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Israeli strike kills Wael Dahdouh son, also a journalist for Al Jazeera

An Al Jazeera journalist is the fifth member of his family killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza.

An apparent Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinian journalists in southern Gaza on Sunday, including an Al Jazeera journalist who lost four close relatives earlier in the war.

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Blinken in Jordan, Qatar seeks to avoid regional war

On another urgent diplomatic mission to the Middle East, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Arab partners to press for their help in tamping down resurgent fears that Israel's three-month war against Hamas in Gaza could spread.

In discussions with Qatar's emir and Jordan's king, Blinken spoke of the need for Israel to adjust its military operations to reduce civilian casualties and significantly boost the amount of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza, while stressing the importance of preparing detailed plans for the post-conflict future of the Palestinian territory, which has been decimated by Israeli bombardments.

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Israel, US and Iran's allies including Hezbollah inch closer to all-out war

In the last week alone, Israel has killed a senior Hamas militant in an airstrike in Beirut, Hezbollah has fired barrages of rockets into Israel, the U.S. has killed a militia commander in Baghdad and Iran-backed rebels in Yemen have traded fire with the American Navy.

Each strike and counterstrike increases the risk of the already catastrophic war in Gaza spilling across the region. And in the decades-old standoff pitting the U.S. and Israel against Iran and allied militant groups, any one party could choose all-out war over a loss of face.

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Airport screens display anti-Hezbollah message after being hacked

The information display screens at Beirut's international airport were hacked by domestic anti-Hezbollah groups Sunday, as clashes between the Lebanese militant group and the Israeli military continue to intensify along the border.

Departure and arrival information was replaced by a message accusing the Hezbollah group of putting Lebanon at risk of an all-out war with Israel.

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Hezbollah, Israel trade heavy cross-border fire as Blinken seeks to prevent regional escalation

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire in one of the heaviest days of cross-border fighting in recent weeks, a day after Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah urged retaliation for Israel's killing of a top Hamas leader in the suburbs of Lebanon's capital.

Nasrallah said that if his group didn't strike back for the killing Tuesday of Saleh Arouri, Hamas' deputy political leader, all of Lebanon would be vulnerable to Israeli attacks.

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Blinken says Turkey committed to 'positive' role in postwar Gaza as he opens diplomatic push

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Turkey is committed to playing "a positive, productive" role for postwar Gaza and prepared to use its influence in the region to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from broadening even more.

The latest Mideast mission by America's top diplomat opened with talks in Turkey and Greece before shifting to the region for "not necessarily easy conversations" with allies and partners about what they are willing to do "to build durable peace and security."

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Hezbollah fires 62 rockets at Israel air surveillance base in 'initial response' to Dahieh strike

Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel on Saturday, warning that the barrage was its initial response to Israel's assassination of a top leader from the allied Hamas group in the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs earlier this week.

The rocket attack came a day after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that his group must retaliate for the killing of Saleh Arouri, the deputy political leader of Hamas in a Hezbollah stronghold south of Beirut. Nasrallah said that if Hezbollah did not strike back, all of Lebanon would be vulnerable to Israeli attack. He appeared to be making his case for a response to the Lebanese public, even at the risk of escalating the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel as the war between Israel and Hamas rages on.

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US defense secretary has been in hospital since Jan. 1

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized since Monday, due to complications following a minor elective medical procedure, Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said. It was the department's first acknowledgement that Austin had been admitted — five days earlier — to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Ryder said Friday that it's not clear when Austin will be released from the hospital, but said the secretary is "recovering well," adding that he expected "to resume his full duties" Friday.

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China promises pandas on 45th anniversary of U.S.-China ties

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday that the United States and China must insist on peaceful coexistence and transcend their differences like they did when they established diplomatic relations 45 years ago this week.

Wang also promised that giant pandas would return to the U.S. — and specifically California — by the end of the year.

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Salah quick return to Liverpool from Africa Cup unlikely, Klopp still hopes for Egypt early exit

Jurgen Klopp has wished Mohamed Salah good luck — sort of — for the Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

Liverpool's top scorer this season could be absent for more than a month depending on how Egypt performs in the Ivory Coast.

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