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Palestinian hunger striker to appeal to Israel's high court

The lawyer for a Palestinian prisoner said Tuesday that his client will appeal his case to Israel's Supreme Court as he continues what his family says is a 165-day hunger strike against his detention.

Also Tuesday, an Israeli military court extended the sentence for a second Palestinian prisoner by six days.

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Safety concerns after deadly fire rips through Egypt church

Egypt has been in mourning over a blaze at a Coptic Orthodox church that killed 41 people, but many also raised questions about the emergency response, fire safety codes, and restrictions on building houses of worship for the country's Christian minority.

Neighborhood residents expressed shock over the fire Sunday, one of Egypt's deadliest in recent years, that killed 41 members of the congregation, including at least 15 children.

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UN envoy seeks expanded Yemen truce to spur ceasefire talks

The top U.N. envoy for Yemen has said he is intensifying efforts to achieve an expanded truce between the warring parties that would hopefully lead to the start of talks on a ceasefire and preparations for resuming a Yemeni-led political process.

Hans Grundberg told the U.N. Security Council that the agreement by the internationally recognized government and Houthi rebels Aug. 2 to a two-month extension of the truce continues the longest pause in fighting since Yemen's civil war began in 2014. The truce began April 2.

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Drone attack targets US base in Syria, no casualties

An attack with drones hit a compound run by American troops and U.S.-backed Syrian opposition fighters in eastern Syria on Monday, the U.S. military said, adding that there were no casualties or damage.

The military said the attack took place in the vicinity of al-Tanf base near where the borders of Syria, Jordan and Iraq meet. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack.

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Lebanon condemns attack on Syria, to file complaint to Security Council

The Foreign Ministry denounced Monday the latest Israeli attack on the coastal region of Syria.

It condemned the Israeli violation of Lebanon's airspace to fire missiles on the neighboring war-torn country.

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Israeli police kill Palestinian in east Jerusalem raid

Israeli police shot and killed a Palestinian man who attempted to stab officers during a raid in east Jerusalem on Monday, police said.

The officers were conducting a search for illegal weapons in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Kafr Aqab, the police said. When officers approached the home, the man, armed with a knife, tried to stab them. They fired on the suspect and he was later pronounced dead, police said. Palestinian media identified the man as Mohammed al-Shaham.

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Syria says Israeli strikes kill 3 soldiers, wounds others

Israel launched a missile attack on western and central Syria Sunday night, killing three soldiers and wounding three others, the Syrian military said in a statement.

The Syrian army said Israel's military targeted several positions in the coastal province of Tartus and suburbs of the capital Damascus. The military said the missiles were fired by warplanes flying over neighboring Lebanon adding that they caused material damage as well.

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Iraqi judiciary says it has no powers to dissolve parliament

Iraq's top judicial body said Sunday it doesn't have the authority to dissolve the country's parliament, days after an influential Shiite cleric gave it one week to dismiss the legislature so that new elections can be held.

The decision by the Supreme Judicial Council is likely to increase tensions between followers of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and members of Iran-backed groups as Iraq sinks deeper into its political impasse, now in its 10th month. The impasse is the longest in the country since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion reset the political order.

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41 dead, 55 hurt in fire at Cairo Coptic church

A fire at a Coptic Christian church in the Egyptian capital on Sunday killed at least 41 people and injured 55, church officials and authorities said.

The blaze ripped through the church in Cairo’s densely populated neighborhood of Imbaba. It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze. An initial investigation blamed an electric short-circuit, police said.

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Palestinian wounds 8 Israelis, 2 critically, in attack on Jerusalem bus

Israeli police said Sunday they had arrested a suspect in a shooting attack on a bus in Jerusalem's Old City that wounded eight people, including two critically.

"The terrorist is in our hands," police spokesman Kan Eli Levy told public radio hours after the attack that took place not far from the Western Wall, the holiest prayer site for Jews.

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