A day before Israeli general elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a Palestinian state will not be established if he is once again elected as premier. Netanyahu made the comment in an interview posted Monday on the website of the Maariv daily newspaper in an apparent bid to garner the support of hardliners in Israel. Also, speaking in a tour of a settlement neighborhood in the occupied east Jerusalem al-Quds, Netanyahu pledged to increase settlement activities there. He stressed that Tel Aviv will construct thousands of more settler units despite international criticism against the controversial policy. Netanyahu's Likud party is lagging behind its rival Zionist Union coalition. Israeli settlement construction on occupied Palestinian lands runs counter to international law. Tel Aviv has been criticized by the international community for refusing to halt the illegal move.

An Egyptian court has handed death sentences to Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and several other members of the group. They were among those charged in connection with violent clashes in the canal city of Suez in August 2013. The clashes were triggered by security forces' deadly attacks on the camps of the supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo. Badie had been handed down two death sentences that were later overturned on appeal. Also on Monday, 46 brotherhood members were sentenced to two to five years behind bars in the Delta governorate of Kafr el-Sheikh. They had been arrested during protests marking the fourth anniversary of the revolution in January. The Egyptian government has been cracking down harshly on any opposition since Morsi was ousted two years ago.

The United Nations Security Council has been briefed on the situation in Afghanistan. At the meeting, the representative of Iran highlighted the problem of narcotics trafficking, describing it as a source of funding for terrorist groups in addition to the obvious dangers to public health. Caleb Maupin has the details in the following report.

The Iraqi interior minister has announced the suspension of military operations in Tikrit until further notice. In a news conference in Samarra, Mohammed al-Ghabban said the decision is to prevent casualties among civilians. Press TV correspondent Rahshan Saglam reports from Baghdad.

Iraqi Kurds have marked the 27th anniversary of what is known as “Bloody Friday”; a day when former Iraqi dictator authorized a chemical attack against the Kurdish Iraqi town of Halabja near Iraq’s borders with Iran. The act was seen as an act of genocide. Today, Kurds say though they never expected to see such atrocities again, ISIL has proved them wrong. Altaf Ahmad has more.

South Korea will have to pay for the cleanup of US bases being returned to Seoul. The camps are returned as the US forces are restructuring their bases as part of America’s pivot to Asia. The move has angered environmentalists who say Washington is abusing South Korea’s sovereignty. Frank Smith has more.

U-N humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, says Syrian refugees in Lebanon comprise up to 30 percent of the Lebanese population. The large number has added burden not just on Lebanon, but also on the Syrian refugees. Press TV's Lameez Karout has filed us this report from Beirut.

Israel, for the third month, has been withholding tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority. Now, Palestinian banks will not be able to give the P-A more loans. This means tens of thousands of civil servants are not receiving their full monthly payments. Our correspondent Mona Kandeel has more from Ramallah.

The French media say a flu epidemic has caused 85-hundred deaths this winter in France. The figures are extremely high for a country that is considered to have one of the best public healthcare networks. But the epidemic has also revealed a new trend of a rising number of French unwilling to get their children vaccinated. Anustup Roy has filed us this report from Paris.

Israeli calls for the execution of Palestinian prisoners are drawing angry reactions by Palestinian prisoners' advocates. An Israeli military prosecutor has already demanded death penalty for Palestinian prisoner Zeyad Hassan Awwad. The prisoner, from the West Bank town of Edna had been released in a prisoner swap deal with Israel in 20-11 and was rearrested last year allegedly for killing an Israeli intelligence officer. Press TV's Ashraf Shannon has the details in the following report.