Negotiations have been underway to strike a possible deal for Hamas to release hostages and pause the fighting in the Gaza Strip. But on the border with Lebanon there have been near-daily cross-border exchanges of fire between Israel and Hizbollah, sparking off fears of a wider regional escalation.

JERUSALEM - An Israeli soldier seized by Hamas fighters during their October 7 attack was killed the same day and his body is being held in Gaza, the army and a campaign group said on Sunday. The Israeli army confirmed the death of Sergeant Oz Daniel, 19, while the Hostages...

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- The Abu Dhabi Session of the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organization (PCWTO) was inaugurated Sunday by Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council (FNC). The conference was organized by the FNC in cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the European Parliament (EP),...

"Representatives of Israel, the United States, Egypt, and Qatar met in Paris and came to an understanding among the four of them about what the basic contours of a hostage deal for temporary ceasefire would look like," White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CNN. "It is still under...

WASHINGTON, US  - In a shift from tit-for-tat tariffs and strong-arm tactics to tech restrictions and investment curbs, US policy towards China has become more targeted under President Joe Biden - though still hardline. Despite differences between Democrats and Republicans, analysts expect Washington's approach to Beijing will only become tougher, whether...

At the start of this month, Qatar said it would supply 7.5 million tonnes of LNG per year for 20 years to India's Petronet, with the first deliveries expected from May 2028. QatarEnergy in January announced a deal with US-based Excelerate Energy to supply Bangladesh with 1.5 million tonnes of LNG...

Trump completed a sweep of the first four major nominating contests, converting a year of blockbuster polls into a likely insurmountable lead going into the "Super Tuesday" 15-state voting bonanza in 10 days. The margin of victory was not immediately clear but US networks felt able to call the race...

In a statement after the meeting, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also attended, the leaders vowed to "raise the cost" of Russia's war on Ukraine. The G7 leaders didn't make any public statement about further military aid to Ukraine, but urged "the approval of additional support to close Ukraine's remaining...

The new wave of strikes "specifically targeted 18 Houthi targets across eight locations in Yemen" including weapons storage facilities, attack drones, air defense systems, radars and a helicopter, a joint statement said. It was co-signed by Australia, Bahrain, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand, who gave unspecified "support" to...

AMMAN, JORDAN – Jordan Chamber of Commerce (JCC) and Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Saturday discussed enhanced cooperation and investment partnership.The two sides pledged during a meeting to forge robust commercial relations, remove hindrances, reactivate bilateral agreements, exchange more visits by economic teams and hold joint exhibitions.Participants stressed...

ABU DHABI, UAE – Emirates Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan has announced that the UAE will provide a US$10 million grant to support key initiatives of the World Trade Organization (WTO), whose 13th Ministerial Conference is being held here. Sheikh Abdullah said that the grant...

Palestinian Territories - At the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, Abu Gibril was so desperate for food to feed his family that he slaughtered two of his horses. "We had no other choice but to slaughter the horses to feed the children. Hunger is killing us," he told AFP....

The negotiations come after a plan for a post-war Gaza unveiled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew criticism from key ally the United States, and was rejected by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank. They also come alongside deepening fears for Gaza's civilians.

WASHINGTON, US – A small balloon floating at a high altitude over the US state of Utah was intercepted by fighter aircraft on Friday but deemed to pose no national security or flight risk, a US-Canada military agency said, according to US media. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said...

The attack on the Rubymar represents the most significant damage yet to be inflicted on a commercial ship since the Houthis started firing on vessels in November - a campaign they say is in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war. The Houthi attacks have prompted some shipping...

New Delhi, India - India's foreign ministry confirmed on Friday that some of the country's citizens had signed up for "support jobs" with the Russian army and said it was working with Moscow to secure their discharge. The Hindu newspaper reported on Wednesday that around 18 Indians were stranded in...

"The plan states that Israel will move forward with its already-in-motion project to establish a security buffer zone on the Palestinian side of the strip's border," the report said, adding the zone would remain "as long as there is a security need for it" The plan envisages Gaza's "complete demilitarization."

Soliman, Tunisia - A Tunisian imam expelled from France for alleged hate speech said on Friday he would take legal action in a bid to overturn the decision. Mahjoub Mahjoubi, from the town of Bagnols-sur-Ceze in the south of France, denounced his removal as "arbitrary". The 52-year-old was arrested and then...

Countries on the grey list have "strategic deficiencies" in their efforts to counter money laundering and terrorist financing but are cooperating with the FATF to correct the problems and are subject to increased monitoring. In addition to the UAE, Barbados, Gibraltar and Uganda were removed from the grey list. A...

ABU DHABI, UAE – The Registration Authority (RA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market has fined Baker Tilly Middle East Limited (Baker Tilly) and its registered audit principal Neil Andrew Sturgeon (Sturgeon), an ADGM media release said on Friday. The RA imposed a financial penalty of US$50,000 against Baker Tilly and...

"I fear we are on the edge of a monumental disaster with grave implications for regional peace, security and human rights," said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the main aid agency in Gaza, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). In a letter to the United Nations General Assembly, he said...

A security source said that an Israeli drone shot two guided missiles at the building in Kfar Rumman, near the southern city of Nabatiyeh. At least 273 people have been killed on the Lebanese side since October, most of them Hizbollah fighters but also including 42 civilians, sparking fears of...

There was "virtual unanimity for the two-state solution as the only possible solution," Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira told journalists at the close of a two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the world's biggest economies. "The only reason (Vieira) didn't simply say 'unanimity' is that not every speaker addressed the...

"We are deeply concerned about the impacts that the Israel and Gaza war are having on hate crimes and on social cohesion in the UK," said Tell MAMA director Iman Atta.

The shooters were "neutralized", police said, and an AFP photographer later saw two bodies at the scene of the attack on a highway east of Jerusalem, where five cars were riddled with bullets. "The three terrorists... got out of their vehicle and started shooting automatic weapons at vehicles that were...

Major powers trying to find a way to end the destructive Israel-Hamas war have so far failed, but a US envoy was in Israel Thursday in the latest attempt to secure a truce deal. International concern has spiraled over Gaza's escalating civilian death toll and the desperate humanitarian crisis sparked...

On Wednesday, Israel's parliament backed Netanyahu's proposal of opposing any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, with 99 out of 120 lawmakers voting in favor of it. The proposal voted in Israeli parliament said that any settlement would be "solely through direct negotiations between the parties and without any pre-conditions".

An Israeli strike on a residential area of Damascus killed at least two people, Syrian state media reported, the latest deaths from an escalating Israeli air campaign since the Gaza war erupted in October. Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes in Syria since civil war broke out in 2011.

Jerusalem - Despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's insistence the Gaza war will end with Israel achieving "absolute victory", a majority of Israelis do not think this is a likely outcome, a poll published Wednesday found. Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that Israel will continue its offensive in the Gaza Strip until...

Heavy fighting rocked besieged Gaza as aid agencies warned of looming famine and new talks were held in Cairo towards an Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release deal. The White House sent Middle East envoy Brett McGurk for renewed talks, a day after a UNSC resolution calling for a ceasefire was...

"What type of world do we live in when people cannot get food and water, or where people who cannot even walk are not able to receive care? "What type of world do we live in when health workers are at risk of being bombed as they carry out their...

The International Court of Justice is holding a week of hearings after a request from the UN, with an unprecedented 52 countries giving their views on Israel's occupation. Most speakers have demanded that Israel end its occupation, which came after a six-day Arab-Israeli war in 1967, but Washington came to...

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia triggered a massive shift by European nations away from Russian natural gas delivered by pipelines, with prices for LNG soaring as they competed on international markets for limited supplies. With a limited number of import terminals, European nations were also forced to undertake measures...

Tehran, Iran--Iran said Wednesday that Israel was behind twin sabotage attacks against gas pipelines that disrupted supplies in at least three provinces last week. The February 14 explosions hit pipelines in the cities of Safashahr in the southern province of Fars and Borujen in the southwestern province of Chaharmahal and...

Britain's strategic licensing criteria states that weapons should not be exported when there is a clear risk they could be used in international humanitarian law violations. The court claimants, led by Palestinian rights group Al-Haq and including the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), argued that the government was ignoring its...

The downing of the drone came the same day that the Houthi rebels targeted two US-owned merchant vessels as they continue their multi-month campaign of attacks on shipping in the area. It is the second time an MQ-9 used for both surveillance and strikes was lost near Yemen in recent...

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS -  A Dutch court quashed an appeal by Russia in a record $50-billion case on Tuesday, paving the way for a payment to former shareholders of dismantled oil giant Yukos. The decision is the latest in a legal tug-of-war over Yukos which broke up in the early 2000s...

Geneva, Switzerland - The World Health Organization said on Tuesday it had transferred 32 patients out of the besieged Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza but feared for the patients and medics still inside. WHO staff said the scenes around the hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis were "indescribable", while...

The World Food Program (WFP) resumed deliveries on Sunday after a three-week halt but its convoy "faced complete chaos and violence due to the collapse of civil order", it said. Twenty weeks into Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, UN agencies have warned that food and safe water...

LONDON, UK - An international operation led by UK and US law enforcement has severely disrupted "the world's most harmful cybercrime group", the Russian-linked ransomware specialist LockBit, officials announced on Tuesday. LockBit and its affiliates have targeted governments, major companies, schools and hospitals, causing billions of dollars of damage and extracting...

Paris, France -- The world needs "trillions" of dollars to spur on the green transition and tackle global warming, the head of last year's COP28 climate talks said Tuesday, warning that political momentum can evaporate without clear action. COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber hailed progress made at UN negotiations last year in...

"We as South Africans sense, see, hear and feel to our core the inhumane discriminatory policies and practices of the Israeli regime as an even more extreme form of the apartheid that was institutionalized against black people in my country," said Vusimuzi Madonsela, South Africa's ambassador to the Netherlands, where...

The resolution, which Algeria had been working on for three weeks, had demanded "an immediate humanitarian ceasefire that must be respected by all parties." "Proceeding with a vote today was wishful and irresponsible... we cannot support a resolution that would put sensitive negotiations in jeopardy," said Washington's ambassador to the...

The European Union has struggled for a united response on Israel's military operation following the October 7 attack by Hamas. But Borrell said foreign ministers from 26 states had agreed a statement calling for "an immediate humanitarian pause that would lead to a sustainable ceasefire".

Renk is just 10 kilometers (six miles) from Sudan, where fighting broke out in April last year between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Since then, Renk's two UN-run transit centers have been overwhelmed by an...

Twenty weeks into Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, UN agencies warned that food and safe water had become "incredibly scarce" in the Palestinian territory, adding that virtually all young children had infectious illnesses. UN assessment indicated that more than 15 percent of children under the age of...

The Brazilian foreign ministry said it has also recalled its own ambassador from Tel Aviv for consultations, after Israel summoned the Brazilian envoy and declared Lula "persona non grata" over his remarks on Sunday. The president said the conflict in the Gaza Strip "isn't a war, it's a genocide".

Lula's remarks on Sunday sparked outcry in Israel after the Brazilian leader said the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip "isn't a war, it's a genocide" and compared it to "when Hitler decided to kill the Jews". On Sunday, the head of Yad Vashem, Dani Dayan, said that Lula's remarks...

FUZHOU, CHINA - Construction of the main complex of a joint-investment ethylene project, which involves petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), began on Monday in east China's Fujian Province. The project, with a total investment of US$6.3 billion (44.8 billion yuan) from SABIC and Fujian Energy Petrochemical Group Co....

Dubai, UAE -- The United States has proposed a rival draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council, emphasizing its support for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, Reuters reported. The proposed resolution echoes the language US President Joe Biden's said he used in his recent discussions with Israel's Prime Minister...