Egypt’s grand imam to highlight Islam’s peace message at UN session

CAIRO: The head of Egypt’s top religious authority will on Wednesday highlight the importance of fraternity, tolerance, and mutual respect in achieving world peace during an address at the UN Security Council.

Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar, will speak during a panel discussion on ways to promote and sustain global peace.

In his speech, Al-Tayyeb, chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders, will focus on the significance of promoting the values and their role in spreading the peace message.

Palestinian youth killed during Israeli raid on refugee camp near Nablus

RAMALLAH: A Palestinian teenager was killed and eight people, including a child, were injured when Israeli armed forces raided the Balata refugee camp near Nablus on Tuesday, according to Palestinian medical sources.

Faris Hashash, 19, was not wanted or a target of the raid, local sources told Arab News. The Israeli forces fired at an ambulance to prevent it from reaching the injured, they added.

Israel disciplines soldiers over blunders that led to fatal Egyptian border attack

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said Tuesday that it would discipline three officers over a rare attack on the Egyptian border that killed three Israeli soldiers and exposed a series of mishaps earlier this month.
An Egyptian security officer slipped into Israeli territory undetected on June 3 and killed the three Israeli soldiers in two separate shootings in the usually quiet border area.

UN food agency says will slash Syria aid by about half

ROME: The UN food agency said Tuesday it will slash aid to Syrians in need of basic food supplies by around half due to a lack of funding.
“An unprecedented funding crisis in Syria is forcing the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to cut assistance to 2.5 million of the 5.5 million people who rely on the agency for their basic food needs,” the organization said.

Probe into Lebanon’s Zahle quake points to quarry blast

BEIRUT: A quarry explosion caused an earthquake in Lebanon that was felt by the residents of Zahle in the Bekaa Valley on June 3, according to the internal security forces.
They had opened a probe to determine the cause of the tremor and found that its epicenter was the Qaa Al-Rim region, 4 km from the city of Zahle.
According to the investigation, the quake at 2:15 p.m. was “caused by an explosion in quarries in the Tweiti area, owned by two people from the Abu Hamdan family.”