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New crew from UAE, US, and Russia arrives at space station

A new crew arrived at the International Space Station on Friday for a six-month mission, after overcoming trouble with one of the capsule's docking hooks.

The SpaceX capsule and its four astronauts had to wait 65 feet (20 meters) from the orbiting lab, as flight controllers in California scrambled to come up with a software fix.

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Ericsson to pay $206M for breaking US deal in bribery case

Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson has agreed to plead guilty to U.S. foreign corruption violations and pay more than $206 million for breaking a deal with the Justice Department over charges of bribery and falsifying records in countries from China to Kuwait.

The U.S. Justice Department said the company, based in Stockholm, violated a 2019 agreement by failing to provide documents and information the agency needed for its investigation and to bring charges against individuals accused of misconduct.

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Israeli campaign raises funds for torched Palestinian town

An Israeli-led crowdfunding campaign has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Palestinian residents of a West Bank town that was set ablaze by radical Jewish settlers, the organizer of the drive said Thursday.

Some 12,000 Israelis donated nearly 1.7 million shekels (465,000 dollars) since the campaign was launched this week. The fundraising effort was a rare instance of cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians at a time when tensions have been surging between the sides over spiraling violence.

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Egypt raises price of gasoline in latest hike amid inflation

Egypt raised the price of some types of gasoline Thursday, the latest hike to beset the cash-strapped North African country amid soaring inflation.

The country's petroleum ministry said in a statement it was raising the price of three octanes of gasoline from between 0.75 to 1 Egyptian pound per liter (around 2.3 to 3.3 U.S. cents). The price hike was introduced Thursday morning, it said.

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Netanyahu denounces protesters after salon siege of his wife

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies on Thursday denounced protesters as "anarchists" after they massed outside a Tel Aviv salon where his wife was getting her hair done — a chaotic end to a day of demonstrations against the government's plan to overhaul the judiciary.

Sara Netanyahu has long been a polarizing figure in Israel, and the incident late Wednesday in a posh neighborhood in Tel Aviv reflected Israel's emotionally charged divide over the overhaul, seen by opponents as an existential threat to the country. Demonstrators outside the salon chanted, "shame, shame" — but did not try to force their way inside. Hundreds of police were sent to the scene and eventually escorted her into a limousine.

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Israeli army kills Palestinian in West Bank; 3 arrested

Israeli troops have arrested three Palestinians suspected of involvement in the killing earlier this week of an American-Israeli while a fourth was shot and killed fleeing the scene of a daylight raid in a West Bank refugee camp, the military said.

The arrest raid in the Aqabat Jaber refugee camp near Jericho came as Israel's parliament gave initial approval to a proposal to impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted in deadly attacks. A top minister in Israel's far-right government, meanwhile, called for "erasing" a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank where radical Jewish settlers went on a rampage earlier this week.

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Israeli protesters clash with police, confront PM's wife

Israeli police have fired stun grenades and water cannons at demonstrators who blocked a Tel Aviv highway and protesters scuffled with police near the Israeli leader's home as weeks of anti-government protests turned violent for the first time. In a late-night incident, dozens of police were called in to extract Netanyahu's wife from a salon besieged by protesters.

Thousands across the country staged a "national disruption day," the latest in a string of mass protests against Netanyahu's plan to overhaul Israel's judiciary and weaken the country's Supreme Court.

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UN scrambles to reunite families after Turkey-Syria quake

Reuniting children with their missing family has become a top priority in the aftermath of last month's massive earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria, the head of the U.N. children's agency said.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said the Feb. 6 quake that rocked southeast Turkey and parts of northern Syria has compounded existing crises in war-torn Syria.

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UN chief praises moves toward stability in rare Iraq visit

The United Nations chief has praised Iraq for repatriating citizens detained in neighboring Syria on suspicion of ties to the Islamic State group and pledged international support for the country's efforts to regain stability and security.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres spoke to reporters during a rare visit to Baghdad, his first in six years, ahead of this month's 20-year anniversary of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

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SpaceX launches UAE, US, Russia astronauts to space station

SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Thursday, including the first person from the Arab world going up for an extended monthslong stay.

The Falcon rocket bolted from Kennedy Space Center shortly after midnight, illuminating the night sky as it headed up the East Coast.

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