Josh Berer, an Arabic calligrapher, has expanded his business to include designing cross-cultural marriage contracts called ketubas. He recently created a ketubah for a Baha'i man and Jewish woman that incorporated Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew, and English text.

A rare $90,000 whisky from the Balvenie Distillery in Scotland has arrived in Israel, offering collectors a chance to own a piece of history.

Protesters in Israel demand a hostage deal on the 400th day since the October 7 Hamas attacks. Five protesters were arrested overall.

El Al flew 2,000 Israeli citizens back to Israel on emergency flights fully financed by the airline.

Saudi Arabia's venture capital ecosystem continues to boost the regional startup space, with one company plowing $20 million into the early stage-focused Booster IV fund. BIM Capital's investment strategy spans private equity, venture capital, debt funds, and real estate development, with a target of attracting over $200 million in foreign direct investment and managing assets exceeding $2 billion. Saudi-based Mush Social has closed a $1.2 million pre-seed funding round led by Nifal Consulting, with support from Nahr Al-Jazeera Holding and angel investors. Saudi property tech company Ayen has acquired Egyptian construction technology firm Elmawkaa in a seven-figure Saudi riyal transaction. Aramco Ventures has joined a $10.4 million Series A2 funding round for IOTA Software, a cloud-native platform for industrial performance optimization, led by Altira Group with participation from Oxy Technology Ventures and Second Avenue Partners. UAE-based Warburg AI has raised $250,000 in seed funding from undisclosed investors. UAE's Brands.io, an AI-driven domain name provider, has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from unnamed investors. UAE-based NorthLadder, a trade-in platform for pre-owned electronics, has raised $10 million in a Series B funding round led by stc Group's corporate venture capital arm, tali ventures, with additional contributions from the Dutch Founders Fund and Crescent Ventures. UAE-based CE-Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Crescent Enterprises, has co-led a $10 million funding round for CrossBridge Bio, a Houston-based biotech firm focused on developing dual-payload antibody drug conjugates for targeted cancer treatments. Biban 24, Saudi Arabia's premier event for startups and SMEs, saw over $5 billion in agreements and financing initiatives signed during the first three days.

Melhem Asad, a Druze-Israeli, saved Jewish fans from a pogrom in Amsterdam by speaking in Arabic to confuse the attackers.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza are struggling to find food as supplies have been cut off for a month. Thousands of children are suffering from malnutrition, and hunger is spiraling to dire proportions. The US has called on Israel to allow more humanitarian assistance into Gaza, but Israel has fallen far short of the target.

Seven people, including a child and a pregnant woman, were killed in Israeli strikes on Tyre. Israel has been accused of adopting a scorched-earth policy, destroying 22 border towns. The cost of reconstruction is estimated to reach $4.2 billion.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees have returned to their country since Israel launched a massive aerial bombardment on wide swathes of Lebanon in September. Many who fled to Lebanon after the war in Syria started in 2011 did not want to go back.

Ecuador's Vice President Veronica Abad has been suspended for 150 days accused of 'unjustified abandonment' of her duties, deepening the rift between her and President Daniel Noboa.

Goa's tourism minister explores collaboration with Saudi Arabia at WTM London to elevate tourism between the two countries.

Hostage families in Israel will hold rallies to mark 400 days since their loved ones were kidnapped by Hamas, following the firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.