TRIPOLI: Armed forces in the Libyan capital mobilized a massive security presence on Friday, apparently to prevent any further protests over the interim government’s meeting with Israel last week.
Dozens of military vehicles, some armed with heavy weapons, lined major roads and traffic intersections while convoys belonging to powerful armed factions patrolled the city, Reuters journalists said.

LONDON: The US and Yemen have signed a bilateral cultural property agreement that renews and extends protections for Yemeni cultural property that were put in place in 2020 on an emergency basis, the US State Department announced on Friday.

The deal was signed by US Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Lee Satterfield and Yemeni Ambassador to Washington Mohammed Al-Hadhrami, accompanied by the US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking on Wednesday.

LONDON: A senior US official is set to travel to Israel and Turkiye next week to discuss security issues and weapons control, the State Department said on Thursday.

“Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, Mallory Stewart, will travel to Jerusalem and Ankara during the week of Sept. 4-9,” the State Department said in a statement.

RIYADH/DUBAI:Arab countries are braced for a sharp rise in the price of all things sweet after it emerged this week that India, a major supplier of agricultural products to import-reliant Middle East, plans to suspend sugar exports from this October until September next year.

According to three Indian government sources who spoke to Reuters news agency, New Delhi imposed the 11-month ban — the first of its kind in seven years — mainly due to reduced cane yields caused by a lack of rain over the summer monsoon season.

CAIRO: The head of Sudan’s army warned on Thursday that the northeast African country will be divided if the conflict between the military and rival paramilitary force is not resolved.
Sudan plunged into chaos after monthslong tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting on April 15.