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Saudi extends 1m bpd oil output cut: energy ministry

Saudi Arabia announced Thursday it is extending a voluntary oil production cut of one million barrels per day for another month, keeping up its campaign to prop up prices.

"Saudi Arabia will extend the voluntary cut of one million barrels per day... for another month to include the month of September," the energy ministry said in a statement.

The cut, which first took effect for July, could be further prolonged or even deepened, the energy ministry added.

The move leaves daily production by the world's biggest crude exporter at approximately nine million bpd.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated concerns about oil supplies, sending prices to record highs this year

Gaza open-air cinema a breath of fresh air for Palestinians

Gaza residents took their seats in front of a large projector screen set up on a sandy beach, a rare event in the Islamist-ruled blockaded enclave that has no operating cinemas.

Over two weeks in summer, the "Cinema of the Sea" festival which ended Monday screened some 15 films, many of them with Palestinian actors or producers.

Providing a respite from the heat, the waterfront "is the only outlet for the residents" in the impoverished territory, said Ali Muhanna, a theatre director involved in the initiative.

Palestinian children watch a film at a pop-up open-air cinema in Gaza city

Israelis rally again to oppose judiciary overhaul

Thousands of protesters waving Israeli flags rallied on Wednesday in Tel Aviv against parliament's approval of a key judicial reform pushed through by the hard-right government in defiance of months-long mass protests.

"You have ruined the country and we will fix it. Democracy! Democracy!" chanted demonstrators in Israel's commercial capital, which has become the epicentre of anti-government demonstrations since the judicial overhaul was unveiled in January.

The proposals split the nation and triggered the biggest protest movement in Israel's history.

The proposals split the nation and triggered the biggest protest movement in Israel's history

Tunisian singer says show cancelled over Palestinian concerts

A Tunisian singer who rose to prominence during the Arab Spring revolution in her homeland announced Wednesday an upcoming show in Tunisia had been cancelled for supposed "normalisation" with Israel.

In July, Emel Mathlouthi performed in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, as well as in Bethlehem and Ramallah, both in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. She did not perform in Israel.

Tunisian singer-songwriter Emel Mathlouthi performs during the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Concert at the Telenor Arena in Oslo, Norway

What's next after Tunisia's Saied sacked his PM?

Tunisian President Kais Saied fired his prime minister Najla Bouden without explanation late Tuesday. Why did he do this, and what are the implications for the debt-ridden North African country?

Why was Najla Bouden sacked?

Media reports say Saied was unhappy with her handling of the shortage of flour, and therefore of bread in government-subsidised bakeries.

"This administration has a short fuse when it comes to problems, and the important thing for the president is that nothing can be seen to be his fault," essayist Hatem Nafti told AFP.

Tunisian President Kais Saied (C) meets outgoing prime minister Najla Bouden (R) and incoming Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani

Grave fears for missing women, girls in war-torn Sudan

Desperate to check on her elderly mother amid the chaos of Sudan's war, Amal Hassan left her family home in the capital Khartoum on May 30.

She has yet to return.

Her husband and three children in Omdurman -- part of greater Khartoum -- are among the hundreds of Sudanese families desperate for news of loved ones who have disappeared.

At least 3,900 people have been killed since war broke out in mid-April between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Fighters of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) drive an armoured vehicle in southern Khartoum, on May 25, 2023

Soaring hunger in Sudan as nearly 4 million displaced: UN

The UN sounded the alarm Wednesday of impending famine in Sudan, where months of war have hit food supplies and pushed nearly four million people to flee the fighting.

"Over 20.3 million people, representing more than 42 percent of the population in the country, are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity," the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization announced.

Unloading Ethiopian products in Gallabat on Sudan's border with Ethiopia

Kuwait's scorching summers a warning for heating planet

As the blazing summer sun beats down on Kuwait, shoppers stroll down a promenade lined with palm trees and European-style boutiques, all without breaking a sweat.

In one of the world's hottest desert countries, it's all made possible by architecture and technology: the entire street is located inside the heavily air-conditioned Kuwait City shopping mall.

Outside, where temperatures now often soar around 50 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit), barely anyone is moving around on foot, leaving the historic market largely deserted.

The sun rises over Kuwait City on July 14, 2023

Most oil removed from decaying tanker off Yemen: UN

Most of the oil on board a rusting supertanker off war-torn Yemen has been moved to a replacement vessel in a bid to avert a catastrophic spill, the United Nations has said.

The transfer of 1.14 million barrels of Marib light crude from the 47-year-old FSO Safer to the new vessel started last week.

"More than half the oil aboard the decaying FSO Safer has been transferred to the replacement vessel Yemen in the past seven days," the UN resident coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly, said on social media on Tuesday.

Workers prepare to transfer oil  from the 47-year-old supertanker FSO Safer (L) to a UN-purchased replacement vessel in a bid to avert a catastrophic spill in the Red Sea off war-torn Yemen

Disabled survivors of Beirut port blast long for support, justice

Dany Salameh was already ill but a blast that devastated Beirut's port three years ago aggravated his condition, leaving him dependent on a walker and feeling abandoned by authorities.

People hurt or disabled by the catastrophic explosion told AFP that Lebanon, bankrupt and politically paralysed, has failed to deliver adequate medical care, financial support or justice.

Already ill with multiple sclerosis, Dany Salameh found himself struggling to walk after the Beirut port blast