JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid have agreed to dissolve parliament, triggering a new election, and Lapid will in the meantime take over as prime minister, an official said, confirming local media reports.
A vote will be held in parliament next week, after which Lapid will take over the premiership, the official said. Lapid and Bennett were expected to issue statements at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT).

DUBAI: The UAE reported 1,532 new daily COVID-19 infections on Monday, bringing the country’s caseload to 928, 919, as cases continue to hover in thousands after hitting as low as 394 at the start of the month.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention also said that there were no deaths during the 24-stretch, keeping the number of COVID-19-related fatalities to 2,309.

Additional 1,591 individuals also fully recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to 909,736, the ministry added.

Al-LAOTA, Sudan:  Looking at the sacks of wheat stacked in Imad Abdullah’s small home, no one would guess that Sudan’s food security is hanging by a thread after an October coup and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But the wheat farmer fears that the grain will soon rot, after his country’s cash-strapped government backed out of promises to purchase it at incentivising prices.

BEIRUT: The municipality has recently removed Hezbollah slogans, images and billboards that had been put up for years on the road to the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut.

They have been replaced with welcome signs by the Tourism Ministry to greet tourists and expatriates returning to Lebanon for the summer vacation.

Pictures of Hezbollah leaders and deceased party members, as well as the party’s yellow banners, have long occupied the airport road space on both sides and in the median strip.

NABK, Syria: A Syrian desert monastery that was once a hub for interfaith dialogue, attracting tens of thousands, has reopened to visitors after more than a decade of war and isolation.
“We yearn for people to return. We want to see them pray and meditate with us once more, so that they may find here a space for calm, silence and contemplation,” Father Jihad Youssef told AFP, his voice echoing through the dark, empty halls of the monastery he heads.