What struck those who knew Khalida Jarrar when she exited the bus with 77 other Palestinians released from Israeli jails was the whiteness of her hair and her broken voice.
Jarrar, an activist of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), said she lost her voice from six months in solitary confinement, and accused Israeli jails of "bad treatment", which the Israeli Prison Service denies.
Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi on Thursday called for an "end" to the Islamic republic and urged human rights to be a precondition of any negotiation with Tehran as she addressed French lawmakers, in a rare encounter with an Iran-based activist.
Mohammadi, 52, had been in prison for over three years but was released in December for a limited period on medical leave. Her legal team have warned she could be re-arrested and sent back to jail at any time.
Saudi Arabia's top diplomat, on his country's first high-level visit to Beirut after years of strained ties, said Thursday that he believed crisis-hit Lebanon's new leaders could spearhead long-sought reforms.
Reeling from years of economic collapse and a destructive Israel-Hezbollah war, Lebanese leaders have pinned hopes on wealthy Gulf states for desperately needed reconstruction funds.
Yemen's Huthi rebels accused Washington on Thursday of designating them a terrorist group for supporting the Palestinian people, their stated motive for months of attacks on Israel and in the Red Sea.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to once again blacklist the Iran-backed rebels as a "foreign terrorist organisation", moving to reimpose the more restrictive categorisation after it was dropped by his predecessor.
The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor on Thursday said he was seeking arrest warrants against senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan over the persecution of women, a crime against humanity.
Karim Khan said there were reasonable grounds to suspect that Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani "bear criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds".
When Bashar al-Assad ruled Syria, merchants like Youssef Rajab kept much of their imported stock hidden for fear of arrest for breaking the law.
But after an Islamist-led coalition toppled Assad in a lightning offensive last month, Rajab put previously banned foreign goods such as chocolate, biscuits and shampoo back on the shelf.
Such products are now openly on sale in Damascus, and foreign currency is once again traded without fear.
Under Assad, Syria was mired in corruption, under heavy economic sanctions, and in seemingly endless crisis.
A Palestinian official said hundreds of people began leaving their homes in a flashpoint area of the occupied West Bank on Thursday as Israeli forces pressed a deadly operation.
The Israeli military launched the raid in the Jenin area, a hotbed of Palestinian militancy, days into a ceasefire in the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the objective of the operation, dubbed "Iron Wall", is to "eradicate terrorism" in the area.
The first Turkish Airlines flight in 13 years landed in the Syrian capital Damascus on Thursday, an AFP correspondent reported.
The plane arrived from Istanbul carrying aid and 345 passengers, including Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Eksi and Turkish officials, the correspondent said.
"The first Turkish Airlines passenger plane landed at Damascus International Airport after a hiatus of some 13 years, with Syrian passengers on board," Syria's official news agency SANA reported.
Eksi told reporters that Turkish Airlines would operate three flights to Syria a week.
The United States' new top diplomat Marco Rubio reaffirmed the country's "unwavering support" for Israel, days into a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a large-scale raid in the occupied West Bank.
As Israel pursued its deadly operation in Jenin, Rubio assured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Washington's continued backing.
Rubio spoke to Netanyahu from Washington on Wednesday night to "underscore that maintaining the United States' steadfast support for Israel is a top priority for President Trump," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman promised on Thursday to pile $600 billion into US trade and investments as he congratulated Donald Trump on his return to the White House.
Prince Mohammed, de facto leader of the world's biggest oil exporter, made the pledge in a phone call following Trump's inauguration on Monday, Saudi state media said.
Trump forged close relations with Riyadh in his first term and is now expected to push Saudi Arabia, home of Islam's holiest sites, towards normalising ties with Israel as a major foreign policy objective.
