LONDON: The US military is investigating an “unidentified flying orb” after a large, round metallic object was spotted by a spy plane over an active conflict zone, it was reported on Tuesday.

The image, originally taken in April 2016 over the city of Mosul, was part of a classified briefing for US officials and was shared by Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp on their podcast “Weaponized,” a Daily Mail report said.

ISTANBUL: Turkiye has indefinitely postponed a new round of talks with Sweden and Finland on the Nordic neighbors’ NATO membership bids, Turkish state media reported on Tuesday.
The talks were due to be held next month, the reports said, citing Turkish diplomatic sources.
Turkiye’s decision came a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Sweden he would not support its bid to join the Western US-led defense alliance.
Bids to join NATO must be ratified by all members of the alliance, of which Turkiye is a member.

RAMALLAH: A Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli soldiers last week posed no threat or danger and should not have lost his life, the Israeli army admitted on Monday.

Ahmed Kahla, 46, from Ramon, near Silwad in the occupied West Bank, was shot in the neck from close range at a military checkpoint on Jan. 15.

The Israeli army initially claimed that Kahla had been shot because he got out of his car with a knife in his hand and ran toward soldiers with the intention of stabbing them.

WASHINGTON: The US and Israel has launched what one US official described as the allies’ most significant joint military exercise to date, involving thousands of forces, a dozen ships and 142 aircraft, including nuclear-capable bombers.

The “Juniper Oak” drills, which will run through Friday, are meant to demonstrate and deepen integration between the US and Israeli militaries, the senior US defense official said, and come at a time of growing tension over Iran’s nuclear program.

RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on the US and the EU to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the demolition of Al-Khan Al-Ahmar, east of Jerusalem, and the forced displacement of its residents.

Al-Khan Al-Ahmar has provoked an international crisis as the small village is strategically significant, connecting the north of the West Bank with the south.