BELEM, Brazil (Reuters) -Turkey will host the COP31 climate summit in 2026 with Australia leading the negotiation process, a document released at the COP30 summit in Brazil showed on Friday, confirming an earlier announcement that a split hosting arrangement was expected.
The statement was issued by Germany after a meeting of the Western European and Others Group, which was tasked with selecting the 2026 host.
By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A Democratic lawmaker who served on Donald Trump’s National Security Council in his first term urged the White House on Friday to release a transcript of Trump’s 2019 call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing.
"The Khashoggi family and the American people deserve to know what was in that call... the receipts will raise serious questions," Representative Eugene Vindman told a news conference with Khashoggi's widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi.
By Olivia Le Poidevin
GENEVA (Reuters) -Organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest announced on Friday changes to voting rules to avoid state interference after controversy over Israel's entry this year.
The new rules by the European Broadcasting Union discourage governments and third parties from "disproportionately promoting" songs to sway voters - and say they could otherwise face sanctions.
(Reuters) -Bulgaria has arrested 35 people linked to a criminal network involved in large-scale trafficking of cultural goods across Europe, BTA news agency reported on Thursday, quoting the head of the country's anti-organised crime unit.
"We have conducted 131 searches. Within 24 hours, 35 people were detained, we found thousands of cultural valuables, with the numbers still increasing, and over 50 antique firearms," the head of the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime (GDBOP), Boyan Raev, told a news briefing, according to BTA.
ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish lawmakers overseeing the disarmament of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group will visit its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan in his island prison, state broadcaster TRT Haber said on Friday.
The move, whose timing is not yet known, comes after a surprise call for such a visit from President Tayyip Erdogan's ultra-nationalist ally Devlet Bahceli. For his part, Erdogan has indicated he may be open to having Ocalan address lawmakers.
An Indian fighter jet crashed during a flying display at the Dubai Airshow on Friday, killing the pilot in front of hundreds of shocked onlookers.
The Indian-made Tejas warplane was executing a manoeuvre when it plunged to the ground and erupted in a fireball. The pilot was unable to eject.
The crash happened in full view of a packed grandstand watching the aerobatics display on the last day of the Middle East's biggest air show.
Dubai's government-run media office confirmed the "tragic death of the pilot" and the Indian Air Force (IAF) announced an inquiry.
By Shivam Patel, Federico Maccioni and Tim Hepher
NEW DELHI/DUBAI (Reuters) -An Indian home-produced Tejas fighter jet crashed in a ball of fire at the Dubai Airshow during an aerial display on Friday, killing its pilot, and the Indian Air Force said it was setting up a court of inquiry to investigate the cause.
Footage from the site showed black smoke rising behind a fenced airstrip. Dubai's government shared a photograph of firefighting teams dousing smouldering wreckage.
By Olivia Le Poidevin
GENEVA (Reuters) -More food supplies are getting into Gaza since the October ceasefire but are still falling short of huge humanitarian needs as winter rains risk spoiling delivered foodstuffs, the U.N. World Food Programme said on Friday.
"Things are better than before the ceasefire, but we have a long way to go. Sustained support is an important endeavour to help families rebuild their health, their nutrition and their lives," WFP spokesperson Martin Penner told reporters in Geneva via video link from the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces fatally shot two Palestinian teenagers on the outskirts of Jerusalem, the Palestinian Authority said Friday, while the Israeli police said they had opened fire on people posing a threat.
"The young man Amr Khaled Ahmed Al-Marbou (18) and the boy Sami Ibrahim Sami Mashayekh (16) were martyred by occupation forces gunfire in the town of Kufr Aqab," the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement.
GENEVA (Reuters) -Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Friday that its medical teams in Gaza had treated Palestinian women and children this week for injuries from Israeli airstrikes and gunfire, almost six weeks into a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
Since Wednesday, medical staff in northern and southern Gaza have treated women and children with open fractures and gunshot wounds to their limbs and heads, according to Medecins Sans Frontieres, a charity also known as Doctors Without Borders.
