Syria launches drive in Assad stronghold
DAMASCUS, Dec 26 (AFP): Syria's new authorities launched an operation in a stronghold of ousted president Bashar al-Assad on Thursday, with a war monitor saying three gunmen affiliated with the former government were killed.Assad fled Syria after an Islamist-led offensive wrested from his control city after city until Damascus fell...
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S Korea's opposition party submits motion
SEOUL, Dec 26 (AP): South Korea's main opposition party submitted a motion on Thursday to impeach the country's acting leader over his reluctance to fill three Constitutional Court vacancies ahead of the court's review of rebellion charges against impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol stemming from his short-lived martial law decree...
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10,457 killed in 2024
MADRID, Dec 26 (AFP): At least 10,457 migrants died or disappeared while trying to reach Spain by sea in 2024, an NGO said Thursday, more than 50 percent more than last year and the most since it began keeping a tally in 2007.The 58-percent increase includes 1,538 children and 421...
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Baby froze to death overnight in Gaza
JERUSALEM, Dec 26 (AP): A baby girl froze to death overnight in Gaza, while Israel and Hamas accused each other of complicating ceasefire efforts that could wind down the 14-month war.The 3-week old baby was the third to die from the cold in Gaza's tent camps in recent days, said...
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UN sounds alarm over Israeli 'destruction' in S Lebanon
BEIRUT, Dec 26 (AFP): The United Nations' peacekeeping force in Lebanon expressed concern on Thursday at the "continuing" damage done by Israeli forces in the country's south despite a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah.The truce went into effect on November 27, about two months after Israel stepped up its...
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Ex-Taiwan mayor charged with corruption
TAIPEI, Dec 26 (AFP): Taiwan prosecutors on Thursday indicted an ex-mayor of Taipei and former presidential candidate on charges of corruption and misusing political donations and said they were seeking 28 years' jail for him.Ko Wen-je, leader of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), ran as a third-party candidate in January's...
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Israeli strike kills 5 journos in Gaza
GAZA STRIP, Dec 26 (AFP): A Palestinian TV channel affiliated with a militant group said five of its journalists were killed Thursday in an Israeli strike on their vehicle in Gaza, with Israel's military saying it had targeted a "terrorist cell".A missile hit the journalists' broadcast truck as it was...
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