Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the former independent presidential candidate, is reviewing candidate resumes for the top jobs at the US government's health agencies in Donald Trump's new administration, a former Kennedy aide and a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.Kennedy, of the famed political family, has been asked to recommend appointees for all regulatory health agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration, said Del Bigtree, who was director of communications for Kennedy's campaign and remains close to the former candidate.A source familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified, echoed that Kennedy had taken on that role. Trump's transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

IDF Arabic spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee issued evacuation notices to all residents in areas marked on an attached map of the southern suburb area of Beirut on X/Twitter Friday night. "You are located near facilities and assets belonging to Hezbollah, which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will be targeting with force in the near future," he began."For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must evacuate these buildings and the adjacent ones immediately, and maintain a distance of at least 500 meters from them," he concluded. The IDF has been frequently targeting this area, around Dahiyeh, in the last few months in order to dismantle Hezbollah and its assets.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with new Israeli defense minister Israel Katz on Friday for the first time since he took office, the Pentagon said."Secretary Austin reaffirmed the United States' ironclad commitment to Israel's security and support for its right to defend itself," a Pentagon readout of the call said.

The United States has told Qatar that Hamas's presence in Doha is no longer acceptable after the Palestinian militant group rejected in recent weeks the latest proposal to achieve a hostage deal, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday.Qatar then made the demand to Hamas leaders about ten days ago, the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said.Qatar, alongside the United States and Egypt, has played a major role in rounds of so far fruitless talks to broker a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages the militant group is holding in the Gaza Strip.

An explosion heard In the vicinity of the city of Al-Safira in the countryside of Aleppo, Syria, state news agency Sana reported on early on Saturday.

Federal and state authorities are investigating a wave of bigoted text messages sent anonymously that have spread alarm among Black Americans across the country this week, officials and recipients told Reuters.The messages urged recipients in multiple states, including Alabama, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia, to report to a plantation to pick cotton, an offensive reference to past enslavement of Black people in the United States.It is unclear who is behind the reported texts, how many people had received them, or how the recipients were targeted.The Federal Communications Commission said on Friday its enforcement bureau was among those probing the incidents.

A rocket reportedly struck northern Israel on Saturday morning after sirens sounded in the region, Israel's emergency medical response service, Magen David Adom stated.MDA noted that response teams were en route to the scene of the strike and the no injuries had been reported.