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Hezbollah chief vows 'resistance' as masses mourn Nasrallah

Hezbollah's leader said "resistance" was not over as hundreds of thousands mourned slain chief Hassan Nasrallah Sunday at a Beirut funeral, demonstrating continued support for the group after a devastating war with Israel.

During the funeral, women wailed as a truck carrying the coffins of Nasrallah and his chosen successor Hashem Safieddine -- both killed in Israeli strikes -- slowly moved through the crowd, topped with two black turbans and draped in Hezbollah's yellow flag.

A mourner carries the portraits of Hezbollah's slain leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine during their funeral

Andreeva, 17, makes WTA history with help from LeBron and Federer

Inspired by LeBron James and Roger Federer, Russian 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva wrapped up a fairytale week in Dubai by becoming the youngest ever WTA 1000 champion with victory over Clara Tauson on Saturday.

After ousting three Grand Slam winners, including second-seeded Iga Swiatek, en route to the final, Andreeva ended Tauson's own dream run at the tournament with a 7-6 (7/1), 6-1 victory against the Dane.

Landmark win: Russia's Mirra Andreeva

Japan's Forever Young wins $20mln Saudi Cup

Japan's Forever Young hunted down Hong Kong racing royalty Romantic Warrior to land the world's richest race, the $20 million Saudi Cup in Riyadh on Saturday.

Romantic Warrior is the highest-earning racehorse of all time, turning up at the Saudi capital with almost $23 million (22m euros) in the bank.

The seven-year-old gelding looked destined to add significantly to his prize pot when he went well clear round the home turn in this his first ever outing on dirt.

Forever Young foiled Rainbow Warrior

Tears of joy as Hamas frees more Israeli hostages

Family and friends of released Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov clapped, burst into tears and popped bottles of champagne as they watched him walk free on Saturday after being handed over by Hamas in Gaza.

Shem Tov was among six Israeli captives freed by Palestinian militants as part of the seventh hostage-prisoner swap to take place under the first phase of a fragile truce which took effect last month.

Militants released four hostages seized in Hamas's unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and two men who had been held captive for a decade.

Friends and family of Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov celebrate as they watch his televised release by Hamas militants at his family home in Tel Aviv

Gaza militants release Israeli hostages, some dazed others elated

Hamas paraded five Israeli hostages, some looking dazed and others elated, before cheering crowds at two meticulously recorded ceremonies in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

In the first well-rehearsed morning ceremony in Rafah, Hamas fighters stood in an orderly fashion as they handed over hostages Tal Shoham and Avera Mengistu, who walked with apparent difficulty, to the Red Cross.

Avera Mengistu was one of the two Israeli hostages freed on Saturday morning in Rafah

Israel delays Palestinians' release after six Gaza hostages freed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that freeing Palestinian prisoners under the Gaza ceasefire deal will be delayed until Hamas ends its "humiliating ceremonies" while releasing Israeli hostages.

Since the ceasefire came into effect on January 19, Hamas has released 25 Israeli hostages in well-rehearsed handovers, with masked militants parading the captives on stage and forcing them to wave at Gazans gathered to watch.

Newly released Israeli hostage Omer Wenkert reacts as a military helicopter takes him to hospital upon release from Gaza

Syrian Jews hope for revival of ancient heritage

Syria's tiny Jewish community and Syrian Jews abroad are trying to build bridges after Bashar al-Assad's ouster in the hope of reviving their ancient heritage before the community dies out.

This week, a small number of Jews living in Damascus, along with others from abroad, held a group prayer for the first time in more than three decades, in the Faranj synagogue in Damascus's Old City.

"There were nine of us Jews (in Syria). Two died recently," community leader Bakhour Chamntoub told AFP in his home in the Old City's Jewish quarter.

Syrian-American Rabbi Youssef Hamra leads the first Jewish group prayer in Syria since the 1990s, in the Ifrange Synagogue in the Jewish quarter of Damascus's Old City.

Arab leaders meet in Saudi Arabia to hash out Gaza plan

Arab leaders met in Riyadh on Friday to craft a plan for Gaza's post-war reconstruction to counter Donald Trump's proposal for the United States to take over the territory without its Palestinian residents.

Trump's plan has united Arab states in opposition to it, but disagreements remain over who should govern Gaza and how its reconstruction can be funded.

A photo from the meeting showed the kingdom's de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with the leaders of other Gulf Arab states, as well as Egypt and Jordan.

Arab leaders pose for a group photograph at a summit in Riyadh called to craft a Gaza reconstruction plan to counter Donald Trump's controversial proposal for the United States to take over the territory without its Palestinian inhabitants.

Netanyahu orders army to step up West Bank offensive after bus bombs

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the army to step up its operations in the occupied West Bank on Friday as he paid a rare visit to troops in the territory that drew Palestinian condemnation.

Netanyahu's visit to Tulkarem refugee camp in the north of the territory came after bombs that Israeli officials said resembled those used by militants in the West Bank exploded on multiple buses in central Israel on Thursday.

The prime minister's office said he ordered more "operational activity" in the northern West Bank in response to the bomb blasts.

Israeli army bulldozers have wreaked havoc in Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a rare visit to troops on Friday.

Daughter of British IS victim reads last texts to him at France trial

The daughter of murdered British aid worker this week at the Paris trial of two of his presumed Islamic State group jailers recounted her anguish after her father went missing in war-torn Syria in 2013.

In a Paris court on Thursday, Bethany Haines, 27, read out the last text message she would ever receive from her father, David Haines, before he was abducted by IS in north Syria aged 42.

Sitting in the dock as she read were Frenchmen Mehdi Nemmouche, 39, and Abdelmalek Tanem, 35, on trial for holding four French journalists hostage for IS in Syria between 2013 and 2014.

Bethany Haines spoke at the Paris trial of some of her murdered father's presumed jihadist jailers