Author: Anadolu Agency
Qatar will have an active and purposeful role in Syria’s reconstruction and development process, said Ahmed al-Sharaa, head of Syria’s new administration, on Monday. His statements came during a press conference after he met in Damascus with Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Al-Khulaifi, the first official Qatari visit to Syria in over 13 years. Al-Sharaa expressed gratitude for Qatar’s enduring support of the Syrian people and its unwavering stance until the victory of the revolution against the Bashar al-Assad regime. He announced that Syria is entering a developmental phase, with Qatar set to play a pivotal role…
The fate of some Israeli hostages is tied to the Israeli army’s advance in areas of northern Gaza, said the spokesperson for the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, on Monday. Abu Ubaida’s comments came in several statements on Telegram shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed there had been “certain progress” in negotiations for a prisoner exchange with Hamas, without providing a specific timeline. Opposition critics have accused Netanyahu of sabotaging the negotiations and prolonging the war. The spokesperson warned that “the fate of some Israeli prisoners depends on the progress of the occupation army by hundreds of meters…
Two people were killed and another injured on Monday in an Israeli airstrike near a school in Marjayoun, southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that “two martyrs and one wounded” were the result of an airstrike that targeted a group of people near the Tayibe Official School in the area. This attack brings the total casualties from Israeli violations of the cease-fire in southern Lebanon to 32 killed and 38 wounded, according to data from the Health Ministry and the official news agency, as monitored by Anadolu. The Israeli military continues to violate the cease-fire agreement daily, with…
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said on Sunday that President Salome Zourabichvili must leave her office before Dec. 29, as anti-government protests continue in the South Caucasus nation for almost a month. “President Zourabichvili will have to leave office on Dec. 29. Let’s see where she continues her life-behind bars or outside. I believe she has enough sense to avoid violating the Criminal Code,” Kobakhidze told a press briefing in the capital Tbilisi, public broadcaster 1TV reported. The premier’s remarks come a day after Zourabichvili reiterated her calls for new elections in the country, as well as her readiness to…
Amid escalating conflict between the junta government and rebel Arakan Army in Myanmar, a fresh 60,000 Rohingya entered Bangladesh in the last two months, a Bangladeshi official said on Sunday. Bangladesh is hosting over 1.2 million Rohingya in its southeastern Cox’s Bazar district. Most of the Rohingya Muslims fled from Myanmar in August 2017 in a military crackdown. The Rohingya infiltration has also been facilitated by corruption on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border as some people help the Rohingya cross border in exchange for money. Md. Touhid Hossain, foreign affairs adviser, told reporters about his visit to Bangkok, where an informal consultation…
India and Kuwait on Sunday agreed to elevate the bilateral relationship to a “strategic partnership,” according to an official statement. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah during his two-day visit, which is the first visit of an Indian prime minister to the gulf nation in 43 years. “The leaders recalled the strong historical and friendly ties between the two countries and re-affirmed their full commitment to further expanding and deepening bilateral cooperation,” the Indian Foreign Ministry said. “In this context, they agreed to elevate the bilateral relationship to a ‘Strategic Partnership’.” Prime…
Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday said Syria’s territorial integrity is “non-negotiable,” and reaffirmed that there’s no place for the PKK/YPG terror group in the country. “This is not a time to wait and see. We must take action. The territorial integrity of Syria is non-negotiable. We want to reiterate that there is no place for the PKK/YPG in Syria,” Fidan said in a joint news conference with Ahmed al Sharaa, leader of the new Syrian administration, in the capital Damascus. “This terrorist organization is occupying the lands of the Syrian people and stealing their natural resources. In today’s…
Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding talks with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Moscow, the Kremlin announced on Sunday. “Vladimir Putin met Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in the Kremlin. On the Russian side, Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov took part in the meeting. Robert Fico is in Moscow on a working visit,” the statement said. In a separate statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “we can easily assume that all issues of the international agenda and the future of the transit of the Russian gas via Ukraine will be discussed” in the meeting scheduled several days ago. Serbian President…
Tens of thousands of Serbians gathered on Sunday in the capital Belgrade demanding accountability over the Nov. 1 collapse of a canopy at a railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad that killed 15 people. Farmers, artists and tens of thousands of people gathered at the Slavija Square on the call of students and farmer unions. “Your hands are bloody,” read one of the banners at the protest venue. People also carried signs that read: “Do you have a clear conscience?” and “Students are the voice of understanding.” President Aleksandar Vucic lifted the secrecy of all documents related…
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov discussed over phone on Sunday the latest developments in Gaza and Syria, as well as bilateral relations, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The Egyptian diplomat highlighted Cairo’s “intensive efforts” to achieve an “immediate and lasting cease-fire, enabling the delivery of humanitarian aid to the strip.” Egypt, besides Qatar and the U.S., is part of mediation efforts aimed to end Israel’s war in Gaza that continues since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks. Regarding the situation in Syria, where a new administration has taken charge after the…