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Syria’s new President Ahmed Al-Sharaa met China’s ambassador to Damascus in the first public engagement between the two countries since the overthrow of Bashar Assad in December, Syrian state media said on Friday. China, which backed Assad, saw its embassy in Damascus looted after his fall, and Syria’
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Palestinian militants on Saturday freed two Israeli hostages, among the last live captives eligible for release under the first phase of a fragile truce that is also expected to see Palestinian prisoners released. Freedom for the captives caps an emotional two days in Israel, where the family of another hostage,
Politics
The United States proposed Friday a United Nations resolution on the Ukraine conflict that omitted any mention of Kyiv’s territory occupied by Russia, diplomatic sources said. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged UN members to approve the “simple, historic” resolution. Washington’s proposal comes amid an intensifying feud between
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A Chinese naval cruiser fired live rounds Saturday during a task force drill in the sea between Australia and New Zealand, government officials said, prompting an alert to commercial air traffic. It was the Chinese warships’ second exercise in two days in international waters of the Tasman Sea, held despite
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Iraq denied reports on Saturday that it would face US sanctions if oil exports from the Kurdistan region were not resumed, Farhad Alaaldin, a foreign affairs adviser to the Iraqi prime minister told Reuters.
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Hamas’s armed wing confirmed it will hand over Saturday six hostages held alive in the Gaza Strip as part of the ongoing ceasefire deal with Israel. The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement on Friday that the release would occur as planned. Israeli campaign group the Hostages and
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US and Russian participants have met in Switzerland for unofficial talks about the Ukraine war in recent months, including as recently as last week, three sources with knowledge of the matter said. While the attendees have diplomatic and security experience, they are not government officials and it was not immediately
Politics
The European Union will suspend sanctions on Syria’s banking, energy and transport sectors Monday, diplomats said, in a bid to help the country’s reconstruction after the ouster of Bashar Assad. Syria’s new leaders have been clamouring for the West to ease sanctions on the country imposed to
Films
In the latest, long-delayed, chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — “Captain America: Brave New World,” directed by Julius Onah — audiences are ushered into a transformative new era as Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson takes up the iconic shield last wielded by Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers. Mackie says the role redefines
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Hamas said on Friday it was investigating a possible error in identifying human remains handed to Israel under a ceasefire deal as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened retaliation for failing to release the body of hostage Shiri Bibas. Hamas was due to hand over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the military to carry out an “intensive” operation in the West Bank after explosions on buses close to Tel Aviv on Thursday, in what Netanyahu’s office described as an attempted mass attack. No casualties were reported. The Israeli police earlier said there had
Politics
The US national security adviser warned Ukraine’s leader to stop hurling “insults” at Donald Trump, as pressure built Friday on Volodymyr Zelensky to sign away precious mineral rights in exchange for Washington’s help defending against Russia. Tensions between Trump and Zelensky over the proposed mineral deal — which Kyiv
Politics
Germans head to the polls on Sunday in an election that has been impatiently awaited in Brussels, where many hope Berlin can swiftly return to play a driving role in EU affairs as the bloc faces a string of crises. Already suffering from lacklustre economic growth and competitiveness, the EU
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Pope Francis spent another night without incident in hospital, the Vatican said on Friday, after a week in the hospital where the 88-year-old pontiff is being treated for bronchitis and pneumonia. “The night went well, this morning Pope Francis got up and had breakfast,” the Vatican said in a regular
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that Hamas had handed over the body of a “Gazan woman” the day before and not that of hostage Shiri Bibas as agreed in the truce deal. “In an unimaginably cynical manner, they did not return Shiri to her small children, the
Live News
Israel said Friday it struck crossings on the Lebanon-Syria border used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons, with a Syria war monitor reporting an unspecified number of people wounded in the attack. The Israeli military said its air forces “struck crossing points in the area of the Lebanon-Syria border” used by