Video game giant Electronic Arts, known for The Sims and FIFA games, announced Monday it would be acquired for $55 billion by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

The group includes US investment firms Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, the Miami-based firm founded by Jared Kushner, former White House advisor and son-in-law of President Donald Trump.

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -A United Nations-backed planoutlining "tangible, timebound, and irreversible steps" toward a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians describes whatrole the Palestinian Authority could play.

The seven-page plan is the result of an international conference at the U.N. in July - hosted by Saudi Arabia and France - on the decades-long conflict. The U.S. and Israelboycottedthe event.

BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany, France and Britain will "continue to pursue diplomatic channels and negotiations" despite the reimposition of U.N. sanctions on Iran, the countries said in a joint statement circulated by the German Foreign Ministry on Monday.

"The reinstatement of U.N. sanctions does not mean the end of diplomacy," the statement said. "We urge Iran to refrain from any escalatory actions and to resume compliance with its legally binding obligations regarding safeguards."

(Writing by Friederike Heine;Editing by Alison Williams)

By Emma Farge

GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. children's charity called on Monday for an immediate evacuation to save at least 25 ill or premature babies in incubators in Gaza City as Israel steps up its ground offensive, shelling a hospital overnight housing around half of them.

Palestinian health officials say tanks are surrounding the area near Al Helo Hospital where at least 12 babies are in incubators. Medics said the site was shelled. Video obtained by Reuters showed hospital rooms and beds there strewn with debris.

(Reuters) -The United States is making the latest push to secure a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas, with the Palestinian group severely weakened by almost two years of war.

Here are some of the top Hamas figures killed by Israel and those who remain alive:

DEAD

MOHAMMAD SINWAR

Mohammad Sinwar was a veteran Hamas commander and its overall military chief in Gaza at the time Israel said it killed him in May.

LONDON (Reuters) -The British government sanctioned dozens of Iranian-linked individuals and entities on Monday, following similar moves made by the United Nations and the European Union aimed at curbing what Britain described as Iran's nuclear proliferation efforts.

Britain, France and Germany initiated the return of sanctions on Iran at the U.N. Security Council over accusations it had violated a 2015 deal that aimed to stop it developing a nuclear bomb. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey has joined Spain, Italy and Greece in monitoring an international flotilla carrying aid for Gaza thatwas sailing east across the Mediterranean Sea on Monday despite warnings from Israel to stop the mission, flight data show.

Flight tracking websites showed that three long-endurance drones originating from Turkey's Corlu airbase have been circling over the flotilla for three days, highlighting the growing international interest in the boats which have vowed to breach an Israeli naval blockade around the embattledGaza Strip.

By Samia Nakhoul

ABU DHABI (Reuters) -The UAE is pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace proposal at their meeting later on Monday and to abandon any plan to annex the West Bank, a delegate with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas are "very close" to reaching agreement on a framework deal to end the war in Gaza and ensure lasting peace in the Middle East, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday.

Leavitt, speaking on Fox News' "Fox and Friends" program, said President Donald Trump would discuss a 21-point peace plan with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House later on Monday. Trump will speak to leaders in Qatar, who have served as intermediaries with Hamas, on Monday, she said.

KABUL (Reuters) -Eight-year-old Noorullah and his twin, Sanaullah, spend their days hauling yellow jerrycans on a wheelbarrow through Kabul's dusty alleys instead of going to school - an ordeal for one family that reflects Afghanistan's deepening water crisis.

Once supplied with water from their own well, the family of 13 has had to queue at communal taps or pool money for costly water tankers since their supply dried up four years ago.