By David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - A record 129 journalists and media workers were killed in the course of their work last year, two-thirds of them killed by Israel, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Wednesday.

It was the second straight year that press killings set a record and the second straight year that Israel was responsible for two-thirds of them, the CPJ, a New York-based independent organization which documents attacks on the press, said in its annual report.

By Rami Ayyub, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Alexander Cornwell

JERUSALEM/CAIRO, Feb 25 (Reuters) - A Gaza firm has been contracted to build an Emirati-funded compound for tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians in a part of the territory under Israeli military control, two Israeli officials and two Palestinian businessmen told Reuters.

The plan for a Palestinian contracting firm staffed by Gaza workers to build the compound has not been previously reported.

Pope Leo XIV will visit four African nations in April, the Vatican said Thursday, including Algeria -- the first time a pope will travel to the North African Muslim nation.

The Vatican announced a series of international trips in the months ahead for the US pontiff, who was elected last year, including to Spain and Monaco.

But the official trip to Algeria, which will see Leo visit Algiers and Annaba from April 13 to 15, will be particularly symbolic.

By Asif Shahzad and Mubasher Bukhari

ISLAMABAD, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Pakistan has boosted security and arrested dozens of suspects as it fearsrising wave of militant attacks following its air strikes in Afghanistan,Pakistan's Junior Interior Minister said on Wednesday.

"Our forces are on high-alert to combat any attacks," the minister,TalalChaudhry, told Reuters. "You know the militants always react whenever we go after their hideouts in Afghanistan."

DUBAI, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Ali Shamkhani, who taunted Israel after being pulled alive from the rubble of his Tehran home following a strike in June 2025, has survived at the centre of Iranian policy-making during its most testing military confrontations and diplomatic endeavours.

The 70-year-old former Revolutionary Guard commander is a trusted adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a high-stakes standoff with the U.S. that could determine whether the Islamic Republic, born from revolution in 1979, survives to half a century.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi told lawmakers in Jerusalem on Wednesday that India stands "firmly" with Israel following Hamas's attack on October 7, 2023.

Modi also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a two-day visit aimed at deepening trade and defence ties that has drawn criticism at home.

"I... carry with me the deepest condolences of the people of India for every life lost and for every family whose world was shattered in the barbaric terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7," Modi said in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.

ANKARA, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Turkey is evaluating all aspects of potential measures that may be taken in the event of a conflict between its neighbour Iran and the United States, a Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters on Wednesday.

Iran and the United States resumed negotiations earlier this month as Washington builds up military capability in the Middle East. Iran has threatened to strike U.S. bases in the region if it is attacked, but Tehran's top diplomat said on Tuesday that a deal with the U.S. was "within reach" if diplomacy is prioritised.

Iran on Wednesday dismissed US claims about its missile programme as "big lies", after President Donald Trump said Tehran was developing missiles that could strike the United States.

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump accused Tehran of "sinister nuclear ambitions" as Washington ups the pressure with a massive military deployment around the Gulf.

The two foes are scheduled to meet for a third round of talks on Thursday in the Swiss city of Geneva in an effort to reach a diplomatic solution.

By Alexander Cornwell

JERUSALEM, Feb 25 (Reuters) - India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Israel on Wednesday for a two-day visit that both countries have cast as a chance to deepen relations, as regional concerns mount over the risk of military conflict between the United States and Iran.

Modi, a Hindu nationalist, became the first prime minister in India's history to visit Israel in 2017, during which he and right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a barefoot stroll on a beach in the northern port city of Haifa.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed Iran is seeking to develop missiles that can strike the United States and accused Tehran of working to rebuild a nuclear program that was targeted by American strikes last year.

The United States and Iran are engaged in high-stakes negotiations over Iran's atomic program and other issues including missiles, with Trump saying he prefers diplomacy but is willing to use force if talks fail.