Tuesday, October 13, 2026Jumada I 2, 1448 AH

العربية
جديدًاJadidan

The news, anew

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News

Iraq Warns of ISIS Resurgence after Attacks North of Baghdad

Iraqi officials warned Wednesday of an ISIS resurgence after a series of attacks on security forces in rural areas north of Baghdad left several personnel dead or wounded, prompting authorities to impose a nighttime curfew in parts of Kirkuk province. Security sources said the second battalion of the Popular Mobilization Forces’ 61st Brigade came under armed attack late Tuesday in the village of Al-Barghaliya–Al-Dandish in Hawija district, southwest of Kirkuk.

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Sports

On Your bike! Bottas Opts for 2 Wheels to Reach Singapore GP

Valtteri Bottas swapped his Formula One car for a bicycle as he pedaled the 420 kilometers from Sepang in Malaysia to this week's Singapore Grand Prix. Other drivers on the grid enjoyed luxury private planes for the short flight between Sunday's Bahrain GP at the Sepang circuit near Kuala Lumpur to the Marina Bay Circuit in Singapore, which borders Malaysia. But Bottas, a keen cyclist, instead got on his bike in the tropical heat. "Yeah, I'm riding to Singapore on the gravel roads less travelled," Bottas posted on X on Monday.

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Politics

Housing Crisis Set to Dominate Spain's Snap Election

After simmering below the surface for years, anger at unaffordable housing in Spain has bubbled over and precipitated a general election that will be dominated by the crisis. The spark was ignited on September 23 when 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal was evicted from her lifelong Madrid home on a stretcher after the real estate firm that owned the apartment drastically hiked the rent, AFP said. Abascal, who died on Wednesday, became the symbol of a crisis that cuts across Spanish society: young and old, renters and buyers, workers and pensioners.

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Sports

Alcaraz, Sinner, Osaka Commit to Australian Open '1 Point Slam'

The Australian Open will revive its innovative "1 Point Slam" in 2027 with Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka and Jannik Sinner among those agreeing to take part Thursday. The sudden-death contest was played for the first time at Melbourne Park this year ahead of the opening Grand Slam of the year, pitting 24 professionals alongside 24 amateurs and celebrity wildcards. Each match consisted of just one point -- win and you advanced, lose and you were out.

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Politics

Egypt, South Korea Seek to Expand Strategic Partnership

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s first visit to Seoul in a decade has brought renewed commitments to strengthen bilateral ties and expand cooperation between the two countries. On Wednesday, Sisi attended a roundtable with executives from major South Korean companies and business representatives, with 23 companies taking part, according to the Egyptian presidency.

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Culture

Latin American, Caribbean Women Top Nobel Literature Buzz

This year's Nobel literature prize could go to a Latin American or Caribbean woman when it is awarded on Thursday amid efforts to diversify an award that has most often gone to male, European authors, literary critics say. There is no public shortlist for the Nobel, and since the nominees and the jury deliberations remain sealed for 50 years, Stockholm's literary circles engage in frantic guessing ahead of the announcement.

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News

World Condemnations Pour in Over Houthi Attacks on Saudi Airports

Several Arab, Islamic, and Gulf bodies strongly condemned the Houthi terrorist attacks targeting Saudi airports, reaffirming their solidarity with the Kingdom and support for all measures taken to protect its security and civilian infrastructure. The Muslim World League (MWL), Jordan, Bahrain, Arab Interior Ministers Council Secretariat, and GCC Secretary General condemned the latest Houthi aggression against the Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh resulting in the death and injury of several individuals.

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News

Coalition: Houthi Attacks on Civilian Objects Will Not Go Unpunished

The Official Spokesperson of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen Major General Turki Al-Malki has stressed that attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militias “will not go unpunished.” "The brutal attacks by the terrorist Houthi militia on civilians and civilian objects” in Saudi Arabia, most recently targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport “will not go unpunished,” Al-Malki said.

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Health

UN Health Agency Wants More Details from Russia on Suspected Pneumonic Plague Case

A top official with the World Health Organization said Wednesday it doesn’t know how a lab worker in Siberia died, and she urged Russia to provide more information about a case that prompted global concerns about suspected pneumonic plague. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director of Epidemic and Pandemic Management, said the UN health agency doesn’t know what the “causative agent” was behind the woman’s Oct. 2 death, which unconfirmed reports in Russia blamed on pneumonic plague — a less common but severe form of plague that can spread from person to person.

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Politics

UN Peacekeeping Force Says Shots Fired at Post on Lebanon-Israel Border

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said one of its posts was targeted on Wednesday near the border with Israel by small-arms fire, but there were no casualties. "This morning, several rounds of small arms fire impacted a UNIFIL position near Kfar Shouba along the Blue Line in Sector East," the UN force said in a statement, referring to the de facto border between Lebanon and Israel. The blue helmets described the shooting as "unacceptable".

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News

Riyadh, Washington Discuss Maritime Cooperation and Boosting Security of Navigation

Riyadh and Washington discussed ways to boost maritime security and freedom of navigation in the region, according to a statement by the Saudi Ministry of Defense on the X platform on Wednesday. This came during a meeting between Chief of Staff of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces Lieutenant General Mohammed Al-Gharibi and commander of US Naval Forces Central Command/US 5th Fleet Vice Admiral Curt Renshaw.

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News

Houthis Attack Aden’s International Airport

Yemen's terrorist Houthi militia attacked Aden's international airport with ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones on Wednesday, the country's Transport Ministry said, as fighting between the Iran-aligned group and legitimate government forces intensified. One missile landed near the runway minutes before a flight from Cairo was due to land, the ministry said. The airport is the main international gateway for parts of Yemen outside Houthi control.

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News

Saudi Arabia: 3 Killed, 36 Injured in Attacks on Abha, Riyadh Airports

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced that three people were killed and 36 injured in two separate attacks on its Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Tuesday and Wednesday. At the Abha airport, the blatant attack resulted in two fatalities, Moroccan and Algerian female residents, as well as 28 injuries ranging from minor to serious among Saudi citizens, a Bangladeshi resident, and a Filipino resident.

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Politics

Iraq Devalues Dinar as Citizens Bear the Cost of Fiscal Strain

Iraqis woke on Wednesday to a sharp loss in their currency’s value after authorities devalued the dinar to 1,520 per dollar from 1,320, triggering widespread anger and forcing markets and shops in several provinces to close. The dollar, meanwhile, climbed to around 1,900 dinars on the parallel market. The devaluation hit households already under financial strain, quickly driving up prices for food and imported goods.

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News

From ‘Ahmed the Japanese’ to ‘Sinwar’s Flood’: A Tale of Torment and a River of Graves

The cemetery caretaker was kind and friendly. Perhaps he was glad that those whose graves he tended had not slipped into total oblivion, that someone still visited or asked about them. He led me through Beirut’s Cemetery of the Martyrs of the Palestinian Revolution. Many names stopped me, including Balqis, the wife of poet Nizar Qabbani, killed in a bombing at the Iraqi Embassy in Beirut. Lines from his searing elegy adorned her grave. Chance sometimes decides destinies. Stories can begin with an unintended spark. Here are two such coincidences.

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