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Israel's Netanyahu sends Mossad director to Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar in sign of progress

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  • North Korea's suicide soldiers pose new challenge for Ukraine in war with Russia

    After a battle in Russia's snowy western region of Kursk this week, Ukrainian special forces scoured the bodies of more than a dozen slain North Korean enemy soldiers. But it is among mounting evidence from the battlefield, intelligence reports and testimonies of defectors that some North Korean soldiers are resorting to extreme measures as they support Russia's three-year war with Ukraine. "Self-detonation and suicides: that's the reality about North Korea," said Kim, a 32-year-old former North Korean soldier who defected to the South in 2022, requesting he only be identified by his surname due to fears of reprisals against his family left in the North.

  • Foreign Office warns Brits are targets for terrorists in this country

    People travelling there are being told to 'stay aware of your surroundings at all times' and, also, to steer clear of demonstrations and keep your bags close to you

  • A stick-figure drawing in a North Korean soldier's diary showed how Pyongyang's troops wanted to use each other as drone 'bait'

    Ukraine said it retrieved a diary from a North Korean soldier that contains a confession of stealing from his Russian comrade and battle tactics.

  • Lebanon's Nawaf Salam to be designated PM, angering Hezbollah

    BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanese President Joseph Aoun summoned Nawaf Salam, head of the International Court of Justice, to designate him prime minister after most lawmakers nominated him on Monday, a big blow to Hezbollah, which accused opponents of seeking to exclude it. The choice of Salam underlined the major shift in the power balance among Lebanon's sectarian factions since the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah was pummelled in a war with Israel last year, and its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad was toppled. The presidency said Salam, currently outside the country and due to return on Tuesday, had secured the backing of 84 out of parliament's 128 lawmakers, and Aoun had summoned him to assign him to form the government.

  • Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages, officials say

    Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages, two officials involved in the talks said Tuesday. Mediators the United States and Qatar said Israel and the Palestinian militant group were at the closest point yet to sealing a deal to bring them a step closer to ending 15 months of war. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the proposed agreement, and an Egyptian official and a Hamas official confirmed its authenticity.

  • At UN, Israel accuses Hezbollah of trying to rebuild with Iran's help

    Lebanon's Hezbollah is trying "to regain strength and rearm with the assistance of Iran," Israel's U.N. ambassador told the Security Council on Monday, declaring that the militants remain a "serious threat" to Israel and regional stability. Updated U.S. intelligence last month - reported by Reuters - had warned that Iran-backed Hezbollah would likely try to rebuild its stockpiles and forces, posing a long-term threat to the U.S. and its regional allies. Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a U.S.-brokered 60-day ceasefire - starting Nov. 27 - after more than a year of conflict.

  • Sudan's army recaptures strategic city in possible turning point

    STORY: In the streets of Wad Madani civilians and soldiers celebrated what could be a turning point in Sudan's devastating civil war.The strategically important city, capital of El Gezira state, was recaptured from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces by the Sudanese army over the weekend.The deputy leader of the armed forces, General Shams el-Din Kabbashi, told troops and residents that it was a "big victory" but that the army is not stopping until "every inch of this country is cleansed"..:: Released April 23, 2023War broke out in April 2023 over the integration of the Sudan Armed Forces and the RSF.:: WFPIt has created one of the world's largest humanitarian crises, pushed more than 12 million people from their homes, and plunged half the population into hunger.The RSF's occupation of El Gezira has turned the fertile state into one at risk of famine. Residents and eyewitness say villages were emptied out in violent raids as fields lay fallow or were set on fire.Ahlam Abdel Qader is a lawyer in Wad Madani."Those people exhausted us in Madani. They looted our belongings and warehouses. They broke into houses, and if they didn't find anything from certain people, they would beat them." :: FileThe RSF denies such accusations and says it is fighting rogue actors who are committing abuses.:: FileIts leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo has admitted defeat in Wad Madani, but insisted that the battle is not over.The army's relatively swift takeover of Wad Madani comes after weeks of advances in surrounding villages.It is newly equipped with armaments and recruits to the allied forces.The Joint Forces, a collection of former rebel groups, as well as Sudan Shield, led by an RSF defector, participated in the assault.Sources within the RSF say its soldiers were exhausted by airstrikes and dwindling stocks of ammunition and supplies.Eyewitnesses said the RSF withdrew north towards other towns in the state and the capital Khartoum.If the army is able to regain full control of El Gezira state that could be pivotal in its efforts to choke the RSF's supply lines to Khartoum and elsewhere.The RSF still controls most of the capital, though the army has made gains.

  • Israeli minister Ben-Gvir threatens to quit Netanyahu cabinet over Gaza deal

    Israeli far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened on Tuesday to quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government if he agrees to a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal being negotiated at talks in Qatar. Ben-Gvir, whose departure would not bring down Netanyahu's government, urged Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join him in a last-ditch attempt to prevent a ceasefire deal, which he described as a dangerous capitulation to Hamas. "This move is our only chance to prevent (the deal's) execution, and prevent Israel's surrender to Hamas, after more than a year of bloody war, in which more than 400 IDF (Israel Defence Forces) soldiers fell in the Gaza Strip, and to ensure that their deaths are not in vain," Ben-Gvir said on X.

  • Scholz Says Israel-Hamas Agreement Appears to Be Within Reach

    (Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Israel and Hamas appear close to a ceasefire agreement that could trigger the release of Israeli hostages seized by the militant Islamist group in October 2023.Most Read from BloombergThese Homes Withstood the LA Fires. Architects Explain WhyA Blueprint for Better Bike LanesAs E-Bikes Boom in NYC, Some Call for More Regulations“We understand how painful any agreement with the terrorist organization Hamas is for Israel,” Scholz said Tuesday in a p

  • Hamas expected to release 33 hostages in first phase of emerging ceasefire deal, Israeli officials say

    Hamas is expected to release 33 hostages during the first phase of an emerging ceasefire agreement being finalized by negotiators in Doha, two Israeli officials said.

  • Everything we know about the draft ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas

    A deal to end the conflict is said to be close

  • Terrorist groups respond to verbal attacks and slights by governments with more violence against civilians

    When governments denounce terrorist attacks, backlash follows – typically within a few days, research found.

  • What are the main obstacles to a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages?

    Israel and Hamas have been holding indirect talks for more than a year aimed at ending the war in Gaza and returning scores of militant-held hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed each day in Israeli strikes, and most of Gaza's 2.3 million people are huddled in squalid tent camps, their neighborhoods in ruins. In Israel, families of the hostages have held weekly rallies demanding a deal for their release, fearing their loved ones will die in the harsh conditions of their captivity the longer the fighting drags on.

  • MPs 'alarmed' after Met Police blocks plans for Pro-Palestine march near BBC

    A group of MPs have called for the force to lift ‘repressive restrictions’ on a demonstration due to take place on Saturday

  • At least one dead in Gaza City after Israeli strike hits house

    According to a report by Gaza's Ministry of Public Works and Housing, the Israel-Hamas war has left hundreds of thousands of homes destroyed or partially damaged, while some 82,000 are deemed entirely uninhabitable.View on euronews

  • US officials say Gaza ceasefire deal is in sight, the first sign of serious optimism in months

    American officials believe a ceasefire and hostages release deal in the Israel-Hamas war is now in sight, in what marks the first real sign of serious optimism inside the Biden administration in months, sources familiar with the issue told CNN.

  • Families cautiously optimistic that Israeli hostages may soon be free

    Relatives watch and wait as talks to broker ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continue in Qatar

  • Everything we know about ‘North Korean soldiers’ captured by Ukraine

    Kyiv claims to have captured two North Korean soldiers during fighting in Russia’s Kursk region

  • Gaza Death Toll Is At Least 40% Higher Than Reported, New Study Estimates

    The study, published in The Lancet, reflects the reality that Gaza has been unable to count the dead due to Israel destroying the health care infrastructure.

  • Biden says 'on the brink' of truce deal as dozens killed in Gaza

    US President Joe Biden said Monday that a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal between Hamas and Israel was "on the brink" of being finalised, even as heavy fighting rocked the Palestinian territory."In the war between Israel and Hamas, we're on the brink of a proposal that I laid out in detail months ago finally coming to fruition," Biden said in a farewell speech at the State Department.