South China Morning Post - Middle East

Global surveys show China is now more popular than the United States in most countries. The reality is China hasn’t become more popular, only that Uncle Sam has become odious. Two recent major summits demonstrate precisely why this erosion has occurred. At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and the Group of 20 (G20) gathering in the US, th...

The Middle East stands on the precipice of a new nuclear age, with Saudi Arabia set to acquire American uranium enrichment technology and Turkey eager to follow suit, as Iran weighs withdrawal from the treaty that bars it from making atomic bombs. Momentum is building: last week, the United States and Israel both threatened further air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, ...

A US government watchdog released its first report on Monday on the impact of the Iran war, acknowledging the military’s advanced weapons shortfalls and offering the first public look at the damage to American aircraft, bases and diplomatic outposts in the Middle East. Much of the information has been previously reported over the past six months, but the Pentagon inspector gener...

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said late on Monday that an oil tanker had struck a sea mine and exploded in the Strait of Hormuz. The tanker El Gaia was travelling along the southern route through the strait, which was mined by Iran, state broadcaster IRIB reported, citing the IRGC. The entire vessel went up in flames following the detonation of the mine, it sai...

Israel’s top military officer on Monday ordered lawyers to examine steps against the filmmakers behind the Gaza war documentary NAZA that took the jury’s special prize at the Venice Film Festival. Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir instructed the military prosecutor to “examine and advance possible legal measures concerning the film and those involved in it”, the military pos...