(Al Jazeera Media Network) Russian special forces have freed two prison guards and killed several men who had taken them hostage at a pre-trial detention centre in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
The two guards were taken hostage by six detainees earlier on Sunday, the prison service said, before an operation was launched to free them, Russian media reported.
Initially, the prison service said it had entered into negotiations for the guards’ release. But a short...
(BBC News) The leaders of Italy and Germany have strongly rejected ceasefire terms laid out by Vladimir Putin to stop the war in Ukraine, as scores of countries gathered at a two-day summit in Switzerland to discuss ending the conflict.
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the Russian president's plan "propaganda" which effectively suggested that Ukraine "must withdraw from Ukraine".
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed it as a "dictatorial peace".
A draft declaration issued at the summit...
(BBC News) US officials have played down Wednesday's arrival of four Russian naval vessels in Cuba for military drills.
The visit of the vessels – which include a nuclear-powered submarine and a frigate – has been seen as a show of force amid Moscow's tensions with the West over the war in Ukraine.
They are anchored at Havana Bay, about 145 km from the US state of Florida.
"We of course take it seriously, but these exercises don't...
(BBC News) Hamas says it has submitted its response to a US-backed plan for a ceasefire in Gaza, with a senior group official telling the BBC that it still requires an Israeli commitment to a permanent ceasefire.
In a statement, the group and its Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) allies, expressed "readiness to positively" reach a deal.
The proposed ceasefire plan – which was endorsed by the UN security council on Monday night – calls for a...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) United States President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden has been convicted by a jury of lying about his drug use to illegally buy a gun.
A 12-member jury in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, found him guilty on all three counts against him on Tuesday, making Hunter Biden the first child of a sitting US president to be convicted of a crime.
Hunter Biden, 54, slightly nodded his head after the verdict was read...
(BBC News) France's political leaders are scrambling to prepare for snap elections after President Emmanuel Macron dissolved parliament in response to a stinging European vote defeat by the far-right National Rally.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has warned the two-round vote, starting on June 30 could have "the most serious consequences" in modern French history.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats were also heavily beaten in Sunday's European elections by the conservative opposition, but he has ruled out...
(BBC News) South Korea has said it will resume propaganda broadcasts against North Korea for the first time in six years in response to Pyongyang's campaign of sending rubbish-filled balloons across the border.
Over 300 North Korean balloons were detected over Saturday and Sunday with around 80 landing in the South carrying scrap paper and plastic sheets.
North Korea is yet to respond to the announcement, but Pyongyang considers the loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts an act of...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) The Israeli military says its forces have rescued four captives from central Gaza as it escalated its assault across the besieged and bombarded territory.
The announcement about the raid in Nuseirat on Saturday came as Palestinian health officials said at least 210 people were killed and wounded in Israeli attacks on central Gaza. Local residents said Nuseirat had come under heavy Israeli drone and air raids, with children among those killed.
The army said...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is “prepared for a very intense operation” along its border with Lebanon, where Israeli troops have exchanged near-daily fire with Hezbollah fighters for almost eight months.
The fighting between Israel and the Lebanese armed group, a Hamas ally, has intensified over the past week, with Israel striking deeper into Lebanese territory, raising concerns that a wider conflict could break out between the heavily armed adversaries.
“We...
(BBC News) The American Boeing company has launched its Starliner capsule toward the International Space Station (ISS) with two NASA astronauts aboard.
It is the first time the vehicle has been entrusted to carry people after coming through a long and tortuous development program.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be testing the capsule on a mission that is expected to last just over one week.
Starliner is scheduled to dock with the space station on Thursday.
The...
