Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors are due to hold direct talks in Rome this month, Italy's foreign ministry said Tuesday, after several rounds of discussions in Washington aimed at de-escalation.

"We welcome with pleasure the announcement that the next round of talks between Israel and Lebanon mediated by the U.S. will take place in Rome," Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on X.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Tuesday that he wants France to be a primary partner for Damascus, which he said has regained its role as a transit hub after the Strait of Hormuz closure.

"After the Strait of Hormuz crisis, the world realized the value of safe and stable corridors... here the importance of Syrian geography is highlighted, which today has regained its vital role as an indispensable link in the global corridors market, and we want France to be our primary partner in this path," Sharaa said in an economic forum with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and representatives from both countries.

Two explosions were heard in central Damascus on Tuesday as French President Emmanuel Macron visited the Syrian capital, AFP journalists said, with witnesses reporting smoke rising near a high-end hotel where the leader spent the night.

At least one blast was heard before ambulances rushed to the scene, while Macron, the first Western European leader to visit Syria since the 2024 fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, held talks with Syrian counterpart Ahmad al-Sharaa at the presidential palace.

Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti said Sunday's painful World Cup last-16 exit at the hands of Norway should be used as "fuel" for the future as he insisted their disappointing tournament is "the start of a new cycle".

Microsoft said Monday it was eliminating about 4,800 jobs -- roughly two percent of its global workforce -- in a sweeping restructuring concentrated in its Xbox gaming divisions.

U.S. President Donald Trump's phone call to FIFA chief Gianni Infantino to have the red card for the co-hosts star striker Folarin Balogun reviewed is the latest instance of political interference in the World Cup.

Balogun is free to play later on Monday in the last-16 match with Belgium after world football's governing body said the ban will be suspended for a year.

NATO allies will unveil billions in new contracts to bolster their ability to "defer and defend", Secretary General Mark Rutte said Monday on the eve of the military alliance's summit.

Britain on Monday unveiled sanctions against seven Russian scientists and two research labs said to have helped develop chemical weapons used in two attacks.

A series of attacks by Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces near the western border with Chad have razed multiple villages and displaced thousands of people, according to two survivors and the United Nations.

The RSF has been at war with the Sudanese army since April 2023, and has been accused by the UN of committing repeated massacres against Darfur's non-Arab ethnic groups, including the Zaghawa who inhabit the western villages of North Darfur state.

Moroccan authorities said on Monday they had arrested 10 people, including a minor, involved in foiled "terrorist plots" across several cities.

The kingdom's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) said in a statement carried by state news agency MAP that the suspects were linked to the Islamic State group (IS) in the Sahel region.