BEIRUT: Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrived in Algeria on Saturday for an official visit, Syrian state media reported.
Mekdad’s visit reinforces Damascus’ openness to the Arab world after it was isolated for more than a decade, and the minister will be welcomed by Algerian foreign minister, Ahmed Ataf, Algerian state radio said.

JERUSALEM: Christian worshippers thronged the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem on Saturday to celebrate the ceremony of the “Holy Fire,” an ancient, mysterious ritual that has sparked tensions this year with the Israeli police.

KHARTOUM: Sudan’s main paramilitary group said it had seized the presidential palace, the army chief’s residence and Khartoum international airport on Saturday in an apparent coup attempt but the military said it was fighting back.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which accused the army of attacking them first, also said they had taken over the airports in the northern city of Merowe and in El-Obeid in the west.

SANAA: Scores of prisoners of war, including Saudis, were freed on Saturday as part of a cross-border exchange between the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
The flights connecting Saudi Arabia and Houthi-held territory in Yemen were part of a multi-day transfer involving nearly 900 detainees that comes amid peace talks which have raised hopes for an end to Yemen’s eight-year-old war.

RAMALLAH: Israeli police have been criticized for heavy-handed tactics after hundreds of Orthodox Christians were blocked from celebrating Holy Saturday in a church in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Several Coptic Orthodox priests were assaulted in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, according to videos circulating on news websites.
Israeli forces blocked the celebrations with roadblocks and barriers at the gates of the Old City, allowing only small numbers of Christians and those with entry permits to enter.