Spotlight
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Sports
Infantino confirms Iran will play World Cup games in US
FIFA President Gianni Infantino reiterated that Iran will play their World Cup games in the United States as scheduled as football's powe...
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Middle East
Iran activates air defenses as Trump faces congressional deadline
Tehran's air defenses were activated to counter small aircraft and drones late Thursday, as the White House signalled that it will not ...
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Lebanon
US embassy says Lebanon at 'crossroads', urges Aoun-Netanyahu meeting
The U.S. embassy in Beirut said on Thursday that Lebanon was at a crossroads and urged a meeting between President Joseph Aoun and Isra...
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Israeli forces on Saturday carried out demolitions in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, the scene of intense fighting with Hezbollah prior to the recently agreed 10-day truce, Lebanese state media reported.
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Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said overnight that the ongoing 10-day truce with Israel cannot be one-sided, vowing that his fighters would respond to Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
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After the ceasefire in Lebanon took hold, Samah Hajoul headed back to her apartment in Beirut's southern suburbs -- but only long enough to grab fresh clothes, feeling safer in her tent as she wonders whether the truce will last.
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Lebanon's president and prime minister have discussed preparations for the first direct negotiations with Israel in decades.
In a statement, the office of President Joseph Aoun said he and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam conducted "an assessment of the post-ceasefire phase and the ongoing efforts to consolidate it," and discussed "Lebanese readiness for the anticipated negotiations" with Israel.
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Senior Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qamati said that his group was not concerned by Lebanon's planned direct talks with Israel, labelling them a failure.
In a press conference in Beirut's southern suburbs, Qmati said his group was "not concerned with the negotiations being conducted by the state," saying they were "a failure, weak, defeated... and submissive negotiations."
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Hezbollah on Saturday denied it was involved in a deadly attack on United Nations peacekeepers (UNIFIL) in southern Lebanon, after France accused the group of being behind the incident.
"Hezbollah denies any connection to the incident that occurred with UNIFIL forces in the Ghandouriyeh-Bint Jbeil area, and calls for caution in making judgments and assigning responsibilities regarding the incident pending the Lebanese army's investigations to determine the full circumstances of the incident," the group said in a statement.
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The strategic Strait of Hormuz was again closed on Sunday in the stand-off between Iran and the United States, with Iran's powerful parliament speaker signalling a final peace deal remained "far" off despite some movement in negotiations.
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Iran's top national security body said that the country was reviewing "new proposals" received from the United States, even as it warned that its negotiators would cut no compromises with Washington.
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U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Iran not to "blackmail" Washington with its flip-flopping on the fate of the Strait of Hormuz, after Tehran declared the strategic waterway once again closed.
"We're talking to them. They wanted to close up the strait again -- you know, as they've been doing for years -- and they can't blackmail us," Trump said at a White House event.
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A French soldier was killed and three others wounded in an ambush Saturday on U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon that French President Emmanuel Macron blamed on Hezbollah, an accusation the group has denied.
The attack follows an agreement between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday for a 10-day ceasefire to negotiate an end to six weeks of fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed group.
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