
How Iran and Saudi Arabia's diplomatic breakthrough could impact the entire Middle East
CBSN
Last week, Iran extended an official invitation to Saudi Arabia's King Salman to visit Tehran, one of many steps recently undertaken by the two countries as they slowly improve their relations. The two countries have been bitter rivals for decades, but their relationship has begun to thaw since they signed an agreement to resume diplomatic ties in Beijing last month. It was a diplomatic breakthrough in a standoff that has shaped events and attitudes across the Middle East for more than 40 years.
The two countries completely severed diplomatic ties after Sunni Muslim-ruled Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shiite Muslim cleric in 2016. Iran's ruling clerics, and most of its population, are Shiite, and the two nations' animosity has exploded into "proxy wars" in several countries across the region, including Yemen, where groups backed by either side have taken a heavy toll in human lives and caused a dire humanitarian crisis.

Paris — French cinema icon Gérard Depardieu was convicted Tuesday of sexually assaulting two women on a film set in Paris in 2021 and handed an 18-month suspended sentence. The 76-year-old actor had denied the charges that he forcefully groped a set decorator and an assistant producer on the set of "Les Volets Verts" ("The Green Shutters").

Turkey's PKK Kurdish insurgents to lay down arms after deadly, decades-long fight against government
The Kurdish group PKK announced on Monday that it will fully disarm and disband, ending its decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, according to the Firat News Agency, an outlet linked closely with the group. The PKK has long been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., Turkey, the European Union, NATO, and many other nations and entities.

India's military strikes into Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Pakistan earlier this week killed more than 100 militants, including their prominent leadership, India's director general of military operations said on Sunday. His comments came just one day after India and Pakistan reached a ceasefire agreement following U.S.-led mediation talks.