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'Fauda' actor wounded in Gaza vows return to Israel screen

An Israeli actor in the hit Netflix television series "Fauda" vowed Thursday to return to the screen after he was wounded while fighting Hamas militants in Gaza.

Idan Amedi was among a group of soldiers who were seriously wounded in a blast in the Palestinian territory where he was deployed after the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7.

"It's not a scene from Fauda, it's real life," Amedi, dressed in military fatigues, said in a video posted on social media on October 12 amid a call-up of more than 300,000 reservists in Israel.

Fauda actor Idan Amedi addresses a press conference at a hospital near Tel Aviv

Washington, Baghdad to discuss future of foreign troops in Iraq

The United States and Iraq said Thursday they will begin discussions on the future of American and other foreign troops in the country, with Baghdad expecting the talks to lead to a timeline for reducing their presence.

Washington has forces in Iraq as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, but the country's prime minister -- whose government relies on the support of Iran-aligned parties -- has called for the coalition to leave.

Hundreds of people waving the flags of pro-Iran groups attended on Thursday the Baghdad funeral of one fighter killed in the latest US strikes

Iranian dissidents on hunger strike to protest hangings

Iranian dissidents living inside the Islamic republic and in exile Thursday went on hunger strike to protest the surge of hangings in Iran that included most recently a participant in the 2022 protest movement who activists say had mental health difficulties.

Led by jailed 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, those going on the one-day hunger strike ranged from dozens of her cellmates in Tehran's Evin prison to prominent campaigners living outside the country.

Mohammadi has spent much of the last two decades in and out of jail

Hamas eyes post-war role in Palestinian politics

Hamas's release of a polished document justifying its devastating October 7 attacks shows the Islamist group is positioning itself for a post-war political role, a senior official and analysts say.

Following the publication of "Our Narrative... Operation Al-Aqsa Flood" in measured, well-written English and later in French, as well as Arabic, a senior Hamas official explained that the group, which Israel has vowed to crush, seeks to retain a say.

Qatar-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh speaking in Doha in a file picture from December 20, 2023

UK arms export licences to Israel in the dock

British arms export licences to Israel are under growing scrutiny over claims that international law has been broken in the war in Gaza, with a court set to rule on the divisive matter.

The contentious issue surfaced on Wednesday when an opposition Labour lawmaker accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of having "the blood of thousands of innocent people on his hands".

Protesters this week confronted delegates outside a London defence industry conference.

Pro-Palestinian protesters picketed an armoured vehicles conference in southwest London this week

Hamas says Israel kills 20 waiting for aid in Gaza

Authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said Thursday that Israeli forces had killed 20 people waiting for humanitarian aid to be distributed, as Israel pressed its blistering assault in the territory.

Israel has launched a relentless offensive in Gaza in response to the Palestinian militant group Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attacks.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said the attack occurred on the outskirts of Gaza City, in the north of the territory, with 150 people also wounded.

Hamas said the incident amounted to a "horrific war crime".

An Israeli army tank is seen in southern Israel along the border with the Gaza Strip

Spain says attacks on foreign troops in Iraq must stop

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on Thursday said a spate of attacks targeting US-led troops in Iraq assisting the campaign against Islamic State group jihadists "need to stop".

"We are extremely worried by the constant attacks against international military bases," Albares said on a visit to Iraq, where his government has troops deployed.

"Attacks against foreign troops need to stop."

More than 150 attacks have targeted US-led coalition forces in Iraq and Syria since mid-October.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares visits Baghdad amid mounting calls from his Iraqi hosts for the withdrawal of Spanish and other foreign troops that have been a frequent target for attack by pro-Iranian groups

Big deal or small beer? Saudi debates first store for booze

The news that Saudi Arabia will allow its first alcohol shop has citizens and foreigners alike mulling one question: is this a minor policy tweak, or a major upheaval?

Sources familiar with preparations for the store disclosed details of the plan on Wednesday, as a document circulated indicating just how carefully leaders of the teetotalling Gulf kingdom will manage its operations.

A bartender prepares a non-alcoholic cocktail in Riyadh

Fighting focuses on Gaza's Khan Yunis after deadly shelling hits UN shelter

Israeli air strikes and ground operations were focused Thursday on the Gazan city of Khan Yunis, where the UN said nine people were killed by tank shelling at one of its shelters the day before.

The deadly incident came after the Israeli army said it had encircled the city, where footage released by the military showed soldiers engaged in urban combat amid ruined buildings.

Hamas's press office also reported fierce clashes in the centre and west of Khan Yunis, while its health ministry counted multiple deaths overnight from strikes in the city and elsewhere in the territory.

Smoke billows over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip during Israeli bombardments on January 24, 2024

Ravers flock to dance floor in Saudi's gateway to Mecca

On a stage inside the historical centre of Jeddah, the main gateway for Muslim pilgrims heading to Mecca, rapper Ty Dolla $ign asked his screaming Saudi fans a few questions.

"Where the hot girls at?" the dreadlocked 41-year-old American (real name: Tyrone William Griffin Jr) bellowed into the microphone during his set at the Balad Beast music festival.

"How many of you trying to get lit after the show tonight? How many of you trying to get faded?"

People party late into the night at Balad Beast