countries, is widely used in Tunisia, where public transportation infrastructure is inadequate.
Tunisian authorities said they have seized about 12 million dinars ($3.8 million) from accounts linked to multiple ride-hailing apps.
They said the companies had been removed from the commercial registry and their offices shut for allegedly operating without proper licenses and using fraudulent authorizations.
They were also accused of using bank accounts to illegally funnel funds abroad.
Tunisians have increasingly relied on ride-hailing services amid a deteriorating public transportation system.
Even the capital Tunis, home to over two million people, has suffered from years of public transit underinvestment and neglect.
President Kais Saied has repeatedly denounced corruption within the public transportation sector.
Drought-hit Morocco to extend wheat import subsidies to year-end
- The country has become a major wheat export outlet for the European Union and, increasingly, Russia
PARIS: Morocco will extend its current subsidy program for soft wheat imports until December 31, state grains agency ONICL said on Monday, indicating the drought-affected country will need to import throughout the year.
Citing a decision by Morocco’s finance and agriculture ministries, ONICL said in a statement on its website that the new round of subsidies for importers would run from May 1 to December 31, with details to be announced subsequently.
The authorities had previously announced a subsidy program running up to the end of April.
The continuation of the program for the whole of 2025 suggests the upcoming harvest will be insufficient to replenish supply. In the past, Morocco shut its market to imports at times during good crop years to protect domestic supply.
Morocco has imported wheat heavily in the past two years after prolonged drought led to successive poor crops. Last year, Morocco’s output of soft wheat, durum and barley was 3.1 million tons, down 43 percent compared with the previous crop.
The country has become a major wheat export outlet for the European Union and, increasingly, Russia.
ONICL also said the authorities would provide subsidies between April 1 and December 31 for importers to hold stocks of soft wheat.
