By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - A set of tough U.S. sanctions imposed on Syria under its former leader Bashar al-Assad could be lifted within weeks, after their repeal was included in a sweeping defense policy bill unveiled during the weekend and due for votes in Congress within days.
The widow of slain Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi Monday filed a legal complaint in France accusing Saudi Arabia of using Israeli spyware to steal data from her phones before he was killed, her lawyers said.
Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, whose husband was murdered at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate in October 2018, alleged her data was in part stolen in France, where she landed repeatedly while working as an air hostess, according to a copy of the complaint seen by AFP.
Dec 8 (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned on Monday an Israeli raid on the East Jerusalem compound of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.
“This compound remains United Nations premises and is inviolable and immune from any other form of interference,” Guterres said in a statement.
“I urge Israel to immediately take all necessary steps to restore, preserve and uphold the inviolability of UNRWA premises and to refrain from taking any further action with regard to UNRWA premises.”
BUDAPEST, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban have agreed that Turkey will guarantee that Russian gas can continue to flow to Hungary, Orban said on Monday.
Hungary has maintained its reliance on Russian energy since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, prompting criticism from several European Union and NATO allies.
By Pesha Magid and Steven Scheer
JERUSALEM, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Israeli authorities entered the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency's East Jerusalem offices on Monday and raised Israel's flag, in a raid they said was ordered over unpaid taxes but was condemned by the agency as a challenge to international law.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which has been accused of bias by Israel, has not used the building since the start of this year after Israel ordered it to vacate all its premises and cease its operations.
By Julia Payne
BRUSSELS, Dec 8 (Reuters) - EU countries on Monday agreed their final negotiating positions for several proposed migration laws on new asylum rules, a common EU list of "safe countries of origin" and an EU-wide policy for illegal migrant returns, statements from the Council of the European Union said.
Despite strong criticism from more than 200 organisations, the key elements of the European Commission's proposals will likely become law.
By Alexander Dziadosz
CAIRO, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Quadcopters, electromagnetic rifles and an AI-powered navigation system were among the wares displayed at one of Africa and the Middle East’s biggest arms expos, as defence companies jostle to break into regional markets increasingly defined by drone warfare.
DUBAI, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet U.S. President Donald Trump on December 29, an Israeli government spokesperson said on Monday.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Writing by Elwely Elwelly)
Conditions for medics and patients in Gaza are as severe as ever despite a nearly two-month truce in the territory, the president of medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said in an AFP interview.
Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas agreed in October to a US-backed truce deal for Gaza which stipulated an influx of aid to the territory devastated by two years of war and in the grip of a humanitarian crisis.
KINSHASA, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said in a speech to lawmakers on Monday that Rwanda is already violating its commitments under a peace deal mediated by Washington, undermining efforts to end fighting in the east.
(Reporting by Ange Adihe Kasongo; Writing by Ayen Deng Bior; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet)
