JERUSALEM: The Israeli air force said on Thursday that it had dismissed a reservist officer in the military for trying to orchestrate group walkouts from training flights as part of a spreading protest at judicial reforms planned by the government.
In its first disciplinary measure during the political crisis roiling Israel, the military said in a statement that the colonel, whose name as not been published, “behaved … in a manner unbecoming of his officer’s rank and station.”

NEW YORK: Kuwait wants to empower its female population as “equal partners” to help boost the country’s drive for a sustainable future, its minister for social and women’s affairs has said.
Mai Al-Baghli told the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women in New York that her country wanted women to achieve progress at various levels, including technological innovation.
Al-Baghli said that the session came at a crucial time, with only seven years ahead of the deadline for attaining objectives of global sustainable development, set at 2030.

ISTANBUL: Turkish riot police fired pepper spray to disperse a group of protesters pushing back against a line of police on Wednesday as a rally to mark International Women’s Day was winding down in central Istanbul.
Women whistled and chanted “We do not keep quiet, we are not scared, we do not bow down”, as they pushed riot police shields, triggering the tussles with police, while the rest of the crowd of around 2,000 dispersed.

WASHINGTON: Climate change is happening and the effects will only get worse as temperatures continue to increase, oceans warm, sea levels rise and freshwater resources that are already scarce in some regions dwindle. This will fuel conflict and migration, especially in the poorest and most vulnerable nations in the Middle East and Africa.

This was one of the messages from participants in a panel discussion hosted by the Middle East Institute in Washington on Wednesday titled “Climate Injustice? How poorer nations are shouldering the burden of climate change.”

JERUSALEM: The UN Middle East peace envoy urged Israel and the Palestinians on Wednesday to calm surging violence in the occupied West Bank, a day after the latest Israeli raid killed six people.

“We are in the midst of a cycle of violence that must be stopped immediately,” Tor Wennesland said in a statement.

“The Security Council has spoken with one voice, calling on the parties to observe calm and restraint, and to refrain from provocative actions, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric.”