The European Union has built a powerful armory to challenge the power of big tech with its landmark Digital Services Act (DSA) and a sister law, the Digital Markets Act, that hits internet giants with tough new curbs on how they do business.

With Benjamin Netanyahu building up a huge force ahead of an expected land incursion into Gaza, Iran has warned of a possible pre-emptive strike and called for an oil embargo against Tel Aviv. President Joe Biden was due to make a television address on the crisis later in the day,...

Xi met Egypt's Mostafa Madbouli in Beijing on Thursday, repeating China's support for a "two-state solution... to realise the peaceful coexistence of Palestine and Israel", according to multiple state media outlets. "China is willing to enhance cooperation with Egypt... and inject more certainty and stability into the region and the...

In announcing Biden's visit, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Israel had agreed to work with the United States on a plan to let aid into Gaza, which has been besieged and bombarded for 12 days and under an Israeli blockade for 16 years. Israel is threatening a ground...

"In light of (US) President (Joe) Biden's demand, Israel would not foil the supply of humanitarian aid via Egypt," the prime minister's office said, announcing a cabinet decision. The statement noted that aid to civilians in the southern Gaza Strip would be allowed "so long as these supplies do not...

"The United States is disappointed this resolution made no mention of Israel's rights of self-defense," US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote. The resolution said the Council "firmly condemns all violence and hostilities against civilians and all acts of terrorism."

Following Hezbollah's call, hundreds of demonstrators scuffled Tuesday night with Lebanese security forces outside the US embassy in the Beirut suburb of Awkar, where protesters hurled stones and set a building on fire, according to AFP correspondents. Palestinian refugee camps in the southern cities of Sidon and Tyre erupted in...

Antonio Guterres, speaking at an economic forum in China, condemned the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel that killed more than 1,400 people as "acts of terror" that could not be justified. "But those attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people," Guterres said. He urged Israel to...

As Israel advises around 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza Strip to evacuate, concerns grow about the potential ripple effects on neighboring Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt.

US and European stock markets mostly fell and oil prices rose as US President Joe Biden prepared for a trip to the Middle East aimed at preventing the Israel-Hamas conflict spreading across the region. Investors also weighed another raft of company earnings and rising interest rates.

Paris, France - Several technology industry leaders have decided to boycott one of the sector's biggest annual events after the organizer criticized Israel's actions following the Hamas attacks. Paddy Cosgrave, an Irish entrepreneur and co-founder of the Web Summit, wrote on social media platform X last week that he was "shocked...

Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 and left over 1,400 people dead and triggered Israeli retaliatory strikes on Gaza where around 3,000 people have been killed, according to officials on both sides. "Ayman Nofal, 'Abu Ahmad', a member of the general military council , was killed" in an Israeli strike

London, United Kingdom -- Fitch Ratings has placed Israel's Long-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) of 'A+' on Rating Watch Negative (RWN).This decision also extends to Israel's Short-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency IDRs of 'F1+' and the issue ratings of 'A+' on the nation's long-term foreign currency senior unsecured...

Nicosia, Cyprus - A first group of evacuees from Israel arrived in Cyprus on Tuesday aboard a US-chartered cruise ship as the island's authorities announced plans for a twice-daily ferry link for those wishing to leave. The 159 evacuees on board the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Rhapsody of the Sea primarily...

Shanghai, China - China will this week weigh into the Israel-Hamas war by sending its special envoy to the Middle East, after the United States asked it to use its influence to stop the conflict from spreading. Washington says it hopes China's friendship with Hamas backer Iran could help calm the...

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned in a live broadcast to state TV of the possibility of pre-emptive action by the resistance axis in "in the coming hours" while Israel prepares to invade the Gaza Strip. Tehran has repeatedly warned that invasion of Gaza would be met with a response...

If aid is not allowed into the besieged territory, doctors will have to "prepare death certificates for their patients," WHO regional director for the eastern Mediterranean, Ahmed al-Mandhari told AFP. Monday marked 10 days of relentless Israeli air strikes on targets in the Palestinian enclave, in retaliation for an October...

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran on Monday said time was running short to reach a political solution in the Israel-Gaza conflict, warning of the "possibility of expanding the scope of war and conflict to other fronts". Israel declared war on the Palestinian group Hamas a day after waves of its fighters broke...

Frankfurt, Germany - The postponement of a Palestinian author's award ceremony at the Frankfurt Book Fair due to the Israel-Hamas conflict triggered condemnation Monday from high-profile authors, while several Arab publishing groups withdrew. The annual fair is the world's biggest publishing trade event, bringing together thousands of book industry players and...

Jerusalem, Undefined - The Israeli military on Monday raised the figure to 199 people confirmed to have been abducted by Hamas to the Gaza Strip in the militants' cross-border attacks which sparked a devastating war. "We have updated the families of 199 hostages," military spokesman Daniel Hagari told a media briefing,...

As Israel prepares for a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip, the international community has mobilized to try to protect civilians and prevent the conflict spreading across the region. But Tel Aviv's avowed determination to crush Hamas, the group behind the October 7 attack on Israel, are hampering mediation efforts.

Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim, the sheriff's office said. US President Joe Biden said that the Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking "what we all seek -- a refuge to live, learn,...

Following an Israeli order to move to the south of the Gaza Strip, people have fled their homes in the north of the enclave to seek shelter wherever they can, including on the streets and in UN-run schools. Palestinians carrying whatever belongings they can, in bags and suitcases, or packed...

As Israel grapples with the surprise Hamas action and global community gauges economic ramifications, the future of Israel's relations with its neighbors hangs in the balance.

UN estimates that about one million people have been displaced since Israel began a relentless aerial bombardment of Gaza in retaliation for Hamas's deadly assault on October 7. The UN agency's director of communications, Juliette Touma, told AFP more people are likely to become displaced "as people continue to leave...

As Israeli politicians look to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip into neighbouring Egypt, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has categorically rejected the idea, saying they should be able to stay as Israel battles Hamas. Blinken is on a crisis tour of the Middle East after Hamas fighters attacked...

As Israel grapples with the surprise Hamas action and global community gauges economic ramifications, the future of Israel's relations with its neighbors hangs in the balance.

Israel's strikes on the Gaza Strip have led to an "unprecedented human catastrophe" in the Palestinian territory, the United Nations agency supporting Palestinian refugees said. "Not one drop of water, not one grain of wheat, not a liter of fuel has been allowed in the Gaza Strip for the last...

Israel has massed forces outside the long-blockaded enclave of 2.4 million in preparation for what the army has said would be a land, air and sea attack involving a "significant ground operation". Israel has also stationed troops and tanks on its UN-patrolled northern border with Lebanon and closed a four...

Wang's remarks, made on a call to his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Saturday, came as Israel appeared poised for a ground offensive against Hamas fighters in Gaza. Israel should listen earnestly to the calls of the international community and the UN secretary general, and cease its...

The top US diplomat has been touring the region after Hamas fighters infiltrated Israel from the blockaded Gaza Strip on October 7 and killed 1,300 people, mostly civilians, and took about 150 hostages. Blinken will travel later Sunday to Egypt, the sixth Arab country he will visit as he seeks...

Dubai, UAE--American cable channel MSNBC has quietly taken three prominent Muslim journalists “out of the anchor’s chair” since the onset of war between Palestinians and Israel, according to a media report. The report said MSNBC quietly took Mehdi Hasan, Ayman Mohyeldin, and Ali Velshi “out of the anchor’s chair” after...

Hezbollah and other Palestinian factions in Lebanon have exchanged cross-border fire with Israel since Hamas's surprise October 7 attack on Israel ignited a war that has killed more than 1,300 people in Israel. Palestinian gunmen also seized an estimated 150 hostages while Israel's retaliatory air and artillery bombardment has killed...

The UN health agency said in a statement that it strongly condemns Israel's repeated orders for the evacuation of 22 hospitals treating more than 2,000 people in northern Gaza. Israel has warned Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive against Hamas, one week after the deadliest...

The presence of the USS Eisenhower and its affiliated warships in the eastern Mediterranean signals Washington's "ironclad commitment to Israel's security and our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement. The Eisenhower joins the USS...

Jerusalem - International aid groups and major powers have pleaded with Israel to set up safe zones in Gaza where thousands struggled on Saturday to get out of the north of the Palestinian territory, under threat of attack. With thousands of Israeli troops massed around Gaza's borders, uncertainty over when...

Jerusalem - The Israeli military said on Saturday that Gaza City residents must not delay their departure before a military offensive starts, as people leaving the north of the territory again jammed roads south. Ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive against Hamas, which attacked southern Israel on October 7,...

Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem spoke as Hamas and Israel traded heavy fire for a seventh day, after hundreds of Hamas gunmen stormed across the border from Gaza into Israel on Saturday and killed more than 1,300 people, most of them civilians. Israel has retaliated by bombarding Hamas targets in the...

Calling for an end to "Israeli occupation" and the "liberation" of the Palestinian territories, protesters took up multiple blocks in a city that serves as a crossroads for religions and nationalities spanning the world. The largely youthful protest -- which drew demonstrators of all origins, some sporting Palestinian flags and...

With Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip showing no sign of any let up, and death toll touching 1,900 people, Russia has called for a "humanitarian cease-fire" in the Gaza Strip. Its ambassador to the UN blamed the US for the conflict. The draft resolution calls for an immediate ceasefire...

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Israel risked waging an "unacceptable" siege in Gaza comparable to the Nazi blockade of Leningrad during World War II, and called for mediation. Fears for Gaza's Palestinian inhabitants have grown since the Israeli army called for 1.1 million people --...

At least nine Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank during rallies in solidarity with war-battered Gaza, the Palestinian health ministry said. AFP correspondents and a security official reported clashes in Ramallah, Nablus, Tulkarem, Hebron and other cities, nearly a week after Hamas attacked southern Israel.

Tehran, Iran-- Iran said the United States "can not renege" on an agreement to transfer $6 billion in frozen funds through mediator Qatar following Hamas bloody assault on Israel. Tehran, which financially and militarily backs Hamas, has come under intense scrutiny since fighters of the Islamist group stormed across Israel's southern...

"Our Palestinian people reject the threat of the occupation (Israeli) leaders and its call for them to leave their homes and flee from them to the south or Egypt," the group said in a statement.

"No to the occupation! No to America!" chanted demonstrators gathered in central Baghdad after Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr called for a protest "in support of Gaza" and against Israel, an AFP journalist reported.

In Gaza, UN officials said the Israeli military, whose troops are massing at the border, had told them the evacuation should be carried out "within the next 24 hours". It later admitted it would take more time, however, and did not confirm it had set the deadline.

The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza is the only passage in and out of the coastal enclave not controlled by Israel. Israel has bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip since Saturday in reprisal for a shock Hamas attack on Israel that has killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and looks...

Qatar, where Blinken will head immediately after Jordan, has longstanding ties with Hamas and has been seen as an intermediary in freeing the hostages. "We'll continue pressing countries to help prevent the conflict from spreading, and to use their leverage with Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the hostages," Blinken...

Israel's army said it has called for all Gaza City residents to evacuate their homes and head south of the territory "for their safety". "The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences," Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said on...

Nearly 60 percent of households in Gaza were considered food insecure before the start of the new hostilities. As of late Thursday, the number of displaced in Gaza rose by over 84,400 people to reach more than 423,300, according to OCHA figures.