Bruno Finel

A diplomatic breakthrough may be imminent in the Middle East. US President Donald Trump announced late Wednesday that Israeli and Lebanese leaders are set to speak by phone for the first time in 34 years, a potential milestone in a conflict that has kept the two countries in a state of war since Israel's establishment in 1948.

In a historic diplomatic breakthrough, Israel and Lebanon have agreed to enter into direct peace negotiations, following a landmark meeting between their ambassadors in Washington.

Lebanon and Israel have begun direct negotiations in Washington on Tuesday, under American auspices, in what could mark a defining moment for a region long held hostage by Iran's revolutionary ambitions.

On the first day of his visit to Algeria, Pope Leo XIV delivered a message of democratic hope to a regime that has spent decades ensuring such hope goes nowhere.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan accused Israel on Monday of seeking to make Turkey its "new enemy », the latest salvo in an increasingly theatrical confrontation between Ankara and Jerusalem that reveals far more about the fragility of Erdogan's domestic position than about any genuine geopolitical rivalry.

The talks in Islamabad are over. The verdict is in. And it could not be clearer.

Iranian state television has revealed that Tehran's delegation has presented Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with a set of firm red lines, as diplomatic efforts to resolve the escalating regional crisis gather pace. The demands, if confirmed, appear to leave little room for compromise with Washington.

Direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon will begin next week, a senior Israeli official has confirmed, a landmark development that marks the first formal talks between the two countries in decades.

Let us dispense with diplomatic courtesy. The demand by France, Spain and their European partners to include Lebanon in the US-Iran negotiations is not statesmanship. 

Let us be clear from the outset. The two-week ceasefire brokered between the United States and Iran - with Israel as the silent third party and Pakistan as the unlikely intermediary - will not lead to peace. 

The calls came within hours of each other. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares declared it "unacceptable" that Israel continues fighting in Lebanon following the US-Iran truce. 

Morocco and Egypt have taken their bilateral relationship to a new level, holding the first session of a joint coordination and monitoring committee in Egypt's new administrative capital on Monday, with Western Sahara firmly at the centre of the agenda.