Category: 2. World

Iran’s foreign minister has held talks with Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, the Saudi foreign ministry said, two weeks after a ceasefire between regional rivals Iran and Israel began.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said his country hoped the truce would contribute to regional stability, and emphasised Riyadh’s position “in supporting dialogue through diplomatic means as a path to resolving disputes,” the ministry said in a post on X early on Wednesday.

According to the Saudi ministry, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi “expressed his gratitude” to Riyadh for its condemnation of Israel’s attacks on Iran last month.

Israel launched its unprecedented bombing campaign on Iran on June 13, targeting military and nuclear facilities as well as residential areas. The strikes killed more than 1,000 people in Iran, including senior military commanders and nuclear scientists, according to Tehran.

Israel, in turn, was hit by waves of drone and missile fire from Iran, which Israeli authorities said left at least 28 people dead.

The United States, which had been in talks with Iran about its nuclear programme since April, joined Tel Aviv’s war and carried out its own strikes on Iran on June 22, targeting several nuclear sites.

The talks between Tehran and Washington have since stalled, but the ceasefire between Iran and Israel has been in place since June 24.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have often been on opposing sides of regional conflicts, including in Syria and Yemen. The two regional heavyweights broke off diplomatic relations in 2016 before re-establishing them in 2023 under a rapprochement deal brokered by China.

It amounted to a diplomatic achievement for Prince Mohammed, who has taken a more conciliatory approach to regional diplomacy in recent years.

Saudi Arabia condemned the Israeli strikes on Iran last month, calling them “aggressions” and a “clear violation of international laws”.

Riyad also expressed its “great concern” following the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Araghchi held “fruitful conversations” with Prince Mohammed, as well as Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Defence Minister Prince Khaled bin Salman about bilateral relations and developments in the region.

Ten days of extreme heat killed 2,305 people in a sample of 12 European cities last month, with almost two-thirds of those deaths caused by climate change’s intensifying effect on heatwaves, new research estimated on Wednesday.

The early summer heatwave, which sparked wildfires and health warnings from Spain to Turkey, was between 2 and 4 degrees Celsius hotter than it would have been without climate change, according to the study by the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

“These numbers represent real people who have lost their lives in the last days due to the extreme heat”, said Imperial College London climate scientist Friederike Otto.

“If we continue to follow the wishes of the fossil fuel industry and delay serious mitigation [emissions-cutting] further, more and more people will lose their lives for the financial benefit of only a tiny rich influential minority,” she told reporters during a conference call.

Separately, a report by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said last month was the hottest June on record in Western Europe.

Otto highlighted the researchers’ rapid work in calculating the role of climate change in the overall death toll, which she hailed as a first.

Rapid attribution study

Previously, such research has taken months. A study into Europe’s 2022 heatwave, which found that climate change was responsible for just over half of the 68,000 deaths, was published a year later.

The new study has not been peer-reviewed, a sometimes lengthy process where other scientists evaluate the research, Otto said, adding that the methods it used to attribute deaths had undergone peer review and been approved.

She said publishing studies quickly is important because the immediate aftermath of a heatwave is “when people talk about it”. That is also why the researchers focused on a sample of just 12 cities, she said, making their analysis more manageable.

Previous studies from the World Weather Attribution group, which Otto co-leads, have only estimated how much hotter climate change has made a heatwave. Otto said she wanted to translate this into numbers of additional deaths because a temperature increase of a few degrees Celsius “might not sound very much”.

Otto said the reason the first study like this was carried out in Europe is because scientists have established the relationship between heat and deaths better in Europe than elsewhere. But there are parts of southern Africa, Asia and the USA where this relationship has been established by scientists, she said, so “we will probably do this again in other parts of the world”.

But LSHTM climate professor Malcolm Mistry, warned that carrying out this kind of study across the world would be “very challenging because not every public health authority wants to give out the mortality record reports for research purposes”. This data on deaths is key to establishing how many people are killed by a certain increase in temperature.

Silent killer

The study did not attribute any individual death to climate change and heat is generally not listed on death certificates. Most people who died had health problems exacerbated by the heat, and more than half of them were aged over 85.

Heatwaves are a “silent killer” because the deaths mostly take place in homes and hospitals, away from public view, and are rarely reported, said Pierre Masselot from the LSHTM.

But media reports have blamed last month’s soaring temperatures in some specific cases, such as the death of 48-year old builder who collapsed while laying concrete in 35C heat in the Italian city of Bologna, and a 53-year old woman with a heart condition who died in Palermo. Climate Home has spoken to relatives of people who died during extreme heat in Saudi Arabia and the Gaza Strip.

Otto said that too many media reports about heatwaves include photographs of children eating ice cream and happy people playing on the beach. “That’s a massive problem”, she said, although she added that more articles were now referring to the role of climate change in driving heatwaves.

The researchers behind the study said ways to cope with extreme heat included installing air conditioning, improving government heatwave warnings, planting more trees, building more parks, insulating buildings and painting roofs white.

“But at the end of the day,” said Masselot, “all these measures won’t probably be as efficient as just reducing climate change altogether [by] reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.”

“The updated law aims to increase real estate supply, attract global investors and developers, and further stimulate foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Saudi market,” Al Hogail said. He stressed that the law was crafted with safeguards to protect the interests of Saudi citizens, including strict procedural controls and designated geographic zones.

Rome Statute signatories Italy, France and Greece accused of ‘violating’ international legal order by letting alleged war criminal fly over territory.

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, has hit out at countries that allowed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fly over their airspace en route to the United States, suggesting that they may have flouted their obligations under international law.

Albanese said on Wednesday that the governments of Italy, France and Greece needed to explain why they provided “safe passage” to Netanyahu, who they were theoretically “obligated to arrest” as an internationally wanted suspect when he flew over their territory on his way to meet United States President Donald Trump on Sunday for talks.

All three countries are signatories of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2002, which last year issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated during Israel’s war on Gaza.

“Italian, French and Greek citizens deserve to know that every political action violating the int’l legal order, weakens and endangers all of them. And all of us,” Albanese wrote on X.

Albanese was responding to a post by human rights lawyer Craig Mokhiber, who had said the previous day that the countries had “breached their legal obligations under the treaty [Rome Statute], have declared their disdain for the victims of genocide, and have demonstrated their contempt for the rule of law”.

Netanyahu’s visit to the US, during which he and Trump discussed the forced displacement of Palestinians amid his country’s ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, was not his first sortie since the ICC issued the warrant for his arrest.

In February, Netanyahu travelled to the US, which is not party to the Rome Statute, becoming the first foreign leader to meet Trump after his January inauguration.

Then, in April, Netanyahu visited Hungary’s leader Viktor Orban in Budapest, the latter having extended his invitation just one day after the ICC issued the arrest warrant, withdrawing the country’s ICC membership ahead of the Israeli leader’s arrival.

From Hungary, Netanyahu then flew to the US for a meeting with Trump, his plane flying 400km (248 miles) further than the normal route to avoid the airspace of several countries that could enforce an arrest warrant, according to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.

Member states of the ICC are expected to take subjects of arrest warrants into custody if those individuals are on their territory.

In practice, the rules are not always followed. For instance, South Africa, a member of the court, did not arrest Sudan’s then-leader Omar al-Bashir during a 2017 visit, despite an ICC warrant against him.

European Union countries have been split on the ICC warrant issued for Netanyahu.

Some said last year they would meet their ICC commitments, while Italy has said there were legal doubts. France has said it believes Netanyahu has immunity from ICC actions.

PARIS: Recent European heatwaves were made up to 4°C hotter in several cities due to human-driven climate change, scientists reported on Wednesday, thrusting temperatures into ranges hazardous to thousands of vulnerable individuals.

A rapid assessment conducted by over a dozen scientists from five European research institutes concluded that global warming significantly increased the risk of heat-related fatalities during the episode.

Between late June and early July, temperatures surged past 40°C across much of Europe, breaking records and prompting widespread health alerts as the season’s first major heatwave gripped the continent.

The EU’s climate monitor Copernicus on Wednesday said it was the hottest June on record in western Europe, where some schools and tourist sites were shuttered as the mercury soared.

To assess what role climate change played, scientists compared how intense a heatwave would have been in a world that had not warmed due to burning masses of fossil fuels.

Using historical weather data, they concluded the heatwave “would have been 2-4°C cooler” without human-induced climate change in all but one of the 12 cities studied.

The added degrees greatly elevated the risk in these cities, which have a combined population of more than 30 million and include major capitals Paris, London and Madrid.

“What that does is it brings certain groups of people into more dangerous territory,” said researcher Ben Clarke from Imperial College London, which co-led the study with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

“For some people it’s still warm, fine weather. But for now a huge sector of the population, it’s more dangerous,” he told reporters.

Life and death

The study, for the first time, also sought to estimate the death toll from the heatwave in the 12 cities studied, and how many could be attributed to climate change.

Based on peer-reviewed scientific methods and established research on heat and mortality, the study concluded the heatwave likely caused about 2,300 deaths between June 23 and July 2 across the 12 cities studied.

But about 1,500, or roughly two thirds, of all these deaths would not have occurred had climate change not pushed temperatures to such dangerous highs, researchers said.

The authors — from research institutions in the UK, Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland — stressed this estimate was just a snapshot of the wider heatwave, as no official count was yet available.

Heatwaves are particularly dangerous for the elderly, the sick, young children, outdoor workers, and anyone exposed to high temperatures for prolonged periods without relief.

The effect on health is compounded in cities, where heat is absorbed by paved surfaces and buildings, making urban areas much hotter than their surroundings.

Copernicus said large parts of southern Europe experienced so-called “tropical nights” during the heatwave, when overnight temperatures don’t fall low enough to let the body recover.

“An increase in heatwave temperature of just two or four degrees can mean the difference between life and death for thousands of people,” said Garyfallos Konstantinoudis, a lecturer at Imperial College London.

“This is why heatwaves are known as silent killers. Most heat-related deaths occur in homes and hospitals out of public view and are rarely reported,” he told reporters.

Authorities say it could take weeks to tally a more definitive death toll from the recent heatwave, but similar episodes have claimed tens of thousands of lives in Europe during previous summers.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Jeddah on Tuesday, in the first visit by the Iranian official to the Gulf kingdom since Tehran’s air war with Israel.

The two discussed relations and the latest regional developments, Saudi state news agency SPA said.

Araqchi held “fruitful” conversations with Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud and Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said in a post on X.

Earlier, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson had said Araqchi would visit Saudi Arabia on his way back from Brazil to discuss the peace and security of the region.

Araqchi’s visit to the Gulf kingdom is the first since Iran and Israel concluded a 12-day air war in June.

12-day war

The 12-day war that began with unprovoked Israeli military strikes in Iran on June 13 resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries on both sides, according to official figures released by the respective governments.

Read: If necessary, will bomb Iran again: Trump

Israel launched the first strikes, targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities with more than 200 fighter jets.

According to Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education, at least 610 people were killed and 4,746 injured, including 185 women and 13 children. Public infrastructure also sustained extensive damage, including hospitals, ambulances, and emergency units.

Among those killed were senior nuclear scientists and high-ranking military commanders, including the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The youngest confirmed fatality was a two-month-old infant.

In response, Iran fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at Israeli targets, with Tel Aviv and Haifa among the hardest hit. The Israeli military stated that up to 1,000 projectiles were launched, of which 90 percent were intercepted. The attacks resulted in 28 deaths and 3,238 injuries across Israel.

According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) project, Israel carried out at least 508 airstrikes on Iran during the escalation. Another count from Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency – italicise placed the number at 145 combined Israeli and US strikes.

Iranian retaliation included at least 120 missile and drone attacks, with some reaching Israeli civilian and critical infrastructure.

Notable targets included Soroka Medical Center, the Israeli Military Intelligence School, the Ministry of Interior in Haifa, and several energy facilities.

The US joined the conflict on June 22 with bunker-buster bombings on Iran’s nuclear facilities in Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan.

A US-brokered ceasefire was reached on June 24, shortly after Iran launched missiles at the largest US airbase in the Middle East, located in Qatar.

Iranian authorities reported a mass internal displacement, with nearly nine million people leaving major cities such as Tehran and heading toward northern provinces bordering the Caspian Sea.

The ceasefire remains in place, though both nations have warned of further action if provoked.

 

Just a week ago, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to a 60-day ceasefire, shortly after his meeting with the President of the United States at the White House. The timing of this agreement is deeply ironic, as it coincides with Netanyahu facing corruption charges, with a court decision still pending. Many presume he will either end up behind bars or strike a political settlement- one that may conveniently offer the Israeli military a much-needed respite after months of costly offensives against Palestinians. At the same time, international pressure on Israel is mounting. Global leaders and organisations, including the European Union, are considering sanctions against Tel Aviv for its conduct in Gaza. The reasons for the ceasefire are apparent: it serves a political purpose rather than signalling a genuine commitment to peace. As such, it is unlikely to last.

Moreover, neither Israel nor the United States appears willing to retreat until two key objectives are achieved: the establishment of complete Israeli control over Palestinian territory and the elimination of the perceived threat posed by Hamas. In this context, a familiar and unsettling question resurfaces: why does the United States, despite its repeated affirmations of human rights and democratic values, continue to offer unwavering support to Israel, regardless of the mounting civilian toll?

From a Pakistani perspective, solidarity with the Palestinian cause is rooted not only in religion but also in the legacy of British anti-colonial resistance and a deep sense of humanitarian empathy. Viewed through this lens, the U.S.-Israel alliance appears to be driven less by democratic ideals and more by a potent combination of divine allegiance, political influence, and strategic ambition. America’s unwavering support for Israel is not merely the outcome of post-war realpolitik. It is the result of a complex convergence of historical guilt, the influence of powerful lobbying groups, and evangelical Christian theology that regards Israel not simply as a sovereign state, but as the fulfilment of Biblical prophecy. Although often portrayed in the language of shared values and mutual interests, the origins of this relationship run far deeper.

Israel and Christianity are deeply intertwined through theology, prophecy, and historical narrative. For many Christians, especially evangelicals, Protestant Christians who emphasise the authority of the Bible, Israel is seen as the land where Biblical history unfolded and where the Second Coming of Christ is destined to occur. The Old Testament, which is sacred to both Jews and Christians, speaks of God’s covenant with the Israelites. The New Testament places the life and crucifixion of Jesus in Jerusalem. This sacred geography elevates Israel from a geopolitical entity to a symbol of divine promise within Christian belief.

Many evangelical Christians view the modern state of Israel as a prophetic sign necessary for the end-times scenario described in the Book of Revelation. Consequently, support for Israel becomes more than a political stance; it transforms into a spiritual obligation. This fusion of faith and foreign policy continues to shape American decision-making today. According to a Pew Research Centre study, over 70 per cent of white evangelicals believe that God gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people. For them, supporting Israel is not simply about diplomacy or alliance; rather, it is the fulfilment of divine will. Within this theological worldview, modern Israel is not merely a sovereign state; it is the gateway to the return of Christ. Palestinians, in this framework, are either irrelevant or viewed as obstacles to a divine script.

It is no surprise, then, that evangelical organisations like Christians United for Israel (CUFI) command the loyalty of millions and lobby more aggressively than many state-backed groups. Founded by Pastor John Hagee, CUFI now has over ten million members. Its political activism and fundraising have made it as central to Israel’s support base in the United States as the more widely known American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). AIPAC, for its part, continues to funnel millions of dollars into U.S. presidential campaigns, securing bipartisan loyalty that often comes at the cost of Palestinian lives.

This religious-political nexus was particularly visible during the Trump presidency, when the United States moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018. Evangelicals hailed the decision as a prophetic milestone. President Trump, despite his many political and moral contradictions, became a hero to Christian Zionists almost overnight. He delivered on policies they had long prayed for, including slashing aid to UNRWA, cutting funding to Palestinian hospitals, and legitimising illegal settlements across the West Bank. For a nation that often criticises the role of religion in politics, especially in Muslim-majority countries, American foreign policy toward Israel remains curiously saturated with theology and prophecy. The irony is not that they deny it, but that they disguise it in the language of democracy.

AIPAC has long ensured that criticism of Israel remains politically dangerous in Washington. Members of Congress, regardless of party, understand the risks of challenging the pro-Israel lobby: loss of funding, media attacks, and well-financed primary challengers. Although U.S. politicians frequently decry foreign influence in their domestic politics, they have made a striking exception for Israel. Even the mildest expressions of dissent are met with accusations of anti-Semitism or betrayal of democratic values. It is within this protected space that Israel continues its occupation and military actions, repeatedly shielded by American vetoes at the United Nations Security Council.

So, we are left with a chilling paradox: a secular superpower whose foreign policy is guided not by international law, not by human rights, but by ancient scripture and modern lobbying. When theology masquerades as diplomacy, and divine prophecy dictates drone policy, what hope remains for justice? And how many more graves will it take before we admit that in this war, God is not neutral, because man has written Him into the battle plan? When will faith stop pulling the trigger?

Danish Bhutto
The writer is an author, researcher and columnist based in Lahore. He can be reached at anishalee017@gmail.com

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) late on Tuesday night denied widespread media reports that claimed it had begun granting lifetime Golden Visas to select nationalities under a “new nomination-based” scheme, according to the Emirates News Agency (WAM).

The Golden Visa is a long-term residence visa that enables foreign talent to live, work, or study in the UAE while enjoying a range of exclusive benefits. According to the UAE government’s official portal, eligible categories include investors, entrepreneurs, scientists, outstanding students and graduates, humanitarian pioneers, and frontline heroes.

This week, several Indian media outlets, including The Press Trust of India and The Hindu, reported that the UAE government had initiated a “new nomination-based visa policy”, allowing Indians to “enjoy the UAE’s Golden Visa for life by paying a fee of AED100,000”.

Meanwhile, Times of India reported that the newly launched scheme was in its pilot phase and was currently available to applicants from both India and Bangladesh, with over 5,000 Indian applications expected in the first three months. Dubai-based Gulf News also reported on Monday that Bangladeshi citizens could apply for the Golden Visa remotely if they meet the requirements.

“The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) has denied the accuracy of rumours circulated by some local and international media outlets and websites regarding the United Arab Emirates granting lifetime Golden Visas to certain nationalities,” the WAM report said.

“ICP clarified that the categories, conditions, and regulations of the Golden Visa are clearly defined in accordance with official laws, legislations, and ministerial decisions.”

According to WAM, the ICP emphasised that “all Golden Visa applications are handled exclusively through official government channels within the UAE, and that no internal or external consultancy entity is recognised as an authorised party in the application process”.

The federal authority said it had “recently observed news articles from a consultancy office based in another country, suggesting that lifetime Golden Visas could be obtained for all categories from outside the UAE via consulting or commercial entities under simplified conditions”.

The WAM report further added: “These claims have no legal basis and were made without coordination with the relevant authorities in the UAE. The federal authority reaffirmed its commitment to providing a safe and transparent environment for applicants.”

It also stated that legal action would be taken against entities “spreading such false information in an attempt to illegally collect money from individuals aspiring to live and reside in the UAE, exploiting their hopes for a dignified and secure life.”

The federal authority urged individuals wishing to visit, live, or invest in the UAE not to respond to inaccurate rumours and false news aimed at a quick profit. They should avoid paying any fees or submitting personal documents to any party claiming to provide these services, the report said.

The Economic Times quoted a top golden visa consultant based in Dubai as rebutting the Golden Visa reports.

“I checked with the authorities here, and they say they have no such information. So, the news is likely to be untrue,” Iqbal Marconi, ex-chief executive officer of ECH Group (which Khaleej Times has described as the largest golden visa facilitator in the region), told Economic Times.

“The only new update they have is that crypto investors won’t be considered for the Golden Visa scheme. I checked with the GDRFA (General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs Dubai) also; they too said they don’t have any information on this, “ Marconi said.

He added that a “couple of officials […] in the same line of work” whom he contacted also did not have any information in this regard.