Latest International agreements News

Israel's borders have shifted throughout its history. Action in Syria may reshape them again

Dec. 17, 2024 23:59 PM EST

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, entered Syrian territory Tuesday and said Israeli troops would remain in the area indefinitely, blurring the border with its northern neighbor. Since its establishment in 1948, Israel has never had fully recognized...

Middle East latest: Israel plans an extended occupation of Syrian buffer zone

Dec. 17, 2024 23:35 PM EST

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli troops will occupy a buffer zone inside Syria for the foreseeable future. Israel’s recent capture of the buffer zone has sparked condemnation, with critics accusing Israel of violating the 1974 ceasefire and possibly exploiting the chaos in...

After Assad's fall, the task of unearthing the dead from Syria's mass graves is just beginning

Dec. 17, 2024 22:14 PM EST

NAJHA, Syria (AP) — Bones are visible here and there among the mounds of earth in a field south of Damascus, one of the mass graves around Syria believed to hold the bodies of tens of thousands of people killed under Bashar Assad’s rule. With his ouster, residents, forensic teams and...

Netanyahu says Israeli troops will occupy a buffer zone inside Syria for the foreseeable future

Dec. 17, 2024 20:17 PM EST

JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israeli forces will stay in a buffer zone on the Syrian border, seized after the ouster of Syria's President Bashar Assad, until another arrangement is in place “that ensures Israel's security.” Netanyahu made...

Pakistani air ambulance delivers medicines to violence-hit district as roads remain closed

Dec. 17, 2024 10:16 AM EST

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A Pakistani charity used an air ambulance on Tuesday to deliver medicines to a northwestern region where a doctor said 29 children had died in the past two months because life-saving supplies couldn't get through roadblocks following sectarian clashes. Air...

Russian lawmakers approve a bill that could remove the terrorist designation for the Taliban

Dec. 17, 2024 09:50 AM EST

MOSCOW (AP) — The lower house of Russia's parliament on Tuesday approved a bill that would set the stage for Moscow to remove the designation of the Taliban in Afghanistan as a terrorist group. Under the bill passed by the State Duma in the second and third readings, the official...

Death toll in Gaza from the Israel-Hamas war tops 45,000 Palestinians, health officials say

Dec. 16, 2024 21:51 PM EST

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than 45,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas militants, health officials in the embattled territory said Monday, as often-stalled ceasefire negotiations appeared to be gaining ground. Qatar, Egypt...

UN announces initiative to overcome political deadlock in Libya

Dec. 16, 2024 18:11 PM EST

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The top U.N. official in Libya announced a new initiative Monday to overcome a three-year deadlock and move the divided oil-rich North African nation toward a national election. The U.N. deputy special envoy for Libya, Stephanie Koury, told the U.N. Security...

Negotiators say Israel and Hamas are inching toward a ceasefire deal. This is what it may look like

Dec. 16, 2024 17:20 PM EST

After months of deadlock, Israel and Hamas appear to be moving closer toward a ceasefire to end their 14-month war. Top officials from the U.S., Qatar and Egypt have resumed their mediation efforts in recent weeks and reported greater willingness by the warring sides to wrap up a...

Venezuelan rights group reports 3rd in-custody death among people detained in post-election unrest

Dec. 16, 2024 17:11 PM EST

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A man detained in Venezuela during the civil unrest that followed the country’s disputed July presidential election died in custody Monday, marking the third such death reported by an inmates’ rights organization. The Venezuelan Prison Observatory...