Kurdish separatists and water issues loom large in long-awaited Erdogan visit to Iraq
apnews.com/article/iraq-t…

Israeli strikes on Rafah overnight killed 22 people, including 18 children, health officials in Gaza said, as the United States was on track to approve billions of dollars of additional military aid to its close ally

Via Sam Magdy & Mohammad Jahjouh

apnews.com/article/israel…

Flights divert around western Iran as one report claims explosions heard near Isfahan apnews.com/article/iran-i…

In other news, because we all needed this:

Police officer rescues cat clinging to flooded car during unprecedented rainstorm that hit Dubai apnews.com/video/floods-d…

Lebanon’s interior minister alleged that the mysterious killing of a Hezbollah-linked money changer in a villa in a quiet mountain resort town was likely the work of Israeli operatives.

The killing was like something out of an international spy thriller.

Via Bassem Mroue باسم مروه Kareem Chehayeb | كريم شهيب

Amnesty International said Wednesday it has documented widespread abuses, including torture and deprivation of medical care, in detention facilities holding thousands of suspected Islamic State members and their relatives in northeast Syria apnews.com/article/syria-…

Biden to host Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Washington as Mideast tensions soar, raising more questions about US troop presence in Iraq

Via Matt Lee Qassim Abdul-Zahra

apnews.com/article/us-ira…

The shadow war between Israel and Iran has been exposed. What happens next?

All eyes are now on whether Israel chooses to take further military action, while Washington seeks diplomatic measuresinstead to ease regional tensions.

The Associated Press

apnews.com/article/f3c5ba…

BREAKING: Israel says Iran launched a number of drones toward it that will take hours to arrive apnews.com/article/strait…

Commandos from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard rappelled down from a helicopter onto an Israeli-affiliated container ship near the Strait of Hormuz and seized the vessel Saturday

Via Jon Gambrell | جون

apnews.com/article/strait…

Prominent surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta says he was denied entry to Germany for a pro-Palestinian conference

Via Jack B. Jeffery and Geir Moulson
apnews.com/article/german…

Chaldean patriarch returns to Baghdad after nine months of self-imposed exile amid political dispute apnews.com/article/iraq-c…

How this story came to be
-I wake up on my off day
-I learn that my mom is on her way to the south for Eid
-I scream at her to come back because I’m concerned
-I realize there is no changing her mind
-I ask her to take pictures
-I end up writing the story

Lebanese man sanctioned by US found dead near Beirut.

Mohammad Srour was sanctioned in August 2019 for allegedly giving “financial, material, technological support... other services” to Hamas. The circumstances of his death are unclear.

Via Kareem Chehayeb | كريم شهيب apnews.com/article/lebano…

Palestinians returning to Khan Younis after Israeli withdrawal find an unrecognizable city

Via Sam Magdy and Wafaa Shurafa
apnews.com/article/israel…

Iran's foreign minister accuses US of giving Israel 'green light' to attack consulate in Syria

Also: Tensions rise in Lebanon as the army announces the killing of a Lebanese Forces party official who was kidnapped the day before

Via Kareem Chehayeb | كريم شهيب albert aji apnews.com/article/syria-…

A Human Rights Watch investigation published Thursday said an Israeli attack on a Gaza building in October had no apparent militant target, but killed 106 civilians, including 54 children, making it an “apparent war crime'

Via Julia Frankel

apnews.com/article/israel…

US braces for retaliation after attack on Iran consulate — even as it says it wasn't involved

Via Ellen Knickmeyer Lolita Baldor

apnews.com/article/pentag…