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Israel army razes homes of suspects in killing of settlement guard

Israeli forces on Tuesday demolished the homes of two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank accused of shooting dead a Jewish settler in April, an army statement said.

The army said it had destroyed the homes in Qarawat Bani Hasan, in the northern West Bank, belonging to Yusef Aasi and Yehya Miri, accused of perpetrating "a deadly shooting attack at the entrance to the city of Ariel, murdering the Israeli security guard Vyacheslav Golev".

Aasi and Miri were arrested a day after the April 29 attack and are being held by Israel.

Israeli troops demolish the West Bank home of Yehya Miri, one of two Palestinians suspected of carrying out a deadly shooting attack in the Jewish settlement of Ariel

Iraqi Kurd farmers battle drought as Lake Dukan retreats

Farmers in Iraqi Kurdistan seeking to irrigate crops face seeing their economic lifeline slip away as the waters of Lake Dukan recede and dams upstream in Iran stem the flow.

Bapir Kalkani, who is also a trade unionist, farms near the picturesque lake but has seen marked changes over the past three years as Iraq suffers prolonged drought.

"There was water where I'm standing now" in 2019, the 56-year-old said. "It used to go three kilometres (two miles) further, but the level has retreated."

Dukan Dam and reservoir in Iraqi Kurdistan

Saied supporters welcome vote on Tunisia constitution

Its detractors say Tunisia's draft constitution will give President Kais Saied unchecked powers, but for voter Baya, that's a welcome break from the country's old political elite.

"They were in power for 10 years and did nothing. Let this man do his job!" the 54-year-old said after voting in a referendum on the charter on Monday.

"We believe in him and we'll support him until the end."

An elderly Tunisian man arrives with his wife to vote in Tunis in a referendum on a draft constitution

Palestinian lawyers hold rare protest against Abbas's 'rule by decree'

Hundreds of Palestinian lawyers held a rare street protest Monday against what they described as the Palestinian Authority's "rule by decree", condemning president Mahmud Abbas for governing without a parliament.

The Palestinian Legislative Council -- created under the Oslo Peace Accords with Israel -- has been inactive since 2007, meaning Abbas has led without a functioning parliament for nearly all of his tenure as president.

But a new leadership at the Palestinian Bar Association has sought to pressure the PA.

According to estimates by Palestinian legal experts Abbas has issued some 400 presidential decrees while in office

Vanilla spice: arid Israel produces potent tropical pods

In his busy Tel Aviv restaurant, chef Yair Yosefi adds a magic ingredient to his signature cake: Israel's first commercially produced vanilla providing what devotees claim is perhaps the strongest ever flavour.

It is made by Vanilla Vida, a new food-industry player that says its computer-guided curing process, along with other high-tech cultivation methods, can scientifically craft each batch of vanilla to a specific taste.

The company, founded in 2020, could prove to a be lucrative venture, producing what has become the world's most precious spice after saffron.

Many mass produced foods, from ice cream to milk shakes to soy milk, are usually flavoured with artificial vanilla -- but the real organic stuff is still very expensive and sought-after

Tunisia's Saied set to win vote on bolstering president's powers

Tunisian President Kais Saied early Tuesday celebrated the almost certain victory of the "yes" vote in a referendum on a new constitution that strengthens the powers of the head of state and risks the return of authoritarian rule in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.

The referendum, held a year to the day after Saied sacked the government and froze parliament in what rivals have called a coup, saw at least 27.5 percent of 9.3 million registered voters cast ballots, Tunisia's ISIE electoral commission said late Monday after polls closed.

President Kais Saied votes in a referendum on a draft constitution he put forward, at a polling station in the capital Tunis

Russia FM reassures Egypt on grain deliveries

Russia's top diplomat reassured Egyptian leaders Sunday that their orders for Russian grain would be met as he began a tour of African countries dependent on imports for their food supply.

"We confirmed the commitment of Russian exporters of cereal products to meet their orders in full," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference after talks with Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.

"President Vladimir Putin stressed this during a recent telephone call with Egyptian President (Abdel Fattah) al-Sisi."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is greeted by Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry on the first leg of an African tour focused on reassuring customers of Russian grain that their needs will be met

Jordan king protests border attacks by Iran-tied militias

King Abdullah II protested in an interview published Sunday over attacks on Jordan's borders by "militias linked to Iran", following deadly clashes with drug smugglers on the frontier with Syria.

Jordan faces "regular attacks on its borders by militias linked to Iran", he told Al-Rai newspaper.

Abdullah called for "a change of behaviour by Iran" and said that Jordan "does not want tensions in the region".

King Abdullah II of Jordan

Two Palestinians killed in Israeli West Bank raid

Israeli forces killed two Palestinians during an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank, officials on the two sides said Sunday, in what Israel described as a shootout with gunmen.

The Israeli army said it carried out operations and used live fire in several locations, including in Nablus, adding it arrested four "individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activities".

The military said "hits" were identified against multiple "terrorists" and said there were no reported wounded on its own side.

Mourners carry the body of one of two Palestinians killed overnight in confrontations with Israeli troops in the  the occupied West Bank city of Nablus

Gaza's women and girls see no escape from violence

Seventeen-year-old Istabraq Baraka fell pregnant soon after her wedding in the Gaza Strip. Three months later her husband killed her.

"She died from a severe beating, which caused bleeding on the brain and lungs and broken ribs," said her mother Nazmiya.

Sitting with her husband Suleiman in a garden in Abassan, near the city of Khan Yunis in the south of the Palestinian territory, the 53-year-old talks at lightning speed about last year's killing of one of her two daughters, as well as the loss of an unborn grandchild.

Palestinians Suleiman and Nazmiya Baraka display a picture of their daughter Istabraq, who was killed by her husband last year in the Gaza Strip