12 | December | 2021 | National News Portal.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal Twitter handle was “very briefly compromised,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a tweet early on Sunday.

“The matter was escalated to Twitter and the prime minister’s personal twitter handle @narendramodi was immediately secured,” PMO India’s tweet said, adding any tweet shared during the brief period when the account was compromised must be ignored.

It was not immediately known how long the personal Twitter handle of Modi, which has over 73 million followers, was compromised.

Twitter took the necessary steps to secure the compromised account as soon as it became aware of the activity, a Twitter spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters, adding an investigation revealed no signs of any other impacted accounts at present.

A similar incident had occurred with the Twitter handle of Modi’s personal website in September 2020, with a series of tweets asking followers to donate to a relief fund through cryptocurrency.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will travel to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday and meet the Gulf state’s de facto ruler in the highest-level visit since the countries formalised relations last year.

The trip comes amid heightened regional tension as world powers try to renew a nuclear deal with Iran. Israel and some Gulf Arabs share concern over Iranian activities in the region.

“I will be going out today to the United Arab Emirates, in the first visit ever by an Israeli prime minister,” Bennett told a meeting of his cabinet on Sunday.

There was no immediate confirmation from Abu Dhabi.

The UAE along with Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco moved toward normal ties with Israel under a US-sponsored initiative dubbed the “Abraham Accords” in reference to the biblical patriarch revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Bennett’s trip on Sunday would be the first by an Israeli premier to any of those four countries.

Trips planned by his predecessor and Abraham Accords signatory Benjamin Netanyahu were cancelled, with Israel citing Covid-19 travel curbs and difficulties in arranging a flight over Jordanian territory.

Bennett will meet Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan on Monday, the Israeli prime minister’s office said.null

The two leaders will discuss deepening ties, with an emphasis on economic issues that will contribute to prosperity, welfare and strengthening stability between the countries, the Israeli statement added.

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