Israeli archaeologists on Wednesday unveiled a rare ancient mosque in the country's south that the antiquities officials said sheds light on the region's transition from Christianity to Islam.
The remains of the mosque, believed to be more than 1,200 years old, were discovered during works to build a new neighbourhood in the Bedouin city of Rahat, the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement.
Israeli lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to advance legislation to dissolve parliament and call an early election, after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said his eight-party coalition was no longer tenable.
The government has said it wants to fast-track parliament's dissolution but the opposition led by ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu may attempt to derail the process, in a bid to form a replacement government without the need for what would be Israel's fifth election in less than four years.
Israeli lawmakers were holding a first vote Wednesday on a government bill to dissolve parliament and call an early election, after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said his eight-party coalition was no longer tenable.
The government has said it wants to fast-track the bill but the opposition led by ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu will attempt to block its passage in a bid to form a replacement government without the need for what would be Israel's fifth election in less than four years.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Iran on Wednesday for talks on boosting trade and energy cooperation as the two countries grapple with Western economic sanctions.
Tehran and Moscow both have huge oil and gas reserves but are constrained by sanctions that limit their ability to export their output.
"Upon his arrival in Tehran, Lavrov met with President (Ebrahim) Raisi," state television's website Iribnews reported, without elaborating.
Propelled by inflation, the price of air tickets has begun to take off again after tumbling during the pandemic, a reversal that looks set to intensify due to environmental pressures, experts say.
For members of the International Air Transport Association, gathered in Doha for their annual meeting this week, minds are focused on how far such increases risk undermining passenger growth targets.
The IATA is also pleading for government support in reconciling the long-term commitment to net zero carbon emissions with those ambitious targets.
Tucked away in Tehran's famed Grand Bazaar, Iran's oldest pistachio wholesaler quietly prepares a small revolution -- he will hand his business to his youngest daughter, in a trade dominated by men.
Abbas Emami, 88, began working for his own father at the age of 15. More than seven decades on, bags of pistachios at the family shop are emblazoned with the slogan "over a century of experience".
He doesn't know exactly when his family first got into the business.
Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler took a big step out of international isolation Wednesday by paying his first visit to Sunni rival Turkey since the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.
The talks in Ankara between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan come one month before US President Joe Biden visits Riyadh for a regional summit. Those talks will focus on the energy crunch caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday promised strong support for Israel as the ally heads to its fifth election in less than four years.
In a telephone call to Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who will become caretaker prime minister in an unwieldy coalition arrangement, Blinken confirmed that President Joe Biden still plans to visit Israel next month.
Blinken "underscored our respect for democratic processes and reiterated our unwavering commitment to the strong US-Israel strategic relationship," State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
Israel's unlikely coalition government, the first ever backed by an Arab party, was forged a year ago to oust right-wing premier Benjamin Netanyahu, but ultimately collapsed over the Palestinian conflict.
As a result, Israel looks headed for new elections -- the fifth in three and a half years -- and the threat of widening fissures between the groups that made up the eight-party "change" alliance.
A US Navy vessel fired a warning flare towards an Iranian military speedboat that approached it in the Strait of Hormuz, the US Fifth Fleet said.
The incident Monday involving the patrol ship USS Sirocco comes amid tensions as Western powers and the Islamic republic seek to salvage their tattered 2015 nuclear deal.
"Three vessels from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy interacted in an unsafe and unprofessional manner as US Navy ships transited the Strait of Hormuz," said the US Navy statement.
