TUNIS: A Tunisian anti-terrorism investigative judge has decided to hold three prominent politicians and a high-profile businessman in pre-trial detention, their defense team said, amid a continuing crackdown targeting opposition figures.
The four men are the first to face a judicial hearing among over a dozen leading figures critical of President Kais Saied who have been detained this month.

AMMAN: Jordan will on Sunday host a “political-security” meeting between Israel and the Palestinians to try and restore calm to the occupied Palestinian territories after deadly violence, a Jordanian government official said.
The meeting to be held in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba will also be attended by US and Egyptian representatives.
It aims at “building trust” between Israel and the Palestinians, the official said on Saturday.

BEIRUT: The body of Lebanese cleric Sheikh Ahmed Al-Rifai, a vocal critic of Hezbollah and Iran, was found on Saturday, a week after he went missing in Tripoli.

At 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, a website in the town of Qarqaf in northern Lebanon mourned Al-Rifai’s death.

The religious leader, who was affiliated with Dar Al-Fatwa, hailed from Al-Qarqaf, Akkar, where he was the imam of the mosque.

Lebanese army forces entered the area on Saturday to maintain security and prevent any retaliatory action.

AL-MUKALLA: At least 11 people were killed and 12 injured on Friday when a pickup truck carrying 25 passengers drove over a cliff in northern Yemen.

Hadi Wardan, from Yemen’s National Commission for Claims of Human Rights Violations, told Arab News on Saturday said that the accident happened when the driver of the Toyota Hilux lost control while navigating a hillside road in the Al-Sharaqi region of Hajjah province.

NABLUS, Palestinian Territories: When Israel conducted its deadliest raid in the occupied West Bank in almost two decades this week, a young Palestinian nurse rushed to help.
As critical case after critical case succumbed to their wounds, Elias Al-Ashqar, 25, let out a blood-curdling roar.
“My father! My father,” he screamed, as he realized his dad was among the 11 people killed in the raid on the flashpoint city of Nablus.