WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Friday with Qatari, Egyptian and Turkish officials in Miami, Florida, to discuss the Gaza deal, a White House official said on Thursday.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Writing by Caitlin Webber; Editing by Katharine Jackson)
Dec 18 (Reuters) - Israel and Germany signed a contract worth around $3.1 billion to expand the Arrow-3 air and missile defence system manufactured by Israeli aerospace industries, Israel's defence ministry said on Thursday.
The contract expansion complements the initial purchase agreement signed two years ago. Combined, the two agreements total approximately $6.7 billion, the ministry added.
(Reporting by Yomna Ehab and Enas Alashray; Editing by Susan Fenton)
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Timour Azhari, Maya Gebeily and Jonathan Spicer
AMMAN/RIYADH/BEIRUT/ANKARA, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Syrian, Kurdish and U.S. officials are scrambling ahead of a year-end deadline to show some progress in a stalled deal to merge Kurdish forces with the Syrian state, according to several people involved in or familiar with the talks.
Discussions have accelerated in recent days despite growing frustrations over delays, according to the Syrian, Kurdish and Western sources who spoke to Reuters, some of whom cautioned that a major breakthrough was unlikely.
Dec 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that the U.S. was sanctioning two judges of the International Criminal Court for targeting Israel.
"Today, I am designating two International Criminal Court (ICC) judges, Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia, pursuant to Executive Order 14203," Rubio said in a statement, referring to the order President Donald Trump signed in February sanctioning the ICC.
The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on two more judges of the International Criminal Court after they rejected a challenge by Israel which sought to end a war crimes probe in Gaza.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had already ordered sanctions on judges and prosecutors in the case, explicitly linked the new sanctions to a vote Monday in which the judges sided with the majority and upheld arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
Dec 18 (Reuters) - Islamic State said on Thursday the killing of 15 people at a Jewish event at Sydney's Bondi Beach was a "source of pride', in an article published on the group's telegram channel.
The group did not explicitly claim responsibility for Sunday's attack.
(Reporting by Dubai NewsroomEditing by Alexandra Hudson)
Women swaying to dance music at a DJ set, strolling without headscarves through cutting-edge art exhibitions and in coffee shops showing off trendy styles that could have come from the streets of Europe.
Until recently, such scenes would have been unthinkable in the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose strict dress code for women has required they wear the hijab in public since shortly after the 1979 revolution that ousted the pro-Western shah.
Launched after the Israel-Hamas ceasefire to monitor the truce and facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid, the Civil-Military Coordination Center for Gaza is struggling to live up to its promises.
The CMCC, a US initiative, is meant to set the stage for the next steps of President Donald Trump's peace plan for the Palestinian territory following more than two years of devastating war.
"At first nobody knew what it was but everyone wanted in," one European diplomat told AFP.
By John Irish and Jana Choukeir
PARIS/BEIRUT, Dec 18 (Reuters) - French, Saudi Arabian and American officials will hold talks with the head of the Lebanese army on Thursday in Paris aimed at finalising a roadmap to enable a mechanism for the disarmament of the Hezbollah group, diplomats said.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in 2024, ending more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that severely weakened the Iran-backed militants.
DUBAI, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Oman and India signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, Oman's state news agency reported on Thursday.
"The agreement is designed to enhance trade and investment cooperation, facilitate the seamless flow of goods and services, establish a strategic framework for expanding bilateral collaboration", the news agency said.
(Reporting by Ahmed Elimam; Writing by Elwely Elwelly; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
