Jailed Turkish Kurd leader Abdullah Ocalan said in a message published Tuesday that it was "crucial" for the Turkish government to broker a peace deal between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Damascus government.

"It is essential for Turkey to play a role of facilitator, constructively and aimed at dialogue... This is crucial for both regional peace and to strengthen its own internal peace," Ocalan, founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group, said in a message relayed by Turkey's pro-Kurdish DEM party.

Lebanon plans to purchase natural gas from Egypt, seeking to reduce its reliance on fuel oil for its ageing power plants in a country hamstrung by regular electricity cuts.

The electricity sector has cost Lebanon more than $40 billion since the end of its 1975-1990 civil war, and successive governments have failed to reduce losses, repair crumbling infrastructure or even guarantee regular power bill collections.

Iran's president urged his government to listen to the "legitimate demands" of protesters, state media reported Tuesday, after several days of demonstrations by shopkeepers in Tehran over economic hardships.

Shopkeepers in the capital had shut their stores for the second day in a row on Monday, after Iran's embattled currency hit new lows on the unofficial market.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran of fresh strikes and said Hamas would have "hell to pay" if it fails to disarm in Gaza, as he presented a united front with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

Speaking at a news conference with Netanyahu in Florida, Trump threatened to "eradicate" any attempt by Tehran to rebuild its nuclear program or ballistic missile arsenal following U.S. and Israeli strikes earlier this year.

Taiwan said it had detected 89 Chinese military aircraft as well as 28 warships and coastguard vessels near the democratic island on Monday, as China launched live-fire drills.

Taiwan's defense ministry released the data, which showed the highest number of Chinese aircraft reported for a single day since October 15, 2024.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem has said that moves to disarm the group in Lebanon are an "Israeli-American plan", accusing Israel of failing to abide by a ceasefire agreement sealed last year.

Under heavy U.S. pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, the Lebanese military is expected to complete Hezbollah's disarmament south of the Litani River -- located about 30 kilometers from the border with Israel -- by the end of the year.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Monday, an Israeli official told AFP, in what is seen as a crucial visit for the next steps of the fragile Gaza truce plan.

It will be Netanyahu's fifth visit to see key ally Trump in the United States this year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will sit down with Donald Trump on Sunday and seek to secure the U.S. president's stamp of approval for a new proposal to end the nearly four-year conflict with Russia.

French film icon Brigitte Bardot, a symbol of sexual liberation of the 1950s and sixties who turned her back on cinema to devote herself to protecting animals, has died aged 91, her foundation said Sunday.

Thousands of Syrian Alawites took to the streets in coastal and central parts of the country on Sunday to protest, two days after a mosque bombing that killed eight.