Vance in Israel to support Gaza deal
JERUSALEM, Oct 21 (AFP): US Vice President JD Vance landed in Israel on Tuesday to shore up a fragile Gaza ceasefire deal, after President Donald Trump warned Hamas it would be wiped out if it breached the truce.Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were already in Tel...
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Sarkozy begins jail sentence
PARIS, Oct 21 (Reuters): Nicolas Sarkozy has become the first French ex-president to go to jail, as he starts a five-year sentence for conspiring to fund his election campaign with money from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.Not since World War Two Nazi collaborationist leader Philippe Pétain was jailed for treason...
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Only Zelensky can negotiate on Ukraine territory: Macron
LJUBLJANA, Oct 21 (AFP): French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said any negotiations regarding Ukraine's territory must be handled only by President Volodymyr Zelensky."No one else can do this. Therefore, it is up to Ukraine to decide for itself and its territory, Macron told reporters when asked about a planned...
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Khamenei rejects Trump offer of talks
TEHRAN, Oct 21 (Reuters): Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday rejected an offer of renewed talks from U.S. President Donald Trump and denied his assertion that the United States has destroyed Iran's nuclear capabilities.Tehran and Washington engaged in five rounds of indirect nuclear negotiations that ended with the...
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World Bank estimates $216b needed to rebuild Syria
DAMASCUS, Oct 21 (AP): The World Bank has projected that reconstructing Syria after more than a decade of civil war will cost around $216 billion, nearly ten times the nation's 2024 GDP.The conflict erupted in 2011 after government crackdowns on mass protests escalated into armed fighting. Former President Bashar Assad...
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