Australia returns ancient Chinese statue heads stolen from imperial tombs
Australia has returned two ancient stone statue heads to China, more than 30 years after they were taken from imperial tombs in central China....
Israeli forces issued stop-work orders for 15 Palestinian homes in the village of Al-Walaja in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday (24 June), citing a lack of building permits, according to a local official.
Khader Al-Araj, head of the Al-Walaja village council, told Anadolu that Israeli troops raided the village and deployed forces in the Khallat Al-Samak area to the north before delivering stop-work orders to the owners of the 15 homes.
In a related incident, Israeli forces also demolished two agricultural rooms and a concrete wall in the Al-Sarj area in the same village. Al-Araj said the two rooms were mobile structures used for agricultural purposes.
Israel routinely demolishes Palestinian homes and structures or issues stop-work orders for construction, citing a lack of permits, particularly in Area C of the West Bank as defined by the 1995 Oslo II Accord between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel.
Under the agreement, the West Bank was divided into three administrative zones: Area A under full Palestinian control, Area B under Palestinian civil control and Israeli security control, and Area C under full Israeli control. Area C makes up around 60% of the territory.
Israeli authorities prohibit construction or land reclamation in Area C without permits, which Palestinians say are virtually impossible to obtain.
The demolition of homes has repeatedly drawn criticism from rights groups and is described as violating international humanitarian law. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the destruction of civilian property except when absolutely necessary for military purposes.
Such demolitions have led to displacement of entire families and loss of livelihoods, particularly those linked to agriculture and livestock herding.
According to UN data, the demolition of Palestinian homes and structures in 2025 displaced more than 1,700 Palestinians.
Since 8 October, 2023, Israeli escalation by the army and settlers in the West Bank has killed 1,173 Palestinians, wounded 12,666, led to the arrest of about 23,000 people and displaced 33,000, according to official Palestinian figures.
The Middle East conflict remains tense as diplomatic efforts continue alongside renewed Houthi attacks. Iran says it remains open to mediation, while the Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the kingdom.
Evacuations and the provision of humanitarian aid in the Russian-occupied southern Ukrainian town of Oleshky have begun, a senior Ukrainian official said on Friday. In a statement on Telegram, David Arakhamia said a six-day ceasefire was holding, and that more details would follow.
Rescuers searched the wreckage of two high-speed trains in central Spain on Thursday as the death toll rose to a provisional 74, making it the country's second fatal high-speed rail disaster this year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia remains willing to rebuild relations with European countries but warned that any wider conflict on the continent would leave no winners, as he commented on recent diplomatic contacts with Nordic leaders and growing security concerns in the Baltic region.
Qatari mediators returned to Tehran on Friday as part of efforts to reach a deal between the U.S. and Iran, according to an official briefed on the talks.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global body responsible for monitoring money laundering and terrorist financing risks, has removed four countries from its so-called “grey list” after determining they had made sufficient progress in addressing weaknesses in their financial cr
The death toll from the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has surpassed 5,000, according to government figures released on Friday, as health authorities continue to struggle to contain the country's worst-ever Ebola epidemic.
A hacking group linked to North Korea is widely believed to be behind the theft of $6.3 billion from cryptocurrency giant Binance, a cyberattack that experts describe as the largest cryptocurrency heist on record.
Poland's long-running conflict over judicial independence and control of the Constitutional Tribunal intensified on Friday after the head of the country's top court was suspended, prompting President Karol Nawrocki to cut short an overseas trip and return to Warsaw amid mounting political tensions.
China’s GJ-21 carrier-based stealth reconnaissance and strike drone has completed its first take-off and landing on board the Sichuan, the country’s first Type 076 amphibious assault ship, state media reported on 30 October.
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