President Donald Trump carried the prized battleground of Florida, then he and Democrat Joe Biden shifted their focus early Wednesday to three Northern industrial states _ Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania _ that could prove crucial in determining who wins the White House. However, the intense jockeying for the states was overshadowed by Trump s extraordinary early-morning declaration from the White House calling for outstanding ballots not to be counted. By early Wednesday, neither candidate had the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win. Trump made premature claims of victories in several key states and said he would take the election to the Supreme Court to stop the counting. It was unclear exactly what legal action he might try to pursue. Vote tabulations routinely continue beyond Election Day, and states largely set the rules for when the count has to end. In presidential elections, a key point is the date in December when presidential electors met. That s set by federal law. Several states allow mailed-in votes to be accepted after Election Day, as long as they were postmarked by Tuesday. That includes Pennsylvania, where ballots postmarked by Nov 3 can be accepted if they arrive up to three days after the election. Trump suggested those ballots shouldn t be counted. But Biden, briefly appearing in front of supporters in Delaware, urged patience, saying the election ``ain t over until every vote is counted, every ballot is counted. ``It s not my place or Donald Trump s place to declare who s won this election, Biden said. ``That s the decision of the American people. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf tweeted that his state had over 1 million ballots to be counted and that he ``promised Pennsylvanians that we would count every vote and that s what we re going to do.`` Legal experts were dubious of Trump s declaration. ``I do not see a way that he could go directly to the Supreme Court to stop the counting of votes. There could be fights in specific states, and some of those could end up at the Supreme Court. But this is not the way things work, said Rick Hasen, a professor of law and political science at the University of California-Irvine. Trump has appointed three of the high court s nine justices including, most recently, Amy Coney Barrett. Democrats typically outperform Republicans in mail voting, while the GOP looks to make up ground in Election Day turnout. That means the early margins between the candidates could be influenced by which type of votes _ early or Election Day _ were being reported by the states. Throughout the campaign, Trump cast doubt about the integrity of the election and repeatedly suggested that mail-in ballots should not be counted. Both campaigns had teams of lawyers at the ready to move into battleground states if there were legal challenges. The tight overall contest reflected a deeply polarized nation struggling to respond to the worst health crisis in more than a century, with millions of lost jobs, and a reckoning on racial injustice. Trump kept several states, including Texas, Iowa and Ohio, where Biden had made a strong play in the final stages of the campaign. But Biden also picked off states where Trump sought to compete, including New Hampshire and Minnesota. But Florida was the biggest, fiercely contested battleground on the map, with both campaigns battling over the 29 Electoral College votes that went to Trump. The president adopted Florida as his new home state, wooed its Latino community, particularly Cuban-Americans, and held rallies there incessantly. For his part, Biden deployed his top surrogate _ President Barack Obama _ there twice in the campaign s closing days and benefitted from a $100 million pledge in the state from Michael Bloomberg. Control of the Senate was at stake, too: Democrats needed to net three seats if Biden captured the White House to gain control of all of Washington for the first time in a decade. But Republicans maintained several seats that were considered vulnerable, including in Iowa, Texas and Kansas. The House was expected to remain under Democratic control. The pandemic _ and Trump s handling of it _ was the inescapable focus for 2020. For Trump, the election stood as a judgment on his four years in office, a term in which he bent Washington to his will, challenged faith in its institutions and changed how America was viewed across the globe. Rarely trying to unite a country divided along lines of race and class, he has often acted as an insurgent against the government he led while undermining the nation s scientists, bureaucracy and media. The momentum from early voting carried into Election Day, as an energized electorate produced long lines at polling sites throughout the country. Turnout was higher than in 2016 in numerous counties, including all of Florida, nearly every county in North Carolina and more than 100 counties in both Georgia and Texas. That tally seemed sure to increase as more counties reported their turnout figures. Voters braved worries of the coronavirus, threats of polling place intimidation and expectations of long lines caused by changes to voting systems, but appeared undeterred as turnout appeared it would easily surpass the 139 million ballots cast four years ago. No major problems arose on Tuesday, outside the typical glitches of a presidential election: Some polling places opened late, robocalls provided false information to voters in Iowa and Michigan, and machines or software malfunctioned in some counties in the battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Texas. The cybersecurity agency at the Department of Homeland Security said there were no outward signs by midday of any malicious activity. With the coronavirus now surging anew, voters ranked the pandemic and the economy as top concerns in the race between Trump and Biden, according to AP VoteCast, a national survey of the electorate. Voters were especially likely to call the public health crisis the nation s most important issue, with the economy following close behind. Fewer named health care, racism, law enforcement, immigration or climate change The survey found that Trump s leadership loomed large in voters decision-making. Nearly two-thirds of voters said their vote was about Trump _ either for him or against him.

Americans vote Tuesday in an election amounting to a referendum on Donald Trump and his uniquely brash, bruising presidency that Democratic opponent and frontrunner Joe Biden urged supporters to end, restoring "our democracy." The United States is more divided and angry than at any time since the Vietnam War era of the 1970s -- and fears that Trump could dispute the result of the election are only fueling those tensions. Despite an often startlingly laid-back campaign, Biden, 77, leads in almost every opinion poll, buoyed by his consistent message that America needs to restore its "soul" and get new leadership in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 231,000 people. "I have a feeling we re coming together for a big win tomorrow," Biden said in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a vital electoral battleground where he was joined by pop superstar Lady Gaga. "It s time to stand up and take back our democracy." But Trump was characteristically defiant to the end, campaigning at a frenetic pace with crowded rallies in four states on Monday, and repeating his dark, unprecedented claims for a US president that the polls risk being rigged against him. After almost non-stop speeches in a final three-day sprint, he ended up in the early hours of Tuesday in Grand Rapids, Michigan -- the same place where he concluded his epic against-the-odds campaign in 2016 where he defeated apparent frontrunner Hillary Clinton. Despite the bad poll numbers, the 74-year-old Republican real estate tycoon counted on pulling off another upset. "We re going to have another beautiful victory tomorrow," he told the Michigan crowd, which chanted back: "We love you, we love you!" "We re going to make history once again," he said. - Packing Trump s bags - While Tuesday is formally Election Day, in reality Americans have been voting for weeks. With a huge expansion in mail-in voting to safeguard against the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly 100 million people have already made their choice. Biden has the wind in his sails after indications that Democratic enthusiasm in the early voting may be matching the more visible energy at Trump s impressive rallies. In one of US history s great political gambles, Biden stuck to socially distanced gatherings with small crowds right up to the last moment, in stunning contrast to Trump s constant, large rallies where few supporters so much as bothered with masks. But the Democrat, making his third attempt at the presidency, clearly senses that his calmer approach and strict attention to pandemic protocols is what Americans want after four tempestuous years. "It s time for Donald Trump to pack his bags and go home," Biden told supporters in Cleveland. "We re done with the chaos! We re done with the tweets, the anger, the hate, the failure, the irresponsibility." In chilly downtown Pittsburgh, Justine Wolff said she had cast her ballot for Biden already and was cautiously hopeful he would carry Pennsylvania, which along with Florida may be the tightest of all the swing states that decide close national elections. "I hope that people have seen the writing on the wall," said the 35-year-old nurse. "We need some kind of change because this isn t working for anybody." But where many early votes are believed to have been cast by Democrats, Trump s side is hoping for a massive wave of Republican supporters voting in person on Tuesday. "Whether he wins or loses, this is history," said Kolleen Wall, who turned out to cheer Trump in Grand Rapids. But "when you come to one of these rallies, all you think is, how could he not win?" The first polling stations opening were in two New Hampshire villages, Dixville Notch and Millsfield, starting at midnight. Most polling stations on the East Coast were to open at 6:00 am or 7:00 am (1100 or 1200 GMT). A tiny hamlet of 12 residents in the middle of the forest, near the Canadian border, Dixville Notch has traditionally voted "first in the nation" since 1960. The vote took minutes, as did the count: five votes for Biden, and none for Trump. - Warning of violence - Trump himself is planning to visit his campaign headquarters in Virginia on Tuesday, while Biden will travel to his birthplace of Scranton, the scrappy Pennsylvania town where Trump also visited on Monday. There are worries that if the election is close, extended legal chaos and perhaps violent unrest could ensue -- not least because Trump has spent months trying to sap public trust in the voting process in a nation already bitterly divided along political fault lines. He ramped up these warnings in the final days, focusing especially on Pennsylvania s rule allowing absentee ballots received within three days after Tuesday to be counted. In a tweet flagged with a warning label by Twitter on Monday, he said this would "allow rampant and unchecked cheating." "It will also induce violence in the streets. Something must be done!" Trump tweeted.

Gunmen traded fire with Afghan security forces in Kabul University s campus following a blast in the area, and at least six people were wounded, Afghan government officials said. The Taliban denied their fighters were involved in the assault, and the identity of the attackers was unknown "Gunshots still can be heard in the area but security forces have blocked it off," Ministry of Interior spokesman Tariq Arian said. "We don t know whether we are dealing with a coordinated attack or something else." he said. He later said that multiple attackers had entered the campus and were fighting with security forces. At least six people were wounded, including a professor and a student, according to Akmal Samsor, the health ministry s spokesman. Witnesses said students had fled from the Kabul University campus. "Almost all students have now left," Nahid, a student who asked that only her first name be used for security reasons, told Reuters by telephone after fleeing from the university. Violence has plagued Afghanistan while government and Taliban negotiators have been meeting in Qatar to try to broker a peace deal that would allow the United States to bring home its troop and end its longest war.

Polls opened in Algeria Sunday for a vote on a revised constitution the regime hopes will neutralise a protest movement which at its peak last year swept long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika from power. Bouteflika s successor Abdelmadjid Tebboune, currently hospitalised overseas, has pitched the text as meeting the demands of the Hirak, a movement that staged vast weekly demonstrations for more than a year, until the coronavirus pandemic stopped rallies. But despite a determined government media campaign for a resounding "yes" vote to usher in a "new Algeria", observers say the document offers little new. "Nothing has changed. The ultra-presidential regime will stay," said Massena s Cherbi, a constitutional expert at Sciences Po university in Paris. Tebboune has placed Sunday s referendum at the forefront of efforts to turn the page on the Hirak movement. And after a campaign that saw the "yes" camp dominate state-backed media coverage and supporters of a "no" vote banned from holding meetings, few observers doubt that the text will pass. The key question is how many people vote. Tebboune said Saturday that Algerians will once again "have a rendezvous with history" to bring in a "new era capable of fulfilling the hopes of the nation and the aspirations of our people for a strong, modern and democratic state". Seen by opponents as an old-school regime insider, Tebboune came to power following a December 2019 presidential poll marred by record abstentionism. The Hirak movement led calls for a boycott of that election, and even official data put the turnout at less than 40 percent. The 74-year-old president is hospitalised in Germany amid reports of Covid-19 cases among his staff, and few details have been released on his condition. Experts say the referendum is partly a bid for a more convincing validation at the ballot box. Rather than attacking the youth-led Hirak, Tebboune has ostensibly reached out to it, describing it as a "blessed, authentic popular movement" and arguing that the revised constitution meets its demands. But despite his conciliatory language, many observers are sceptical, especially given how the document was written. "The drafting and consultation process was highly controlled by the state," said Zaid al-Ali, an expert on constitutions in the Arab world. "It s hard to argue that the Hirak s demands for a fully inclusive debate on the state s constitution was respected." Regime incantations And while the new text lists purported guarantees of social and economic rights, al-Ali says these promises are hollow. "The constitution s social and economic rights are not directly enforceable, which means that they are only aspirational," he said. The Hirak, for its part, has rejected the document "in substance and form", calling it a "change of facade" and urging voters to boycott the poll. Algeria, with a population of 44 million and vast oil reserves, has been battered by low crude prices and the coronavirus pandemic, further hurting a young population already suffering from spiralling unemployment. While many have expressed apathy over Sunday s vote, government spokesman and Minister of Communications Ammar Belhimer has predicted that people will "flock" to the polls "to lay a new stone in the process of nation-building and check the manoeuvres of Algeria s enemies". That rhetoric has been accompanied by a campaign of arrests against pro-Hirak activists, bloggers and journalists, with around 90 currently behind bars, according to the CNLD, a prisoners support group. Prominent Algerian journalist Akram Belkaid said the regime wanted to prevent Hirak militants "from relaunching the movement in the street once the health situation improves". "The repression currently underway also aims to prevent a large-scale boycott of the referendum," he wrote in a blog post. "That would undermine the credibility of its incantations about a new Algeria ." Polling stations opened at 8:00 am (0700 GMT) and were set to close at 7:00 pm (1800 GMT).

Lebanon and Israel, still technically at war, were to press on with a second round of maritime border talks Thursday under UN and US auspices to allow for offshore energy exploration. The delegations were to meet for a second day in a row from 10:00 am (0800 GMT) at a base of the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL in the Lebanese border town of Naqura. A first round of talks held on October 14 was described as "positive" by a Lebanese source familiar with the negotiations. After years of quiet US shuttle diplomacy, Lebanon and Israel this month said they had agreed to begin the negotiations in what Washington hailed as a "historic" agreement. The announcement came weeks after Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first Arab nations to establish relations with Israel since Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. But Lebanon has insisted the negotiations are purely technical and do not involve any political normalisation with Israel. Lebanon, reeling from its worst economic crisis in decades, is hoping to settle the maritime border dispute so it can continue exploring for hydrocarbon reserves in the Mediterranean. Exploration is on hold in an area off its coast named Block 9, as a section of it is located in an 860-square-kilometre (330-square-mile) area claimed by both Israel and Lebanon. In February 2018, Lebanon signed its first contract for offshore drilling for oil and gas in Block 9 and Block 4 with a consortium comprising energy giants Total, ENI and Novatek. Lebanon in April said initial drilling in Block 4 had shown traces of gas but no commercially viable reserves. While the US-brokered talks look at the maritime border, a UNIFIL-sponsored track is also due to address outstanding land border disputes. UNIFIL head Major General Stefano Del Col welcomed Tuesday what he called "a unique opportunity to make substantial progress on contentious issues along" the land frontier.

Lebanon and Israel, still technically at war and with no diplomatic ties, launched a second round of maritime border talks Wednesday under UN and US auspices to allow for offshore energy exploration. The talks, expected to last for two days, were held at the headquarters of UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL in the Lebanese border town of Naqura, guarded by army roadblocks and with UN helicopters circling above. After years of quiet US shuttle diplomacy, Lebanon and Israel this month said they had agreed to begin the negotiations in what Washington hailed as a "historic" agreement. The announcement came weeks after Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first Arab nations to establish relations with Israel since Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. Lebanon -- which last saw military clashes with Israel in 2006 -- insists that the negotiations are purely technical and don t involve any soft political normalisation with Israel. "Today s session is the first technical session," said Laury Haytayan, a Lebanese energy expert. "Detailed discussions on demarcation should begin." Lebanon, mired in its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war, is looking to settle the maritime border dispute so it can press on with its offshore quest for oil and gas. The search for hydrocarbons has already heightened tensions in the eastern Mediterranean following repeated Turkish exploration and drilling operations in waters claimed by both Cyprus and Greece. Maximalist approach In February 2018, Lebanon signed its first contract for drilling in two blocks in the Mediterranean with a consortium comprising energy giants Total, ENI and Novatek. Exploration of one of the blocks is more controversial as part of it is located in an 860-square-kilometre (330-square-mile) area claimed by both Israel and Lebanon. Lebanon is expected to adopt a "maximalist approach" to maritime border negotiations, said Haytayan. The energy expert explained that Lebanese negotiators will likely try to claim areas that fall beyond the disputed 860 square kilometres zone, including the Karish gas field currently operated by Israel, she told AFP. "We have to wait to see the reaction of the Israelis," she said. While the US-brokered talks look at the maritime border, a UNIFIL-sponsored track is also due to address outstanding land border disputes. "We have a unique opportunity to make substantial progress on contentious issues along" the border, UNIFIL head Major General Stefano Del Col said in a statement on Tuesday. Positive voices The meetings have raised faint hopes for a thaw between the neighbours who have repeatedly clashed on the battlefield. The Israeli defence minister and alternate prime minister, Benny Gantz, said on Tuesday he was "hearing positive voices coming out of Lebanon, who are even talking about peace with Israel". Gantz, speaking during a tour of northern Israel, did not specify which Lebanese comments he was referring to. But they came a day after Claudine Aoun, daughter of Lebanese President Michel Aoun, told Al Jadeed TV that peace with Israel would be conceivable if outstanding issues were resolved. "We have the maritime border dispute, the issue of Palestinian refugees, and another topic which is more important, which is the issue of natural resources: water, oil and natural gas which Lebanon is depending on to advance its economy," she said. When asked directly if she would object to a peace treaty with Israel, she responded: "Why would I object?" "Are we supposed to stay in a state of war? ... I don t have doctrinal differences with anyone ... I have political differences." The Shia Muslim armed movement Hezbollah, a major force in Lebanese politics, has criticised the maritime talks. Israel and Hezbollah last fought a war in 2006, and both sides still exchange sporadic cross-border fire.

Turkey should not meddle in France s domestic affairs, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Tuesday, after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called for a boycott of French goods, citing French leader Emmanuel Macron s "anti-Islam" agenda. Erdogan s comments on Monday were the latest expression of anger in the Muslim world over images being displayed in France of the Prophet Mohammad, which some Muslims consider blasphemous. Erdogan also questioned Macron s mental health, prompting Paris to recall its ambassador in Ankara. "It should shock each one of us that foreign powers are meddling with what is going on in France," Darmanin told France Inter radio, adding he was referring to Turkey and Pakistan, where parliament passed a resolution urging the government to recall its envoy from Paris. "Turkey should not meddle with France s domestic affairs," Darmanin added. The row has its roots in a knife attack outside a French school on Oct. 16 in which a man of Chechen origin beheaded Samuel Paty, a teacher who had shown pupils cartoons of Mohammad in a civics lesson on freedom of speech. President Emmanuel Macron, who met representatives of France s Muslim community on Monday, has pledged to fight "Islamist separatism", saying it was threatening to take over some Muslim communities in France.

A third attempt at halting weeks of fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh collapsed quickly on Monday with Armenia and Azerbaijan trading accusations of violating the US-brokered ceasefire within minutes. As fighting over the disputed region enters its second month, international mediators are scrambling to bring a stop to frontline clashes and shelling of civilian areas that have left hundreds dead. The latest "humanitarian ceasefire" was announced by Washington on Sunday, after truces brokered by Russia and France fell apart over previous weekends. It took less than an hour after the ceasefire was due to begin at 8:00 am (0400 GMT) for the first accusations to be made. Azerbaijan s foreign ministry said Armenian forces had shelled the town of Terter and nearby villages in "gross violation" of the truce. Armenia s defence ministry said Azerbaijani forces had "grossly violated" the ceasefire with artillery fire on combat positions in various parts of the frontline. Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a bitter conflict over Karabakh since Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan seized control of the mountainous province in a 1990s war that left 30,000 people dead. Karabakh s self-declared independence has not been recognised internationally, even by Armenia, and it remains a part of Azerbaijan under international law. The current fighting broke out on September 27. Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of having targeted civilians and of breaking the previous truces. Repeated calls for calm do seem to have had any effect. After coming under heavy shelling at the start of the fighting, Nagorno-Karabakh s main city Stepanakert has been quieter in recent days. AFP journalists in the city on Monday said the night had been calm. Ten minutes before the ceasefire took effect an explosion was heard and a plume of smoke seen on a nearby hill. There were fewer sounds of fighting coming from the frontline on Monday morning than in previous days, though rounds of shelling could be heard in the distance. - Intensive negotiations - More than 1,000 people have been reported dead in the fighting, mainly Armenian separatist fighters but also dozens of civilians. Azerbaijan has not released any figures on its military casualties and the death toll is believed to be substantially higher, with Russian President Vladimir Putin saying last week that close to 5,000 people had been killed. Russia, France and the United States are leaders of the "Minsk Group" which has failed since the 1990s to bring about a negotiated settlement to the conflict. This year s fighting is the heaviest since a 1994 ceasefire, raising fears that Azerbaijan s ally Turkey and Russia, which has a military alliance with Armenia, could be further drawn into the conflict. The latest ceasefire push came after US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun met in Washington Saturday with Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and the co-chairs of the Minsk Group. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that the negotiations had been "intensive". The State Department said the Minsk co-chairs and the foreign ministers "agreed to meet again in Geneva on October 29" to seek "all steps necessary to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict". Azerbaijan has claimed to be making significant gains since the fighting began by retaking areas it lost in the 1990s war, in particular in a buffer zone outside Karabakh seized by the Armenians. Armenia has admitted to suffering losses and called on volunteers to join the fighting at the front.

Thousands of Iraqis headed Sunday to Baghdad s iconic Tahrir Square and its high-security Green Zone to mark the first anniversary of a protest movement against the country s stagnant political class. "This is an important day, we are here to keep the movement going," student Mohamed Ali said in the square, epicentre of the revolt. The renewed mobilisation has retained protesters key demand of the ouster of the entire ruling class accused of corruption and being beholden to neighbouring Iran. Iraq is the second largest oil exporter in the world but has struggled to pay salaries for its bloated public sector. "We have the same demands as last year," Ali told AFP. In a months-long revolt launched in October 2019, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators camped out in Baghdad and southern cities to demand a total overhaul of a political system failing to deliver basic services and salaries. About 600 protesters were killed and 30,000 wounded in clashes with security forces before the movement lost momentum then ground to a halt in the spring due to the coronavirus crisis and rising US-Iran tensions. Since Saturday, military checkpoints and roadblocks have been erected around the square and the Green Zone, which is off-limits to Iraqi citizens. The fortified Green Zone -- site of parliament, government offices and the US embassy -- is separated by a bridge from the square. Riot police stationed around major thoroughfares have barred demonstrators waving Iraqi flags from trying to cross. Other parallel bridges have also been sealed off. With no central leadership behind the protests, activists are divided over whether to stay put in Tahrir or head to the Green Zone at the risk of violence breaking out.

Lebanon s President Michel Aoun began meetings with parliamentarians on Thursday to name a prime minister, after weeks of wrangling delayed agreement on a new government that could work to lift the country from financial crisis. Leading Sunni Muslim politician Saad al-Hariri, a former premier, is on course to be designated again at the formal consultations with parliamentary blocs, sources say. Still, he would face major challenges to navigate Lebanon s fractious power-sharing political landscape and form a cabinet. Any new government will have to contend with a financial meltdown worsening by the day, a COVID-19 outbreak and the fallout of the massive explosion at Beirut port that killed nearly 200 people in August. Former colonial power France sought in August to rally Lebanon s sectarian leaders to tackle the unprecedented crisis, but they have yet to manage the first task: agreeing a new government swiftly. Hariri, long aligned with Western and Gulf states, has presented himself as the candidate to build a new cabinet that can revive French efforts. Paris had set out a roadmap for enacting reforms to unlock foreign aid Lebanon badly needs. Thursday s consultations were postponed from last week amid political rifts. Aoun is required to choose the candidate with the most support from parliament s lawmakers, among which Iran-backed Shi ite Hezbollah and its allies have a majority. With Hariri expected to get enough votes on Thursday barring any last minute hitches, he would be named prime minister for a fourth time, in a country drowning in debt. His coalition government was toppled late last year as mass protests erupted against the ruling elite.

The UN envoy for Libya said Wednesday the two warring factions have agreed on issues that ``directly impact the lives and welfare of the Libyan people, noting that the thorny work to cement a cease-fire in the restive North African country will continue. Stephanie Turco Williams, the UN envoy, cited agreements to open air and land routes in the country, to work to ease inflammatory rhetoric in Libyan media, and to help kickstart Libya s vital oil industry, as talks in Geneva continued this week under her mediation. ``I am pleased to report that the two sides have reached agreement on several important issues which directly impact the lives and welfare of the Libyan people, she said. ``I urge the two parties negotiating here in Geneva to solve all outstanding issues and forge a lasting cease fire agreement. Williams hailed ``emerging hope`` and ``positive developments for Libya s future, while warning of socioeconomic troubles, rising cases of COVID-19 and the continued intervention and meddling of foreign powers in Libya s internal conflict. Libya is split between a UN-supported government in the capital, Tripoli, and rival authorities based in the east. The two sides are backed by an array of local militias as well as regional and foreign powers. The country was plunged into chaos after the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Williams, an American who heads the UN support mission for Libya, said the talks involving the so-called Joint Military Commission will now take up arrangements for Libya s central region, ``paving the way for a cease-fire agreement. She said she was ``quite optimistic about the talks given the ``air of seriousness and commitment shown by the two sides. UN organizers say the round is expected to run through Saturday, and Williams mission ``hopes that the two delegations will reach a solution to all outstanding issues in order to achieve a complete and permanent cease-fire across Libya. The meetings make up the security aspect of three-track talks, also involving political and economic tracks, that are aimed at lifting Libya out of its grueling conflict.

A first official United Arab Emirates delegation arrived in Israel on Tuesday after the two countries normalised ties last month under a US-brokered accord forged largely over shared fears of Iran. An Etihad Airways plane carrying Emirati government officials from Abu Dhabi, with US dignitaries accompanying them, landed at Ben Gurion Airport. They were due to be welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Finance Minister Israel Katz. The five-hour visit would be restricted to the airport near Tel Aviv, due to coronavirus concerns, Israeli organisers said. The UAE and fellow Gulf state Bahrain in September became the first Arab states in a quarter of a century to sign deals to establish formal ties with Israel, a move that Washington and its allies have said would foster regional peace and stability but which has been rejected by the Palestinians. "This is an historical moment for the UAE country and Israel and we are looking forward to salaam (peace) ... in the region," one of the Etihad pilots could be heard saying in a video posted on Twitter by US Middle East envoy Ari Berkowitz. Berkowitz and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are accompanying the Emirati delegation, which is being led by Economy Minister Abdullah bin Touq al-Mari and Minister of State for Financial Affairs Obaid Humaid al-Tayer, according to a UAE foreign ministry spokeswoman. The US officials had on Sunday joined an Israeli delegation to Bahrain for a signing ceremony to formalise ties. Israel and the UAE have already signed several commercial deals since mid-August, when they first announced they would establish full relations. Israeli officials said the two sides were expected to sign a mutual visa-exemption agreement - Israel s first with an Arab country.

Pamela and Afshin Raghebi will celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary this December -- but whether it s a joyful occasion or one marred by the pain of their ongoing forced separation depends on the outcome of the November 3 election. "I need him home," Pamela tearfully told AFP, two years after her husband left the US to complete a routine legal process to finalize his permanent residency, but was prevented from returning because of the "Muslim ban." In June 2018, the Supreme Court upheld Donald Trump s third travel ban, which focuses its most restrictive measures on citizens of five Muslim-majority countries -- Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen -- as well as North Korea and Venezuela. An analyst at the Cato Institute estimated that as of October 2019, more than 15,000 spouses and adopted minor children of US citizens were impacted, a figure that could be far higher now. But the numbers don t tell the story of the families torn apart and lives uprooted because of a president who once declared "Islam hates us." Forced apart The Raghebis met in the summer of 2010, when Pamela was working as a receptionist at a Seattle retirement home and Afshin, a glazier, was assigned there on a project. "Right away, I was impressed with how gentle he was with our residents," said Pamela. One day she approached him for a chat, they went on their first date, and were married by the end of that year. The couple started their own window and glass business, building together a happy life. Afshin, 51, was born in Iran and had been forced to become a child soldier in the war against Iraq. He later took up a job as a chauffeur, and was assaulted by secret police for refusing to spy on his boss. He fled to Sweden in his twenties to stay with his sister, and, like her, became a Christian. But with little by the way of formal training, he couldn t remain there and eventually came to the US in 2006. Afshin intended to apply for asylum based on his fear of religious persecution if he went back to Iran, but worried about being deported and didn t follow up. The couple applied for Afshin to become a permanent resident in 2016 after immigration services were satisfied they had a bona fide relationship. But because of Afshin s undocumented entry, they had to procure an additional waiver, another arduous process which they nevertheless achieved. To complete the process, Afshin had to exit and re-enter the US, but has been stranded in Turkey since 2018 because of the travel ban. "I felt like my country had divorced me from my husband," said Pamela -- and the trauma has been compounded by mounting financial hardship. Go vote! Some stories have had a happier ending following years of struggle, like that of Ramez Alghazzouli, 31, and his wife, 28-year-old Asmaa Khadem Al Arbaiin. They were acquaintances at college in Damascus but the Syrian war scattered their families to different parts of the world. Ramez settled in Arizona where he became a business analyst for the government. He reconnected with Asmaa, whose family moved to Turkey in 2014, and they developed a romantic relationship before getting married by proxy in 2015. He then petitioned for her to join him -- but when her visa appointment came up in 2018, the officer told her she couldn t be granted a visa because of the ban. Ramez, who has deep faith in America s institutions, began contacting his lawmakers, immigration officials and even the FBI and CIA to help get a waiver. When none of that seemed to work, he turned to the media. Finally in October 2019, an email landed informing them Asmaa s visa had been cleared. "You would think it s a miracle after fighting it that hard and that long," said Ramez. Last month, they had their first child, Radwan. Former vice president Joe Biden has promised to undo the ban on day one if he wins, but even if that happens, it will be too late for many, Cato Institute immigration analyst David Bier said. "We re talking about relationships broken up, marriages ended, we re talking about people who were sponsored by Americans to come to the United States and those sponsors are no longer around to sponsor them." That s why campaign groups like the No Muslim Ban Ever coalition want the "NO BAN Act," which passed the House this summer and would make discrimatory bans illegal, to be passed by Congress. Pamela, who has Trump supporters in her own family, said people should remember America is a nation of immigrants and gets its strength from its diversity. "Go vote, vote, vote! We have to have a new government," she said.

Israel and Bahrain will officially establish diplomatic relations on Sunday at a ceremony in Manama, an Israeli official said, after the two states reached a US-brokered normalisation deal last month. A visiting delegation from Israel and officials in Bahrain will sign a "joint communique (that) is the establishment of full diplomatic relations," an Israel official in Manama told reporters. Once the text is signed at a ceremony scheduled for Sunday evening, Israel and Bahrain will be free to open embassies in each other s countries, the official said. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain became the third and fourth Arab states to agree to normalise ties with Israel, following Egypt s peace deal with Israel in 1979 and a 1994 pact with Jordan. Sunday s meeting follows a September 15 ceremony at the White House when Israel, the UAE and Bahrain inked the so-called "Abraham Accords" brokered by President Donald Trump s administration. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and special assistant for international negotiations, Avi Berkowitz, are due in Bahrain for the ceremony. In addition to the joint communique establishing diplomatic ties, Israel and Bahrain are expected to sign "six to eight" MoUs, including on economic cooperation, the Israeli official said. The official said he could not outline the substance of all the agreements scheduled for signature on Sunday, but security cooperation is likely to feature prominently in bilateral talks. Earlier this month, Israel s Mossad spy agency chief Yossi Cohen held talks in Bahrain with top security and intelligence officials on "topics of mutual interest," according to the Bahrain News Agency. Significant shift The Palestinians have condemned the Gulf agreements with Israel as "a stab in the back" for their aspirations to establish an independent state of their own. The deals mark a distinct shift in a decades-old status quo where Arab countries have tried to maintain unity against Israel over its treatment of the stateless Palestinians. Israel s right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that more Mideast states want ties with Israel as priorities have shifted, arguing that countries now value lucrative trade opportunities above the Palestinian conflict. But key player Saudi Arabia has said it will not follow its allies Bahrain and the UAE in establishing diplomatic relations without a resolution to the Palestinian issue. Israel s parliament on Thursday ratified the normalisation agreement with the UAE. A separate vote on the Bahrain pact is expected once the details are finalised.

The warring sides in Yemen s long conflict will exchange some 1,081 prisoners Thursday and Friday, under a deal struck in Switzerland last month, a senior rebel official said Thursday. "The transaction will be executed, with God s help, on the scheduled dates today and tomorrow," Abdel Kader Mortaza, the rebel official in charge of prisoner affairs, said in a tweet. "The preparations have been completed by all parties," he added. Yemen s government, which is supported by a Saudi-led military coalition, and Iran-backed Houthi rebels resolved to swap some 15,000 detainees as part of a peace deal brokered by the UN in Stockholm back in 2018. The two sides have since undertaken sporadic prisoner exchanges, but this week s planned swap would mark the first large-scale handover since the war erupted in 2014. UN envoy Martin Griffiths hailed it as a "very important milestone" when the agreement was struck after a week of talks in Switzerland last month. A spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is handling the logistics of the operation, said their teams were present at a number of different airports involved in the transfer. "The preparations are ongoing, if everything goes as planned, we hopefully expect the release operation to take place in the coming few hours," she told AFP on Thursday morning. Al-Masirah television, which is controlled by the Houthis, said the first group of insurgent prisoners was expected to arrive on Thursday at the international airport in the rebel-held capital Sanaa. The planned prisoner exchange comes after the release Wednesday of two Americans held captive in Yemen, in an apparent swap for some 240 Houthi supporters who were allowed to return home after being stranded in Oman. The rebels also sent back the remains of a third American who died in captivity.

In a move reviving tensions with Greece, Ankara sent the Oruc Reis vessel to a disputed area near the Greek island of Kastellorizo off Turkey s coast on Monday. Greece said it was a "major escalation" of their dispute over maritime rights and claims to hydrocarbon resources in the region. "Oruc Reis has reached the area in the eastern Mediterranean where it will carry out its activities. Tests began yesterday and we are beginning to receive the first seismic readings today," Fatih Donmez, the Turkish energy minister, told a conference by video link. Turkey had withdrawn the vessel from contested waters in the region last month to "allow diplomacy" before an European Union summit at which sanctions against Turkey were discussed. On Tuesday, the United States slammed Turkey s decision to send the vessel back, accusing Ankara of unilaterally stoking tensions and "deliberately" complicating the resumption of talks with Greece.

The U.S.-mediated talks follow three years of intense diplomacy by Washington and were announced less than a month after the United States stepped up pressure on political allies of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah. They also come after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed to establish full relations with Israel, under U.S.-brokered deals which realign some of Washington s closest Middle East allies against Iran. Hezbollah, which fought a five-week conflict with Israel in 2006, says the talks are not a sign of peace-making with its long-time enemy. Israel s energy minister also said expectations for Wednesday s meeting should be realistic. "We are not talking about negotiations for peace and normalization, rather an attempt to solve a technical, economic dispute that for 10 years has delayed the development of offshore natural resources," minister Yuval Steinitz tweeted. Nevertheless, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has described the decision to go ahead with the talks as historic, and said Washington looked forward to separate talks later over disagreements on the two countries land border. Wednesday s meeting will be hosted by the United Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL, which has monitored the disputed land boundary since Israel s military withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000, ending a 22-year occupation. A Lebanese security source says the two sides will meet together in the same room in UNIFIL s base in south Lebanon, but will direct their talks through a mediator. Disagreement over the sea border had discouraged oil and gas exploration near the disputed line. That may be a minor irritation for Israel, which already pumps gas from huge offshore fields. For Lebanon, yet to find commercial reserves in its own waters, the issue is more pressing.

Lebanon s Saad Hariri, a former prime minister seeking a new term, said Monday he would meet all key parties to survey their commitment to a French rescue plan. The country is bankrupt, but the ruling elite has so far failed to respond to calls by French President Emmanuel Macron for the rapid formation of an independent government. Hariri, himself one of Lebanon s hereditary political barons, stepped down from the position of prime minister a year ago under pressure from a massive protest movement calling for an end to sectarian-based politics. "I will send a delegation to talk with all the main political blocs, to ensure that they are still fully committed" to Macron s initiative, Hariri said, after meeting President Michel Aoun. Macron visited Lebanon two days after the August 4 Beirut port explosion that disfigured the city, and returned three weeks later to check on the status of reforms he conditioned international support on. The roadmap Macron laid out for debt-ridden Lebanon included a two-week deadline for the formation of a tighter and independent government of experts, that would only stay in office a few months. A new prime minister, Mustapha Adib, was designated -- but he threw in the towel after meeting resistance from the top Shiite parties that sought guarantees they would retain the finance ministry. Hariri, who has already served two terms as Lebanese premier and has close ties with France, has since resurfaced as the most likely candidate to take over. "I am convinced that President Macron s initiative is the only and last remaining opportunity for our country to stop the collapse and rebuild Beirut," Hariri said, according to a statement from his office. Hariri last week said he was a possible candidate to head a new government to stem the country s economic collapse. His series of meetings comes ahead of parliamentary consultations to appoint a new premier which are scheduled to start on Thursday.

Israel will oppose any U.S. sale of F-35 warplanes to Qatar, Israel s intelligence minister said on Sunday, responding to a Reuters report that the Gulf Arab country had submitted a formal request to buy the stealthy fighter jets.

A top U.N. official Thursday condemned recent clashes in Yemen s strategic port city of Hodeida, which have left dozens killed and wounded, urging the country s warring parties to immediately stop the fighting. Since Saturday, clashes have flared up between Yemen s Houthi rebels and government forces south of the port in Hodeida, which handles about 70% of Yemen s commercial and humanitarian imports. Yemeni officials said Wednesday the death toll had reached 52 and that around 70 people were wounded, including two dozen civilians. ``This military escalation not only constitutes a violation of the Hodeida ceasefire agreement but it runs against the spirit of the ongoing UN-facilitated negotiations that aim to achieve a nationwide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic measures and the resumption of the political process, said U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths in a statement. Griffiths said he is following with ``deep concern reports of civilian casualties, including women and children. ¨I have been engaging with all sides. I call on them to immediately stop the fighting, respect the commitments they made under the Stockholm agreement,`` he said. In 2018, heavy fighting erupted in Hodeida after government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition moved in to wrest control of the strategic city from the Houthis. After month of clashes, the warring sides signed a U.N.-brokered agreement in Sweden in December 2018 that included a cease-fire in the port city and an exchange of more than 15,000 prisoners. The deal, seen as an important first step toward ending the conflict, was never fully implemented. On Monday, the U.N. mission to Yemen called for an immediate halt of violence in order ``not to put the population at further risk and jeopardize the delivery of humanitarian assistance. The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of the capital Sanaa by the Iranian-backed Houthis. A Saudi-led coalition allied with the government has been fighting the Houthis since March 2015. The war in Yemen has spawned the world s worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical shortages. It has killed over 112,000 people, including fighters and civilians, according to a database project that tracks violence.

Half of the population of the breakaway enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh have been displaced since fierce fighting erupted more than a week ago between Armenian separatists and Azerbaijan, separatist officials said Wednesday. "According to our preliminary estimates, some 50 percent of Karabakh s population and 90 percent of women and children -- or some 70,000-75,000 people -- have been displaced," Karabakh s rights ombudsman Artak Beglaryan told AFP.