The Gulf Cooperation Council reaffirmed its support for Lebanon during what it said was a "critical stage" and called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, after holding an extraordinary ministerial meeting in Doha.
In a statement, the council condemned the escalation of conflict in Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories, calling on all involved parties to exercise self-restraint and refrain from violence.
More than 1,900 people have been killed and over 9,000 wounded in Lebanon in almost a year of cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, with most of the deaths occurring in the past two weeks, according to Lebanese government statistics.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians since October 7, when Hamas gunmen led an incursion into Israel, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israel and Gaza health authorities.
South Korea's top court cast doubt on Thursday on frontrunner Lee Jae-myung's eligibility to run for the presidency, while the resignations of the prime minister and finance minister shook the interim government in place since December's martial law.
US President Donald Trump ousted his national security adviser Mike Waltz on Thursday and named Secretary of State Marco Rubio as his interim replacement in the first major shakeup of Trump's inner circle since he took office in January.
Ukraine and the US have signed a deal heavily promoted by President Donald Trump that will give the US preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals and fund investment in Ukraine's reconstruction.
Schools were closed and flights cancelled as New Zealand's capital Wellington was hit by its strongest winds in over a decade on Thursday while a state of emergency was declared in parts of the South Island after 24 hours of heavy rain.
Increased looting of food stores and community kitchens in the Gaza Strip shows growing desperation as hunger spreads two months after Israel cut off supplies to the Palestinian territory, aid officials say.
Israel said it carried out a warning strike against an extremist group that was preparing to attack Druze in Syria, following through on its pledge to protect the minority group as violence spread in Druze areas near Damascus on Wednesday.
Swarms of Russian drones attacked the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Dnipro late on Tuesday, killing at least one person and injuring at least 46, officials said.
At least 14 people died in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata late on Tuesday when a fire blazed through a six-storey hotel in a congested neighbourhood, authorities said.
South Korea presidential race rocked by court ruling, resignations
Trump ousts White House national security adviser Waltz
Ukraine, US sign minerals deal sought by Trump
Wild weather in New Zealand disrupts flights, shutters schools
Looting of Gaza stores signals worsening hunger crisis
Israel says it carried out warning strike in defence of Druze in Syria
One killed, 46 injured as Russian drones attack Ukraine's Kharkiv and Dnipro
Blaze in hotel in India's Kolkata kills 14
