BAGHDAD, Feb 19 (Reuters) - A Turkish parliamentary commission's approval of a report setting out a roadmap for legal reforms alongside the disbandment of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group is an important step and the beginning of a fundamental change in Turkish policy, a PKK source told Reuters on Thursday.

The commission voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to approve the report, advancing a peace process designed to end decades of conflict.

Iran's atomic energy chief on Thursday said "no country can deprive Iran of the right" to nuclear enrichment, following fresh US warning that there were "many reasons" to strike the Islamic republic.

The two foes recently resumed indirect talks, after US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened military action against Iran, at first over a deadly crackdown on protesters last month then more recently over its nuclear programme.

A British couple detained in Iran since January 2025 have been sentenced to 10 years in jail for espionage, their family announced on Thursday, triggering condemnation from the UK government.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both in their 50s, were arrested while travelling through the country on an around-the-world motorcycle journey, according to relatives, and have consistently denied Tehran's spying claims.

LONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - British foreign minister Yvette Cooper on Thursday condemned as "totally unjustifiable" the 10-year sentence given to a British couple in Iran for spying, saying the government would continue to press for their release.

Craig and Lindsay Foreman had been charged with espionage after Iran accused them of gathering information in several parts of the country.

"We will pursue this case relentlessly with the Iranian government until we see Craig and Lindsay Foreman safely returned to the UK and reunited with their family," Cooper said in a statement.

Israel's increased attacks and forcible transfers of Palestinians "raise concerns over ethnic cleansing" in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the United Nations said Thursday.

The cumulative impact of Israel's military conduct during the war in Gaza and blockade of the territory, has inflicted living conditions "increasingly incompatible with Palestinians' continued existence as a group in Gaza", said the UN human rights office.

SYDNEY, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Australian police said on Thursday they had launched an investigation after a threatening letter was sent to the country’s largest mosque, the third such incident in the lead-up to the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The letter sent to Lakemba Mosque in Sydney’s west on Wednesday contained a drawing of a pig and a threat to kill the "Muslim race", local media reported.

Police said they had taken the letter for forensic testing, and would continue to patrol religious sites including the mosque, as well as community events.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell

CAIRO/JERUSALEM, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Hamas is cementing its hold over Gaza by placing loyalists in key government roles, collecting taxes and paying salaries, according to an Israeli military assessment seen by Reuters and sources in the Palestinian enclave.

Hamas’ continuing influence over key Gaza power structures has fuelled widespread scepticism about the prospects of U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan, which requires the militant group to give up its weapons in exchange for an Israeli military withdrawal from the territory.

By Steve Holland, Simon Lewis and Samia Nakhoul

WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will preside over the first meeting of his Board of Peace on Thursday with unresolved questions on the future of Gaza hanging over an event expected to include representatives from more than 45 nations.

The disarmament of Hamas militants, the size of the reconstruction fund and the flow of humanitarian aid to the war-battered populace of Gaza are among the major questions likely to test the effectiveness of the board in the weeks and months ahead.

Oil prices rose to multi-month highs while global stocks mostly retreated as markets weighed sharpening rhetoric from President Donald Trump on Iran suggesting a military strike was more likely.

Brent oil futures finished up nearly two percent at $71.66 a barrel after earlier reaching its highest level since July.

"Oil is extending its gains, with Brent crude back above $70 a barrel... as fears of a military confrontation between the US and Iran rattled energy markets," said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview made public on Wednesday, said that any new U.S. strike on Iran would have serious consequences and called for restraint to find a solution to enable Iran to pursue a peaceful nuclear programme.

Lavrov's interview with Saudi Arabia's Al-Arabiya television was aired a day after U.S. and Iranian negotiators held indirect talks in Geneva to head off a new mounting crisis between Washington and Tehran.