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India’s Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan out of danger after stabbing at Mumbai home

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Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan was out of danger, police said on Thursday, following stab injuries received in a scuffle with an intruder at his home in India's financial capital of Mumbai for which he was undergoing surgery.

Among the country's most bankable stars, Khan, 54, is the son of former India cricket captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore, Reuters reported.

"He (Khan) is being treated ... and is out of danger," senior police officer Gedam Dixit told Reuters.

Earlier, news agency ANI quoted hospital official Niraj Uttamani as saying, "He is currently undergoing surgery," and adding, "The extent of the damage will be understood once the surgery is complete."

A small piece of a foreign body had been identified close to the spine, added Uttamani, the chief operating officer of the hospital where Khan was taken at around 3:30 a.m.

Khan, who has featured in more than 70 films and television series, in some also as producer, lives in an apartment in the western suburb of Bandra, along with his wife Kareena Kapoor Khan, who is also an actor, and their two children.

Representatives of his wife confirmed Khan was undergoing a procedure after the burglary attempt, adding, "The rest of the family is doing fine."

A female employee at their home was also attacked and was being treated, added police, who have launched an investigation and a search for the perpetrator.

Film stars and opposition leaders called for police to beef up security measures in the city.

"If such high-profile people with ... security can be attacked in their homes, what could happen to common citizens?" Clyde Crasto, spokesperson of the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, asked on X.

India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies won November elections in the western state of Maharashtra, the capital of which is Mumbai.

Actor and filmmaker Pooja Bhatt also called for a greater police presence in the suburb home to many in the film industry.

"The city, and especially the queen of the suburbs, have never felt so unsafe before," she said on X, using a popular description for the trendy area.

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander says Iran purchased Russian-made Sukhoi 35 fighter jets

In November 2023, Iran’s Tasnim news agency said Tehran had finalised arrangements to buy Russian fighter jets.

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Iran has purchased Russian-made Sukhoi-35 fighter jets, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander said on Monday, amid Western concerns about Tehran and Moscow's growing military cooperation, Reuters reported.

This is the first time an Iranian official has confirmed the purchase of Su-35 jets. However, Ali Shadmani, who was quoted by the Student News Network, did not clarify how many jets were purchased and whether they had already been delivered to Iran.

"Whenever necessary, we make military purchases to strengthen our air, land, and naval forces. ... The production of military equipment has also accelerated," the deputy Coordinator of the Khatam-ol-Anbia Central Headquarters said.

"If the enemy acts foolishly, it will taste the bitter taste of being hit by our missiles, and none of its interests in the occupied territories will remain safe," Shadmani warned referring to Iran's arch-rival in the region, Israel.

In November 2023, Iran's Tasnim news agency said Tehran had finalised arrangements to buy Russian fighter jets.

Earlier this month, Iran and Russia signed a comprehensive strategic partnership which did not mention arms transfers but said the two will develop their "military-technical cooperation."

Iran's air force has only a few dozen strike aircraft, including Russian jets as well as ageing U.S. models acquired before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, read the report.

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Iran’s weakening will not harm Iraq, deputy parliament speaker says

Iraq, a rare ally of both Washington and Tehran, is trying to avoid upsetting its fragile stability and focus on rebuilding after years of war.

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Iraq will not be negatively affected by the weakening of Iran's influence in the Middle East, Iraq's deputy parliament speaker said, with Baghdad looking to chart its own diplomatic path in the region and limit the power of armed groups.

Mohsen al-Mandalawi spoke to Reuters in a recent interview after seismic shifts in the Middle East that have seen Iran's armed allies in Gaza and Lebanon heavily degraded and Syria's President Bashar al-Assad overthrown by rebels.

U.S. President Donald Trump's new administration has promised to pile more pressure on Tehran, which has long backed a number of parties and an array of armed factions in Iraq.

Iraq, a rare ally of both Washington and Tehran, is trying to avoid upsetting its fragile stability and focus on rebuilding after years of war.

"Today, we have stability. Foreign companies are coming to Iraq," said Mandalawi, himself a businessman with interests in Iraqi hotels, hospitals and cash transfer services.

"Iraq has started to take on its natural role among Arab states. Iran is a neighbour with whom we have historical ties. Our geographical position and our relations with Arab states are separate matters," he said, speaking at his office in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, home to government institutions and foreign embassies.

"I don't think that the weakening of Iran will negatively impact Iraq."

Mandalawi is a member of Iraq's ruling Shi'ite Coordination Framework, a grouping of top politicians seen as having close ties with Iran, and heads the Asas coalition of lawmakers in parliament.

Iraq's balancing act between Tehran and Washington has been tested by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups' attacks on Israel and on U.S. troops in the country after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023.

That has led to several rounds of tit-for-tat strikes that have since been contained.

During Trump's first 2017-2021 presidency, ties were tense after the U.S. assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and top Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad in 2020, leading to an Iranian ballistic missile attack on U.S. forces in Iraq.

In recent months, ahead of Trump taking office again, there have been growing calls in Iraq to limit the role of Iran-backed armed factions.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told Reuters in an interview earlier this month that Iraq was trying to persuade armed factions allied with Iran to lay down their arms.

Mandalawi said he believed such a move would take time but it was possible given a shift in focus on growing political and economic interests.

"Limiting arms to the state is important and I hope that it will be implemented," he said.

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Trump says Jordan, Egypt should take more Palestinians from Gaza

Trump’s remarks echo longstanding Palestinian fears about being driven permanently from their homes

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Palestinians wait to return home

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Jordan and Egypt should take more Palestinians from Gaza, where Israel's military assault has caused a dire humanitarian situation and killed tens of thousands.

When asked if this was a temporary or long-term suggestion, Trump said: "Could be either."

An official of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza, reacted with suspicion to the remarks, echoing longstanding Palestinian fears about being driven permanently from their homes, Reuters reported.

Palestinians "will not accept any offers or solutions, even if (such offers) appear to have good intentions under the guise of reconstruction, as announced in the proposals of U.S. President Trump," Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, told Reuters.

Washington had said last year it opposed the forcible displacement of Palestinians. 

Rights groups and humanitarian agencies have for months raised concerns over the situation in Gaza, with the war displacing nearly the entire population and leading to a hunger crisis.

Washington has also faced criticism for backing Israel but has maintained support for its ally, saying it is helping Israel defend against Iran-backed militant groups like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

"I said to him I'd love you to take on more because I'm looking at the whole Gaza strip right now and it’s a mess, it's a real mess. I'd like him to take people," Trump, who took office on Jan. 20, said about his call on Saturday with Jordan's King Abdullah.

"I'd like Egypt to take people," Trump told reporters, adding he would speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday.

"You’re talking about a million and half people, and we just clean out that whole thing," Trump said.

The population in the Palestinian enclave prior to the start of the Israel-Gaza war was around 2.3 million.

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