2020-06-23: News Headlines

en.mehrnews (2020-06-23). Saudi Arabia bans international pilgrims for this year's hajj. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 23 (MNA) — Saudi Arabia made the decision to restrict this year's hajj, or pilgrimage to the sacred Islamic cities of Mecca and Medina, for pilgrims arriving from abroad due to coronavirus-related epidemiological precautions, Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said on Monday.

yenisafak (2020-06-22). Muslim bloc to address situation in Kashmir. yenisafak.com The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) "upon the request of Pakistan" will hold an emergency meeting at the level of foreign ministers over the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Monday.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will also participate in the Emergency Meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir, where "possible joint actions within the OIC concerning the ongoing problems regarding human rights and freedoms in Kashmir will be discussed," said the statement.Additionally, foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Niger, Pakistan and Saudi Arab…

teleSUR (2020-06-21). Yemen's UAE-Backed Separatists Seize Socotra Island. telesurenglish.net Yemen's Southern Transitional Council (STC) fighters seized the strategic island of Socotra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, according to the United Nations recognized government, which accused the group of staging a coup. | RELATED: "The militias of the so-called Transitional Council in the Socotra carried out a full-fledged coup that undermined state institutions in the province," Yemen's official news agency rep…

_____ (2020-06-21). Yemeni Capital Struck By Heaviest Air Strikes In Years. popularresistance.org It was around 6: 45am (03.45 GMT) on Tuesday morning when Hussein al-Samie's son began crying, woken by an earth-shattering air strike that targeted al-Nahdain Mountain in the middle of Sanaa. | Samie's son, Shadi, is four years old. He has no memory of the relentless air strikes that pounded the Houthi-held capital in 2015 and 2016 when the Saudi-led coalition first entered Yemen's war. | Tuesday's raid shook Samie's house to its core, and with no experience of blasts this heavy and this close, Shadi's nerves have been frayed as well. | "There were fiercer air strikes in 2015, but we adapted to the bombing then,"

yenisafak (2020-06-21). Ethiopians marvel at once-in-decades solar eclipse. yenisafak.com Parts of Ethiopia witnessed a solar eclipse that lasted hours starting in the early hours on Sunday.People living in Wollega in Oromia, Ajibara and Lalibella in Amhara and numerous places in Afar woke up to a spectacular fire ring, as up to 90% of the sun was blocked by the moon.First visible in Central and East Africa starting from the Republic of Congo, the eclipse passed over Oman, Yemen, Pakistan, India and China, covering parts of the Pacific Ocean, according to Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute.Many people in Ethiopia, however, missed the once-in-decades sight due to lack of protective grasse…

yenisafak (2020-06-21). OIC to hold emergency meeting on Jammu and Kashmir. yenisafak.com The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir will hold an emergency meeting via videoconference on Monday to discuss the latest situation in the disputed territory.The online meet will bring together the foreign ministers of the Jammu And Kashmir Contact Group member states: Azerbaijan, Niger, Pakistan Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the OIC said in a statement."The meeting is part of a series of continuous Jammu And Kashmir Contact Group meetings to address the issue," OIC Secretary General Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen was quoted as saying. The OIC, founded in 1967 and consists of 67 coun…

Ahmed Abdulkareem (2020-06-19). Yemen: Saudi Airstrike Kills Four Children as UN Removes Kingdom From List of Child Killers. mintpressnews.com Adrianne Lapar, director of Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict said the decision "sends the message that powerful actors can get away with killing children."

Moran Palumbo (2020-06-19). How the Saudis and the Qataris Duked It out in Washington, and Took Over the Imperial City in the Process. anti-empire.com It was a bare-knuckle brawl of the first order. It took place in Washington, D.C., and it resulted in a KO. The winners? Lobbyists and the defense industry. The losers? Us. And odds on, you didn't even know that it happened. Few Americans did, which is why it's worth telling the story of how Saudi, Emirati, and Qatari money flooded the nation's capital and, in the process, American policy went down for the count. | The fight began three years ago this month. Sure, the pugilists hadn't really liked each other that much before then, but what happened in 2017 was the foreign-policy equivalent of a sucker punch. On t…

Mohamed Elmaazi (2020-06-19). Yemeni journalist blasts UN for 'whitewashing' Saudi killing of children. thecanary.co Nasser Arrabyee, a Yemeni journalist based in the country's capital, Sana'a, has accused the UN of "whitewashing" the crimes of the Saudi-led coalition in his country. While speaking to The Canary, in an exclusive interview, Arrabyee called the recent decision of the UN secretary general António Guterres to Arrabyee added: Of course, the UN has been covering up all…