BEIRUT: Lebanon’s president has hailed progress in the dispute with Israel over its southern maritime border, saying that US-led mediation efforts were close to finding a solution.

Michel Aoun’s office said that the latest round of discussions had concluded and that Amos Hochstein, the lead US negotiator, was preparing a draft of a final agreement.

“Reaching an agreement on the demarcation of the southern maritime borders means the start of the process of exploration for oil and gas in the Lebanese fields located within the exclusive economic zone,” Aoun said.

RIYADH: The family of Mahsa Amini say they have received death threats by Iranian authorities, warning them not to participate in protests, BBC reported. 

The death of a 22-year-old Amini at the hands of Tehran’s morality police has sparked one of Iran’s largest civil uprisings in over a decade. 

Beaten into a coma while being detained for allegedly violating strict dress code, her death became a symbol of Iranian repression.

RIYADH: The mother of an Iranian teenager took her own life after security forces allegedly beat her daughter to death, the Metro reported.

Sarina Esmailzadeh, a 16-year-old YouTuber, was killed in a baton attack during a protest in Karaj last month, activists said.

Her family searched for her for 10 days before authorities handed over her body, according to the Metro.

Esmailzadeh’s YouTube channel includes videos of her without a hijab, dancing with a man, and discussing women’s rights.

BEIRUT: A US-led coalition drone strike in northeastern Syria on Monday killed a Daesh group militant, a Syrian security official said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, the official told the Associated Press that the strike targeted the Daesh member driving a motorcycle in the village of Hamam Al-Turkman.

The village is controlled by Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces near Tel Abyad. No other casualties were reported.

LONDON: Iranian school children were arrested on school premises on Sunday by security forces, the Guardian reported. 

Pictures of security forces arriving at schools in vans without license plates were shared on social media. 

According to the Guardian, Iranian Education Minister Mohammad Mahdi Kazem said that students involved in the protests had not been expelled, but their parents were being contacted.