Hamas says committed to Gaza truce and returning hostage remains
Responding to a call from Hamas for help locating the bodies of the 19 hostages, buried under the rubble alongside...
Geostrategy
Building a secure future: Key takeaways from WEF’s Dubai meetings
The Annual Meeting on Cybersecurity, held jointly with the Global Future Councils, focused on strengthening global cooperation to enhance digital...
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Netanyahu vows to continue with controversial judicial reforms
JERUSALEM- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to advance the government's controversial judicial reforms, which have seen his...
- The reform package unveiled in January has been waylaid in recent months by demonstrators who have gathered weekly in their tens of thousands.
- Speaking Sunday, Netanyahu pledged to press forward with the judicial reforms "in a measured and responsible way" without giving further details.
Arts & Culture
Iraq displays Italy returned ancient stone tablet
The tablet- whose text is written in cuneiform, the Babylonian alphabet- bears the insignia of Shalmaneser III, the Assyrian king...
- The tablet arrived in the 1980s in Italy, where the police seized it, said LM Hussein, director of Baghdad's council of antiquities and heritage.
- The Italian authorities handed it over to Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid during a visit to Bologna over the past week.
Geostrategy
Algeria court increases prison term for media leader
An Algerian court of appeal increased to seven years the prison term issued to a prominent media boss, but suspended...
- Ihsane El Kadi did not receive any money from "foreigners or a foreign" group as claimed by authorities, the defense attorney said.
- The verdict adds two years to an initial sentence handed down to El Kadi in April by a lower court for "foreign financing of his business".
Geostrategy
Macron special envoy heads to Lebanon in bid to end crisis
Paris, France -- President Emmanuel Macron's new special envoy for Lebanon heads to Beirut in the coming week as France seeks...
- Former foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, appointed by Macron to the role earlier this month, is to fly to Beirut on Wednesday, the source told AFP, asking not to be named.
- Another source close to the issue also said Le Drian would leave on Wednesday but it was not clear how long he would stay in Beirut or who he would meet.
Geostrategy
Rivals in Yemen discuss possible prisoner swap in Jordan, says Red Cross
DUBAI, UAE -  Yemen's government and Iran-backed Houthi rebels are locked in talks in Jordan to set the ground for a...
- The fighting has since killed hundreds of thousands of people directly or indirectly.
- A six-month truce brokered by the UN expired in October last year, but fighting has largely remained on hold.
Geostrategy
Israelis keep up protests against halted judicial reforms
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-right government's proposals would curtail the authority of the Supreme Court and give politicians greater powers...
- Opposition leaders suspended their participation in the talks, after parliament failed to elect a member of the coalition to committee to select judges
- In Tel Aviv, where the largest rally took place, Ami Bluzer said that Prime Minister Netanyahu was stalling to wear down opposition, but "we'll stop him"
Geostrategy
Blinken begins high-level talks in China to ease bilateral tensions
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Beijing for key discussions, marking the first top-level US visit in five...
- Both sides express cautious optimism about improving communication and avoiding conflict
- The two powers are at odds over a range of issues from trade and technology to regional security.
Geostrategy
New 72-hour ceasefire takes effect in Sudan after spurt in fighting
Several truces have been agreed and broken during the two-month war, including after the United States slapped sanctions on both...
- Air strikes killed 17 civilians, including five children, in Khartoum Saturday, a citizens' group said, as medics in Chad reported hundreds of wounded from Darfur seeking treatment
- Medics in Chad said Saturday they were overwhelmed by the hundreds of wounded fleeing Sudan's Darfur region, which has become an increasing focus of global concern
First flight with Yemeni pilgrims to touch down in Jeddah since 2016
A Yemenia Airways plane carrying 277 travelers departed at around 8 pm, seven years after Sanaa's international airport was blockaded...
- The Jeddah-bound flight is the first to Saudi Arabia since Sanaa's airport was closed by the coalition blockade in August 2016
- Thousands of pilgrims in Houthi-held areas travel by bus to Saudi Arabia, or to Aden where they can fly to the neighbouring country
Geostrategy
Iran-Saudi reconciliation advances with high-level diplomatic visit
In a significant step towards reconciliation, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan conducted a landmark visit to Iran to hold...
- Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan holds historic talks with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, focusing on regional security
- The talks are part of a reconciliation process between Iran and Saudi Arabia, following a seven-year rupture that began in 2016
Hamas says committed to Gaza truce and returning hostage remains
Responding to a call from Hamas for help locating the bodies of the 19 hostages, buried under the rubble alongside...
Geostrategy
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Deal restored: Hamas, Israel finalize exchange of Palestinian prisoners for bodies of Israeli hostages
Mediators have revived a deal for Israel to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the bodies of four Israeli hostages,...
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UN warns of last chance for two-state Israeli-Palestinian solution
Sigrid Kaag, the UN envoy for the peace process in the region, also warned against calls for Israel to annex...
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US, Russia to appoint negotiators for Ukraine talks; Kyiv protests exclusion, Europe awaits role
Washington noted European nations would have to have a seat at the negotiating table "at some point", following the first...
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More than one million Syrians return to their homes: United Nations
Geneva, Switzerland -- More than one million people have returned to their homes in Syria after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad,...
- The returnees include 280,000 Syrian refugees and more than 800,000 people displaced inside the country.
- Syria's war has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions from their homes.
Israel army pulls out of Lebanon border villages, holds five positions: source
Israel's army has pulled out of southern Lebanese villages but remains in five positions as a deadline for the withdrawal...
- Authorities estimate reconstruction costs in Lebanon's South could reach more than US$10 billion
- More than 100,000 remain internally displaced
Geostrategy
Netanyahu commits to Trump’s Gaza plan as Rubio seeks Arab backing in Saudi talks
In a statement on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was "committed to US President Trump's plan for...
- Arriving in the kingdom after talks in Israel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio - on his first visit to the Middle East - met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
- A Saudi source had earlier told AFP that Riyadh would host a regional summit later this week "to discuss Arab alternatives" to President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza