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Tensions rise between Sudan army and United Arab Emirates

For months, Sudan's army kept silent amid alleged Emirati interference in the country's civil war, but its anger has finally boiled over, leading to harsh exchanges between Khartoum and Abu Dhabi.

The brutal conflict broke out in mid-April between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), killing more than 12,000 people and displacing millions.

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South Lebanon small businesses defy Israeli bombs to stay open

In a falafel joint in south Lebanon, Hussein Murtada prepared flat-bread snacks for his few remaining customers as an Israeli surveillance drone buzzed above the border village of Kfar Kila.

"We work under the bombs. A few days ago, a shell fell 200 meters from here. Shrapnel hit the shopfront and the wall," said Murtada, 60, pointing to the damage.

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Israel probes Palestinian inmate's death after alleged abuse

Israeli police have questioned 19 prison guards as part of an investigation into the death of a Palestinian inmate, authorities said Thursday, following allegations of torture.

Thaer Abu Assab, 38, from Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank, died last month after being beaten by prison guards in southern Israel, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

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Gaza war to throw Lebanon back into recession, World Bank says

The impacts of the Israel-Hamas war are set to push crisis-hit Lebanon's economy back into recession, the World Bank said Thursday, blaming mainly a "shock to tourism spending".

Lebanon's southern border has seen regular exchanges of fire, mainly between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, since the Gaza conflict erupted on October 7.

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Israel strike kills head of Gaza side of border crossing

An Israeli strike killed the head of the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Thursday, Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip said.

Crossing director Bassem Ghaben and three other people were killed as Israeli aircraft targeted the infrastructure, the crossings authority and the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory said.

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UN rights office has reports Israeli troops 'summarily killed' Palestinians

The United Nations human rights office said it had received reports that Israeli troops "summarily killed" at least 11 unarmed Palestinians in a possible war crime in Gaza.

The OHCHR office in the West Bank city of Ramallah said the killings were alleged to have been carried out in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City this week.

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Elderly woman killed in Israeli strike on Maroun al-Ras

Israeli strikes killed a woman in her eighties in a south Lebanon village early Thursday morning, Lebanese state media said, with rescuers confirming the death to AFP.

"Hostile bombing on the town of Maroun al-Ras this morning killed a woman and wounded her husband," Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said.

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Kuwait new emir rebukes parliament, cabinet in inaugural speech

Kuwait's new emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmed al-Sabah on Wednesday criticised parliament and cabinet for harming national interests as he was formally sworn in before lawmakers as the country's 17th ruler.

Officially taking over from his half-brother Sheikh Nawaf, who passed away on Saturday, Sheikh Meshal is faced with the task of pulling the country out of longstanding political paralysis and reforming a bloated public sector that have turned Kuwait into one of the Gulf's most laggard states.

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Israel and Hamas working toward new truce, hostage deal

Hopes rose Wednesday that Israel and Hamas may be inching toward another truce and hostage release deal in the Gaza war, following secret talks and as the head of the Palestinian militant group visited Egypt.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Tuesday told relatives of some of the remaining 129 captives held in Gaza since the October 7 attacks that his spy chief was working on efforts to "free our hostages".

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Bulls shock Sixers, Timberwolves rally to beat Heat

The Chicago Bulls withstood a 40-point double-double from Philadelphia star Joel Embiid on Monday to snap the 76ers' six-game NBA winning streak with a 108-104 victory.

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