Author: Daily Sabah With Reuters

Hamas released a video claiming to show Israeli hostage Matan Zangauker in captivity on Saturday. In the video a man who introduces himself as Matan Zangauker, 24, can be seen pleading with the Israeli leaders to make a deal that would bring captives being held by Hamas in Gaza back to Israel. Mediating countries, including Qatar, see increased momentum for a possible deal that could allow the 100 hostages being held in Gaza to be released in exchange for scores of Palestinian prisoners, after Israel signed a landmark ceasefire deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon last month. Donald Trump’s Middle East…

At least four people died Saturday when an apartment complex in The Hague collapsed after a huge explosion and fire, authorities said, but firefighters managed to pull someone still alive from the rubble. The blast and resulting inferno destroyed at least five homes but it was not clear how many people were buried in the debris, Mayor Jan van Zanen told reporters. Authorities confirmed that four bodies had been pulled from the wreckage, as fears mounted that the toll could rise much higher. An AFP reporter on-site saw scenes of devastation with debris strewn across the street, burned-out cars, blown-out…

Former Turkish Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioğlu on Friday was elected the new secretary-general of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), a Turkish diplomatic source said, filling a position that had been vacant since September. The OSCE is the successor to a body set up during the Cold War for the East and West to engage with each other. In recent years, however, and especially since Russia invaded Ukraine, Moscow has blocked many key decisions, often crippling the organization. Foreign ministers from OSCE member states met in Malta this week and agreed on Sinirlioğlu being the new secretary-general, the…

Political parties of Turkish and Greek Cyprus called on their respective leaderships to open more crossings to improve communication between the island’s rival communities. Ethnically divided Cyprus has nine crossings along the 180-kilometer (116-mile) cease-fire line that separates Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Thousands use them daily with long queues and traffic jams a regular occurrence. The two sides are now engaged in discussions on opening up more crossing points. Thirteen Greek and Turkish Cypriot political parties attending an event organized by the Slovak Embassy in Lefkoşa (Nicosia) endorsed a call to their communities’ political leaders to move forward. “This is…

Lewis Hamilton has confessed he “massively underestimated” how challenging his emotional farewell to Mercedes would be ahead of his final race with the team in Abu Dhabi this weekend. The 39-year-old, seven-time world champion shocked Formula One in February by announcing he would leave Mercedes, his long-time team since his go-karting days, to join Ferrari at the end of the year. While Mercedes has had time to adjust, signing 18-year-old Italian Kimi Antonelli as Hamilton’s replacement, the Briton told reporters at Yas Marina that the transition has not been easy. “I anticipated it would be difficult, but I massively underestimated…

Dr. Mehdi Davut smiles as he talks about his plans to return for the first time in eight years to his homeland in Syria and see how his aid association may help in Aleppo, a significant city seized last week by anti-regime fighters. “The liberation of Aleppo brought us such joy because Aleppo was a source of pain,” he told Reuters in Istanbul, where some half a million Syrians live. Syrian anti-regime fighters captured Aleppo from Bashar Assad’s forces, bringing hope of return among hundreds of thousands exiled from the city, which has been under Assad’s control since 2016. The…

Former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios and Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic will make their Grand Slam returns at next month’s Australian Open, using protected rankings, tournament organizers announced Friday. Kyrgios, ranked 21st, has not played in a Grand Slam since 2022 due to knee, foot, and wrist injuries. Bencic, who gave birth to a daughter in April, will return with a special ranking of 15th. “Kyrgios and Bencic are among six men and six women competing… using protected rankings, setting the main-draw entry ranking cut-off for both fields at No. 98 in the world,” the organizers said in a…

The U.S. issued a federal order on Friday mandating that the national milk supply be tested for bird flu, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Reuters, as authorities seek to grapple with rapid spread of the virus among dairy herds. Bird flu has infected more than 500 dairy herds in top milk state California, and more than 700 nationwide since March, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, raising concerns of the impact to farmers and the milk supply as well as the risk to human health from ongoing spread. Nearly 60 people have contracted the virus since April, most of…

Mike Tyson is being sued in a London court for nearly 1.5 million euros ($1.59 million) for allegedly breaking a deal to promote a gambling company in order to fight social media influencer-turned-prizefighter Jake Paul. Medier, a Cyprus-registered company that promotes online casino and betting company Rabona, is suing the former heavyweight champion and his company Tyrannic for allegedly reneging on the deal, which was agreed in January. The lawsuit, filed at London’s High Court in October, says Tyson terminated the deal in March – the same day his fight with Paul was announced – because Medier breached their agreement.…

U.S. President Joe Biden changed his mind about pardoning his son Hunter because “circumstances have changed,” the White House said on Friday. Biden’s pardon of his son on Monday came after he had repeatedly promised he would allow the U.S. justice system to play out, and a day after President-elect Donald Trump nominated Kash Patel to lead the FBI. “The fact is, when you think about how the president got to this decision, circumstances have changed. They have,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when asked about the president’s timing. “Republicans said they weren’t going to let up. ……