By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) -The Israeli military moved deeper into Gaza City on Wednesday, with soldiers and tanks pushing into Sheikh Radwan, one of the urban centre's largest and most crowded neighbourhoods.
In recent weeks, Israeli forces have advanced through Gaza City's outer suburbs and are now just a few kilometres from the city centre despite international calls to halt the offensive.
By Mariam Rizk and Mohamed Ezz
CAIRO (Reuters) -The rent on Khaddara Ibrahim Ali's cramped apartment in downtown Cairo was just about the only expense she could count on staying stable as waves of soaring inflation and subsidy cuts ate away at her modest income.
Thanks to a decades-old rent cap, Ali, 84, pays just under 11 Egyptian pounds ($0.23) per month for the eighth-story home where she has lived for half a century, overlooking a patchwork of ageing buildings and narrow streets in the Azbakeya district.
By Sayed Hassib and Charlotte Greenfield
KABUL/MAZAR DARA, Afghanistan (Reuters) -Afghanistan airdropped commandos on Wednesday to pull survivors from the rubble of homes in mountainous eastern areas ravaged by earthquakes this week that have killed 1,400, as it ramped up efforts to deliver food, shelter and medical supplies.
The first earthquake of magnitude 6, one of Afghanistan's worst in recent years, unleashed widespread damage and destruction when it struck the provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar around midnight on Sunday at a shallow depth of 10 km (6 miles).
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel's Shin Bet domestic intelligence service said on Wednesday it had thwarted a plan to assassinate National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and that members of a Hamas cell had been arrested.
The planned Hamas attack against the far-right cabinet minister would have involved use of explosive drones, the Shin Bet said.
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's defence ministry does not know how exactly much it will cost to relocate thousands of Afghans after a massive data leak, the government's spending watchdog said, adding it did not have confidence in the current estimate of 850 million pounds.
In July, it was revealed that Britain had set up a secret scheme in 2022 to bring Afghans back to the UK after their personal details were leaked, putting them at risk of reprisals from the Taliban after their return to power.
PARIS (Reuters) -French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday the United States' decision not to grant visas to Palestinian officials for the upcoming United Nations General Assembly in New York was "unacceptable" and should be reversed.
"We call for this measure to be reversed and for Palestinian representation to be ensured in accordance with the Host Country Agreement," Macron said on social platform X.
PARIS (Reuters) -French investigating judges have issued arrest warrants for seven former top Syrian officials, including ex-President Bashar al-Assad, for the bombing of a press centre in Homs in 2012, a judicial source and a human rights organisation said on Tuesday.
Homs, in western Syria, was a major rebel stronghold during the Syrian civil war and was besieged by Assad government forces from 2011 to 2014. The siege ended with anti-Assad rebels withdrawing from the city.
By Kate Holton and Ben Makori
LONDON (Reuters) -The recognition of a Palestinian state by leading Western nations will trigger a sprint towards a two-state solution, the head of the Palestinian mission in London said on Tuesday.
Britain, France, Canada, Australia and Belgium have all said they will recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London could halt the process if Israel eased the humanitarian crisis in war-shattered Gaza and committed to a long-term peace process.
By Sayed Hassib
KABUL/ MAZAR DARA, Afghanistan (Reuters) -Nasrullah Khan's voice breaks as he describes how with his own hands he buried three children in one grave and two young men in another after an earthquake struck the mountainous southeastern Afghan province of Kunar on Sunday.
Nasrullah, an office worker from Kunar City, travelled six hours into Dewagul Valley in Kunar after the quake to help rescue efforts.
ISTANBUL (Reuters) -A Turkish court on Tuesday ousted the Istanbul provincial head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), dealing a fresh judicial blow to opponents of President Tayyip Erdogan and triggering sharp falls in share and bond markets.
The Istanbul court ruled that the votes of delegates in a 2023 CHP provincial congress had been influenced by cash payments, and thus the board members elected at the congress should be removed.
