Trump’s second term begins: Highlights Middle East hostage return, promises diplomacy over conflict among top priorities
Trump vowed to be a “peacemaker and unifier,” citing the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release as key steps toward peace,...Geostrategy
Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Palestine test Washington’s strategy under Trump leadership
The Trump administration faces a Middle East shaped by shifting alliances, unresolved conflicts, and evolving regional priorities, demanding a measured...Geostrategy
Israeli troops shoot dead three Palestinians in West Bank
Residents told AFP that Israeli forces entered Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp just after midnight (2200 GMT on Tuesday)...Residents told AFP that Israeli forces entered Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp just after midnight (2200 GMT on Tuesday) and forced their way into several houses.
The health ministry said two men, Muhammad Sabti and Hamza Harawi, were killed in an air strike, and Ayman Azouqa was shot dead by Israeli troops.
UN expert faces threats after Israel Gaza ‘genocide’ remarks
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, said this week there were reasonable...The pressure, she said, "pisses me off, of course it does. But it ... creates even more pressure not to step back."
Israel last month announced a visa ban on Albanese over comments denying that Hamas's October 7 attack was "anti-Semitic".
Quran burner Salwan Momika says leaving Sweden for Norway
Stockholm, Sweden - An Iraqi refugee in Sweden who stoked international outrage by repeatedly desecrating the Quran last year said Wednesday...Salwan Momika, a Christian Iraqi who burned Qurans at a slew of protests in Sweden over the summer, told AFP that he had left Sweden and arrived in Norway.
The Swedish Migration Agency revoked Momika's residency permit in October, citing false information in his original application.
Clowns try to put smiles back on faces of Gaza children
Palestinian Territories - The children of Gaza have little to eat, have had to flee their homes and have survived...Clowns and acrobats performed for children in the Nuseirat refugee camp's school where their displaced families have been sheltering the bombing.
Wassim Lobed, whose support group organized the show, said they are trying to provide psychological relief to trauma-hit children.
Hyundai to invest $50bn in South Korea
The automaker will make a bigger push to produce EVs.With the $50.5bn investment announced, Hyundai said it wants to "secure future growth engines in an uncertain business environment through constant change and innovation"
Under the plan, Hyundai will create 80,000 jobs in South Korea and build three new EV factories, with the aim of increasing annual EV production to 1.51 million units by 2030
UN Palestinian agency chief says funding secured until end of May
Gaza has endured almost six months of war and a siege that has cut off most food, water, fuel and...UNRWA is in crisis since Israel accused that a dozen of its employees were involved in October 7 Hamas attack
UNRWA chief warned last month that the funding crunch was so great the organization might not be able to operate beyond March
Israeli hostage held by Hamas in Gaza dead, say families
Jerusalem--One of the Israeli hostages kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas attack has been killed and his body is being...The slain hostage, Uriel Baruch, 35, a father of two, was taken from the Supernova music festival by Hamas fighters
Fighters from Hamas seized 253 Israeli and foreign hostages during the October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war
Syria strikes kill 17 including Iran Guard, WHO worker
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards adviser, his two Iranian security escorts, and...A US defence official told AFP the United States "did not conduct any airstrikes" overnight
WHO chief announced on social media "the tragic loss of another one of our own in an air strike in Syria"
Qatar says negotiations ‘ongoing’ for Gaza truce
Doha, Qatar - Mediator Qatar said on Tuesday that talks between Hamas and Israel on a Gaza truce and hostage release...Qatar, with the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in weeks of behind-the-scenes talks in a bid to secure a truce in Gaza
Since the UN adopted a resolution on Monday demanding an "immediate ceasefire", Hamas and Israel have traded blame for their failure to agree a deal.
US defense chief tells Israeli counterpart that Gaza toll is ‘too high’
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant that civilian casualties in Gaza are "too high". A...A senior Pentagon official said that US Defense Secretary had discussed his hopes that negotiations would "soon produce the release of all hostages."
The United States has backed Israel with both military and diplomatic support.
