BEIRUT, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Friday he was committed to holding a parliamentary election as scheduled on May 10, despite calls from some politicians to postpone the vote.

Several politicians have called for a delay, citing security concerns in southern Lebanon, where Israel has carried out air strikes targeting Hezbollah.

Berri, a Shi'ite leader allied with Hezbollah, said in a statement carried by the state-run National News Agency that he had informed President Joseph Aoun and the government of his position.

GENEVA, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Over five million people have returned to Afghanistan from neighbouring states since expulsion policies began in late 2023, prompting the United Nations to warn on Friday that relief efforts are becoming overwhelmed by thousands of daily arrivals.

Afghanistan is contending with a worsening hunger crisis driven by the mass deportations of Afghans from Pakistan and Iran, foreign aid cuts and economic crisis.

Feb 13 (Reuters) - U.S. military forces have completed their mission in Syria to transfer Islamic State detainees to Iraq, U.S. Central Command said on Friday.

"The 23-day transfer mission began on Jan. 21 and resulted in U.S. forces successfully transporting more than 5,700 adult male ISIS fighters from detention facilities in Syria to Iraqi custody," Central Command said in a statement.

President Emmanuel Macron Friday denounced what he described as an "antisemitic hydra" that had crept into "every crack" of society two decades after Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old French Jewish man, was tortured to death.

To commemorate Halimi, whose abduction and murder in 2006 horrified France, Macron planted an oak tree in the garden of the Elysee Palace, joined by Halimi's sister, Anne-Laure Abitbol.

By Elizabeth Pineau

PARIS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron called for intensified efforts to combat antisemitism in France, as recent government data showed hostility toward Jews has remained high despite adecline in recorded incidents last year.

France, which has the largest Jewish community in Europe, documented 1,320 antisemitic acts in 2025, accounting for 53% of all anti-religious incidents, according to a report released on Thursday by the Interior Ministry.

By Sam Tobin

LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Britain's ban on pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation was ruled unlawful by London's High Court on Friday, though the ban will temporarily remain in place and the government said it would appeal against the decision.

Palestine Action was proscribed in July, having increasingly taken "direct action" against Israel-linked defence companies in Britain, often blocking entrances or spraying red paint.

MOSCOW, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States on ending the war in Ukraine will move to Geneva next week and Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky will head the Russian delegation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on Friday.

Russian news agencies quoted him as saying the talks would take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.They follow two rounds of negotiations in Abu Dhabi at which Russia's team was led by Igor Kostyukov, its head of military intelligence.

The High Court in London on Friday upheld a challenge to a UK government ban on activist group Palestine Action under terror legislation, saying it had interfered with the right to freedom of speech.

The 2025 ban put Palestine Action on a blacklist that also includes Palestinian militants Hamas and the Lebanese Iran-backed group Hezbollah, and sparked a severe backlash.

And it made it a criminal offence to be a member of the group or to demonstrate support for it - punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

GENEVA, Feb 13 (Reuters) - A U.N. human rights spokesperson said on Friday she was very worried about attacks on independent U.N. experts after European governments criticised Francesca Albanese who is mandated to report on human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories.

By Daren Butler

ISTANBUL, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Almost one year after he was jailed, Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has told Reuters that Tayyip Erdogan should call elections "now" and predicted that the president would lose if he ran again.

Imamoglu has emerged in recent years as Erdogan’s main rival, with polls suggesting he could indeed defeat Turkey's leader of more than two decades if he is able to run.