Six In The Morning Saturday 18 January 2025

 

Israel to release more than 1,800 Palestinian prisoners in first phase of ceasefire, Egypt says

Here's what we know - and don't - about Palestinian prisoners being freed

We just reported Egypt, a key mediator in the ceasefire talks, announcing that Israel will release 1,890 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the 33 Israeli hostages Hamas agreed to free in the first phase of the deal.

Here's what we know - and don't - so far:

• The number has been unclear for days - earlier, Israel's justice ministry released a list of more than 734 prisoners and detainees, external it planned to release and before that there were reports saying it was 737. Now we're told it's 1,890 - although this could include detainees not held by Israel's justice system, for example Gazans detained by the IDF
• We don't know detail as to what order the prisoners will be released in, or how many at a time
• And while we know 33 Israeli hostages are being freed in exchange for the prisoners, it's not known what the ratio is (how many Israelis for how many Palestinians). In the previous temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, in November 2023, one prisoner was released for every three hostages - it's unclear what will happen this time, but the Times of Israel has published an apparent text of the deal, external which suggests it varies depending on the ages and health of the hostages

Suicides, new tactics and propaganda iPads: details from captured North Koreans expose new foe in Ukraine

Luke Harding in Bilopillia

Sat 18 Jan 2025 11.22 GMT

Discovery of two injured servicemen sent from Pyongyang and disguised as Russian fighters blows apart myth that Zelenskyy’s fight is solely with Moscow

The news was sensational. It travelled quickly among Ukrainian soldiers fighting in Russia’s Kursk region. “I heard from a friend of a friend,” one officer, Vitalii Ovcharenko, recalled. “This was half an hour after it happened. My friend said: ‘We’ve got a North Korean prisoner! He’s in shock but OK.’ I said: ‘Wow.’” Ovcharenko added: “Everyone wanted a selfie. They wrapped him in a blanket and gave him tea.”

Last week’s capture of two North Korean servicemen was an extraordinary moment in Russia’s bloody war against Ukraine. The Kremlin has taken elaborate steps to conceal the presence of 12,000 elite troops sent in autumn by Pyongyang to Russia. At camps in the Far East they were given Russian equipment: uniforms, rifles and fake military documents.

Pakistan: No way out of jail for ex-PM Imran Khan

Supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan were hoping for some reprieve from their leader's legal woes. But Khan's latest conviction likely means he will be kept out of politics for some time.

A corruption verdict handed down on Friday was yet another setback for Pakistan's embattled former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Already imprisoned since August 2023 on other charges, the new sentence adds 14 years to 10 and seven-year sentences Khan is serving on other cases. Pakistani law requires him to serve the sentences concurrently.

Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party supporters say the cases are a tactic to keep the popular cricket star-turned politician permanently out of politics.

Syria's new leaders reckon with reintegrating vestiges of Assad regime

Syria's new leadership has seized abandoned military housing previously occupied by former high-ranking soldiers who fled following the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. But questions remain over how to rehome the large numbers of low-ranking ex-soldiers who don't have the means to relocate.

Top officers from Syria's now-defunct Republican Guard were the first to leave after Bashar al-Assad was ousted.

"They fled as soon as the regime collapsed. They’re responsible for destroying Syria," said Abu Yassin, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) coordinator for the barracks in Qudsayya near Damascus.

Yassin is charged with making sure no one occupies the abandoned flats without permission or loots them.

Fire near MSDF training area for explosives still rages a day later

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

January 18, 2025 at 17:27 JST

A blaze that might have been triggered by explosives during a Maritime Self-Defense Force training exercise was still burning more than 24 hours after the first report to the fire department.

An evacuation order was lifted on Jan. 18 after the fire was deemed unlikely to spread to residential areas.

Earlier, about 160 residents were evacuated along with the occupants of a welfare facility.

Two Iran Supreme Court judges killed in Tehran shooting attack

Assailant kills himself after shooting dead senior justices inside a Supreme Court building in the capital Tehran.

Two senior Iranian justices have been killed in a shooting attack in the Supreme Court in the capital Tehran, according to the judiciary and state media.

The “assassination” was carried out by an armed person, who killed himself after opening fire early on Saturday, according to a statement by the media centre of the judiciary.

The victims were identified as Muslim scholars Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghiseh, both holding the rank of hujjat al-Islam and each presiding over a different branch of the court.