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Israel says Gaza-bound aid boat activists awaiting deportation

Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg and other activists detained aboard a Gaza-bound aid boat have been taken to a Tel Aviv airport for deportation, Israel said Tuesday, after their vessel was intercepted by naval forces.

The activist group departed Italy on June 1 aboard the Madleen carrying food and supplies for Gaza, whose entire population the UN has warned is at risk of famine.

Israeli forces intercepted the boat in international waters on Monday and towed it to the port of Ashdod.

The Madleen set sail from Italy on June 1 to raise awareness of food shortages in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip

Iran says no sanctions relief in US nuclear proposal

Iran's parliament speaker said on Sunday that the latest US proposal for a nuclear deal does not include the lifting of sanctions, state media reported as negotiations appeared to have hit a roadblock.

The two foes have held five rounds of Omani-mediated talks since April, seeking to replace a landmark agreement between Tehran and world powers that set restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief, before US President Donald Trump abandoned the accord in 2018 during his first term.

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf

Israel diverts Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg: What to know

Israel intercepted a Gaza-bound aid boat on Monday morning, preventing the activists onboard, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, from reaching the blockaded Palestinian territory.

The Madleen departed from Italy on June 1 aiming to bring awareness to food shortages in Gaza, which the United Nations has called the "hungriest place on Earth". After 21 months of war, the UN has warned the territory's entire population is at risk of famine.

AFP lost contact with the Madleen early Monday morning.

Palestinians carry supplies from a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid point in the central Gaza Strip

Gaza rescuers say Israeli fire kills 36, six near aid centre

Gaza's civil defence agency said Saturday that Israeli forces had killed at least 36 Palestinians, six of them in a shooting near a US-backed aid distribution centre.

The Israeli military told AFP that troops had fired "warning shots" at individuals it said were "advancing in a way that endangered the troops".

The shooting deaths were the latest reported near the aid centre run by the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) in the southern district of Rafah, and came after it resumed distributions following a brief suspension in the wake of similar deaths earlier this week.

A boy looks on as he sits between Muslim worshippers prostrating as they perform the early morning prayers for Eid al-Adha at the makeshift prayer room of the Nour mosque in Gaza City

Cristiano Ronaldo rules himself out of Club World Cup

Cristiano Ronaldo confirmed he would not play in the upcoming Club World Cup on Saturday, dismissing rumours he was set to transfer to one of the participating clubs.

Speaking ahead of Sunday's Nations League final against Spain in Munich, the Portugal captain said suggestions he was set to take part in the newly expanded competition were wide of the mark.

"I will not be at the Club World Cup," the Portugal veteran said, but added he had "been contacted" by several participating teams.

Portugal forward and captain Cristiano Ronaldo said he will not play in the Club World Cup.

In Tunisia's arid south, camel milk offers hope for economic gain

Deep in Tunisia's desert south, camels stride toward humming milking machines. Their milk is at the heart of a women-led project promising an economic lifeline for disadvantaged communities.

Spearheading this effort is 32-year-old Latifa Frifita, who launched Tunisia's first, and so far only, camel milk pasteurisation unit two years ago in Medenine.

Containing up to five times more iron than cow's milk, camel milk is non-allergenic

Israel army announces 4 soldiers killed in Gaza, thousands more troops needed

Israel's military announced Friday the deaths of four soldiers in Gaza, saying it needed thousands more troops to press its offensive, just as the premier's coalition faces the prospect of collapse over ultra-Orthodox conscription.

News of the soldiers' deaths came as Gaza's civil defence agency reported 38 killed Friday in Israeli attacks across the territory, where Palestinians observed the Eid al-Adha holiday under the shadow of war for a second consecutive year.

A boy looks on as he sits between Muslim worshippers prostrating as they perform the early morning prayers for Eid al-Adha at the makeshift prayer room of the Nour mosque in Gaza City

In Syria's devastated Jobar, cemetery comes alive for Eid

Only the cemetery in Damascus's devastated suburb of Jobar showed signs of life on Friday as residents returned to visit and pray for Eid al-Adha, the first since Bashar al-Assad's fall.

Jawdat al-Qais fought back tears as he knelt at the tomb of his father, who died less than a month ago.

"His wish was to be buried in Jobar -- and Jobar was liberated and he was buried here," said Qais, 57.

"We carried out his wish, thank God," he said, adding that "many people haven't been able to be buried in their hometowns."

Syrians visit the graves of their loved ones in the Jobar suburb of Damascus on the first day of Eid al-Adha

Inside Saudi's hajj-only barbershop, shaving thousands of heads in a day

Near the holy city of Mecca, men in white robes stand quietly in a long queue, waiting for the next important act of their hajj pilgrimage: a haircut.

Shaving or cutting the hair comes near the end of the hajj, and marks the moment when pilgrims can change out of the Ihram clothing that signifies purity and devotion.

The barbershop, strategically positioned by the Jamarat complex in Mina, where the "stoning of the devil" ritual took place on Friday, opens exclusively for the annual hajj and does a roaring trade.

Shaving or cutting the hair comes near the end of the hajj, and marks the moment when pilgrims can change out of the Ihram clothing that signifies purity and devotion

'No Eid' for West Bank Palestinians who lost sons in Israeli raids

Abeer Ghazzawi had little time to visit her two sons' graves for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha before Israeli soldiers cleared the cemetery near the refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

The Israeli army has conducted a months-long operation in the camp which has forced Ghazzawi, along with thousands of other residents, from her home.

For Ghazzawi, the few precious minutes she spent at her sons' graves still felt like a small victory.

Families gathered at cemeteries in Jenin to mourn their loved ones as part of Eid al-Fitr celebrations