Pope Leo XIV's newly announced visit to Algeria in April was welcomed as a dream come true by the archbishop of Algiers on Thursday.

The trip will mark the first time a head of the Catholic Church has visited the North African Muslim-majority country.

"This dream of a pope visiting Algeria... has come true!" Jean-Paul Vesco, the Franco-Algerian cardinal of the Catholic Church who serves as the Archbishop of Algiers, wrote in a statement.

CAIRO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, the territory's health officials said, and the Israeli military said it killed a militant who posed a threat to its forces in the south of the enclave.

Medics said an Israeli airstrike against a group of Palestinians in Gaza City's Tuffah neighbourhood killed two people and wounded several others. The Israeli military didn't immediately comment on the report.

By Parisa Hafezi and Laila Bassam

DUBAI, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The son of an Iranian carpet merchant from Isfahan, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has compared the country's negotiating style to the bartering of the bazaar, an approach requiring "patience and great time".

But time may not be on his side as the veteran diplomat faces the most critical negotiations of his decades-long career, seeking to reach a nuclear deal to avert military action threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.

By Amina Ismail

BRUSSELS - Feb 26 (Reuters) - Almost 8,000 people died or went missing last year on perilous migration routes such as across the Mediterranean and Horn of Africa, but the real toll is likely far higher as cuts in funding have hit humanitarian access and tracking of deaths, a U.N. agency said.

Legal pathways for migration are shrinking, pushing more people into the hands of smugglers, the International Organization for Migration said, as Europe, the U.S. and other regions ramp up enforcement and invest heavily in deterrence.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that India and Israel had pledged to fight terrorism "shoulder to shoulder", as he concluded a two-day visit focused on deepening strategic ties.

The trip, which has drawn criticism at home, marks Modi's second visit to Israel as prime minister since he took office in 2014.

A French court on Thursday sentenced Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari to one year in prison for justifying terrorism in a case linked to a possible prisoner swap with two French citizens held in Iran.

The court also handed Esfandiari, 39, was also handed a permanent ban from French territory.

Her lawyer said she would be appealing her conviction. In the meantime she walked free from court.

Iran has suggested Esfandiari could be exchanged for French nationals Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who are still waiting to leave Iran.

By Francois Murphy

VIENNA, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The United States hopes talks with Iran in Geneva will produce an agreement to prevent Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons, and President Donald Trump has amassed forces in the Middle East to increase pressure on the Islamic Republic to reach a deal.

WHAT IS AT STAKE?

Iran has over decades developed an advanced and large-scale uranium enrichment programme. While enriched uranium can be used as fuel in power plants at various purity levels, at high levels it can be used to make nuclear weapons.

Iran and the United States made "significant progress" in talks in Switzerland on Thursday, mediators said, after the latest round of negotiations to avert a war between the longtime foes, and agreed to further discussions next week in Austria.

The Oman-mediated negotiations follow repeated threats from Donald Trump to strike Iran, with the US president last Thursday giving Tehran 15 days to reach a deal.

The United States and Iran are set to hold indirect talks in Switzerland on Thursday aiming to strike a deal to avert fresh conflict and bring an end to weeks of threats.

The new round of negotiations in Geneva comes after the US carried out a massive military build-up in the region and President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if a deal is not reached.

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump accused Iran of "pursuing sinister nuclear ambitions".

GENEVA, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Iran and the U.S. hold the latest round of talks in Geneva on Thursday aimed at resolving their longstanding nuclear dispute and averting new U.S. strikes on Iran following a large-scale military buildup.

The two countries renewed negotiations this month, hoping to tackle a decades-long stand-off over Tehran's nuclear program, which Washington, other Western states and Israel believe is aimed at building nuclear arms. Tehran denies this.