ANKARA, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Turkey and the United States are ​discussing the U.S. sanctions and obstacles ​to Ankara rejoining the F-35 jet programme but nothing has changed ⁠with respect to its possession of Russian S-400 air defences, the defence ministry said on Friday.

The NATO allies have been ​at loggerheads since 2020 when Washington removed Ankara ‍from Lockheed Martin's fighter jet ​programme and imposed sanctions over Turkey's acquisition of the S-400s, which Washington calls a security threat.

By John O'Donnell and Padraic Halpin

DUBLIN, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Ireland’s planned curbs on trade with Israeli settlements will be limited strictly to goods, ​a minister told Reuters, offering the first clear signal on the scope of ​the contested legislation and rejecting accusations that the country is antisemitic.

Ireland has been preparing a law to curb trade with settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, facing ⁠pressure at home to widen the scope of the ban from goods to services, while Israel and the United States want the bill scrapped.

His only official job title at the White House is son-in-law. But Jared Kushner has staged a remarkable -- and sometimes controversial -- comeback to President Donald Trump's inner circle.

Four years after Kushner left the White House, Trump has handed the husband of his daughter Ivanka a key role in the Gaza and Ukraine peace talks.

This week, the 44-year-old also emerged as an investor in a bid by Paramount to buy Hollywood giant Warner Bros., which if successful could mean the Trump family partially owning CNN, the president's most-hated news channel.

By Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Four U.S. lawmakers on Thursday said there has been no accountability for an October 2023 ​attack by the Israeli military that struck a group of journalists in ​Lebanon, killing a Reuters correspondent and wounding others.

U.S. Senator Peter Welch from Vermont, the home state of one of the journalists wounded in the ⁠attack, accused Israel of not conducting a serious investigation into the incident, saying he had seen no proof of that.

ZURICH, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Swiss Eurovision winner Nemo on Thursday said they were ​handing back their trophy in the latest ​protest about Israel's continued participation in the contest over the war in Gaza.

Nemo, the ⁠non-binary singer who won in 2024 with "The Code," a drum-and-bass, opera, rap and rock song, said Israel's continued participation went against the contest's ideals of inclusion ​and dignity for all people.

Dec 11 (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, ​said on Thursday he ​would travel to Beirut for talks after ⁠receiving a formal invitation from his Lebanese counterpart, who a day earlier had declined to ​visit Tehran for direct talks.

On Wednesday, ‍Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef ​Raji said "current conditions" prevented him from travelling to Tehran, but stressed that the move did not mean rejection of dialogue with ⁠Iran.

Raji told Reuters late on Wednesday that he had invited Araqchi "in a formal diplomatic letter to come to Beirut to hold talks."

By Jonathan Saul, Marianna Parraga and Matt Spetalnick

HOUSTON/LONDON/WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. is preparing to intercept more ships transporting Venezuelan oil following the ​seizure of a tanker this week, as it increases pressure on Venezuelan President ​Nicolas Maduro, six sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Several Democratic lawmakers called Thursday for the Israeli and US governments to fully investigate a deadly 2023 attack by the Israeli military on journalists in southern Lebanon.

The October 13, 2023 airstrike killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and wounded six other reporters, including two from AFP -- video journalist Dylan Collins and photographer Christina Assi, who lost her leg.

Wearing only sandals and cotton sweaters to protect themselves from the winter rain, Palestinians dug trenches in the muddy ground around their tents in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood in an effort to keep out encroaching storm waters.

Starting late Wednesday, heavy rains from Storm Byron have swept across the Palestinian territory, flooding tents and makeshift shelters, bringing yet more hardship to Gaza's residents, nearly all of whom have faced displacement in more than two years of war.

NICOSIA, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Discussions on the need to tighten sanctions on ​Russia, including the possibility of a ​blanket ban on providing maritime services, should not be at the expense ⁠of legitimate businesses in the industry, key EU shipping nations Cyprus and Malta said.

The Group of Seven countries and the European Union are ​in talks to replace a price cap on Russian oil ‍exports with a full maritime ​services ban in an attempt to reduce the oil revenue that helps finance Russia's war in Ukraine, Reuters exclusively reported on Dec. 5.