Officials say Qatar has decided to suspend its key mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel

Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) — Officials say Qatar has decided to suspend its key mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel.

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    Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has become Syria’s new strongman, replacing the Alawite regime of Bashar al-Assad. Once a partner of al Qaeda, Jolani now speaks the language of tolerance towards Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities and told his fighters to refrain from extrajudicial violence. Videos emerging on social media, including one apparently showing the execution of four suspected regime collaborators, suggest that not all of his fighters are following hi

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    Hamas has reportedly agreed to allow Israeli troops to remain in Gaza in a major about-turn that could unblock a hostage deal.

  • Bloody siege ends Myanmar army control of western border

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  • North Korean troops performing well on battlefield, say Russian bloggers

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  • Battered corpses show the horrors of life and death under Syria’s Assad

    The 35 or so bodies were found in a military hospital in the Syrian capital of Damascus, days after the regime fell. They are believed to be among the last victims of Assad.

  • Netanyahu releases video message to the Iranian people saying that the regime's allies are falling

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video message addressed to the Iranian people Thursday celebrating the weakening of the "Iranian regime's axis of terror." Speaking in English in a video with Farsi subtitles, Netanyahu said that Israeli attacks on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon had set off a "chain reaction" in the Middle East.

  • Before his ouster, Syria's Assad told Iran that Turkey was aiding rebels to unseat him

    In the final days leading to his ouster, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad complained to Iran's foreign minister that Turkey was actively supporting Sunni rebels in their offensive to topple him, two Iranian officials told Reuters this week. Five decades of rule by Assad's family ended on Sunday when he fled to Moscow, where the government granted him asylum. Iran had backed Assad in Syria's long civil war and his overthrow was widely seen as a major blow to the Iran-led "Axis of Resistance", a political and military alliance that opposes Israeli and U.S. influence in the Middle East.

  • Syria's interim PM hails 'the birth of a nation' at Friday prayers

    STORY: :: Syria's interim PM calls for mercy and unity as he leads Friday prayers at the Umayyad Mosque:: December 13, 2024:: Damascus, Syria:: Mohamed al-Bashir, Syrian Caretaker Prime Minister:: "Have mercy. You should be merciful. You should take Syria as a symbol of freedom. Let Syria be a symbol of mercy.":: "Victory and the liberation of the land is not just about breaking chains or raising flags. It is the birth of a nation, the restoration of dignity, and the writing of history.":: "He (ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad) thought his rule would last forever, but God brought him to ruin, just as He did to Pharaoh."Since Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group swept Bashar al-Assad from power on Sunday (December 8) at the head of a rebel alliance, its bureaucrats - who until last week were running an Islamist administration in a remote corner of Syria's northwest - have moved into government headquarters in Damascus.The appointment of Mohammed al-Bashir, the head of the regional government in HTS' enclave of Idlib, as Syria's new interim prime minister on Monday (December 9) underlined the group's status as the most powerful of the armed groups that battled for more than 13 years to end Assad's iron-fisted rule.

  • China FM says 'deeply concerned' about Syria in talks with Egypt counterpart

    China's foreign minister Wang Yi told his Egyptian counterpart on Friday that Beijing is "deeply concerned" about the situation in Syria, as the two top diplomats met in the Chinese capital."The two sides are deeply concerned about the current situation in Syria and call for respect for Syria's sovereignty," Wang told journalists, urging the prevention of "terrorist and extremist forces from taking advantage of the chaos".

  • Russia ‘not leaving’ two main bases in Syria

    Russia is pulling back its military from northern Syria and posts in the Alawite Mountains but is not leaving its two main bases, four Syrian officials told Reuters.

  • Syrian Shi'ites and other minorities flee to Lebanon, fearing Islamist rule

    Tens of thousands of Syrians, mostly Shi'ite Muslims, have fled to Lebanon since Sunni Muslim Islamists toppled Bashar al-Assad, fearing persecution despite assurances from the new rulers in Damascus that they will be safe, a Lebanese official said. At the border with Lebanon, where thousands of people were trying to leave Syria on Thursday, a dozen Shi'ite Muslims interviewed by Reuters described threats made against them, sometimes in person but mostly on social media. Their accounts reflect fears of persecution despite promises of protection by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - the Sunni Islamist group which has emerged as the dominant force in the new Syria but is far from being the only armed faction on the ground.

  • BBC ‘portrayed Palestinian gunmen killed in Gaza as innocent civilians’

    Palestinian gunmen killed in Gaza have been repeatedly portrayed as innocent civilians by the BBC, it has been claimed.

  • Georgia ruling party elects loyalist president amid constitutional crisis

    Georgia's ruling party on Saturday voted for a far-right former footballer to become president in a controversial election process, amid a deepening constitutional crisis and weeks of mass pro-EU protests.An electoral college, controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party and boycotted by the opposition, elected Mikheil Kavelashvili with a comfortable majority of 224 votes as the country's next figurehead leader for a five-year term, the central election commission said.

  • G7 to meet on Syria, government pledges 'rule of law'

    G7 leaders will attempt Friday to forge a common approach to the new government of Syria, which has pledged to protect the rule of law after years of abuses under ousted president Bashar al-Assad."A judicial and human rights committee will be established to examine the constitution and then introduce amendments," he said, pledging that "rule of law" would be instituted.

  • Blinken makes unannounced trip to Iraq as international community grapples with Syrian regime collapse

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Iraq Friday to meet with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as the international community grapples with the implications of the Syrian government’s collapse.

  • US, regional diplomats urge respect for minorities in Syria after Assad, Blinken says

    AQABA, Jordan (Reuters) -Top diplomats from the United States, Turkey, the European Union and Arab nations have agreed that a new government in Syria should respect minority rights, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday following talks in Jordan and direct contacts with the rebels who ousted President Bashar al-Assad. The meetings occurred as regional and global powers scramble for influence over whatever government replaces Assad, forced to flee a week ago.

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    Dr Sayeed Joudeh had come out of retirement to help during the war between Israel and Hamas.

  • UCLA police chief who was criticized over Gaza protest violence is out

    The police chief for the University of California at Los Angeles, who was criticized for the handling of a violent mob attack in May on pro-Palestinian activists encamped at UCLA, has left the campus police department. "December 10, 2024, was former UCLA Police Chief John Thomas' last day with UCLA and the UCLA Police Department," the department said on Thursday. UCLA Police Captain Scott Scheffler will serve as interim police chief until a permanent chief is selected, the department added.