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Saudis, other oil giants announce surprise production cuts

Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers on Sunday announced surprise cuts totaling up to 1.15 million barrels per day from May until the end of the year, a move that could raise prices worldwide.

Higher oil prices would help fill Russian President Vladimir Putin's coffers as his country wages war on Ukraine and force Americans and others to pay even more at the pump amid worldwide inflation.

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Car bombing rocks Syria capital

A car bombing rocked the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday evening, state media said, with no deaths reported and no side claiming responsibility for the attack.

"An explosive device detonated in a civilian car, setting it alight without causing casualties," said state news agency SANA, quoting a police source.

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Palestinian killed after West Bank car ramming as violence rises

A suspected assailant was killed by Israeli soldiers after a West Bank car ramming, the army said, in an escalation that threatens to end a relative lull during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan so far.

The Palestinian's death came less than 24 hours after an Arab Israeli allegedly snatched a gun from a police officer at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound and fired it before being shot dead.

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Syria top diplomat visits Egypt in first since war

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has met with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad in Cairo, a first since Syria's civil war broke out over a decade ago, Shoukry's office said.

The meeting comes amid amplified Arab engagement with the Damascus government which has been politically isolated in the region since the start of the Syria war and was expelled from the Cairo-based Arab League in 2011 over its bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations.

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'Several pro-Iran fighters killed' in Israeli strike near Homs

Five Syrian soldiers were wounded in an Israeli air strike near the western city of Homs early Sunday, Syria's state news agency SANA said.

The strike was Israel's third in recent days after Damascus was targeted on the nights of March 30 and 31, according to the agency.

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Israeli police say killed man who grabbed gun, shot at them

Israeli police said Saturday they shot dead an Arab Israeli who grabbed a gun from an officer and fired it in a scuffle in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Police said the attack took place around midnight near the Chain Gate, an access point to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

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Blinken affirms Israel ties, warns on peace after Netanyahu spat

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday pledged enduring ties with Israel but warned against inflaming tensions with the Palestinians, following a rare public spat between the allies.

President Joe Biden, speaking to reporters Tuesday, called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step back from a bid to weaken the judiciary that has set off massive protests.

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Netanyahu supporters block highway to support judicial plan

Thousands of right-wing Israelis have blocked a main highway in Tel Aviv as they demonstrated in favor of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to overhaul the country's judicial system.

The crowd was much smaller than the hundreds of thousands of people who have taken to the streets in recent months to demonstrate against the plan.

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6 US troops have traumatic brain injury after Syria attacks

The Pentagon has said that an additional six troops were injured in attacks last week in northeastern Syria that U.S. officials have blamed on Iranian-backed militants.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, said the six were in addition to the death of an American contractor and the wounding of six troops and another contractor in the two separate attacks.

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Iran vows revenge after adviser killed in Israeli strike in Syria

Israeli airstrikes hit the suburbs of Syria's capital city early Friday for the second day in a row, killing an Iranian adviser, the state media of Syria and Iran reported.

Loud explosions were heard over Damascus shortly after midnight Thursday, according to residents in the capital and the state news agency SANA. The airstrikes came after similar attacks early Thursday.

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