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Khalil al-Hayya: The Gaza negotiator who will now lead Hamas

For months, veteran Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya spearheaded the group's indirect ceasefire negotiations with arch-foe Israel in an effort to halt the war in Gaza. "Khalil al-Hayya was elected by an overwhelming majority," a senior Hamas official told AFP, adding that he is expected to formally assume the role next week.
(FILES) Khalil al-Hayya was elected chief of Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas

US-Iran strikes: latest developments

Iran's president said his country is fighting a "full-scale war" with the United States, as Washington expanded its strikes across the Islamic republic and Tehran hit Gulf states. - Iran says in 'full-scale war' with US - Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country was in a "full-scale war" with the United States and that Tehran should "accept the natural consequences of this resistance".
President Donald Trump said the United States was hitting Iran to honour American personnel killed in the fighting

Scars of war linger on Syria's Saint Simeon monastery

Near the base of a column atop which Saint Simeon Stylites once perched, scattered stones lay bare the damage inflicted on the surrounding Byzantine monastery in northern Syria by war, looting and rampant illegal excavations. The Saint Simeon monastery itself was subjected to "looting, illegal excavation, military use and neglect", according to site director Abdel Jalil Arabi.
The fifth-century monastery complex of Saint Simeon Stylite in northern Syria suffered damage during the country's civil war

Bulgaria to ask parliament to allow US tanker aircraft to be stationed at military base

SOFIA, July 20 (Reuters) - Bulgaria, a NATO and EU member, will seek parliamentary approval on Monday for up to eight U.S. tanker aircraft to be stationed at a military airport, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said, after a move to place such planes at a civilian airport triggered controversy.

The government will ask parliament to approve a request by Washington to station tanker planes at the Bezmer military facility to support the U.S. military's operations in the Middle East, Radev told an annual conference of Bulgarian Ambassadors in Sofia.

Bulgaria's Prime Minister Rumen Radev speaks during a doorstep at the NATO leaders' summit in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026. REUTERS/Yves Herman

Trump says new Air Force One from Qatar will get 'maxed out' upgrades

By Trevor Hunnicutt

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Maryland, July 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the Qatari-donated jet that serves as an Air Force One plane will soon be sent away for upgrades, following questions about the plane's security features.

Trump started flying aboard the jumbo jet on July 1 after accepting the plane as a gift last year, when an accelerated effort to renovate the Boeing 747 for presidential use began.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump deboards the new Air Force One, a plane gifted by Qatar, upon arrival at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Belle Fourche-Cheyenne Valleys, South Dakota, U.S., July 3, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper/File Photo

Iran targets US military assets as Houthis threaten to expand Mideast war

Iran targeted US radar and air defence installations in the Gulf on Tuesday, warning Washington of "more decisive and powerful" attacks to come as the conflict threatened to widen with a blockade of Saudi ports by Houthi rebels in Yemen. Hours later, the Iranian army said it had targeted US assets in Kuwait and Bahrain, including air defence systems, radar installations and administrative buildings.
CENTCOM said it hit Iranian 'surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage and maritime capabilities'

Cyprus marks 52 years since invasion as UN renews peace push

(Corrects first bullet point to change "Southern" to "southern".)

NICOSIA, July 20 (Reuters) - Cyprus marked the 52-year anniversary of Turkey's 1974 invasion on Monday as the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities prepared for a renewed effort from the United Nations to break years of deadlock in peace talks.

• Air raid sirens sounded over the southern Greek Cypriot government-controlled areas of Cyprus on Monday morning to commemorate the hour Turkish forces landed in 1974, days after a short-lived Greek-inspired coup.

Graves of soldiers killed in the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, during a memorial service at the Tymvos Macedonitissas military cemetery in Nicosia, Cyprus, July 20, 2026. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

US stocks drop on latest Middle East fighting, tech earnings caution

Wall Street stocks retreated Monday with early gains fading as the escalating US-Iran conflict lifted oil prices while markets awaited key earnings reports. Earlier Asian stock markets ended the day mostly lower under the weight of higher oil price, alongside lingering concerns that the AI sector may be overbought.
As the US attacks on Iran entered a second consecutive day, Tehran threatened to stop complying with its framework agreement with Washington