By Tarek Amara
GABES, Tunisia (Reuters) -Beneath a smog-choked sky, the once-glistening waters of Gabes in southern Tunisia run dark with rust-coloured streaks. Trees are dying, fish vanishing and a suffocating stench infuses the air.
Known a generation ago as an ecological jewel of green oases, today the town is a toxic wasteland rife with cancer, respiratory illness and bone disease.
By Asif Shahzad
(Reuters) -Pakistan's ceasefire agreement with the Afghan Taliban hinges on their ability to rein in militant attacks on Islamabadfromtheirsoil, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Reuters on Monday.
A Taliban spokesperson and its defence ministrydid not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad, writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Toby Chopra)
DUBAI (Reuters) -Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected on Monday an assertion by U.S. President Donald Trump that the United States has destroyed Iran's nuclear capabilities.
"The U.S. president proudly says they bombed and destroyed Iran's nuclear industry. Very well, keep dreaming!" Khamenei said on X.
(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President JD Vance is to visit Israel on Tuesday, the country's airport authority said in a statement on Monday announcing preparations for his arrival at Tel Aviv's airport.
Israel Airports Authority said traffic disruptions around the airport were expected between 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. local time and that some flights would be moved to another terminal.
(Reporting by Steven Scheer and Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Toby Chopra)
By Nafisa Eltahir
LONDON (Reuters) - Residents of Sudan's besieged city of al-Fashir have been taking refuge in underground bunkers to try to protect themselves from drones and shells after intensifying attacks on displacement shelters, clinics and mosques.
Famine-stricken al-Fashir is the Sudanese army's last holdout in the vast, western region of Darfur as it battles the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in a civil war that has raged for two-and-a-half years.
Shares in France's biggest bank, BNP Paribas, sank more than seven percent in trading on Monday, following a US court verdict late last week finding it liable for atrocities committed in Sudan.
A New York jury on Friday found the bank helped prop up the regime of former Sudanese ruler Omar al-Bashir, opening the way to compensation demands.
The eight-member jury sided with three plaintiffs originally from Sudan, awarding a total of $20.75 million in damages, after hearing testimony describing horrors committed by Sudanese soldiers and the Janjaweed militia.
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Steven Scheer
CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli fire killed three people near a ceasefire line in Gaza on Monday, medics said, with U.S. envoys expected in Israel to try to push forward the fragile truce that faced its gravest test so far over the weekend.
A Palestinian official close to ceasefire talks said efforts by Arab mediators and the United States would be stepped up on Monday, after helping restore calm in the enclave following a day of intense bombardment that killed at least 28 people.
(Reuters) -Venezuela, casting around for income amid U.S. sanctions, recently restarted coal production with a Turkish company and is looking to export more than 10 million tons of the fuel this year, company sources say.
But the mining is occurring without environmental safeguards, polluting local air and water, according to a company source with knowledge of the operations, Indigenous leaders and members of local communities.
The Trump administration has redoubled its efforts to bolster a fragile ceasefire in Gaza after a flare-up of violence, with Vice President JD Vance due in Israel on Tuesday hot on the heels of two high-level envoys.
Despite incidents over the weekend, both warring parties have said they are committed to the US-backed truce, and Donald Trump himself said Monday that he would give Hamas a chance to "behave" or else be "eradicated".
(Reuters) -Russia is prepared to expand cooperation with Iran in all areas, the Kremlin said on Monday.
Moscow has close relations with Tehran and condemned U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites earlier this year that were carried out with the stated aim of preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear bomb.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
