- French skier Giezendanner helicoptered off mountain after Wengen crash
- Over 55,000 displaced Sudanese return to southeastern state: IOM
- Noman and Sajid help Pakistan dominate West Indies in spin battle
- 'Great day' for happy couple Svitolina, Monfils at Australian Open
- Collins dumped out of Australian Open to boos
- Mbappe improving every game: Real Madrid coach Ancelotti
- Rome shoppers take pot luck in 'blind sale' of unclaimed packages
- Goggia charges to Cortina downhill triumph as Vonn flops
- Solskjaer returns to coaching with Turkish side Besiktas
- Telegram boss admits 'seriousness' of French allegations: source
- Sinner surges into Melbourne last 16 as Swiatek destroys Raducanu
- Noman and Sajid give Pakistan lead in spin-dominated first Test
- Sinner romps past Giron into Australian Open last 16
- Svitolina stuns Paolini for family fairytale at Australian Open
- Indian court finds man guilty in notorious hospital rape case
- Medvedev fined $76,000 for Australian Open antics
- S. Korea's president in court as investigators seek to extend detention
- Gaza ceasefire to begin Sunday morning, after Israeli approval
- Trump administration plans mass immigrant arrests next week: incoming official
- Russian attack kills four in Kyiv
- Teen qualifier Tien surges into Australian Open last 16
- Sinclair, Warrican spin Pakistan to 230 all out in first Test
- South Korea's president in court as investigators seek to extend detention
- Veteran Monfils stuns fourth seed Fritz at Australian Open
- TikTok's journey from fun app to US security concern
- US TikTok ban looms as Trump seeks last-ditch solution
- Swiss Ruegg wins uphill finish to lead women's Tour Down Under
- Rybakina needs physio 'magic' after fighting on at Australian Open
- Swiatek destroys Raducanu as Sinner steps up Melbourne defence
- Irving shines as Mavs roll Thunder, Nuggets scorch Heat
- History-making 'lucky loser' Lys into Australian Open last 16
- Scratchy Navarro dumps Jabeur out of Australian Open
- In Brazil, disinformation deals Lula a bruising defeat
- South Korea court to decide on extending president's detention
- Slew of satellite projects aims to head off future wildfires
- TikTok could 'go dark' in US Sunday after Supreme Court ruling
- Brutal Swiatek routs Raducanu to reach Australian Open last-16
- Menendez brothers' hearing delayed by LA fires
- Tsunami survivor Sasaki overcame tragedy to reach MLB
- 'We're entertainers': Pegula backs Djokovic call to jazz up tennis
- Marathon man Draper warns Alcaraz he's in for a battle
- Israeli government approves Gaza ceasefire deal
- Hoffman, Hoey share PGA Tour lead in La Quinta
- Japanese star Sasaki announces joining LA Dodgers
- The video games bedeviling Elon Musk
- Gamers tear into Musk for 'faking' video game prowess
- Kvaratskhelia signs for Paris Saint-Germain from Napoli
- US Treasury to take 'extraordinary measures' to avoid debt default
- Lille warm up for Liverpool clash by going third in Ligue 1, Monaco lose
- Canada vows 'Trump tax' on US in response to tariffs: minister
Israel says historic meet with US, Arab envoys will 'deter' Iran
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the top diplomats of Israel and four Arab states wrapped up landmark meeting Monday vowing to boost regional cooperation, which Israel claimed would send a strong message to its arch foe Iran.
The talks brought together for the first time on Israeli soil the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco -- which all normalised ties with the Jewish state in 2020 -- and of Egypt, which made peace with Israel in 1979.
Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, the meeting's host, said that "this new architecture, the shared capabilities we are building, intimidates and deters our common enemies -- first and foremost Iran and its proxies.
"They certainly have something to fear."
UAE Foreigh Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan called the gathering "historic".
"What we are trying to achieve here is changing the narrative, creating a different future," he told reporters after the talks.
The meeting's late-Sunday opening, in the Sde Boker kibbutz deep in the Negev desert, was marred by a shooting attack in northern Israel that killed two police officers and was claimed by the Islamic State group, which has rarely managed to stage attacks inside Israel.
And early Monday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office confirmed he had caught Covid, a day after he held closed-door meetings with Blinken, followed by joint press conference without masks.
- Iran nuclear deal -
The talks on restoring the 2015 Iran nuclear deal were high on the agenda in meetings Blinken held Sunday with Israel's Bennett, Lapid and President Isaac Herzog.
Speaking alongside Lapid on Sunday, Blinken said the US believes restoring the agreement is "the best way to put Iran's (nuclear) programme back in the box" after the US withdrew from the deal under former president Donald Trump in 2018.
The European Union's foreign policy chief said at the weekend that an agreement with Iran to restore the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action could be reached "in a matter of days".
Blinken stressed that "when it comes to the most important element, we see eye-to-eye" with Israel. "We are both committed, both determined, that Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon."
Lapid said the two sides "have disagreements" about the deal, whose restoration is in the final stages of negotiation in Vienna after almost a year of on-and-off talks.
But "open and honest dialogue is part of the strength of our friendship," Lapid said.
"At the same time, Israel will do anything we believe is needed to stop the Iranian nuclear programme."
- 'No substitute' -
UAE and Bahrain formed ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords, brokered by former US president Donald Trump. Morocco then re-established relations with Israel under a separate Trump-brokered agreement.
Israeli leaders have argued that the normalisations highlight a changed Middle East, where Arab leaders are no longer compelled to keep a distance from Israel so long as its conflict with the Palestinians remains unsolved.
The Abraham Accords infuriated the Palestinians, who argued that they marked a betrayal of a decades-old Arab League consensus to isolate Israel until it agrees to the establishment of Palestinian state, with its capital in east Jerusalem.
Blinken has voiced strong support for the Abraham Accords, negotiated by the previous US administration, but cautioned at the Negev meeting that they cannot replace Israeli-Palestinian peace-building.
The gains brought about by the Abraham Accords "are not a substitute for progress between Palestinians and Israelis," Blinken told reporters.
In Israel Sunday, Blinken also discussed strategies to ensure calm this year during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Christian Easter celebrations and the Jewish Passover holiday, which overlap.
Tensions in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as their future capital, partly fuelled an 11-day conflict in May last year with the Islamist group Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip.
Blinken stressed the need to "prevent actions on all sides that could raise tensions, including (Jewish) settlement expansion" in occupied Palestinian territories, a rare in-person condemnation of Israeli efforts to expand the Jewish settler population.
J.Pereira--PC