Prince Feisal Al-Hussein of Jordan says he can bridge continents and cultures if he becomes the first president of the International Olympic Committee from outside Europe and the United States.
The 61-year-old brother of King Abdullah II is a familiar face at the IOC but believes he can offer something radically different to the other six candidates bidding to succeed Thomas Bach of Germany.
Israel said on Wednesday that 11 more hostages held in Gaza, including five Thai nationals, would be freed this week as part of a fragile Gaza ceasefire.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it had received a list from Hamas of eight hostages to be freed on Thursday, including the Thais, and another three, all men, to be released on Saturday.
The announcement came shortly after Hamas officials had accused Israel of delaying aid deliveries to Gaza and jeopardising the agreement.
Israel alleged on Wednesday that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) is full of Hamas operatives and reaffirmed its commitment to end ties with the agency this week.
"UNRWA equals Hamas. Israel has made public irrefutable evidence UNRWA is riddled with Hamas operatives," government spokesman David Mencer told journalists as Israel prepares to cut ties with the agency on Thursday.
"Israel makes clear... if a state funds UNRWA, that state is funding terrorists.
Two Hamas officials on Wednesday accused Israel of delaying the delivery of vital humanitarian aid to Gaza, as agreed in the ceasefire deal, and warned that it could impact the release of hostages.
"We warn that continued delays and failure to address these points (delivery of key aid) will affect the natural progression of the agreement, including the prisoner exchange," a senior Hamas official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Another official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the group had asked mediators to intervene in the issue.
The Palestinian health ministry said on Wednesday that Israeli forces killed two people in separate overnight raids in the occupied West Bank, including one in Jenin, where the Israeli military is conducting a major offensive.
The Ramallah-based ministry said in a statement that a 25-year-old man it identified as Osama Abu al-Hija was killed late on Tuesday in Jenin "as a result of an Israeli air strike".
The military told AFP that an Israeli aircraft conducted a strike in Jenin on Tuesday night "after a terrorist threw an explosive device" towards troops.
Syria's new authorities announced Wednesday that Ahmed al-Sharaa, who took the helm after Bashar al-Assad's ouster last month, has been appointed interim president and tasked with forming a transitional legislature, state media reported.
Sharaa was appointed "as the country's president in the transitional phase", state news agency SANA reported, quoting military official Hassan Abdel Ghani, without specifying a timeframe.
An abandoned lifeguard cabin, a rusty pier and mangled umbrellas are all that is left of Ein Gedi, once Israel's flagship beach drawing international tourists to float in the world-famous waters of the Dead Sea.
Now, this lush desert oasis at the lowest point on Earth sits in ruins beside the shrinking sea, whose highly salty waters are rapidly retreating due to industrial use and climate change, which is accelerating their natural evaporation.
It has been 10 years since a teenage Shamima Begum and two friends secretly left Britain to marry Islamic State group fighters in Syria.
Over the past decade Nadia Fall, a British theater director of Muslim heritage, has watched the polarizing and vitriolic debate about Begum's infamous case, online radicalization, and who is to blame.
"We kept thinking 'well these are girls, these are children really, legally,'" said Fall, who began work on a film project with writer Suhayla El-Bushra.
"The stories never really were (told) from their point of view."
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Tuesday that Israel had freed nine Lebanese prisoners under the terms of a more than six-week-old ceasefire and urged the release of another nine.
Israeli forces had been due to withdraw from southern Lebanon by Sunday under the terms of the ceasefire agreement with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah but that deadline was extended until February 18.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Mikati thanked the International Committee of the Red Cross for its role in the release of the nine prisoners of war freed by Israel so far.
Columns of Palestinians carrying what belongings they could headed to north Gaza on Tuesday for a second straight day, after Israel permitted their passage in accordance with an ongoing ceasefire.
"I'm happy to be back at my home," said Saif Al-Din Qazaat, who returned to northern Gaza but had to sleep in a tent next to the ruins of his house.
"I kept a fire burning all night near the kids to keep them warm... (They) slept peacefully despite the cold but we don’t have enough blankets," the 41-year-old told AFP.
