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Bahrain Orders Its Citizens to Leave Iran, Iraq 'Immediately'

In this Wednesday, May 15, 2019, photo released by the US Navy, Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Tyrik Williams, right, Aviation Electrician's Mate 2nd Class Nathan Hernandez, middle, and Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Kristina Thompson, left, load an AGM-114 Hellfire missile onto an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter on board the USS Abraham Lincoln. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Michael Singley, US Navy via AP)
In this Wednesday, May 15, 2019, photo released by the US Navy, Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Tyrik Williams, right, Aviation Electrician's Mate 2nd Class Nathan Hernandez, middle, and Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Kristina Thompson, left, load an AGM-114 Hellfire missile onto an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter on board the USS Abraham Lincoln. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Michael Singley, US Navy via AP)
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Bahrain Orders Its Citizens to Leave Iran, Iraq 'Immediately'

In this Wednesday, May 15, 2019, photo released by the US Navy, Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Tyrik Williams, right, Aviation Electrician's Mate 2nd Class Nathan Hernandez, middle, and Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Kristina Thompson, left, load an AGM-114 Hellfire missile onto an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter on board the USS Abraham Lincoln. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Michael Singley, US Navy via AP)
In this Wednesday, May 15, 2019, photo released by the US Navy, Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Tyrik Williams, right, Aviation Electrician's Mate 2nd Class Nathan Hernandez, middle, and Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Kristina Thompson, left, load an AGM-114 Hellfire missile onto an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter on board the USS Abraham Lincoln. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Michael Singley, US Navy via AP)

Bahrain warned its citizens on Saturday against travel to Iraq and Iran and asked those already there to return "immediately" for their safety, state news agency BNA said.

The Bahrain foreign ministry cited, "unstable regional circumstances, dangerous developments, and potential threats," according to BNA.

The warning comes amid simmering tensions between the United States and Iran.

Washington on Wednesday pulled non-emergency staff members from its embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad out of apparent concern about perceived threats from neighboring Iran. Earlier on Saturday Exxon evacuated its foreign staff from an Iraqi oilfield.

The chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard says the country is in a "full-fledged intelligence war with the US."

The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Gen. Hossein Salami as saying that the US political system had become weak, making an analogy to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

He said: "The political system of the US has cracked and lost its strength. The system has an apparently huge body but suffers from osteoporosis. In fact, the US is like World Trade Building that collapses with a sudden hit."

Salami recently became the head of the Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary organization that wields tremendous influence within Iran.

Meanwhile, Iran's foreign minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said on Saturday the Islamic Republic is "not seeking war" at the end of his trip to China.

Zarif said: "In fact, as the supreme leader said, there will be no war since we are not seeking war and nobody in the region is suffering from a hallucination to think that he is able to confront Iran."

Zarif added that though President Donald Trump has said he is not seeking war, "some that have sat around him" are pushing such a conflict.

The US has ordered bombers and an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf over an unexplained threat they perceive from Iran, raising tensions a year after Trump pulled America out of Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers.

The warning relayed Saturday by US diplomatic posts from the Federal Aviation Administration underlined the risks the current tensions pose to a region crucial to global air travel.

Concerns about a possible conflict have flared since the White House ordered warships and bombers to the region to counter an alleged, unexplained threat from Iran.

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Arab World

Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

At least two people were killed and four rescued from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, state media reported.

Rescue teams were continuing to dig through the rubble. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building when it fell.

The bodies pulled out were of a child and a woman, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Dozens of people crowded around the site of the crater left by the collapsed building, with some shooting in the air.

The building was in the neighborhood of Bab Tabbaneh, one of the poorest areas in Lebanon’s second largest city, where residents have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure. Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, according to The AP news.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced that those injured in the collapse would receive treatment at the state’s expense.

The national syndicate for property owners in a statement called the collapse the result of “blatant negligence and shortcomings of the Lebanese state toward the safety of citizens and their housing security,” and said it is “not an isolated incident.”

The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.

Arab World

Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank, The AP news reported.

They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.

Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.

Arab World

Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the attack by the Rapid Support Forces on humanitarian aid convoys and relief workers in North Kordofan State, Sudan.

In a statement reported by SPA, secretary-general's spokesperson Jamal Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as saying the attack constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians and depriving them of their means of survival.

Aboul Gheit stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, end impunity, and ensure the full protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and relief facilities in Sudan.