The Arab League on Tuesday pressed Libya's warring parties and their foreign backers to halt fighting and restart peace talks, as regional tensions threaten a new escalation in the oil-rich country's years-long conflict.

Following an emergency meeting requested by Egypt, Arab League foreign ministers warned against a "continuation of military action that alters existing front lines." The statement came as a coalition of Turkish-backed forces based in the capital, Tripoli, pushed toward the key coastal city of Sirte.

One of the Arab world's oldest and most prestigious universities, which endured civil war, kidnappings and various economic crises, is preparing for what may be the biggest challenge in its 154-year history.

The American University of Beirut is confronting a global pandemic, a severe recession and the collapse of Lebanon's currency — all at the same time — and is planning a series of sweeping layoffs and salary cuts in response.

The main al-Qaida-linked group in Syria on Monday detained one of its own former commanders who had defected and set up his own hard-line outfit earlier this year after coming out against a cease-fire, opposition activists said.

The activists said a big force from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, raided the house of Jamal Zeina, better known as Abu Malek al-Talli, on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Idlib and detained him.

A Lebanese political activist who was detained last week was charged on Monday with collaborating with Israel and referred to a military prosecutor, Lebanon's state-run news agency reported.

The National News Agency said Government Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Fadi Akiki charged Kinda al-Khatib with visiting Israel and "dealing with spies of the Israeli enemy." The report added that the judge referred al-Khatib to a military investigative judge for questioning. The military judge is expected to issue a formal arrest warrant.

Pressing ahead in a pandemic, President Donald Trump looked to reverse a decline in his political fortunes Saturday by returning to the format that has so often energized himself and his loyal supporters: a raucous, no-holds-barred rally before tens of thousands of ardent fans, this time in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The rally was shaping up to be one of the biggest indoor events in the U.S. since large gatherings were shut down in March because of the coronavirus, and it was scheduled over the protests of local health officials and as COVID-19 cases spike in many states. The event was expected to draw crowds of protesters to the area as well.

For generations, the people of Fasayil herded animals on the desert bluffs and palm-shaded lowlands of the Jordan Valley. Today, nearly every man in the Palestinian village works for Jewish settlers in the sprawling modern farms to the north and south.

The grazing lands to the west and east, leading down to the banks of the biblical Jordan River, have been swallowed up by the settlements or fenced off by the Israeli military. So instead of leading sheep out to pasture, the men rise before dawn to work in the settlements for around $3 an hour — or they move away.

India on Thursday cautioned China against making "exaggerated and untenable claims" to the Galwan Valley area even as both nations tried to end a standoff in the high Himalayan region where their armies engaged in a deadly clash.

Twenty Indian troops were killed in the clash Monday night that was the deadliest conflict between the sides in 45 years. China has not disclosed whether its forces suffered any casualties.

The Trump administration on Wednesday ramped up pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad and his inner circle with a raft of new economic and travel sanctions for human rights abuses and blocking a settlement of the country's bloody nine-year conflict.

The State Department said 39 Syrian individuals, including Assad and his wife, had been designated for the new sanctions. Others include members of the extended Assad family, senior military leaders and business executives. Many of those on the list were already subject to U.S. sanctions, but the penalties also target non-Syrians who do business with them.

Turkey said Wednesday it has airlifted troops for a cross-border ground operation against Turkey's Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, the first known airborne-and-land offensive by Ankara inside Iraqi territory.

The airborne offensive into Iraq's border region of Haftanin, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Turkey-Iraq border, was launched following intense artillery fire into the area, said the Defense Ministry in Ankara.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday distanced his party from the rioters who ransacked central Beirut in the weekend and denied seeking a government change, as he described the dollar shortage crisis as a U.S. "conspiracy."

"When protests erupted over the rise in the dollar exchange rate and acts of violence occurred in Beirut and Tripoli, some held the Shiite duo responsible and said the Shiite duo wanted to topple the government. In the past they said this is Hizbullah’s government, so is Hizbullah stupid to topple its government? This is a sign of confusion and absurdity," said Nasrallah in a televised speech.