World
Middle East
From the Archives, 1997: Tears and anger as tragedy hits our athletes
During the opening ceremony of the Maccabiah Games, a bridge collapsed, killing four Australian athletes and injuring many others.
- by Ross Dunn, Helen Pitt and Malcolm Brown
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From the Archives, 1997: Tragedy strikes our athletes at Maccabiah Games
Twenty-fives ago, a bridge collapsed during the opening ceremony of the Maccabiah Games in Israel, while the Australian team was crossing. Four athletes were killed, and many others injured, in the disaster.
- by Ross Dunn
Toxic gas leak at Jordan port kills more than a dozen, injures hundreds
Video footage shows a crane hoisting a large tanker from a truck and then dropping it on the deck of a ship, causing an explosion.
Israel heads to polls for fifth time in three years
The previous four elections, focused on Netanyahu’s fitness to rule while on trial for corruption charges, ended in deadlock.
- by Ilan ben Zion
Tehran preparing enrichment escalation, says nuclear watchdog
Deep inside a mountain, Iran is using a “cascade set-up” that will make it easier to climb up its uranium enrichment levels,the IAEA report shows.
- by Francois Murphy
In Saudi LGBTQ crackdown, even rainbow toys aren’t safe
The kingdom’s Ministry of Commerce released a video of its agents confiscating brightly coloured toys for “indirectly promoting homosexuality”.
- by Annabelle Timsit and Sarah Dadouch
Aid group anger as Israel convicts Palestinian World Vision worker of supporting terrorists
A judge is set to rule on whether to dissolve the charity in Israel later this month.
- by Henriette Chacar
Opinion
Human rights
Guilty verdict against World Vision hero is a travesty of justice
The verdict overnight announces the demise of the rule of law in Israeli courts.
- by Tim Costello and Conny Lenneberg
Biden breaks Saudi ‘pariah’ pledge to talk oil with crown prince
The US president had vowed to make Saudi Arabia “pay the price, and make them, in fact, the pariah that they are” over the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
- by Jarrett Renshaw and Nandita Bose
Not a bird but a nation: Turkey wants to be known as ‘Türkiye’
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has been pressing for the internationally recognised name Turkey to be changed to “Türkiye” (tur-key-YAY) as it is spelt and pronounced in Turkish.
Blasts rip through mosque, minivans in Afghanistan, killing at least a dozen
The explosion in the mosque in Kabul occurred just hours after deadly bombs hit passenger vehicles in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
- by Rahim Faiez