Middle East & North Africa

BAGHDAD, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi parliament failed Sunday to elect a new speaker to replace the sacked speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi due to political wrangling among parliamentary political blocs.

The parliament session began on Saturday afternoon and was chaired by Mohsen al-Mandalawi, the first deputy of the parliament speaker, with the attendance of 314 lawmakers out of the parliament's 329 seats and continued until the early hours of Sunday, according to a statement issued by the parliament.

BEIRUT, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Four militants were killed in armed clashes with an Israeli force after the armed group managed on Sunday dawn to infiltrate the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua the unidentified armed group was able to break through the barbed wire fence placed by the Israeli army in the Baathail Lake and enter within an unspecified distance into an occupied area of the Shebaa Farms located between the Israeli sites of Ruwaisat al-Alam and al-Samaqa.

BAGHDAD, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Iraqis held a rally on Saturday in Iraq's capital Baghdad in protest against the U.S.-Britain strikes against some Houthi military sites in Yemen.

The protest was held in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad, where demonstrators chanted anti-U.S. slogans and raised banners denouncing Israel and the United States.

Many demonstrators said the air strikes represent American arrogance that does not respect international laws and norms.

TEL AVIV (AP) — The families of hostages held in the Gaza Strip kicked off a 24-hour rally in Tel Aviv Saturday night, calling on the government to bring their loved ones home after 100 days spent in Hamas captivity.

Thousands of people poured into “Hostages Ssquare” in Tel Aviv — a central plaza opposite Israel’s Defense Ministry that has served as a gathering point for the campaigners.

Hamas and other Gaza militants captured some 250 people during its deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, while killing some 1,200 other people, most of them civilians.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Now 100 days old, the latest Israel-Hamas war is by far the longest, bloodiest, and most destructive conflict between the bitter enemies.

JERUSALEM, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Israel accused Hamas on Saturday of planning to attack its embassy in Sweden as part of an expansion by the Palestinian Islamist militant group into Europe, where authorities announced the arrests of several suspects last month.

In a statement following up on the arrests announced by Danish, German and Swedish authorities, Israel's Mossad intelligence agency named an alleged Hamas network member in Sweden, without specifying whether he was also in custody.

CAIRO, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Houthi militants mistakenly targeted a tanker carrying Russian oil in a missile attack on Friday off Yemen, British maritime security firm Ambrey said.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organisation said it had received a report of a missile being fired 90 nautical miles southeast of Yemen's port city of Aden.

"The master reported a missile landing in the water 400-500 metres away, and being followed by three small craft," the UKMTO advisory note said, adding that there were no injuries or damage.

DUBAI, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Yemenis gathered in several cities on Friday to hear their leaders condemn U.S. and British strikes on their country in response to attacks by Houthi militants on Red Sea shipping.

The U.S. and Britain carried out dozens of air strikes on Houthi military targets overnight, widening a wave of regional conflict unleashed by Israel's war in Gaza.

"Your strikes on Yemen are terrorism," said Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, referring to the United States. "The United States is the Devil."

ISTANBUL, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkish security forces have "neutralized" 45 "terrorists" in retaliatory airstrikes over their killing of several Turkish soldiers on Friday, the Turkish presidency said on Saturday.

Of the "terrorists," 36 were killed in the forces' cross-border operations in northern Iraq, and nine were killed in northern Syria, the presidency said on the social media platform X.

DAMASCUS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Four people were killed on Saturday as their car slid off a bridge into a heavy rainfall-induced water stream in the northwestern Syrian province of Tartus, the local Sham FM radio reported.

Numerous villages in the province experienced heavy downpours and suffered the subsequent widespread flooding, said the report, citing Provincial Governor Hassan Hassan.