PKK militant group close to announcing decision to disband, Turkey's pro-Kurdish party says
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CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
The Taliban registers 1,800 unemployed Afghan refugees for jobs in Qatar
Men wait in line to register for a Qatar work visa for unemployed Afghans expelled from neighbouring countries, outside a registration center in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday Aug. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai) ISLAMABAD — The Taliban on Wednesday registered 1,800 unemployed Afghans expelled from neighboring countries for the chance to work in Qatar in the latest round of a labor agreement with the Gulf nation, a Labor Ministry spokesman said. The program is aimed at easing unemployment in Afghanistan, and the Taliban has said talks are also underway to send labor to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Turkey, and Russia. Last month, 3,100 Afghans were registered for jobs in Qatar, including in the food and hospitality industries. Wednesday's one-day registration period was open only to Afghans expelled from Iran and Pakistan, and took place in four major cities. At least two million Afghans have left Iran and Pakistan this year after both governments launched separate campaigns to expel foreigners they said were living there illegally. They deny targeting Afghans, but most of those forcibly returned are Afghan. People with refugee certificates were able to visit registration centers in Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, and Nangarhar for the chance to work in Qatar, Labor Ministry spokesman Samiullah Ibrahimi said. 'These work visas cover 22 different job categories, and the 1,800 visas available are for these jobless Afghan returnees,' he said. Dozens of men waited in long lines outside a registration center in Kabul. Poyan Ahmadi, who left Iran, said he wanted the Taliban government to talk to other countries. 'Here in Afghanistan, there is no work, and there is a shortage of job opportunities.' The Associated Press
CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
At least 123 Palestinians killed as Israeli army pounds Gaza City ahead of planned takeover
Social Sharing Israel's military pounded Gaza City on Wednesday prior to a planned takeover, with another 123 people killed in the last day, according to the Gaza health ministry, while militant group Hamas held further talks with Egyptian mediators. The 24-hour death toll was the worst in a week and added to the massive fatalities from the nearly two-year war that has shattered the enclave, which houses more than two million Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated an idea — also enthusiastically floated by U.S. President Donald Trump — that Palestinians should simply leave. "They're not being pushed out, they'll be allowed to exit," he told Israeli television channel i24NEWS. "All those who are concerned for the Palestinians and say they want to help the Palestinians should open their gates and stop lecturing us." Arabs and many world leaders are aghast at the idea of displacing the Gaza population, which Palestinians say would be like another "Nakba," or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands fled or were forced out during the 1948 war. WATCH | Former hostage negotiator calls Netanyahu 'biggest liar' in Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu the 'biggest liar' in Israel: former hostage negotiator 3 days ago In a press conference with international journalists, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended his plan to take over Gaza City, claiming it's the fastest way to end Israel's military offensive in the Palestinian territory. But former hostage negotiator Gershon Baskin says Netanyahu would be the 'only winner' in that plan. Israel's planned recapture of Gaza City — which it took in the early days of the war before withdrawing — is probably weeks away, officials say. That means a ceasefire is still possible, though talks have been floundering and conflict still rages. Israeli planes and tanks bombed eastern areas of Gaza City heavily, residents said, with many homes destroyed in the Zeitoun and Shejaia neighbourhoods overnight. Al-Ahli hospital said 12 people were killed in an airstrike on a home in Zeitoun. Tanks also destroyed several houses in the east of Khan Younis in south Gaza, while in the centre, Israeli gunfire killed nine aid-seekers in two separate incidents, Palestinian medics said. Israel's military did not comment. Eight more people, including three children, have died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the territory's health ministry said. That took the total to 235, including 106 children, since the war began. Hamas chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya's meetings with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Wednesday were to focus on stopping the war, delivering aid and "ending the suffering of our people in Gaza," Hamas official Taher al-Nono said in a statement. Truce talks resume after international outcry Egyptian security sources said the talks would also discuss the possibility of a comprehensive ceasefire that would see Hamas relinquish governance in Gaza and concede its weapons. A Hamas official told Reuters the group was open to all ideas if Israel ends the war and pulls out. However, "laying down arms before the occupation is dismissed is impossible," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. Netanyahu's plan to expand military control over Gaza, which Israeli sources said could be launched in October, has heightened global outcry over the widespread devastation, displacement and hunger in the enclave. About half of Gaza's residents live in the Gaza City area. Foreign ministers of 24 countries, including Canada, Britain Australia, France and Japan, said this week the humanitarian crisis in Gaza had reached "unimaginable levels" and urged Israel to allow unrestricted aid. Israel denies responsibility for hunger, accusing Hamas of stealing aid. It says it has taken steps to increase deliveries, including daily combat pauses in some areas and protected routes for aid convoys. Aid remains far from sufficient: UN and Palestinians The Israeli military on Wednesday said that nearly 320 trucks entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings and that a further nearly 320 trucks were collected and distributed by the UN and international organizations in the past 24 hours, along with three tankers of fuel and 97 pallets of air-dropped aid. The United Nations and Palestinians say aid entering Gaza remains far from sufficient. The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials. WATCH | Norway's wealth fund to divest from more Israeli companies over Gaza war: Norway's wealth fund to divest from more Israeli companies over war in Gaza 23 hours ago Norway's $2-trillion wealth fund said Tuesday it expects to divest from more Israeli companies over the situation in Gaza and the West Bank. A review of investments began last week following media reports that the fund had built a stake of just over two per cent in an Israeli jet engine group that provides services to Israel's armed forces. Arab states and much of the international community want postwar Gaza to be governed by the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governance in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The authority's foreign minister, Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, told reporters it was ready to assume full responsibility in Gaza. Hamas would have no role and be required to hand over arms, she added, calling for an international peacekeeping force and withdrawal by Israel.
CTV News
6 hours ago
- CTV News
Turkiye says Israel and Kurdish fighters should stop destabilizing Syria
Burned vehicles sit on a street Monday, July 21, 2025, after clashes between Bedouin clans and Druze militias in Sweida, Syria. (AP Photo/Fahd Kiwan) ANKARA — Israel and Kurdish fighters should stop threatening the security and stability of Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Wednesday. Speaking at a news conference in Ankara with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, Fidan accused Israel and the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, of undermining the country's efforts to reestablish itself after more than a decade of civil war. He said Israel had 'fuelled certain difficulties' in Syria and warned that Israeli security 'cannot be achieved through undermining the security of your neighbours.' 'To the contrary, you should make sure your neighbouring countries are prosperous and secure. If you try to destabilize these countries, if you take steps to that end, this could trigger other crises in the region.' Since Islamist-led insurgents ousted former President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive in December, the new interim government in Damascus has struggled to maintain stability and heal the wounds of the nearly 14-year civil war. Most recently, hundreds were killed in clashes in the southern province of Sweida between government forces and local Bedouin tribesmen on one side and fighters from the country's Druze minority on the other. Meanwhile, tensions have also risen between the central government and the U.S.-allied SDF that controls northeastern Syria. Implementation of an agreement reached in March to merge the SDF with the new Syrian army has stalled and there have been scattered outbreaks of violence between the two sides. Fidan accused the SDF of trying to turn instability in Syria into an 'opportunity for themselves.' Ankara views the SDF with hostility as the group is spearheaded by the People's Protection Units, or YPG, affiliated with the Kurdish group that recently entered a peace process with Turkiye after more than 40 years of fighting. The SDF has said it is not party to the deal between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. 'The upper echelons of the YPG need to stop stalling because the chaos they're waiting for (in Syria) will not take place, and even if it does, it will not be to their advantage,' Fidan said. He added: 'They shouldn't take us for fools. We have good intentions, but that doesn't mean we will turn a blind eye to your mischievous or devious ways.' Turkiye has been supportive of Syria's new administration, which is formed largely by rebels that Ankara backed during the civil war. 'Every actor in the region is not as constructive as us,' Fidan said. 'There are certain people who have been meddling in the affairs of Syria, chief among whom is the Israeli administration.' Al-Shibani, meanwhile, said Israel's actions 'undermine the security of our citizens,' adding that 'certain countries want Syria to disintegrate based on ideologies, based on ethnicity, and obviously we are against all these efforts.' Suzan Fraser, The Associated Press
