Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco is to sponsor major events organised by cricket's world governing body, the company said Friday, as the conservative kingdom took another big step into the global sports industry.
Saudi Aramco, one of the world's richest companies, will sponsor the International Cricket Council's upcoming men's and women's T20 World Cups and next year's one-day World Cup in India under a partnership deal.
Lebanon and Israel said they have struck an "historic" deal over a maritime border dispute involving offshore gas fields after years of US-mediated talks, in a step that facilitates hydrocarbon production.
Here's what we know of the agreement:
- What are the terms? -
Negotiations between the neighbouring countries, which are still technically at war, had suffered repeated setbacks since their launch in 2020.
But they gained momentum in recent weeks with both sides eyeing revenue from potentially rich Mediterranean gas fields.
Two Palestinians including a doctor were killed Friday in an Israeli raid in the flashpoint city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Dr Abdullah al-Ahmad "succumbed to a bullet wound that pierced his head, fired by the occupation (Israeli) soldiers", the ministry said in a statement.
A ministry spokesman told AFP that Palestinian Mateen Debaya had also been killed in the raid on the city's refugee camp, while militant group Hamas named Debaya as a "fighter".
Deep in the Qatari desert, security guards have a lonely time keeping 24-hour watch over one of the world's most isolated artworks, created by renowned US sculptor Richard Serra.
"On a busy day we can get 100 people," said one guard monitoring the four vertical steel plates -- each more than 14 metres (46 feet) high -- that makeup Serra's "East-West/West-East".
But when temperatures soar above 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in the Brouq nature reserve, visitors are rare.
Depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychosis: Yemen's seven years of brutal civil war have caused an explosion of mental illness overwhelming the basic health care services.
"We try to provide treatment, but we cannot treat everyone", said Adel Melhi, director of a psychiatric hospital in the rebel-blockaded city of Taez, one of the places hardest hit by the conflict.
Iran-backed Huthi rebels have fought a Saudi-led pro-government coalition since 2015 in a grinding war that has killed hundreds of thousands and pushed the impoverished nation to the brink of famine.
Dozens of Iranian children have been killed and hundreds detained after being caught up in protests over Mahsa Amini's death, some of them even ending up in "psychological centres", it has emerged.
Iran has been rocked by a month of demonstrations driven by public outrage over Amini's death after the morality police arrested her for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.
Lebanon approved a US-brokered maritime border deal with Israel on Thursday, President Michel Aoun announced, unlocking significant offshore gas production for the eastern Mediterranean neighbours.
It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Wednesday said the agreement would make conflict with Lebanon's Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah less likely.
"I announce the approval by Lebanon of the final version prepared by the American mediator to delineate the southern maritime border," the Lebanese president said in a televised speech.
Palestinian factions signed a reconciliation deal in Algiers on Thursday, vowing to hold elections by next October in their latest attempt to end a rift that has now lasted more than 15 years.
The deal was signed by a leading figure from the Fatah party of President Mahmud Abbas and by the chief of Islamist movement Hamas, which rules Gaza.
But Abbas himself, president of the Palestinian Authority since 2005, was not present.
Lebanon approved a US-brokered maritime border deal with Israel on Thursday, President Michel Aoun announced, unlocking significant offshore gas production for the eastern Mediterranean neighbours.
It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Wednesday said the agreement would make conflict with Lebanon's Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah less likely.
"I announce the approval by Lebanon of the final version prepared by the American mediator to delineate the southern maritime border," the Lebanese president said in a televised speech.
The United States and Saudi Arabia traded bitter barbs Thursday over last week's OPEC+ oil output cut, with Washington accusing Riyadh of knowingly boosting Russian interests.
The Saudi-led OPEC+ cartel -- which includes Russia -- angered Washington by cutting production by two million barrels a day from November, adding further pressure on soaring crude prices.
Saudi Arabia issued a rare press release on Thursday expressing "total rejection" of accusations it was "taking sides" as President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine rages on.
