Putin says he will ask Assad about the fate of an American journalist who went missing in Syria 12 years ago

Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Putin says he will ask Assad about the fate of an American journalist who went missing in Syria 12 years ago.

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    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.

  • 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

  • Hamas OKs draft agreement of a Gaza ceasefire and the release of some 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 from 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.

  • Syria’s new rulers invite Assad security officials to surrender

    Headquarters of intelligence service in Damascus is now ‘settlement centre’ where those who served inside turn themselves in

  • 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.

  • Sudanese army captures key city from rebels

    The development marks one of the most significant gains for the army in its almost two-year long war with rebel forces.

  • 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.

  • Final draft of Gaza truce deal presented to sides after 'breakthrough', official says

    Mediators gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of a deal on Monday to end the war in Gaza, an official briefed on the negotiations said, after a midnight "breakthrough" in talks attended by envoys of both outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump. Biden said a ceasefire and hostage release deal he had championed was on "the brink" of coming to fruition and Hamas said it was keen on reaching an agreement. "The deal ... would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started," Biden said in a speech to highlight his foreign policy achievements.

  • 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.

  • Israeli cabinet to approve Gaza ceasefire deal despite opposition, minister says

    Hamas have approved a draft deal for a ceasefire in Gaza, with Israel's cabinet debating the conditions, officials suggest. A truce, if agreed, would put an end to over a year of war in the Gaza Strip.View on euronews

  • What we know about the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal so far

    A “final round” of ceasefire negotiations aimed at ending the 15-month war in Gaza began in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday.

  • How Trump’s ‘salty’ envoy may have forced Israel’s hand on hostage deal

    The call last week from Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy was reportedly blunt and short on diplomatic nicety.

  • Iraq PM says he will sign security deal with Britain

    (Reuters) -Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said on Monday he would sign a bilateral security deal with Britain as well as a strategic partnership accord as he headed to London for an official visit against a backdrop of historic shifts in the Middle East. Iraq is trying to avoid becoming a conflict zone once again amid a period of regional upheaval that has seen Iran's allies Hamas degraded in Gaza, Hezbollah battered in Lebanon and Bashar al-Assad ousted in Syria. A rare ally of both Washington and Tehran, Iraq's balancing act has been tested by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups' attacks on Israel and on U.S. troops in the country in the aftermath of the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023.

  • Biden: Israel and Hamas ‘on brink of’ signing ceasefire deal

    Israel and Hamas are “on the brink” of signing a ceasefire deal that would release hostages and “surge” aid into Gaza, Joe Biden has said.

  • Blinken says Israel and Saudi ties are ‘ready to go,’ urges Trump to accept Biden plan for Gaza

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday said normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia is ready to go, but requires following through on ending the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and a commitment to a pathway to a Palestinian state. Blinken, speaking at the Atlantic Council, said negotiations to achieve a…

  • Russian drone attacks kill two and injure 19 in Ukraine, including infants

    Ukraine claims to have shot down 58 of 80 Russian drones overnight, with attacks killing two in Donetsk. A Russian chemical plant was also hit by a drone strike.

  • Middle East latest: Gaza ceasefire talks press on in Qatar

    Israel and Hamas appear to be inching closer to a phased ceasefire agreement, officials said Monday. Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when militants stormed into southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people and abducted around 250. A third of the 100 hostages still held in Gaza are believed to be dead.

  • Demonstration in front of the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem to demand agreement on Gaza hostages

    The demonstrators chanted the names of the hostages and “come back” in Hebrew, while holding 98 photographs of the hostages held in Gaza since the October 7 attacks, 466 days ago, by Hamas militants.View on euronews

  • Militants kill at least 40 farmers in Nigeria's Borno state

    Suspected Islamist militants killed 40 farmers in an attack on the Dumba community in Nigeria's northeastern Borno State on Sunday, a senior state official said on Monday. The militants were believed to belong to the armed group Boko Haram and its offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), who have been waging a deadly insurgency in northeast Nigeria since 2009 that has displaced millions and killed thousands, with Borno at its epicenter. Sunday's attack comes amid a worsening food crisis in Borno, exacerbated by flooding in September and years of insecurity and displacement caused by the insurgency.

  • Malala Yousafzai says Taliban do not see women as human beings

    Activist urges Muslim leaders to confront Afghanistan’s government over its oppressive policies against girls and women