Spotlight
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Lebanon
Cautious calm engulfs south Lebanon as ceasefire appears to hold
Cautious calm has been engulfing south Lebanon since Saturday, after Israel's political leadership ordered its army to cease its operations, re...
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World
Meloni hits back as Trump escalates G7 photo spat
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni fired back at U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday, saying his "constant, unprovoked attacks...
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Middle East
US and Iran set for new talks after delay and deadly strikes
A new round of negotiations over the Middle East war was set to kick off Sunday as Iranian negotiators and U.S. Vice President JD Van...
Hezbollah vowed to defend Lebanon's territory and people against Israeli attacks on Friday, accusing its foe of violating a ceasefire as fighting flared.
"The Islamic Resistance will remain vigilant against any aggression. Its fighters will defend their land and people," the Iran-backed group said in a statement, refuting Israeli accusations that it had violated the truce, and instead insisting "the enemy has never complied with any ceasefire agreement".
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Italy's foreign minister on Friday said he was cancelling a visit to the United States over reported comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that appeared to mock Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
"The grave and offensive words of President Trump... offend the whole of Italy," Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who had been due to visit the U.S. on June 21 and 22, said on X.
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Israel's military said Friday it had struck Hezbollah targets in eastern Lebanon after an attack killed four of its soldiers.
"A short time ago, in response to repeated ceasefire violations by Hezbollah, which continues to prepare and carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli soldiers, the army struck Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the Bekaa Valley," the military said in a statement.
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Switzerland announced Friday that planned talks on implementing a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding to end the Middle East war had been postponed, hours after U.S. Vice President JD Vance's departure for the Alpine country was cancelled.
"The planned talks between the U.S., Iran, Qatar and Pakistan have been postponed," the Swiss foreign ministry said in a message to AFP.
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Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said Friday that "all of Lebanon must burn" after Israel's military announced the deaths of four soldiers there.
"With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not up for bargaining. All of Lebanon must burn," Ben Gvir said in a statement.
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France on Friday urged Israel to "respect" a deal signed between the United States and Iran to end the Middle East war, the French foreign minister said after overnight Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon.
"This agreement provides for a cessation of hostilities, the Israeli government must respect it, and the United States in particular must exert all the necessary pressure on the Israeli government to ensure that this is the case," Jean-Noel Barrot said on FranceInfo radio.
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Israel said Friday four of its soldiers were killed in south Lebanon amid clashes with Hezbollah.
Lieutenant Colonel Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon "fell in combat" along with three other soldiers whose names will be released later, the military said in a statement.
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Israeli airstrikes killed 16 people overnight in the Nabatieh region of southern Lebanon, state media reported Friday, despite a peace deal in the Middle East war that includes Lebanon.
Lebanon's National News Agency said "the enemy committed several massacres" with a series of airstrikes after midnight that targeted residential areas in several towns, including Harouf, where at least eight people were killed.
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Lebanese authorities have arrested a citizen suspected of having imported parts used to manufacture Hezbollah drones, a judicial source told AFP on Thursday.
Hezbollah has been using fiber optic drones, which are resistant to jamming, in their fight against Israel since early March.
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The head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad, said on Thursday that Israel's war in Lebanon had "failed" to eliminate the Iran-backed group.
Raad said in a statement that "the enemy's war aimed at crushing the resistance in Lebanon has failed and will not achieve its objectives".
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