Israeli referee Sapir Berman beamed as she recalled the moment her "dream came true" earlier this year, when she became the first transgender woman to officiate an international football match.

"I always wanted to be a woman, and I always wanted to be a football referee -- and then those two came together and fused into one dream that just exploded with joy," the 31-year-old told AFP.

"It's an uplifting, powerful feeling -- the feeling that I'm doing the right thing, that I'm choosing myself, that I'm showing the world it's possible.

By Daren Butler

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Turkey's main opposition party has seen hundreds of its members arrested in a nearly year-long legal onslaught that will reach a critical point on Monday when a court decides whether to annul the party's last congress and unseat its leader.

The Ankara court's decision on whether to invalidate the 2023 congress of the Republican People's Party (CHP) over alleged procedural irregularities could reshape the party, rattle financial markets and even influence the timing of a general election set for 2028.

WHAT IS THE CRACKDOWN ABOUT?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani will be visiting New York and Washington on Friday, and is expected to meet U.S. officials to discuss the Israeli strike and the status of ceasefire talks in Gaza, Politico reported on Thursday.

He is expected to see President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff, the report added, citing a source.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Ismail Shakil; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

(Reuters) -Yemen's Houthi-run Health Ministry said on Thursday the number of casualties in Israel's Wednesday attacks rose to 46 people killed and 165 wounded.

Israel struck the Yemeni capital Sanaa and the northern province of al-Jawf, the latest in a series of attacks and counterstrikes between Israel and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, part of a spillover from the war in Gaza.

The attack followed an August 30 strike on Sanaa that killed the prime minister of the Houthi-run government and several ministers, in the first such assault to target senior officials.

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned recent strikes on Qatar's capital Doha, but did not mention Israel in the statement agreed toby all 15 members, including Israel's ally the United States.

Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attackon Tuesday, escalating its military action in what the United States described as a unilateral attack that does not advance U.S. and Israeli interests.

By Saeed Shah

KABUL (Reuters) -The United Nations called on Thursday for the Taliban administration in Afghanistan to lift restrictions on its local female staff coming to work, warning that aid for earthquake victims and other vulnerable Afghans is at risk.

The Taliban authorities deployed security forces at the entrances to U.N. compounds and field offices, preventing Afghan women staff from entering, the U.N. said in a statement.

Taliban's spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reuters) -Germany's government has decided to back a France-led proposal for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the plan.

Germany is planning to support a United Nations resolution on Friday adopting the declaration, led by France and Saudi Arabia, the report added.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

(Reporting by Ananya Palyekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to push ahead with a controversial settlement expansion plan that would cut across land that the Palestinians seek for a state.

"There will not be a Palestinian state," Netanyahu said during a visit to the Maale Adumim settlement in the West Bank where thousands of new housing units would be added.

Last month, the E1 project, which would bisect the occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, received final approval.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Thursday that there would be no Palestinian state, speaking at a signing ceremony for a major settlement project in the occupied West Bank.

"We are going to fulfil our promise that there will be no Palestinian state, this place belongs to us," Netanyahu said at the event in Maale Adumim, an Israeli settlement just east of Jerusalem.

"We will safeguard our heritage, our land and our security... We are going to double the city's population." The event was streamed live by his office.

DUBAI (Reuters) -United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan's tour of Gulf countries is aimed at coordinating positions after Tuesday's Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, his diplomatic adviser said on Thursday.

"The President's Gulf tour reflects a deep conviction in strengthening coordination and cooperation, and in reinforcing the concept of a common destiny," Anwar Gargash said in a post on X.