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Author: Vijeta Uniyal

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Vijeta Uniyal

Vijeta Uniyal is a writer based in Germany. He is Senior Distinguished Fellow of the Gatestone Institute and founder of the "Indians For Israel".

Amid rising tensions in the Persian Gulf, the Islamist terror group Hamas has sent a senior delegation to meet Iranian officials in Tehran. The Gaza-based terrorist group was "expecting important results" from the weekend meetings, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has attacked U.S. President Donald Trump and sided with the "attacked" congresswomen in his ongoing spat with the four progressive lawmakers. "I firmly distance myself from it and feel solidarity toward the attacked women," Merkel said at a press conference on Friday, referring to President's remarks.

Five years after a significant outbreak in Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared another international emergency over Ebola. The spread of the Ebola virus, which began in the central African nation of Congo, has been designated as a "public health emergency of international concern," a WHO spokesperson said.

Germany has called for a European Union-wide 'redistribution coalition' to settle migrants who are presently entering into Europe through the Mediterranean Sea. "We need a coalition of willing for a mandatory distribution mechanism," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said. Germany will be taking a "leadership role" in accepting migrants coming from the Mediterranean route, the Foreign Minister added.

Serious concerns over German Chancellor Angela Merkel's health have grown after she was seen shaking uncontrollably in public for the third time in the last few weeks. Chancellor Merkel, whose term ends in 2021, downplayed the trembling episodes claiming she was doing "very well" and "no one should be worried." The first bout of trembling occurred on June 18 when she stood alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the playing of the national anthems. Days later she was seen shaking during a public appearance with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Three senior UK lawmakers in the upper house of the parliament have resigned from the Labour Party over its 'institutional Antisemitism.' David Triesman, party's former general secretary, Ara Darzi, former British health minister, and Leslie Turnberg, announced their resignation on Tuesday. Triesman wrote in his resignation letter that the Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour Party was "no longer a safe political environment for Jews or other opponents of antisemitism. It is time to recognize the reality." He also accused Corbyn and his top aides of being antisemitic.

Israeli security services have arrested a Hamas bomb-maker who entered the country on humanitarian grounds for medical treatment. Israel's domestic security agency the Shin Bet caught the 35-year-old explosives expert, Fadi Abu al-Sabah, who was in possession of forged medical documents claiming he couldn't receive proper treatment in Hamas-held Gaza.

As Iran breaches the limit on its enriched uranium stockpile set under the 2015 nuclear deal, European powers scramble to appease the regime. The European Union has started processing payments to Iran under a new trading mechanism, German media reports confirmed. While French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to rush to Tehran in an attempt to coax the regime into the Obama-era deal.

Iran tried to procure weapons technology to build up its nuclear program in 2018, Germany's federal intelligence service BfV disclosed in its annual report published on Thursday. The intelligence agency found "clear rise in evidence" that Tehran has been working to acquire technical capabilities to enhance its nuclear weapons delivery systems.

The number of individuals classified as Islamists by Germany's domestic intelligence service has crossed 26,000, German newspapers reported. The threat from Islamic terrorism in Germany "remains at a high level," the spy service disclosed. The Islamic State is "restructuring itself into an underground terrorist group" following its military defeat in the Middle East. The terrorist organization was particularly shifting towards a strategy of hitting soft targets, the intelligence report said.

Iran will never build nuclear weapons because Islam forbids such a move, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Tuesday. "It is us who, because of our religious views, will never pursue a nuclear weapon," Zarif remarked. The comments come as Iran speeds up its enrichment of uranium, bringing the Islamic Republic closer to building a nuclear bomb.

In a rare showing of bipartisan consensus, several U.S. lawmakers have called upon Germany to reconsider the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported. "For once, Democrats and Republicans in the US agree on something: The project is a really bad idea," the public broadcaster added. In February, the European Union had revised its energy guidelines to approve the Nord Stream 2 project, a 760-mile Baltic Sea pipeline that upon completion will link Russia to Germany. Close to 60 percent of the project has already been realized, the oil and gas journal Offshore reports.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is visiting Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, India, Japan and South Korea in an effort to build a "global coalition" against Iran. The Secretary of State wants these five Asian powers to get behind the United States in its campaign of "maximum pressure" on Tehran, but he didn't not rule out a U.S. military response if Tehran were to engage in further acts of aggression.

President Donald Trump is continuing with his policy of "maximum pressure" on Iran, promising "major" sanctions on the regime. "We're putting additional sanctions on [Iran]," he told reporters before leaving for the Camp David. His administration was "moving rapidly" towards rolling out new sanctions, he added.

The UK junior Foreign Office Minister has been suspended after a scuffle with a 'climate' protester. The altercation took place when close to forty Greenpeace activists, most of them women, stormed a black-tie dinner in Central London.