DOHA (Reuters) -The Democratic Republic of Congo and the M23 rebel group signed on Saturday in Qatar a framework agreement for a peace deal aimed at ending fighting in eastern Congo.

The agreement was signed by representatives from both sides in a ceremony in the Qatari capital Doha.

M23, in the latest of a string of actions supported by neighbouring Rwanda, seized Goma, eastern Congo's largest city, in January and went on to make gains across North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.

When Paniz Faryoussefi mounts the podium and reaches for her baton, she represents more than just the hope of a thrilling orchestral performance.

The eyes turned towards her in Tehran's renowned Vahdat Hall include those of many young women musicians inspired by her taking her place as Iran's first woman philharmonic conductor.

Women's professional and cultural lives are still heavily restricted in the conservative Islamic republic, particularly in terms of public performance before mixed-gender audiences.

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia's Energy Minister Chris Bowen said he would travel on Saturday to the COP30 climate summit in Brazil to push forAustralia to host next year's summit,amid a stand-off with rival bidder Turkey.

Australia and Turkey submitted bids in 2022 to host the United Nations climate conference and both countries have refused to concede to the other ever since. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese this month wrote to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in an attempt to resolve the long-running tussle.

By Jasper Ward

(Reuters) -A survey conducted by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon last month found that a wall built by the Israeli military crosses the Blue Line, the de facto border, a U.N. spokesperson said on Friday

The Blue Line is a U.N.-mapped line separating Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the U.N. secretary-general, said the concrete T-wall erected by the IDF has made more than 4,000 square meters (nearly an acre) of Lebanese territory inaccessible to the local population.

By Daphne Psaledakis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized the importance of achieving a humanitarian ceasefire in Sudan in a call with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed on Friday, just days after Washington's top diplomat said action was needed to cut off the flow of weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

-U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to reach a deal with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman allowing Riyadh to acquire F-35 stealth fighter jets, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing a White House official.

Trump and the crown prince plan to sign economic and defense agreements during a visit to the White House scheduled for Tuesday, the report added.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

(Reporting by Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru)

The UN Security Council will vote Monday on a resolution endorsing US President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan, diplomats said.

Last week the Americans officially launched negotiations within the 15-member Security Council on a text that would follow up on a ceasefire in the two-year war between Israel and Hamas and endorse Trump's plan.

A draft of the resolution seen Thursday by AFP "welcomes the establishment of the Board of Peace," a transitional governing body for Gaza -- that Trump would theoretically chair -- with a mandate running until the end of 2027.

Iran likely seized an oil tanker that suddenly changed course towards the country's waters Friday, two security companies said, stoking concern that Tehran has resumed maritime captures after a lull.

The ship, which had left Ajman in the United Arab Emirates destined for Singapore, was heading for Iranian waters.

Ellie Shafik of Vanguard Tech told AFP the Talara had been intercepted by Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and detained.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Palestinians in a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank held weekly communal prayers on Friday after clearing insulting graffiti, broken glass and burn marks from a mosque they say was targeted by Jewish settlers amid a spike in attacks.

Villagers in Deir Istiya who cleaned up the mosque told Reuters that settlers had smashed windows, sprayed slogans insulting Islam's Prophet Mohammed and tried to torch the building in an assault on Wednesday night.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will press for security guarantees while US President Donald Trump will urge him to normalise ties with Israel when the de facto Saudi ruler breaks a seven-year absence from Washington this week.

Saudi Arabia is unlikely to agree to normalisation at this stage, with Prince Mohammed's priority set for firmer US security guarantees after Israeli strikes in September on Qatar, an iron-clad US ally, rattled the wealthy Gulf region.