US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday, during talks with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, that any deal on the future of war-torn Gaza must boost regional security, the US State Department said.
Rubio, who arrived from Israel accompanied by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, met the de facto ruler ahead of talks expected on Tuesday with a Russian delegation in the Saudi capital.
But the 500-day-old Israel-Hamas war dominated discussions, according to a State Department statement.

THE needs in Gaza, where the ceasefire is holding, are overwhelming, humanitarians said on Monday, adding that continuing Israeli operations in the West Bank are still producing casualties.
“As the UN and its humanitarian partners continue to deliver life-saving assistance across the Gaza Strip, the scale of needs remains overwhelming, requiring urgent and sustained support,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

SUBVERSIVE news media have falsely reported that security forces conducted an airstrike on 17 February at the Chindwin River ferry port in Muhtaw, east of Kani Township, Sagaing Region, causing casualties and destruction. The misinformation claims that the attack resulted in injuries to a monk and two residents while also damaging vehicles and motorcycles.
Upon verification with officials and residents, the reports were entirely false. Security forces did not target civilian areas where residents live and travel.

ELON Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has sparked alarm by seeking access to a system with the US tax office that has detailed financial data about millions of Americans, US media reported.
Spearheaded by Musk, the world’s richest man, US President Donald Trump has embarked on a campaign to slash public spending deemed wasteful or contrary to his policies.
The Washington Post and others reported that the latest request is for DOGE officials to have broad access to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) systems, property and datasets.