Hamas releases more Israeli, foreign hostages on second day of Gaza truce
Gaza/JerusalemReuters Hamas handed over 13 Israeli hostages and four foreigners to the International Committee of the Red Cross on Saturday night, Qatar’s foreign ministry said, after a brief disruption earlier to the deal to free captives was overcome with the mediation of Qatar and Egypt. The Gaza hostage deal was back on track after a […]
“I’m not dead”, Thai hostage says after ‘miracle’ release in Gaza
Bangkok. ThailandReuters Vetoon Phoome’s family feared the Thai farm worker had been killed by Hamas in last month’s attack on Israel, until they learned on Saturday he had been free as a hostage in Gaza. “He told me not to cry, to tell mother I’m coming back,” Roongarun Wichagern told Reuters of her younger brother […]
Five wounded in Kyiv by largest drone attack yet on Ukraine – officials
Kyiv, UkraineReuters Ukraine’s capital suffered what officials said was Russia’s largest drone attack of the war on Saturday, leaving five people wounded as the rumble of air defences and explosions woke residents at sunrise. The attack began hitting different districts of Kyiv in the early hours of Saturday, with more waves coming as the sun […]
Gaza hostage release back on after aid row settled
Gaza/JerusalemReuters A Gaza hostage release deal was back on track on Saturday night after a row over aid supplies to the north of the besieged enclave was resolved following mediation by Qatar and Egypt. A Palestinian official familiar with the diplomacy said Hamas would continue with the four-day truce agreed with Israel, the first break […]
Updated: Rubik’s Cube-loving nine-year-old among hostages freed from Gaza
Updated: 7am, 26th November, (AEDT)Petah Tikvah, IsraelReuters The first group of Israelis freed from captivity in Gaza returned to Israel on Friday, on the first day of a planned four-day truce during which further exchanges of hostages for Palestinian detainees are due to take place. The 13 released included four small children and their mothers […]
Finland shuts more Russia border points, says asylum inflow must stop
Helsinki, FinlandReuters Russia must stop sending asylum seekers across its frontier into Finland in what amounts to a “hybrid attack”, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said on Friday, after the Nordic nation temporarily shut all border passenger crossings bar one. More than 800 migrants from nations including Afghanistan, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen […]
Zelenskiy names “three victories” Ukraine needs on international front
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday said that Ukraine needed to secure three key “victories” abroad, including the approval of major aid packages from the US Congress and the European Union, and a formal start of accession talks to join the EU. Zelenskiy also announced the latest dismissals in the military, four deputy […]
Ukraine’s coal mines turn to women to solve wartime staff shortages
Pavlohrad, Ukraine Reuters After more than a thousand of its workers went to fight Russia’s invasion, a coal mining enterprise in eastern Ukraine suffered a huge staff shortage. Its answer was to allow women to work underground for the first time in its history. Over a hundred took up the offer. “I took this job […]
Myanmar convoy burns on China’s border as its envoy meets for talks
Reuters A convoy of trucks bringing goods into Myanmar from China has gone up in flames in what state media reported on Friday was an insurgent attack, compounding surging insecurity that has raised concern in neighbouring China. The fire in the town of Muse came as China’s ambassador to Myanmar met top officials in the […]
Almost 400,000 deaths in Europe in 2021 attributable to filthy air – EU report
Brussels, BelgiumReuters Almost 400,000 deaths in Europe in 2021 were related to three main air pollutants and some could have been avoided if pollutants had been reduced to World Health Organisation-recommended levels, an EU report said on Friday. The European Environment Agency said that within the European Union, pollution caused by fine particulate matter (PM2.5), […]