Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa met Monday with Nechirvan Barzani, leader of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, as official sources told AFP the talks aimed to advance an integration deal between Damascus and Syria's Kurds.

Syrian state news agency SANA said Sharaa received Barzani at the presidential palace in Damascus, in the first visit by the head of Iraq's Kurdistan region since the December 2024 ouster of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad.

President Joseph Aoun on Monday urged the judiciary to issue a long-awaited indictment over the 2020 Beirut port blast, on the eve of the catastrophe's sixth anniversary.

"The issuing of the indictment by the investigating judge has become a necessity that can no longer be delayed," Aoun said in a statement.

Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday there were currently no negotiations with the United States but there were talks with Oman over the management of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

"We are not currently negotiating with the United States. Our negotiations are with Oman to secure passage through the Strait of Hormuz," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei during a weekly press briefing.

The United Nations has expressed concern over Israel's ongoing demolitions in southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire in its war with Hezbollah.

"The scale of the detonations and demolitions taking place in south Lebanon is deeply concerning, with a devastating impact on civilian infrastructure, cultural heritage, and the collective memory of communities," the office of the U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon said in a statement.

The Israeli military said on Saturday that it killed several Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon and that an Israeli soldier was injured there despite a ceasefire.

Almost all of the tens of thousands of migrants who entered Spain's enclave of Ceuta in North Africa had left by Saturday, officials said, as some EU countries bolstered their border controls over the sudden influx.

Overnight Israeli strikes on Gaza hit multiple residential buildings and killed at least eight people, authorities said Sunday, despite Hamas saying it agreed to the latest stage of a deal to end the war.

Hamas said Friday it had agreed to a plan championed by U.S. President Donald Trump that includes provisions for handing over its weapons and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced overnight that the United States and Israel had agreed to hold off on new strikes on Iran -- provided a deal to end the months-long conflict is "rapidly" reached.

Fears had mounted that the fighting could escalate once again after Trump threatened to hit Iran "very hard" and was reportedly considering renewed heavy attacks, including against energy infrastructure.

President Joseph Aoun has warned that Israeli detonations near a UNESCO-listed castle  threatened a recent deal with Israel, which in turn said it had razed Hezbollah tunnels there.

Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that "Israeli forces triggered very powerful explosions" overnight, specifically "in the area of the Beaufort fortress", a Crusader-era castle located near the southern border occupied by Israel.

Former central bank governor Riad Salameh was placed under police guard in hospital on Friday, a day after missing a hearing in an alleged embezzlement case, a judicial official told AFP.