South China Morning Post - Middle East

Shaken by the accuracy ⁠of Iran’s attacks on Bahrain and support for them among some Bahrainis, authorities in the Gulf island ⁠nation have launched a crackdown on Shiite Muslim clerics they accuse of fostering allegiance to Tehran at home. Bahraini officials have framed the move in existential terms, saying Iran seeks to undermine and ultimately topple the leadership of the onl...

The close defence relationship between the United States and Israel is set to be restructured over the coming two years, with billions of dollars in direct annual military aid being phased out in favour of joint weapons technology programmes. US President Donald Trump shocked Israelis and Americans alike on Tuesday by suddenly announcing that the roughly US$4 billion a year in d...

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he will announce on Sunday whom he will task with trying to form a new government, after the opposition’s Gadi Eisenkot secured a commanding number of recommendations to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Herzog held a second day of consultations with political parties on Thursday after the October 27 election, in which neither Netanya...

Five oil tankers and a tugboat caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and army said in separate statements, according to local media on Thursday. Since the outbreak of the Iran war in late February, Tehran has severely restricted traffic through the strategic waterway, which normally carries about one-fifth of global oil consumption. It regularly attack...

When cheers erupted at a packed Tel Aviv stadium for Boy George, it was not only a sign of the 65-year-old singer’s enduring fame. It was the sound of national delight at an international pop star willing to perform in an increasingly isolated Israel. A smattering of Israeli flags dotted the crowd as the flamboyant Culture Club frontman took the stage in a sequinned jacket for W...