Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives yesterday held their first direct talks in decades, part of a year-old ceasefire monitoring mechanism in the war with militant group Hezbollah, a source close to the talks told AFP.

Iran and Turkey have agreed to begin constructing a new joint rail link to serve as a strategic gateway between Asia and Europe, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said yesterday.

A Turkish court yesterday acquitted four journalists, including AFP photographer Yasin Akgul, who were on trial over mass demonstrations in Istanbul in March, a case that drew condemnation from press freedom watchdogs.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi slammed what he called the United States’ “bullying approach” towards Venezuela, a statement said yesterday, as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on his Venezuelan arch-foe.

An explosion at a weapons depot in northwest Syria’s Idlib province killed five people and wounded nine others yesterday, security forces said in a statement.

The United States presented the warring Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with a strong text for a peace plan but neither side has accepted it, senior US envoy Massad Boulos said yesterday.

The UN human rights office said yesterday that at least 127 civilians had been killed in Lebanon in strikes by the Israel military since a ceasefire nearly a year ago, and called for an investigation and for the truce to be respected.

The strike targeted Iran-backed Hezbollah's acting chief of staff, Ali Tabtabai

Israel said it had carried out an air strike yesterday targeting Hezbollah’s chief of staff in Beirut, leaving a smoking hole in the side of an apartment building and debris scattered in the street, according to AFP journalists.

Iran’s intelligence ministry has warned of attempts by foreign adversaries, including the United States and Israel, to target Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and destabilise the Islamic republic.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said yesterday that the United States, Britain, Germany and France were pursuing a path of “escalation” following the passage of a new resolution by the UN nuclear watchdog.

Israel’s military said yesterday it had killed a Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon, a region that has witnessed several attacks despite the ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed group.

United Nations peacekeepers said yesterday that Israel’s army has built walls in south Lebanon near the UN-demarcated Blue Line, the de facto border, nearly a year after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Iraq has been unusually stable in recent years

Iran was laying plans yesterday to cut off water supplies periodically to Tehran’s 10-million-strong population as it battles its worst drought in many decades.

Turkey issued arrest warrants for genocide against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior officials in his government over the war in Gaza, as Israel continued to kill Palestinians violating a ceasefire.

Israel warned yesterday that its military would step up its attacks against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, a day after the Lebanese health ministry reported four people killed in an Israeli air strike.

Iran said yesterday that it would rebuild nuclear sites damaged by Israeli and US strikes “stronger than before”, as mediator Oman urged Tehran and Washington to revive stalled diplomacy.

Selling for nearly $1,000 a cup, a cafe in Dubai is offering the world’s most expensive coffee, brewed from Panamanian beans sold at a premium price.

Says after Trump threatens fresh attacks if Iran tries to restart the facilities