Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday announced a deal with the chief of Kurdish-led forces that includes a ceasefire, after government troops advanced across Kurdish-held areas of the country's north and east.

Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said he agreed to the deal to avoid a broader war.

He made the decision after deadly clashes in the Syrian city of Raqa Sunday between Kurdish-led forces and local fighters loyal to Damascus, and fighting this month between the Kurds and government forces.

Jan 18 (Reuters) - An Iranian official in the region said on Sunday the authorities had verified at least 5,000 people had been killed in protests in Iran, including about 500 security personnel, blaming "terrorists and armed rioters" for killing "innocent Iranians".

CAIRO, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Jordan's foreign ministry said on Sunday that King Abdullah received an invitation from U.S. President Donald Trump to join the so-called "Board of Peace" for Gaza.

The foreign ministry said it was currently reviewing related documents within the country's internal legal procedures.

The board is set to supervise the temporary governance of Gaza, which has been under a shaky ceasefire since October.

(Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din and Muhammad Al Gebaly;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Jan 17 (Reuters) - The Trump administration wants nations to pay $1 billion to stay on his peace board, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday, citing a draft charter.

United States President Donald Trump would serve as its inaugural chairman and each member state shall serve a term of no more than three years from this charter's entry into force, subject to renewal by the chairman, the report said.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Thousands of people rallied in France on Saturday in a show of support for demonstrators in Iran risking their lives to demand an end to theocratic rule.

The protests in Iran over past weeks are the largest since the "Woman, Life, Freedom" street movement in 2022-2023, sparked by the death in custody of an Iranian Kurdish woman arrested for allegedly not following a required dress code.

"Woman, Life, Freedom," chanted marchers in the French capital, some holding portraits of deceased Iranian protesters.

BAGHDAD, Jan 17 (Reuters) - U.S. forces have withdrawn from Iraq's Ain al-Asad Airbase, which housed U.S.-led forces in Western Iraq, and the Iraqi army has assumed full control, the Iraqi defence ministry said on Saturday.

In 2024, Washington and Baghdad reached an understanding on plans for the withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition forces from Iraq and a move towards a bilateral security relationship.

TEL AVIV, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Saturday that this week's Trump administration announcement on the composition of a Gaza executive board was not coordinated with Israel and ran counter to government policy.

It said Foreign Minister Gideon Saar would raise the issue with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The statement did not specify what part of the board's composition contradicted Israeli policy. An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment.

Israel said on Saturday it objected to the line-up of a Gaza panel that will operate under US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, which oversees post-war governance in the Palestinian territory.

The panel, known as the Gaza executive board, notably includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and a Qatari official and was announced by the White House on Friday.

The Board of Peace began to take shape on Saturday as the leaders of Egypt, Turkey, Argentina and Canada were asked to join.

Iran's supreme leader said Saturday that authorities "must break the back of the seditionists", whom he accused of killing thousands during the wave of protests that were brutally repressed in the country.

The demonstrations were sparked by anger over economic hardship that exploded into the biggest protests against the Islamic republic in more than three years.

But demonstrations have subsided after the crackdown that rights groups say left thousands of people dead under an internet blackout that has lasted more than a week.

DEIR HAFER, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Syrian troops swept through dozens of towns and villages in the country's north on Saturday after Kurdish fighters withdrew under an agreement that aimed to avoid a bloody showdown between the rival forces.

For days, Syrian troops had amassed around a cluster of villages that lie just west of the winding Euphrates River and had called on the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces stationed there to redeploy their forces on the opposite bank of the river.