BEIJING, Jan 26 (Reuters) - China's vice president and foreign minister held talks with the secretary-general of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Monday, according to a ministry statement and the official news agency, Xinhua.
The talks in the Chinese capital of Beijing come amid heightened Middle East tension after an Iranian official said the country would treat any attack "as an all-out war against us".
MANILA, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The Philippine foreign ministry said on Monday it had made "firm representations" to China's embassy and its ambassador in Manila over what it described as an "escalation of public exchanges" between them and Philippine officials over disputes in the South China Sea.
Israel said Monday it would only allow pedestrians to travel through the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt as part of its "limited reopening" once it has recovered the remains of the last hostage in the Palestinian territory.
Reopening Rafah, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza, forms part of a truce framework announced by US President Donald Trump in October, but the crossing has remained closed since Israeli forces took control of it during the war in the Palestinian territory.
Jan 25 (Reuters) - Israel will reopen Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt for the passage of people only after an operation to locate the body of the last remaining Israeli hostage in the enclave is completed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said late on Sunday.
(Reporting by Hatem Maher, editing by Deepa Babington)
VILNIUS, Jan 25 (Reuters) - A U.S. document on security guarantees for Ukraine is completely ready and Kyiv is waiting for a time and place for it to be signed, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday, indicating that weekend talks with Russia in Abu Dhabi made some progress.
"For us, security guarantees are first and foremost guarantees of security from the United States. The document is 100% ready, and we are waiting for our partners to confirm the date and place when we will sign it," Zelenskiy told a news conference during a visit to Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital.
A UN humanitarian convoy arrived Sunday in the Kurdish-majority town of Kobane, which has been filled recently with people displaced by clashes in northern Syria, a spokesperson told AFP.
Earlier Sunday, Syria's military said it had opened a humanitarian corridor to the town, also known as Ain al-Arab in Arabic and once a symbol of Kurdish fighters' victory against Islamic State group (IS) jihadists.
The aid came as the Syrian authorities and Kurdish forces extended a ceasefire agreement after Kurdish forces relinquished swathes of territory to government troops.
TAIPEI, Jan 25 (Reuters) - U.S. climber Alex Honnold scaled the Taipei 101 skyscraper without ropes or safety netting on Sunday, watched by thousands of cheering and waving fans as he clambered up one of the world's tallest buildings.
"Sick," Honnold said as he got to the top spire of Taiwan's tallest building after his 91-minute "free solo" ascent, which was organised and broadcast live by Netflix.
"What a beautiful way to see Taipei," he told reporters after his mission, which was postponed by a day due to wet weather.
A Saudi Arabian media campaign targeting the UAE has deepened the Gulf's worst row in years, stoking fears of a damaging fall-out in the financial heart of the Middle East.
Fiery accusations of rights abuses and betrayal have circulated for weeks in state-run and social media after a brief conflict in Yemen, where Saudi air strikes quelled an offensive by UAE-backed separatists.
The United Arab Emirates is "investing in chaos and supporting secessionists" from Libya to Yemen and the Horn of Africa, Saudi Arabia's Al-Ekhbariya TV charged in a report this week.
A Pakistani court on Saturday jailed a prominent rights activist and her husband for 10 years over "anti-state" social media posts.
Imaan Mazari, a 32-year-old lawyer and vocal critic of Pakistan's military, "disseminated highly offensive" content on her X account, according to an Islamabad court.
A court statement said Mazari and her husband, fellow lawyer Hadi Ali Chattha, "will have to remain in jail for 10 years".
Jan 24 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump by telephone on Saturday, with the leaders discussing the need for bolstered security in the Arctic, 10 Downing Street said in a statement.
Starmer referred to the subject as an absolute priority for his government, the statement said.
