Games-From dressing as a man to competing with the elite, no backpedalling for Afghan Hashimi

By Amlan ChakrabortyNAGOYA, Japan, Sept 20 (Reuters) - For someone who had to disguise herself as a man, dodge thrown stones and eventually flee her homeland to pursue cycling, Fariba Hashimi's seventh-place finish in the women's individual time trial at the Asian Games carried profound personal meaning for the 23-year-old Afghan.

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World leaders return to UN amid wars in Middle East and Ukraine

By Antoni SlodkowskiUNITED NATIONS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - World leaders gather in New York this week for the UN General Assembly, bracing for President Donald Trump's return to the rostrum for a second year running, with talks centering on the widening conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine and the risks of artificial intelligence.Nearly 130 heads of state meet with the post-World War Two order under strain and with the UN itself struggling to remain relevant and weathering attacks from Trump, who has slashed America's contributions and withdrawn from dozens of UN bodies.

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Singer Ed Sheeran says Gaza situation 'unjustifiable' following controversy

Pop star Ed Sheeran said Saturday the situation in Gaza is "unjustifiable," following a wave of criticism that he had failed to back his opening act who was booted from their tour after making pro-Palestinian comments. Sheeran, 35, has denied being behind the decision to remove Macklemore, instead blaming the tour promoter. "What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate," Sheeran said as he opened his show in Philadelphia, his first since the controversy involving rapper Macklemore.

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Ed Sheeran set to return to stage after Palestinian controversy

Chanting protesters greeted concertgoers Saturday in Philadelphia ahead of pop superstar Ed Sheeran's first show since his tour plunged into turmoil ignited by his opening act's pro-Palestinian comments. Rapper Macklemore was booted from Sheeran's US Loop Tour on Monday after the owners of stadiums hosting upcoming shows objected to his shouting "Free Palestine" onstage in New Jersey earlier this month. Sheeran, 35, has denied being behind the decision to remove Macklemore, blaming the tour promoter.

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Turkey says it could help meet Saudi military needs under defence pact

ANKARA, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that Saudi Arabia may have military needs due to theongoing attacks by Yemen's Houthis and that Turkey was ready to help under a trilateraldefence pact that also includes Pakistan."We see there are very serious attacks on Saudi Arabia's territorial integrity, sovereignty. We have an alliance agreement in our pact. We are in serious solidarity on this point... They may have some military needs, especially on some technical issues. We would have no issues in meeting these," Fidan told broadcaster NTV.

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Israeli strikes kill three people in Gaza, medics say

By Nidal al-MughrabiCAIRO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Israeli airstrikes killed at least three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, health officials said.One strike near Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza killed Basir Al-Bursh, the son of Munir Al-Bursh, the territory's health ministry director-general, medics and family members said.The Israeli military said it had struck several militants on Saturday, including Basir Al-Bursh, without giving further information. Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza, did not immediately comment.

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UN peacekeeping chief in Lebanon says smooth transition is critical before pull-out

By Maya GebeilyNEAR MANSOURI, Lebanon, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The head of United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon said on Saturday it was critical to ensure otherUN agencies and Lebanese troops could assume the tasks carried out by the force before it begins withdrawing at the end of this year.Major General Diodato Abagnara of Italy spoke to Reuters in southern Lebanon at a position operated by the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, which has been monitoring hostilities in southern Lebanon for nearly 50 years.

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Black smoke, flames rising near Riyadh airport: residents to AFP

Black smoke and flames rose near Riyadh's international airport on Saturday, as a flight tracking website reported cancellations and delays at the hub, hours after Saudi authorities issued an air raid alert. Firefighters could be seen trying to extinguish the flames of a burnt out fuel tank emblazoned with the logo of the Saudi oil giant Aramco near the airport, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

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Flames, smoke seen near Riyadh airport after Saudi warning of aerial attack threat

RIYADH, Sept 19 (Reuters) - A large plume of smoke was visible near Riyadh's main airport on Saturday after booms were heard and Saudi Arabia sent alerts overnight warning of potential danger around the capital, amid an escalation in attacks by Yemen's Houthi group.Reuters video and photographs showed a huge pillar of black smoke rising in the area, with the airport highway, main terminal building and other facilities in the foreground. At one point in the video, flames were visible rising from behind what appeared to be fuel tanks.

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Smoke visible near Riyadh airport after Saudi Arabia issues all-clear

RIYADH, Sept 19 (Reuters) - A large plume of smoke was visible near Riyadh's main airport on Saturday after booms were heard and Saudi Arabia sent alerts overnight warning of potential danger around the capital, amid an escalation in attacks by Yemen's Houthi group.Reuters video and photographs showed a huge pillar of black smoke rising in the area, with the airport highway, main terminal building and other facilities in the foreground.

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Saudi capital issues first air raid alert since renewed fighting in Yemen

Saudi authorities issued their first air raid alert in the capital since fighting returned to neighbouring Yemen, leaving residents of Riyadh rattled after they heard explosions ringing out in the early hours of Saturday. Yemen's Houthis have staged a lightning offensive this month, seizing swathes of territory in one of the world's poorest countries, leaving the internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, scrambling to respond.

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AfD surge in eastern Germany makes some immigrants question whether they still belong

By Amina Ismail and James MackenzieROSTOCK, Germany, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Shahd Najeeb still remembers the trauma of fleeing Islamic State fighters during Syria's civil war. More than a decade after finding refuge in Germany, she now fears she may no longer be welcome there."When I think about the time we left Syria, I still don't know how we managed to get through it," she told Reuters in her home in Rostock, on Germany's Baltic coast. "It was like a nightmare."

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Death toll at 31 in Pakistan police compound attack, AFP reports

Sept 19 (Reuters) - The death toll in a suicide attack at a police compound in northwest Pakistan has reached 31, AFP reported onSaturday, citing a police official.The attacker rammed an explosives-laden car into the police facility on Friday as officers and their families were praying in a mosque, officials said. (Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard)

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UN chief 'deeply regrets' US visa refusal to Abbas for annual meeting

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "deeply regrets" Washington's decision to deny a visa for the second year running to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, a UN spokesman said Friday, preventing him for attending the UN General Assembly. The US State Department said Thursday it was refusing to grant visas to Abbas and other Palestinian officials for next week's assembly. Only members of the Palestinian mission to the UN will be able to attend the meeting, which begins Tuesday.

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US troop deaths in Iran war exceed Pentagon count by at least four, Washington Post reports

Sept 18 (Reuters) - More US troops have died during the war with Iran than the Pentagon has publicly disclosed, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing six US officials familiar with theDefense Department's internal casualty accounting data.There have been at least 22 military fatalities, four more than the data available on the Pentagon's public database, the newspaper cited five of the officials as saying. (Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Caitlin Webber)

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Costly overhaul fuels fears for Cairo's street kiosks

Cairo's omnipresent street kiosks, where commuters grab cigarettes, children buy sweets, and residents stop for cold drinks or phone credit, are set for a makeover that some fear could price many small operators out of business. Authorities in the Egyptian capital this week launched a scheme to standardise thousands of licensed kiosks, giving existing operators three months to adopt a unified design costing between 50,000 and 60,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,000-$1,200), a hefty sum for many small business owners.

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Isolated Syrian-Druze city blames Damascus for shortages

In her bakery, Hoda Kiwan impatiently awaits flour and fuel, which have become scarce in southern Syria's Sweida, the Druze-majority city still outside Damascus' control. "I am suffering from a shortage of gas and flour, especially after the road was cut off, but there is nothing I can do," the 59-year old said, her hair wrapped in the Druze white headscarf as she prepares potato pastries.

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Italy's minister calls for more ships to protect Red Sea navigation

By Angelo AmanteROME, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Italy's defence minister on Friday called for a stronger naval presence in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping amid concerns over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital waterway threatened by the widening Middle East conflict.The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have made rapid advances in recent weeks along the Red Sea coast, further complicating routes in a region that also includes the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic had already dwindled because of the U.S.-Iran war.

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Suicide attack kills 16 near mosque in northwest Pakistan police compound

ISLAMABAD, Sept 18 (Reuters) - At least 16 people were killed and 57 wounded after a suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden car into a police facility in northwest Pakistan on Friday as officers and their families were praying in a mosque inside, officials said.Five police officers were among the dead after the vehicle smashed into the outer wall and gunmen who accompanied it opened fire in the city of Kohat, provincial police chief Zulfikar Hameed said.

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Barefoot and terrified, Yemenis flee the Houthi advance

AL-BIREEN CAMP, Yemen, Sept 18 (Reuters) - When a terrifying bombardment erupted around their camp in Yemen this week as a long-paused civil war reignited, Rawya Hassan and her family fled for their lives, barefoot and leaving their animals and other belongings behind.The family had already been forced from their village by war years earlier and now had to escape the fighting again, joining 115,000 people who aid agencies say are on the move after a rapid advance by the Houthi group.

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Anti-Assad music star makes triumphant return to Syria

Syrian singer Assala Nasri has made a triumphant return to Damascus with a sold-out concert following 15 years of exile due to her opposition to ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad. Thousands of fans welcomed the 57-year-old, known mononymously as Assala, at a venue in the Syrian capital where she bowed and opened the show with songs hailing the Syrian people. "Souls of my heart, I missed you," she repeatedly said to endless cheers on Thursday night.

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Palestinian state more distant than ever, a year after recognition

When France, Britain and other Western powers last year recognised a Palestinian state, entrepreneur Adam Bader felt a sense of hope. "I was happy when I heard about it," said Bader, 27, who lives in the occupied West Bank's city of Tulkarem, which has seen repeated Israeli raids in recent years. "Now a year on, we're not seeing any improvement. On the contrary," he said. "The situation is getting worse by the day and no one can do anything."

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Yemen conflict displaces 112,000 people inside country, thousands flee to Djibouti, UN migration agency says

By Olivia Le PoidevinGENEVA, Sept 18 (Reuters) - At least 112,000 people have been displaced inside Yemen within the last two weeksas fighting continues along the country's west coast amid a renewed ​conflict, while nearly 3,000 have fled by sea to Djibouti, theUnited Nations migration agency said on Friday.

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Analysis-As Iran war grinds on, Trump to face skeptical world leaders at UN

By Matt SpetalnickWASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - When President Donald Trump addressed the United Nations a year ago, he touted the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites just months earlier as "totally obliterating everything" and said he had brought peace between Israel and Iran. Returning to the world body on Tuesday, Trump will face a deeply skeptical audience increasingly rattled by six months of war between US forces and an emboldened Iran, growing regional instability and a nuclear threat that has not disappeared despite his claims.

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South Korea's Lee rules out military involvement in Middle East conflict

By Heejin Kim and Joyce LeeSEOUL, Sept 18 (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Friday he would not deploy military assets to the Middle East in a way that could draw the country into conflict, but Seoul was reviewing whether to play a greater role in safeguarding navigation in the region.South Korea has maintained a naval presence off the coast of Somalia in an anti-piracy mission, while resisting calls from US President Donald Trump to play a more active military role in supporting Washington over the war in Iran.

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South Korea's Lee says will not deploy military to get involved in Middle East conflict

SEOUL, Sept 18 (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Friday he would not deploy any military assets to the Middle East that would draw the country into conflict related to the Iran war.However, the government is considering whether to expand its role safeguarding navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, Lee said at a news conference. (Reporting by Jack Kim, Joyce Lee, Heejin KimEditing by Ed Davies)

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Indonesia calls off search for journalists missing while covering volcano eruption

JAKARTA, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Indonesian rescuers called off a search on its 10th day for eight people missing at sea, including five journalists who were covering the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatauearlier this month.• Ash from Mount Anak Krakatau, situated halfway between Java and Sumatra islands, blanketed the capital Jakarta and some surrounding areas after its initial eruption late on September 4.

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Doom Loop? Ed Sheeran struggles against Gaza tide

Ed Sheeran faces boycott calls and desertions, leaving the British singer with a career crisis that underlines how even the world's biggest stars are being sucked into the politic

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October 7 survivors, families take centre stage in Israel vote

Sharon Sharabi shot into the limelight in Israel after the Hamas attack of

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Assad-era Syrian official jailed for 60 years by US court

By Kanishka SinghWASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - A former Syrian government official who ​headed the Damascus Central Prison under ousted PresidentBashar al-Assad and was convicted of ‌torture by a US federal jury has been sentenced to60 years in prison by a US judge, federal prosecutors said.Samir Ousman Alsheikh, 74, was charged in 2024 and convicted in March on one count of conspiracy to commit torture and three counts of torture for his involvement in the abuse of prisoners at Adra Prison, as ​it is colloquially known in Damascus.

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