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PM Carney announces 'preliminary' Canada-China deal to reduce tariffs

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a deal with China's Xi Jinping on Friday to reduce tariffs on each country's products after the two leaders met in Beijing.

"Canada and China have reached a preliminary but landmark trade agreement to remove trade barriers and reduce, reduce tariffs," Carney told a news conference in the Chinese capital.

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Lebanon charges four with kidnapping retired officer for Israel's Mossad

Four people accused of a kidnapping in Lebanon for Israel's Mossad spy agency last month have been charged, a judicial official said, after a retired security officer whose brother was linked to an Israeli airman's disappearance went missing.

Israel has apprehended suspects in Lebanon before and Mossad is accused of regularly attempting to contact Lebanese people to facilitate its operations, while Lebanon has arrested dozens of people on suspicion of collaborating with Israel over the years.

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Trump announces 'board of peace' formed for Gaza

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced the formation of a Gaza "board of peace," a key phase two element of a U.S.-backed plan to end the war in the Palestinian territory.

"It is my Great Honor to announce that THE BOARD OF PEACE has been formed," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, adding that the members of the body will be announced "shortly."

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Two killed in Israeli strikes on Mansouri, Mayfadoun

An Israeli airstrike targeted Friday a vehicle in the southern town of al-Mansouri in the Tyre district, killing one person, hours after another strike overnight targeted a car in Mayfadoun, also killing a person.

On Thursday, the Israeli military said it conducted air strikes against Hezbollah targets shortly after issuing evacuation orders for the village of Sohmor and Machghara in West Bekaa. It later targeted Hermel's outskirts in Bekaa.

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Israel bombs buildings in Sohmor, threatens Mashghara after evacuation warnings

The Israeli army on Thursday issued evacuation warnings for two buildings in West Bekaa's Mashghara after bombing two threatened buildings in Sohmor, also in West Bekaa, after similar warnings.

"Urgent warning to the residents of South Lebanon, specifically in the village of Sohmor," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X.

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Saudi, Qatar, Oman convinced Trump to 'give Iran a chance'

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman led efforts to talk U.S. President Donald Trump out of an attack on Iran, fearing "grave blowbacks in the region", a senior Saudi official told AFP on Thursday.

The Gulf trio "led a long, frantic, diplomatic last-minute effort to convince President Trump to give Iran a chance to show good intention", the official said, on condition of anonymity.

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Kremlin says Ukraine running out of time to agree to Moscow's peace terms

The Kremlin said Thursday that Ukraine was running out of options to strike a deal to end almost four years of war with Russia, as thousands were without heating in Kyiv in -12C temperatures following waves of Russian strikes on the country's energy grid.

"The situation is deteriorating day by day for the Kyiv regime," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP, adding that Ukraine's "corridor for decision-making" was "narrowing".

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Weak or not? Can and will Hezbollah join possible Iran war?

Western diplomats have reportedly failed to secure a firm promise from Hezbollah to stay out of a potential conflict between the U.S. and Iran.

A media report claimed that diplomats have sought guarantees from Hezbollah in recent weeks but only received a vague answer and no guarantees.

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Russia 'concerned' as European troops arrive in Greenland

Russia said it was seriously concerned by the arrival of NATO military personnel in Greenland, a mineral-rich island in the Arctic that U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to seize.

"The situation unfolding in the high latitudes is of serious concern to us," the Russian embassy in Belgium, where NATO is headquartered, said in a statement published late Wednesday.

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Oil prices drop 3% after Trump comments on Iran

Oil prices plunged on Thursday after fears over instability in Iran were eased by comments from U.S. President Donald Trump.

West Texas Intermediate dropped 3.0 percent to $60.16 per barrel while Brent crude was down 2.93 percent to $64.57, after Trump said he had been told the killings of protesters in Iran had been halted.

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