By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Somaliland expects to reach a trade agreement soon with Israel, the first country to recognise its independence, and is willing to offer rights to valuable mineral deposits as part of a deal, its leader said in an interview with Reuters.

Feb 3 (Reuters) - Syrian government security forces moved towards the Kurdish-controlled northeastern city of Qamishli on Tuesday, security sources and witnesses said, as they implement a U.S.-backed deal to bring Kurdish-run regions under the control of Damascus.

The deal, declared on Friday, staved off the prospect of further confrontation between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which lost swathes of eastern and northern Syria to government troops in January.

Gazans long-separated from their loved ones shed tears of joy after the limited reopening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt allowed a handful to finally return to the war-shattered territory.

Jubilant crowds filmed on their phones as they flocked around a bus carrying returnees to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis late in the night on Monday.

AFP footage showed a man holding a young child up to the window to greet those arriving, while women wept as they were at last able to embrace.

ATHENS, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Greece is "very close" to announcing a social media ban for children aged under 15, a senior government source told Reuters on Tuesday.

Spain said on Tuesday that it plans to ban social media for those aged under 16 and will create a law to hold social media executives personally responsible for hate speech on their platforms.

(Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

KYIV, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The work of Ukraine's negotiating team will be adjusted after Russia's overnight attack on Ukrainian energy facilities, which involved a record number of ballistic missiles, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday.

"It was a deliberate attack against energy infrastructure, involving a record number of ballistic missiles," Zelenskiy said.

GENEVA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - A World Health Organization official said on Tuesday that the first five patients were transferred through Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt, which reopened on Monday.

"On the second of February, WHO and partners supported the medical evacuation of five patients and seven companions to Egypt via the Rafah crossing," said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier.

"It was the first medical evacuation through this route since sometime in 2025," he said referring to a limited number of evacuations during an early 2025 ceasefire.

By Maha El Dahan and Nayera Abdallah

DUBAI, Feb 3 - Regional power United Arab Emirates urged Iran and the United States on Tuesday to strikea nuclear deal and reach a long-term solutionto tensions ahead of the resumption of talks between the foes and regional states, emphasizing that the Middle East does not need another war.

DUBAI, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The Middle East does not need another confrontation between the U.S. and Iran, and Tehran needs to reach a nuclear deal with Washington, the diplomatic adviser to the president of regional power United Arab Emirates said at a World Governments Summit panel in Dubai.

Iran and the United States will resume nuclear talks on Friday in Turkey, Iranian and U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday. U.S. President Donald Trump warned that with big U.S. warships heading to Iran, "bad things" would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.

By Tarek Amara

TUNIS, Feb 3 (Reuters) - A Tunisian appeal court on Tuesday upheld and increased lengthy prison sentences on high-profile politicians, including opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi and former security officials, as part of a crackdown on dissent.

Among those sentenced on charges of conspiring against the state in the mass trial were Nadia Akacha, the former chief of staff to President Kais Saied.

Akacha, who was sentenced in absentia after fleeing abroad, received a 35-year jail term, TAP state news agency said.

MADRID, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Spain will ban access to social media for minors under 16 and platforms will be required to implement age verification systems, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday at the World Government Summit in Dubai.

"Our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone... We will no longer accept that," Sanchez said. "We will protect them from the digital Wild West."

He added that his government would also introduce a new bill next week to hold social media executives accountable for illegal and hateful content.