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Mossad chief says Israel must 'ensure' Iran won't restart nuclear program

The head of Israel's Mossad intelligence service said on Tuesday that the country must "ensure" Iran doesn't restart its nuclear program, six months after it bombed Tehran's atomic facilities during a 12-day war.

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Palestinians retrieve belongings from West Bank camp before home demolitions

Dozens of residents from the West Bank's emptied Nour Shams refugee camp returned on Wednesday to retrieve belongings ahead of the Israeli military's demolition of 25 residential buildings there.

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Israel blocks Canadian delegation from visiting occupied West Bank

Israel on Tuesday blocked a private Canadian delegation that included six members of Parliament from entering the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli Embassy in Canada said the group was denied entry because of its links to Islamic Relief Worldwide, a nongovernmental organization that Israel lists as a terror group.

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How a Syrian Australian Muslim shop owner became a national hero

Like many Australians strolling at Bondi Beach on long, warm summer evenings, Ahmed al Ahmed just wanted a cup of coffee with a friend. Around him, a bloody massacre erupted as two gunmen targeted Jews during Hanukkah festivities at a park close to the shore.

Soon al Ahmed was creeping, bent over, between two parked cars, before barreling directly toward one of the unsuspecting shooters. In footage that has been viewed millions of times around the world, the 44-year-old father can be seen tackling one of the gunmen, wrestling the man's shotgun from his grip and turning it on the attacker.

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First EU airline flight in 35 years lands in Baghdad

Iraq's transport ministry said Tuesday that a flight operated by Greece's Aegean Airlines had been the first European aircraft in 35 years to land at Baghdad's international airport.

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UAE-backed Yemeni separatists march to another southern province

An Emirati-backed secessionist group in Yemen said its forces were marching to another province as part of the group's push to expand areas under its control in the country's south, at the expense of its allies in the internationally recognized government.

The Southern Transitional Council this month seized most of the provinces of Hadramout and Mahra, including crucial oil facilities and the border with Oman. The move raised fears that the relative calm in the country's stalemated civil war might be shattered.

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US Army names 2 Iowa National Guard members killed in attack in Syria

The two Iowa National Guard members killed in a weekend attack in Syria that the U.S. military blamed on the Islamic State group were identified and remembered as dedicated soldiers.

The U.S. Army named them as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown.

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Islamic State group claims responsibility for attack on Syrian personnel

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed Sunday four Syrian security personnel, the SITE Intelligence Group reported.

"The soldiers of the Caliphate attacked a patrol for the apostate Syrian government on the Maaret al-Numan road yesterday with machine guns," the group said Monday according to a statement shared by SITE, which monitors extremist groups.

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What to know about the US military's role in Syria after deadly IS attack

The death of two U.S. service members and one American civilian in an attack in Syria by an alleged member of the Islamic State group has drawn new attention to the presence of American forces in the country.

Saturday's attack was the first with fatalities since the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad a year ago.

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Iraq's election result ratified, premiership remains up for grabs

The result of last month's parliamentary elections in Iraq was ratified by the Supreme Federal Court, confirming that the party of caretaker prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani won the largest number of seats — but not enough to assure him a second term.

The court confirmed that the voting process met all constitutional and legal requirements and had no irregularities affecting its validity.

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