JAL EL DIB, Lebanon (Reuters) -Staff at Lebanon's De La Croix Psychiatric Hospital are delighted that Pope Leo's visit will give its carers and residents, often abandoned by their families, recognition at last.

Established in 1952, the church-run hospital is one of only a few mental health facilities in Lebanon, a country where people diagnosed with psychiatric illnesses can experience social stigma and where state hospitals are severely underfunded.

BEIRUT/NICOSIA (Reuters) -Lebanon and Cyprus signed a long-awaited maritime demarcation deal on Wednesday, paving the way for potential exploration of offshore gas fields and energy cooperation in the Mediterranean.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides signed the agreement at Lebanon's presidential palace and told reporters it would signal deeper cooperation between Lebanon, European Union-member Cyprus and the broader EU.

JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -Israeli security forces on Wednesday launched what the military described as a counter-terrorism operation in the northern West Bank, which Palestinians said was targeting the city of Tubas.

Tubas Governor Ahmed Al-Asaad told Reuters Israeli forces, backed by a helicopter that had opened fire, were encircling the city and establishing positions across several neighbourhoods.

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday that he will be in touch with U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff about the purported leak of a phone conversation between the two men, which he called unacceptable.

Ushakov was asked by reporters if he would ask Witkoff about the leak when the American visits Moscow next week to meet President Vladimir Putin.

"About the leak? We will exchange opinions by phone," he replied.

By Hannah Confino

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Researchers in Israel are hoping to make new discoveries about Jewish history by loading a digital database of manuscripts stretching back a thousand years into a new transcription tool that uses artificial intelligence.

The Cairo Geniza, the biggest collection of medieval Jewish documents in the world, has been the object of countless hours of study by scholars for more than a century but only a fraction of its over 400,000 documents have been thoroughly researched.

(Reuters) -After 26 years in a Turkish prison, Abdullah Ocalan is carving out a key role for himself as Ankara tries to end his outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party's four-decade insurgency.

In an event that was unimaginable a year ago, three Turkish lawmakers visited Ocalan on Monday to further the peace process following the PKK's announcement in May that it would disarm and disband.

LONDON (Reuters) -The British government's decision to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation will be challenged in court on Wednesday, with lawyers representing a co-founder arguing it is a misuse of anti-terrorism laws.

Palestine Action was proscribed in July, putting it on a par with Islamic State or al Qaeda and making it a crime to be a member, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

Israel said on Tuesday it had received the coffin of a hostage held in Gaza, with the remains undergoing forensic examination to determine their identity.

Prior to this latest handover, the bodies of three deceased hostages were still being held in the Gaza Strip -- those of two Israelis and one Thai national.

Hamas and its allies have been handing over the final hostages as part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal with Israel that came into force on October 10.

PARIS (Reuters) -France will finalise with other European Union countries a solution for providing financial support to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.

Macron, who was speaking after a virtual meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, said Ukraine needed a peace that was "serious" and "respectful of international law".

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey's spy chief met with his Egyptian counterpart and Qatar's foreign minister in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss transitioning to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal and increasing joint efforts in coordination with the U.S., a Turkish source said.