IRBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan: Iran’s currency has been hitting record lows against the US dollar, which observers say is a reflection of the regime’s increasing isolation on the international stage and the seriousness of the new EU sanctions against its paramilitary enforcer, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

RAMALLAH: The Israeli government is planning unprecedented settlement activities in the West Bank, including the building of 18,000 housing units in the coming months, an Israeli newspaper revealed on Wednesday.
The move, which is seen as a serious threat to the Palestinians, was described by the Israeli newspaper Israel Today as a “revolution in Israeli politics in the West Bank” and a “mini-annexation.”
Under Israel’s One Million Settlers plan, approval will be given to thousands of settlements put on hold during the past two-and-a-half years.

ALEPPO, Syria: At 2:30 a.m. on January 22, Sheikh Maksoud, a Kurdish-majority neighborhood in Syria’s Aleppo, was struck by tragedy. A five-story residential building collapsed, burying dozens of residents under a mountain of rubble.

After round-the-clock rescue efforts, 16 bodies were recovered and two survivors were brought to the neighborhood’s hospital for treatment. According to state media, the structure’s foundations had been weakened by water leakage.

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s International Islamic Charity Organization and the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees have signed an agreement to provide humanitarian supplies for Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.

Bader Al-Sumait, IICO’s directive manager, said: “The organization seeks to ease suffering of the Rohingya people through sustainable development solutions in the fields of agricultural, livestock, and fish production, at a cost of about $500,000.”

RAMALLAH: Palestinians have strengthened ties with the EU following a visit by Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh to Brussels this week, a top official has revealed.
Shtayyeh called on the EU for political support to preserve the two-state solution, boycott goods made in Israeli settlements and reconsider cooperation agreements with Israel.
The EU will grant the Palestinian Authority $325 million in aid, including support for the UN Relief and Works Agency, social assistance for low-income families and infrastructure projects.