Times Square tests New Year’s Eve crystal ball ahead of countdown
Organisers in New York have successfully completed a test run of the Times Square New Year’s Eve crystal ball, less than 48 hours before the annual ...
Hamas has rejected Israel’s latest offer of a temporary truce in Gaza, instead demanding a comprehensive agreement that would end the war and include a full prisoner exchange.
In a televised speech, senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya said the group would no longer accept interim deals. He accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of using partial truces as political cover to prolong the war.
“We will not be part of passing this policy,” Hayya said, adding that Hamas wants to immediately begin negotiations to end hostilities, release all Israeli hostages, secure the freedom of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, and begin rebuilding Gaza.
The demand shifts away from earlier negotiations brokered by Egypt and Qatar, which sought incremental agreements. Talks in Cairo on Monday ended without a breakthrough.
Israel had proposed a 45-day pause in fighting in exchange for phased hostage releases and indirect talks about a possible end to the conflict. But Hamas dismissed the plan, accusing Israel of setting "impossible conditions" and refusing to agree to terms that did not include a total ceasefire.
National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt said: “Hamas’s comments demonstrate they are not interested in peace but perpetual violence. The terms made by the Trump Administration have not changed: release the hostages or face hell.”
Since the collapse of the January truce, Israeli air and ground strikes have resumed. On Thursday, at least 32 Palestinians were killed, including women and children, according to local health officials. Six people died in a strike on a UN-run school in Jabalia. The Israeli military said it was targeting a Hamas command center.
Israel maintains that the war will not end until Gaza is demilitarised and all remaining 59 hostages are released. Hamas insists that any release of hostages must be tied to a full ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
The gap between the two sides remains wide, as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens.
Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire and former Chelsea Football Club owner, has assembled a “top tier” legal team, including a former White House advisor, as he prepares for a legal battle in Jersey.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Sunday praised the country’s armed forces as “invincible warriors” during a year-end ceremony honouring the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, held in the coastal city of La Guaira.
Protests over Iran's rising cost of living have spread to several universities in Tehran, with students joining bazaar merchants and shopkeepers as the rial hit record lows and inflation persisted above 42%.
Moldova has officially notified Russia that the Russian Cultural Centre in Chișinău will be closed, with the institution expected to cease operations within six months, Moldovan authorities said.
The head of Yemen’s Presidential Council, Rashad al-Alimi, has ordered all forces linked to the United Arab Emirates to leave Yemen within 24 hours.
Iran has declared the Royal Canadian Navy a terrorist organisation in response to Canada’s decision to blacklist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, escalating already tense relations between the two countries.
Protests over Iran's rising cost of living have spread to several universities in Tehran, with students joining bazaar merchants and shopkeepers as the rial hit record lows and inflation persisted above 42%.
Turkmen authorities announced that the next summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will take place in Turkmenbashi’s Avaza National Tourist Zone, according to a statement.
A court hearing scheduled for 30 December in the criminal case against Armenian citizen Ruben Vardanyan has been postponed for an indefinite period, Azerbaijan’s judicial authorities have said.
Iran has ruled out a proposal by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani to mediate between Iran and U.S. and host bilateral nuclear talks in Baghdad.
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