Once lauded for reviving Lebanon's economy, former central bank chief Riad Salameh -- wanted abroad and reviled at home after years of financial meltdown -- was arrested on Tuesday by Lebanese authorities.
The 74-year-old French-Lebanese national is widely viewed as a key culprit in the country's dramatic economic crash, which the World Bank has called one of the worst in recent history.
Israeli forces on Thursday killed four Palestinians including a teenager in the occupied West Bank, the latest deadly raid on Jenin which Israel said targeted "armed suspects".
Dozens of masked, heavily armed men fired into the air as they paraded through the streets for the funerals of the four dead, including two who Palestinian groups and the Israeli army identified as militants.
The Israeli army intially said troops "neutralised" two suspected militants in the northern West Bank city, accusing them of "terrorist activities".
Iran's top security official on Thursday held high-level talks in the United Arab Emirates, days after a shock rapprochement between Tehran and Riyadh.
Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, met with Emirati president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in the capital Abu Dhabi to discuss "opportunities for enhancing cooperation," according to the official WAM news agency.
He also held talks with the UAE's national security adviser, Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and discussed "bilateral relations," WAM said.
The United Arab Emirates has pledged $3 million to support the reconstruction of a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank that was raided by Israeli settlers, state media said Thursday.
Deadly violence and arson by settlers targeted the town of Huwara in the northern West Bank late last month, hours after two Israeli settlers were shot dead by an alleged Hamas militant as they drove along a road that passes through the area.
Thirty houses were burned and damaged, according to local officials, after dozens of Israeli settlers set them ablaze.
A state of emergency imposed in Turkey's quake-hit southeast is shackling reporters, a top media rights campaigner told AFP, expressing fears they will be pressured in the run-up to May's crunch elections.
President Recep Tayyip declared a three-month state of emergency in the affected provinces when Turkey suffered its deadliest natural disaster of modern times last month.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake claimed more than 48,000 lives in Turkey and nearly 6,000 in Syria, flattening entire cities and displacing millions of people.
Lebanese central bank chief Riad Salameh appeared Thursday for the first time before a European delegation visiting Beirut as part of investigations into his personal wealth, a judicial official said.
Salameh and his legal team, including a French lawyer, arrived at Beirut's justice palace on Thursday morning and the hearing began soon after, the judicial official told AFP on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
An AFP correspondent reported a heavy security presence in and around the building.
Israeli protesters returned to the streets Thursday to rally against proposed judicial reforms, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a compromise plan touted by the country's president.
The reforms, several provisions of which have already been adopted by parliament, are "the end of democracy," read a placard brandished by demonstrators in Tel Aviv.
According to Israeli media, tens of thousands of Israelis protested across the country.
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Thursday it had not observed any border crossings after Israel said it killed a suspect wearing an explosive belt who may have entered from Lebanon.
The Israeli army said on Wednesday it was probing the possible involvement of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement after troops "neutralised" the suspect following a blast that wounded a civilian in northern Israel on Monday.
The military said an initial inquiry suggested the suspect "crossed from Lebanon into Israel this week".
Hezbollah has not commented on the allegation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday fiercely defended disputed legal reforms on a visit to Berlin, where German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged him to reconsider a compromise.
The package of judicial reforms has sparked weeks of protests in Israel since its introduction by Netanyahu's hard-right coalition, prompting Israel's president to warn the nation may be on the brink of "civil war".
Max Verstappen may start as favourite, but Fernando Alonso will have widespread popular support this weekend when this year's Formula One season resumes at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
After his dashing and surprising podium finish behind the two Red Bulls at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix two weeks ago, the 41-year-old Spaniard has played down high expectations of a repeat in his sleek new Aston Martin.
