MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Syria's foreign minister Asaad al-Shibani in Moscow on Thursday, the first visit by a top official from Syria's new government since the toppling of longtime Russian ally Bashar al-Assad in December.

Lavrov said Moscow would like Syria's new President Ahmed al-Sharaa to attend a summit between Russia and Arab League member states in Moscow in October.

LISBON (Reuters) -Portugal's centre-right government will consult the main political parties and conservative President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa about the potential recognition of a Palestinian state, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said on Thursday.

Unlike neighbouring Spain, whose leftist government recognised Palestinian statehood in May 2024 alongside Ireland and Norway and called on other EU countries to do the same, Portugal has taken a more cautious approach, saying it wanted to work out a common position with other EU countries first.

NICOSIA (Reuters) -France's foreign minister said on Thursday a U.S. and Israel-backed aid distribution system in Gaza had generated a "bloodbath" and had to cease activity.

"I want to call for the cessation of the activities of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the militarised distribution of humanitarian aid that has generated a bloodbath in distribution lines in Gaza, which is a scandal, which is shameful, and has to stop," Foreign and European Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters after meeting his Cyprus counterpart in Nicosia.

The Palestinian Authority said Israeli settlers set fire to homes and cars in a West Bank village on Thursday, killing one man, in the latest attack in the occupied territory.

"Forty-year-old Khamis Abdel-Latif Ayad was martyred due to smoke inhalation caused by fires set by settlers in citizens' homes and vehicles in the village of Silwad at dawn," the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement.

Witnesses provided corresponding accounts of the attack on Silwad, a village in the central West Bank near several Israeli settlements.

When Mohammad Hanif heard Qatar was opening jobs to Afghans, he joined thousands of others to put his name down for a shot to make a living in the gas-rich emirate, his own country wracked by unemployment.

The Taliban authorities announced a deal with Gulf state this month to recruit 3,100 workers from Afghanistan, who started applying on Tuesday at centres across the country.

President Donald Trump's envoy met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday ahead of a visit to inspect aid distribution in Gaza, as a deadly food crisis drove mounting international pressure for a ceasefire.

Steve Witkoff, who has been involved in months of stalled negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, met Netanyahu shortly after his arrival, the Israeli leader's office said.

On Friday, he is to visit Gaza, the White House announced.

BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Thursday the recognition of a Palestinian state comes more at the end of the negotiations for a two-state solution but that process must begin now, warning Berlin would respond to "unilateral steps".

"A negotiated two-state solution remains the only path that can offer people on both sides a life in peace, security, and dignity," he said in a statement issued shortly before his trip on Thursday to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian warned against excessive water consumption which he said was untenable for the country and could leave Tehran facing severe shortages by September, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday.

Faced with resource mismanagement and over-consumption, Iran has faced recurrent electricity, gas and water shortages during peak demand months.

"In Tehran, if we cannot manage and people do not cooperate in controlling consumption, there won't be any water in dams by September or October," Pezeshkian said on Thursday.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Thursday that he was determined to disarm Hezbollah, a step it has come under heavy US pressure to take, despite the group's protests that doing so would serve Israeli goals.

Hezbollah and Israel fought a two-month war last year that left the militant group badly weakened, though it retains part of its arsenal.

Israel has kept up its air strikes on Hezbollah targets despite a November ceasefire, and has threatened to continue them until the group has been disarmed.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -A Swedish man was found guilty of serious war crimes and terrorism on Thursday over his role in the murder of a Jordanian air force pilot who was burned to death in Syria a decade ago, the Stockholm district court said in a verdict.

The Swede, identified in court documents as Osama Krayem, was sentenced to life in prison for participating in the execution of Muath al-Kasasbeh, who was burned alive in a cage after being captured in Syria in December 2014.