Israel approved a major settlement project on Wednesday in an area of the occupied West Bank that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state.

Israel has long had ambitions to build on the roughly 12-square-kilometre (five-square-mile) parcel known as E1 just east of Jerusalem, but the plan had been stalled for years amid international opposition.

By Mark Trevelyan

(Reuters) -Belarus and Iran - two countries that have backed Russia's war in Ukraine - plan to deepen bilateral ties across all areas including defence, their presidents said at talks in Minsk on Wednesday.

Belarusian state news agency Belta said presidents Alexander Lukashenko and Masoud Pezeshkian agreed to work on a strategic partnership treaty.

KABUL (Reuters) -China told Afghanistan on Wednesday that Beijing was keen on exploring and mining minerals in Afghanistan and wanted Kabul to formally join its Belt and Road Initiative, the Afghan Taliban foreign ministry said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting Kabul and held talks with Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, the ministry said in a statement, adding that both countries wanted to expand cooperation in a range of areas.

BERLIN (Reuters) -German prosecutors have charged a Russian national they suspect of planning an attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin and of trying to join militant organisation Islamic State, they said on Wednesday.

Prosecutors believe the accused, identified only as Akhmad E. in line with German privacy rules, obtained instructions from the Internet on how to make explosives but the plan failed as he could not get the components he needed.

By Patricia Zengerle and Jason Lange

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A 58% majority of Americans believe that every country in the United Nations should recognize Palestine as a nation, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, as Israel and Hamas considered a possible truce in the nearly two-year-long war.

Some 33%of respondents did not agree that U.N. members should recognize a Palestinian state and 9% did not answer.

Hundreds of supporters of Irish rap band Kneecap protested outside a London court Wednesday, as one of the band members appeared charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly supporting Hezbollah.

Liam O'Hanna, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged in May accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag during a London concert in November.

He arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London with other band members to cheers from a sea of supporters brandishing banners and chanting "Free Palestine" and "Free Mo Chara".

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Leo has asked Catholics and other religious faithful to observe a day of fasting and prayers for peace in Ukraine and other war-torn countries on Friday, August 22.

"As our Earth continues to be wounded by wars in the Holy Land, in Ukraine, and in many other regions ... I invite all the faithful to live the day of August 22 in fasting and prayer," the pontiff said during his weekly audience at the Vatican on Wednesday.

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran cannot completely cut its ties with the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA, the country's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said in comments published on Wednesday on the official news agency IRNA.

(Reporting by Elwely Elwelly; Editing by Michael Georgy)

LONDON (Reuters) -A member of Irish rap group Kneecap was welcomed by hundreds of supporters as he arrived at a London court on Wednesday, charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who was initially charged under the Anglicised name Liam O'Hanna and whose stage name is Mo Chara, is alleged to have waved the flag of the banned militant group Hezbollah during a Kneecap gig in London in November 2024.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel will call up around 50,000 reservists for its new Gaza City offensive, and call-up letters will be sent out as soon as the coming days, an Israeli military official said on Wednesday, adding that the reservists' draft will begin in September.

(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; Writing by Ahmed Elimam; Editing by Alison Williams)