Israel carried out intense airstrikes on southern Lebanon early Saturday, killing one person, wounding seven and briefly cutting a highway that links Beirut with parts of south Lebanon, the Health Ministry said.

The pre-dawn airstrikes on the village of Msayleh struck a place that sold heavy machinery, destroying a large number of vehicles.

Syria's foreign minister arrived in Beirut on Friday in what observers say could mark a breakthrough in relations between the two neighbors, which have been tense for decades.

Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani held talks with his Lebanese counterpart Youssef Rajji and and later with President Joseph Aoun. He is also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. It is the first high-profile Syrian visit to Lebanon since insurgent groups overthrew President Bashar Assad's government in early December 2024.

A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas for the Gaza Strip came into effect at noon local time, the Israeli military said Friday, adding that troops were withdrawing to agreed-upon deployment lines. The announcement came hours after Israel's Cabinet approved President Donald Trump's plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of the remaining hostages and of Palestinian prisoners.

Palestinians reported heavy shelling in parts of Gaza throughout Friday morning.

Mohamed Salah is going back to the World Cup with Egypt next summer.

Saudi Arabia beat Indonesia 3-2 on Wednesday to move within 90 minutes of qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

A World Cup without Germany used to be unthinkable. Now the four-time champion needs to turn things around to ensure a spot at next year's tournament.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino issued an appeal for protesters to keep calm ahead of Israel's upcoming soccer World Cup qualifying matches in Norway and Italy after an agreement was reached with Hamas to a pause in their devastating two-year war.

President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia's air defense were to blame for downing an Azerbaijani jetliner in December that killed 38 people, his first admission of responsibility for the crash in an effort to ease tensions between the neighbors.

Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai, whose philosophical, bleakly funny novels often unfold in single sentences, won the Nobel Prize in literature Thursday for his "compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art."

Wall Street is taking a pause on Thursday as U.S. stocks and even the price of gold make only modest moves near their record highs.