It is announced that in a United States-backed peace plan, Israeli citizens will be allowed to visit the Gulf States for "business and political purposes", starting next year. (Middle East Monitor)
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake hits coastal Albania, bringing down many buildings and leaving people trapped under rubble. The Defense Ministry confirms 30 people killed and 650 others injured, mostly in Durrës County. (BBC News)
Pope Francis prays for victims of the earthquake in Albania and sends “heartfelt condolences” to Albanian PresidentIlir Meta. The quake's epicenter is less than 20 miles from Tirana, the country’s capital city, which has a population of 900,000. Additional earthquakes occurred in southern Bosnia and the Greek island of Crete. (CNA)
A court in Vietnam sentences a Facebook user to six years in prison for anti-state posts on the social media. It is the latest case seen as a crackdown on governmentdissidents. (Reuters)