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Syria Kurds impose curfew in Qamishli ahead of govt forces entry

Kurdish forces imposed a curfew on Kurdish-majority Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Tuesday, ahead of the deployment of government troops to the city, an AFP team reported.

The curfew came after Syrian security personnel entered the mixed Kurdish-Arab city of Hasakeh and the countryside around the Kurdish town of Kobane on Monday, as part of a comprehensive agreement to gradually integrate the Kurds' military and civilian institutions into the state.

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No more adventures: Salam calls on Arab countries to support, invest, donate

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam urged Arab countries to stand by Lebanon and to participate in the army support conference that will be held next month in Paris, as he attended on Tuesday the World Governments Summit in the UAE.

Salam said Lebanon is committed to reforms that would encourage investments and now has the war and peace decision, asking Arab "brothers" to support the crisis and war-hit country in its reformist journey and to participate "actively" in the army support conference.

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Trump says Mexico will 'cease' sending oil to Cuba

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that Mexico would stop sending oil to Cuba, which is already struggling after supplies from its traditional provider Venezuela dried up following the fall of Nicolas Maduro.

"It's a failed nation. Mexico is going to cease sending them oil," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about Cuba.

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Cuba confirms 'communications' with US, but says no negotiations yet

Cuba's government on Monday told AFP that it was in "communication" with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration but not yet in formal talks on a deal to end Washington's pressure campaign on the island.

"Today we cannot talk about having dialogue with the United States, but it is true that there have been communications between the two governments," deputy foreign minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio said in an interview.

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US envoy Witkoff to meet Netanyahu today in Israel

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, an Israeli official said, following the reopening of Gaza's key Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

The Israeli official did not confirm the location or subject of the meeting, but Israeli media reported Witkoff will arrive in Israel on Tuesday. Witkoff and U.S. envoy Jared Kushner held talks with Netanyahu in late January in which they reportedly pushed for the reopening of the Rafah crossing.

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UAE senior official says Iran needs to reach deal with US

Iran needs to reach a deal with the United States, a senior United Arab Emirates official said on Tuesday, ahead of talks between the two sides after repeated threats of American military action.

"Iran today needs to reach a deal," presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said during the World Governments Summit in Dubai, adding that Iran needs "to rebuild their relationship with the United States".

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NATO chief in Kyiv on surprise visit hours after Russian attack

NATO chief Mark Rutte was in Kyiv on Tuesday for a surprise visit just hours after Russia launched its largest drone and missile attack so far this year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video of the pair laying flowers at a memorial in central Kyiv to soldiers killed in the Russian invasion.

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Israel strikes buildings in Kfar Tibnit and Ain Qana after evacuation warnings

Israeli airstrikes targeted two buildings Monday in the southern towns of Kfar Tibnit and Ain Qana after the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings.

The Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said the buildings contained "military infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah."

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Israeli army drops leaflets threatening hospital in Bint Jbeil

The Israeli military dropped Sunday flyers aiming to intimidate residents in south Lebanon's Bint Jbeil near the border.

The National News Agency published a photograph of one of the alleged leaflets, which bore a warning to residents that Hezbollah operatives were using a hospital in the town.

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Kremlin confirms Ukraine war talks this week in Abu Dhabi

Russia has confirmed that talks with Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi that were meant to take place over the weekend have been moved to Wednesday, blaming a scheduling issue for the delay.

"They were indeed originally planned for this past Sunday. But additional coordination of the schedules of the three parties was needed," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding: "Now, on Wednesday-Thursday, the second round will indeed take place. It will be held in Abu Dhabi. We can confirm that."

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