SAM MAGDY

Kari Lake speaks to supporters at a campaign event, Sept. 4, 2024, in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
America’s news TV channel for the Mideast fires its staff after funding cuts
The head of the U.S.-funded Al Hurra Arabic-language television and online news outlet has terminated most of his staff and curtailed TV programming. On Saturday, Jeffrey Gedmin notified Al Hurra staffers of their firings.
 
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)
Trump says ceasefire deal should be canceled if Hamas doesn’t release all hostages by Saturday
President Donald Trump says that a precarious ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas should be canceled if Hamas doesn’t release all the remaining hostages it is holding in Gaza by midday on Saturday — though he also acknowledged that such a decision would be up to Israel.
 
A man waves a Palestinian flag as he returns home to Rafah, after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect, in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga, File)
To secure Gaza ceasefire, dealmakers overcame enemies’ deep distrust
The story of how Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza stretches back over more than a year. The timing and unlikely partners who coalesced to push negotiations across the line help explain why it finally happened.
 
Justice Minister Carlo Nordio addresses the Senate during the report on the justice administration, in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Roberto Monaldo//LaPresse via AP)
Italy under fire from International Criminal Court for releasing Libya warlord accused of war crimes
The International Criminal Court has reminded Italy it is obliged to fully cooperate with its prosecutions. The Hague-based court issued a stern statement late Wednesday, after Italy released Ossama Anjiem, also known as Ossama al-Masri.
 
View of the ICC, the International Criminal Court, in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
Libya warlord arrested in Italy on warrant from the International Criminal Court, but then expelled
Italian state-run RAI says a court in Turin has freed a Libyan warlord wanted by the International Criminal Court. RAI says the man has been expelled and sent home after the court declined to approve the arrest.
 
Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at the hospital Rafah, southern Gaza, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Gaza death toll surpasses 20,000 and Israel expands ground offensive despite pressure to scale back
Health officials in Hamas-run Gaza say the Palestinian death toll there has surpassed 20,000. That figure was released Friday.
 
FILE - About a thousand Palestinian and pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied at the corner of W. Hubbard St. and N. Armour St. near where President Joe Biden was attending a fundraising event in the West Town neighbohood of Chicago, Nov. 9, 2023. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File)
How the hostage deal came about: Negotiations stumbled, but persistence finally won out
Negotiations to free the hostages held by Hamas hardly ran smoothly. Hamas resisted as Israel laid waste to huge areas of Gaza. But talks proceeded, aided by intermediaries in Qatar, eventually leading to Wednesday’s agreement.
 
Turkey deploys extremists to Libya, local militias say
Two Libyan militia commanders and a Syrian war-monitoring group say Turkey is deploying Syrian extremists to fight in Libya’s civil war. These extremists are affiliated with groups like al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
 
Saudi coalition says head of Yemen’s Islamic State captured
Saudi Arabia’s special forces captured the leader of the Islamic State’s branch in Yemen during a raid on a house that was under surveillance, a Saudi military statement said Tuesday, dealing a blow to an extremist group that had taken advantage of the country’s turmoil to launch devastating attacks