LONDON (Reuters) -Britain has barred Israeli officials from its biggest defence trade show over its escalation of the war against Hamas in Gaza, its latest effort to pressure a historically close ally over the conflict.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government said in July it would recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel took steps to relieve suffering in the enclave and met other conditions, enraging the Israeli government.
(Reuters) -Iran is ready to resume "fair " negotiations over its disputed nuclear programme if the West shows goodwill, Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, said on Thursday, hours after three European powers triggered the process to reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran.
"Araqchi reaffirmed Iran's readiness to resume fair and balanced diplomatic negotiations, on the condition that the other parties show seriousness and goodwill and avoid actions that harm the chances of success," he said in a letter sent to European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed peace efforts on the Russia-Ukraine conflict in a phone call on Thursday, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said.
The source said Fidan told Rubio that Ankara was ready to fulfil its responsibilities in the peace process.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Alex Richardson)
(Corrects to add dropped word "member" in paragraph 3)
By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -The United Nations Security Council on Thursday unanimously extended "for a final time" a long-running peacekeeping mission in Lebanon until the end of 2026, when the operation will then begin a year-long "orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal."
The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), established in 1978, patrols Lebanon's southern border with Israel.
The Security Council voted Thursday for UN peacekeepers to leave Lebanon in 2027, allowing only one final extension after pressure from Israel and its US ally to end the nearly 50-year-old force.
Israel hailed the upcoming termination of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and urged the Beirut government to exert its authority after an Israeli military campaign devastated Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah.
With the United States dangling a veto threat, the Security Council voted unanimously for a resolution that will extend UNIFIL's mandate "a final time."
A British couple held in Iran on espionage charges have appeared in a Tehran court represented by a state-appointed lawyer, their family said on Thursday.
Little has been known about the plight of Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both 52, since Iranian authorities seized the pair in Kerman, in central Iran, in early January.
They were passing through the country while on a round-the-world motorbike trip, but Tehran has claimed they are spies. Their family has rejected the claim.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday condemned the "endless catalogue of horrors" in Gaza after nearly two years of war, while the territory's civil defence reported dozens killed by Israel.
Israel, whose military is preparing to conquer Gaza City, is under mounting pressure at home and abroad to end its offensive in the Palestinian territory, where the United Nations has declared a famine.
KYIV (Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expects a framework for security guarantees for Ukraine to be set out as soon as next week, as Kyiv continues talks with allies to get a robust support mechanism to prevent further Russian aggression.
On Thursday, Zelenskiy said he had "extensively" discussed the topic with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan in a call after a massive Russian strike killed at least 19 people in Kyiv overnight.
In a Sudanese city long besieged by paramilitary forces, the war has taken an even more violent and terrifying turn, leaving residents facing hunger and death with little chance of escaping.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), at war with the regular army since April 2023, has launched its fiercest assault to date on El-Fasher, the only major city in the western Darfur region still in army hands.
France, Britain and Germany on Thursday triggered a mechanism to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran for failing to comply with commitments over its nuclear programme it agreed to a decade ago.
Iran warned that it would "respond appropriately" to the move, which risks ending the most sustained diplomatic push for a peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.
