Trump signs order ending US sanctions on Syria, Damascus welcomes move
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday ending the U.S. sanctions programme on Syria, the White House confirmed....
The Qassam Brigades announced that the remains of Tsachi Idan, Itzhak Elgarat, Ohad Yahalomi, and Shlomo Mantzur were handed over.
An Israeli security official has confirmed that Hamas has transferred four bodies to the Red Cross.
Israel is now expected to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in the coming hours as part of the final phase of hostage and prisoner exchanges under the first stage of the ceasefire deal agreed upon last month.
The official truce is set to end on Saturday, but it remains unclear if discussions to extend the ceasefire have begun.
The identities of the bodies handed over by Hamas early Thursday local time have not yet been confirmed. Israel has announced that a team of forensic experts from the National Center for Forensic Medicine will be dispatched to the Kerem Shalom border crossing to assist with identification.
An Israeli official previously said that no Palestinian prisoners would be released until the hostages’ bodies were positively identified. This follows a previous incident in which Hamas mistakenly handed over the body of an unidentified Gazan woman instead of hostage Shiri Bibas. Hamas later acknowledged the error and returned Bibas' body.
If confirmed to be the bodies belonging to hostages, the latest release would mean that Hamas and its allies are now holding 59 captives, according to Israeli figures. The Israeli government believes more than half of those remaining are deceased. One of the hostages, Hadar Goldin, has been held dead since before October 7, 2023.
Earlier on Wednesday, Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, announced that the remains of Tsachi Idan, Itzhak Elgarat, Ohad Yahalomi, and Shlomo Mantzur would be handed over.
The Israeli military previously stated that Shlomo Mantzur, who at 85 was the oldest hostage taken on October 7, 2023, was killed during the Hamas-led attack, and his body had been held in Gaza. However, the military had not confirmed the deaths of the other three hostages.
The latest transfer took place privately after the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced that an agreement had been reached for the four bodies to be returned “through an agreed-upon procedure and without Hamas ceremonies.”
Doubts over the handover emerged on Saturday when Israel refused to release 620 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, citing what it described as “humiliating ceremonies” conducted by Hamas during previous releases.
Earlier on Saturday, Hamas had released six Israeli hostages from Gaza in two public ceremonies and one private transfer. This marked the final return of living hostages under the first phase of the ceasefire deal that began last month.
The U.S. economy faces a 40% risk of recession in the second half of 2025, JP Morgan analysts said on Wednesday, citing rising tariffs and stagflation concerns.
China has ramped up efforts to protect communities impacted by flood control measures, introducing stronger compensation policies and direct aid from the central government.
Severe rain in Venezuela has caused rivers to overflow and triggered landslides, sweeping away homes and collapsing a highway bridge, with five states affected and no casualties reported so far.
A malfunction in the radar transmission system at the Area Control Center in Milan suspended more than 300 flights at the weekend, across northwest Italy since Saturday evening according to Italy's air traffic controller Enav (National Agency for Flight Assistance).
Thousands of protesters rallied in Bangkok on Saturday, demanding Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra resign as political and economic tensions mount.
Two Azerbaijani brothers killed in a Russian security raid in Yekaterinburg are being returned home, sparking outrage and urgent calls for justice amid allegations of abuse and ethnic profiling.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan will not attend the meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Foreign Ministers Council scheduled for Monday in Kyrgyzstan, according to a statement from Armenia’s Foreign Ministry.
Chinese mining giant Zijin Mining is set to acquire Kazakhstan’s Raihorodok gold deposit for $1.2 billion, a move that will transfer control of RG Gold and could significantly boost Kazakhstan’s annual gold production, pending regulatory approval.
The Kremlin on Sunday voiced regret over Azerbaijan's reaction to the recent arrests of several Azerbaijani nationals in Russia’s Yekaterinburg region, after a controversial police operation tied to a decades-old criminal case sparked diplomatic tension between the two countries.
Armenia says it is ready to discuss the place and date for signing a peace agreement with Azerbaijan, according to Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
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