Spotlight
Equities, oil and precious metals plunged Monday to extend the volatility that struck markets at the end of last week, with concerns about elevated tech valuations once again casting a shadow.
Investors resumed Friday's rollercoaster ride as they assessed geopolitical developments, the latest batch of company earnings and the outlook for U.S. interest rates.
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Iraq's judiciary announced on Monday it has begun its investigations into more than 1,300 Islamic State group detainees who were transferred from Syria as part of a US operation.
"Investigation proceedings have started with 1,387 members of the Daesh terrorist organization who were recently transferred from the Syrian territory," the judiciary's media office said in a statement, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
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Iran said Monday it expected a framework for negotiations with the United States would be ready in the coming days, as President Donald Trump threatens military action against Tehran.
"Countries of the region are acting as mediators in the exchange of messages," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said, without giving details on the content of any prospective negotiations.
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Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt reopened on Monday for limited traffic, a key step as the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire moves ahead, according to Egyptian and Israeli security officials.
An Egyptian official said 50 Palestinians would cross in each direction in the first day of the crossing's operation. The official, involved in talks related the implementation of the ceasefire deal, spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the issue.
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U.S. President Donald Trump has said he was hopeful of agreeing a deal with Iran after the country's supreme leader warned that any U.S. attack on the Islamic republic would trigger a regional war.
Following the Iranian authorities' deadly response to anti-government protests that peaked last month, Trump has threatened military action and ordered the dispatch of an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East.
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One person was killed and several others wounded in Israeli strikes in the country's south on Sunday, as Israel said it struck Hezbollah targets.
Despite a November 2024 truce that sought to end more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war between Israel and the Iran-backed group, Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon and has maintained troops in five areas it deems strategic.
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Syria's interior ministry said Sunday that its forces had dismantled a cell that was responsible for recent attacks targeting Damascus' Mazzeh district, saying the weapons came from Lebanon's Hezbollah.
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An Israeli drone on Sunday fired five missiles at a bulldozer operating at a site that was previously bombed in the southern town of Qennarit near Sidon, inuring one person.
Israeli warplanes also overflew Beirut and its suburbs and the southern region of Iqlim al-Tuffah.
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Iran's supreme leader on Sunday likened recent anti-government protests to a "coup", warning that any U.S. attack on the Islamic republic following Washington's military deployments in the Middle East would trigger a regional war.
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Iran's top security official said Saturday that progress had been made towards negotiations with the United States, even as the Islamic republic's army chief warned Washington against launching military strikes.
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