Martin Scorsese has backed a petition against the jailing of prominent Iranian movie director Saeed Roustaee for screening a film at the Cannes Film Festival.
Scorsese, the Oscar-winning director of "Taxi Driver" and "Goodfellas," reposted a campaign launched by his daughter Francesca this week after news of Roustaee's prison sentence emerged.
"Please sign this petition to bring justice to Saeed," Scorsese wrote on Instagram.
An Iranian journalist said Thursday she had no regrets over posting a picture of herself without a headscarf in defiance of Iran's dress laws, sharing a similar image following her latest release from jail.
Nazila Maroufian last year interviewed the father of the young Iranian woman Mahsa Amini whose death in police custody sparked months of protests.
She walked out of Tehran's Evin prison on Sunday after more than a month behind bars, posting on social media a picture of herself without a headscarf and the slogan "Don't accept slavery, you deserve the best!".
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday inaugurated the first light rail service in Tel Aviv, Israel's economic hub turned epicentre of mass protests against his hard-right government.
The long-awaited rail network will connect the coastal city's northeastern suburb of Petah Tikva with Bat Yam to the south, a distance of 24 kilometres (15 miles).
Thursday's ceremony went ahead without the presence of Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, who is part of the protest movement.
Israel said the United States on Thursday approved the "landmark" sale of the Arrow 3 hypersonic missile defence system to Germany in the country's biggest military deal, worth $3.5 billion.
The Arrow 3 system -- designed to shoot down ballistic missiles above the Earth's atmosphere -- is jointly developed and produced by Israel and the United States.
Israel's defence ministry said the US State Department had notified it of the US government's approval for Germany to procure the Arrow 3 system.
Iran's top diplomat preached unity and dialogue during a visit to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, his first since the two Middle East rivals announced a surprise rapprochement in March.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also took the opportunity to reiterate the Islamic republic's support for the Palestinian cause at a time when Riyadh is in discussions with the United States about potentially normalising ties with Israel.
Israeli forces on Thursday killed a Palestinian militant and shot a health worker during a raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.
The West Bank has seen a surge in violence since early last year, with a string of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli targets, repeated Israeli army raids and violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinian communities.
Israel said the United States on Thursday approved the "landmark" sale of the Arrow 3 hypersonic missile defence system to Germany, in the country's biggest military deal worth $3.5 billion.
The Arrow 3 system -- an interceptor designed to shoot down ballistic missiles above the Earth's atmosphere -- is jointly developed and produced by the Israel and the United States.
Israel's defence ministry said in a statement the US State Department had notified it of the US government's approval for Germany to procure the Arrow 3 system.
Climate change has impacted the Middle East and North Africa where summer is already very hot. Many in Iraq, Syria, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia still labour in the heat.
- A tool of the trade in Syria -
Heat is a tool of the trade for blacksmith Murad Haddad in the city of Idlib in northwest Syria.
"We make everything by hand here. We get up early to try to avoid the extra heat we're exposed to as well as the flames," the 30-year-old told AFP.
Already battling extreme heat, Bahrain is scrambling to ward off another environmental threat: rising seas that could swallow parts of its coast, the island nation's oil and environment minister told AFP.
By next year, the tiny Gulf state will begin building its coastal defences against sea levels that have begun advancing, by widening beaches, constructing taller sea walls and elevating land.
"Bahrain is vulnerable," Mohamed bin Mubarak bin Daina, Bahrain's oil and environment minister and special envoy for climate affairs, said in an interview.
After riding a fossil-fuel boom for decades, Gulf Arab states are eyeing "green" hydrogen as they try to transition their economies and ease the climate crisis at a stroke.
Oil producers Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman are investing heavily in the climate-friendly fuel in a search for alternative revenues to crude and gas.
Green hydrogen, which is the hydrogen created when renewable energy electrolyses water, appears to solve many problems: it is low-polluting and has widespread potential uses, which could make it lucrative and planet-saving at the same time.
