Hamas stages macabre ceremony to release bodies of four Israeli hostages, said to include Bibas children and their mother
Hamas on Thursday put on a macabre handover ceremony in central Gaza to return the bodies of four Israeli hostages taken on October 7, 2023.
It was the first time the militant group has released the remains of dead hostages since its attack on Israel, and marked a somber turn for a country more used to elation when former captives returned home alive.
Among those released were said to be the bodies of Shiri Bibas, who was aged 32 when she and her sons Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months, were abducted from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, southern Israel by Hamas-led militants more than 16 months ago. The two boys have become the most recognizable victims of the October 7 terror attacks.
Trump aide tells Ukraine to 'tone down' US criticism as Russia warns against Nato troops
Summary
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz says Ukraine needs to "tone down" its criticism of the US and sign a minerals deal being pushed by President Trump
In Kyiv, a news conference with President Volodymyr Zelensky and US envoy Keith Kellogg is cancelled, with the pair currently holding talks
Yesterday the US president called Zelensky a "dictator" and said Russia holds "the cards" in peace negotiations because it has "taken a lot of territory"
Zelensky earlier accused the US president of "living in a disinformation space" created by Russia
Anthony Zurcher analysis: Trump is echoing Russia's talking points about the war and the Ukrainian president, a week after a lengthy phone call with Putin
Meanwhile the Kremlin reiterates that it would be "unacceptable" for Nato countries to deploy troops to Ukraine - UK PM Keir Starmer had said he was "ready" to put troops on the ground as part of any peace deal
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz says Ukraine needs to "tone down" its criticism of the US and sign a minerals deal being pushed by President Trump
In Kyiv, a news conference with President Volodymyr Zelensky and US envoy Keith Kellogg is cancelled, with the pair currently holding talks
Yesterday the US president called Zelensky a "dictator" and said Russia holds "the cards" in peace negotiations because it has "taken a lot of territory"
Zelensky earlier accused the US president of "living in a disinformation space" created by Russia
Anthony Zurcher analysis: Trump is echoing Russia's talking points about the war and the Ukrainian president, a week after a lengthy phone call with Putin
Meanwhile the Kremlin reiterates that it would be "unacceptable" for Nato countries to deploy troops to Ukraine - UK PM Keir Starmer had said he was "ready" to put troops on the ground as part of any peace deal
Republican Vice President JD Vance is speaking at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington and is being asked about US ties to Europe and the war in Ukraine.
On Europe, Vance says the US will continue to have "important alliances", but the strength of the relationship depends on whether they take their "societies in the right direction".
On the war in Ukraine, Vance says President Donald Trump believes "everything is on the table" when it comes to negotiations with Russia.
Revealed: US firm running Guantánamo migrant jail accused over rights abuses
Corporate conglomerate Akima subject of critical audits and complaints over detainee treatment at facilities in US
Thu 20 Feb 2025 11.00 GMT
A corporate conglomerate now running the US government’s immigration detention center at the Guantánamo Bay naval base on a lucrative contract has been the subject of critical audits and a civil rights complaint over conditions at three other migrant lockups it has run within the US, documents reviewed by the Guardian show.
In one example, a federal audit report on a migrant facility run by the company in Miami found multiple incidents of alleged “inappropriate use of force” – including guards pepper-spraying a man in solitary confinement even though he posed no threat to them, the report said.
South Korea: President Yoon faces criminal trial
South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared in court to face charges of orchestrating a rebellion. He is the first South Korean president to stand trial in a criminal case.
South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared in court on Thursday for the first hearing of his criminal trial over insurrection charges.
Yoon arrived amid high security at the Seoul central district court, becoming the first South Korean president to stand trial in a criminal case.
In December, Yoon briefly imposed martial law in South Korea and parliament subsequently voted to impeach him in mid-December.
Spain's former football chief Luis Rubiales convicted of sexual assault over forced kiss
Spain's former football chief Luis Rubiales has been convicted of sexual assault and fined more than 10,000 euros for having forcibly kissed Women's World Cup star Jenni Hermoso in 2023. The court acquitted Rubiales of a charge of coercion that carried a possible sentence of 18 months in prison.
A Spanish court on Thursday convicted former football chief Luis Rubiales of sexual assault over the forced kiss he gave star forward Jenni Hermoso and fined him € 10,800 ($11,300).
But the court acquitted him and the three other accused of the charge of coercion in the case.
Prosecutors had sought a prison term of two-and-a-half years for Rubiales – one year for sexual assault and 18 months for coercion – for having allegedly pressured the player to downplay the incident.
UN warns M23 advances threaten regional conflict in eastern DRC
Fears of regional conflict grow as M23 captures cities in eastern DRC, prompting UN concern over strategic advances.
The M23 armed group is advancing on strategic zones in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after taking two key cities, the United Nations warned, underscoring the threat of a regional conflict.
Recent weeks have seen the rapid progression of the Rwanda-backed M23, which has seized vast tracts of the eastern DRC, including Goma and Bukavu.
“If our information is correct, [the M23] continues to advance towards other strategic areas in North and South Kivu,” the UN secretary-general’s special envoy for the Great Lakes region, Huang Xia, told the Security Council.
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