TEL AVIV (Sputnik) - Israeli military opened fire on three individuals who threw Molotov cocktails and stones at a car in the northern West Bank, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said on 25 July.

Ties between the two nations soured in the past decade following the Mavi Marmara incident and the several escalation rounds between Israel and the Gaza militants, allegedly supported by Turkey. Now, however, under the leadership of PM Naftali Bennett the situation might soon be changing.

The purportedly slain man had been a US military interpreter for 16 months and had sought asylum in the US for security reasons. He was denied a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) because he had been fired in 2012 after failing a standard polygraph test. He never received an explanation for why he failed the polygraph.

The Turkish forces did not specify the perpetrators of the attack, but it could apparently come from Kurdish forces fighting in the region, who Ankara considered to be terrorists, affiliated with the PKK, which is banned in Turkey.

KABUL (Sputnik) - The Taliban movement* is calling on the international community and non-governmental organizations to assist it with combating the COVID-19 pandemic, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen has told Sputnik.

As violent protests hit the south-western regions, local media have been reporting daily about riots, exchanges of gunfire and clashes in the streets, which have resulted in injuries and even deaths among citizens.

The Saudis proposed a comprehensive UN-sponsored ceasefire in Yemen in March, but the Houthi movement demanded that Riyadh first lift the economic blockade of Yemeni ports and airports.

Coalition forces remain in Iraq despite the fact that last year, the country's parliament voted to end the presence of all foreign troops in response to a US drone attack near Baghdad International Airport that killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.

The two leaders also deplored the loss of innocent Afghan lives, including through targeted killings, as well as the displacement of the civilian population and destruction of infrastructure. Violence has intensified in Afghanistan since foreign forces began to withdraw from the country.

Taking into consideration Lebanon's crushing economic crisis, the World Bank recently labelled the nation's financial meltdown as one of the worst in modern history, with its currency having lost more than 90% of its value.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States, the European Union, individual European states and NATO are urging the Taliban* to stop its military offensive in Afghanistan and engage in peace talks, the US-Europe Communiqué on Afghanistan and Peace Efforts said on Friday.

The African Union's predecessor, the OAU, established in 1963, enshrined the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the post-colonial African states. But the AU has sent peacekeeping troops to intervene in conflicts — notably in Somalia.

Tensions between Ben & Jerry’s and Israel have remained at an all-time high as several Israeli officials have called on American counterparts to punish the Vermont-based firm over the decision to halt sales in the “occupied Palestinian territory.” Although blame has been tossed to parent company Unilever, its CEO has rebuked the claim.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - CIA Director William Burns in an interview with NPR said he is troubled by the advances the Taliban* movement is making in Afghanistan.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Russian-made Buk-M2E air defense systems downed in the early hours of Thursday all the missiles fired at the central Syrian province of Homs, Rear Adm. Vadim Kulit, the deputy head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria, said.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said prior to meeting with his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani that Qatar is a vital partner of the United States in various areas, including in Washington’s efforts to combat terrorism.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States is getting prepared to house up to 35,000 Afghan interpreters and their families at US bases in Kuwait and Qatar as part of an initiative to help those who risked their lives to help US forces during the war, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Following the ongoing efforts to remove US forces from Afghanistan, chatter has begun to emerge regarding the potential pullout of American troops from nearby Iraq, which has endured the presence of US soldiers since the 2003 invasion to oust then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The statement comes three days after the US company Ben & Jerry’s, which produces ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet, announced that it would stop selling its products in the West Bank, which it described as “occupied Palestinian territory”. The move sparked anger and indignation in Israel as well as in the United States.

Last Sunday, several media outlets and rights groups claimed that about 50,000 phone numbers, including those of a dozen world leaders, may have been targeted by an Israeli cyber company's spyware, known as Pegasus.