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Hamas releases 3 frail-looking Israeli captives for Palestinian detainees under Gaza ceasefire

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) - Hamas-led militants launched three gaunt, frail-looking Israeli captives and Israel freed nearly 200 Palestinian detainees Saturday in the latest exchange of a ceasefire that has actually paused 16 months of war in Gaza.

The hostages ´ condition and scenes of Hamas requiring them to speak in a handover ceremony sparked outrage in Israel and might increase pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the ceasefire beyond its present six-week stage.

Netanyahu has actually signaled he would resume the war, even if that indicates leaving dozens of hostages in captivity. "President Trump entirely agreed with me: We will do everything to return all the hostages, but Hamas will not be there," Netanyahu said after the exchange.

Civilians Eli Sharabi, 52; Ohad Ben Ami, 56; and Or Levy, 34, were among about 250 people taken during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war.

Israelis' pleasure turned to shock and tears when they saw their emaciated state.

Released Thai captives go back to Bangkok after being held for over a year in Gaza

BANGKOK (AP) - Five Thai employees released after being imprisoned for over a year in Gaza arrived in Bangkok on Sunday.

Sarusak Rumnao, 32, Watchara Sriaoun, 33, Sathian Suwannakham, 35, Pongsak Thaenna, 36, and Bannawat Saethao, 27, were released on Jan. 30 as part of an exchange arrangement.

They were accepted by member of the family, wiki.rolandradio.net some of whom cried, in the arrivals hall at Suvarnabhumi airport. Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sagniampongsa and the Israeli Ambassador to Thailand Orna Sagiv were both at the airport to welcome home the freed hostages.

"We are all very grateful and really pleased that we get to return to our homeland. We all would truly like to thank you. I put on ´ t understand what else to state," Pongsak informed a press conference at the airport.

Maris said the Thai federal government "never offered up hope and here is the result today. The tears of happiness are our motivation." He included that Bangkok would continue working to protect the release of the remaining Thai captive.

Trump states some white South Africans are oppressed, could be transplanted in the US. They say no thanks

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) - Groups representing a few of South Africa's white minority responded Saturday to a strategy by President Donald Trump to use them refugee status and resettlement in the United States by stating: thanks, however no thanks.

The strategy was detailed in an executive order Trump signed Friday that stopped all aid and monetary help to South Africa as punishment for what the Trump administration said were "rights infractions" by the federal government against some of its white residents.

The Trump administration accused the South African government of allowing violent attacks on white Afrikaner farmers and presenting a land expropriation law that allows it to "seize ethnic minority Afrikaners' farming home without settlement."

The South African federal government has actually denied there are any collective attacks on white farmers and has said that Trump's description of the colony law has plenty of misinformation and distortions.

Afrikaners are come down from mainly Dutch, however likewise French and German colonial inhabitants who initially arrived in South Africa more than 300 years back. They speak Afrikaans, a language obtained from Dutch that developed in South Africa, and stand out from other white South Africans who come from British or other backgrounds.

Trump's 3rd week saw more executive orders, a trade war that wasn't and a Mideast shock

WASHINGTON (AP) - Three weeks in, President Donald Trump keeps cranking out executive orders designed to remake the federal government while billionaire Elon Musk searches for more ways to overthrow the federal labor force.

Trump also provoked - then called off - trade wars with Canada and Mexico however permitted one with China to move forward. He relatively played down potentially thorny political problems while insisting he was major about the United States taking Gaza, emptying out its locals and redeveloping the area into "the Riviera of the Middle East." It was an idea that good friend and foe alike around the globe declined.

Here are some Week 3 takeaways:

Trump has actually spent 20 days in office, and on nearly each of them, he has signed executive orders - typically numerous.

Just like Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden before him, Trump utilized Inauguration Day to put pen to paper on actions meant to eliminate great deals of his predecessor's policies. Trump also released Day 1 orders to pardon most members of the mob that assaulted the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, withdraw the U.S. from the Paris environment accord and keep TikTok operating.

31 believed Maoist rebels and 2 police officers are killed in forest combat in main India

PATNA, India (AP) - A minimum of 31 presumed Maoist rebels and two authorities authorities were eliminated on Sunday in the deadliest battle up until now this year in main India, cops said.

Numerous police and paramilitary soldiers released an operation in the forests of the Indravati location of Chhattisgarh state based on intelligence that a great deal of rebels had gathered there, said state cops Inspector General Pattilingam Sundarraj.

Sundarraj said as the soldiers conducted a search operation combating erupted in the forest, eliminating at least 31 insurgents and 2 cops officials. Two other authorities were injured. He said search operations were continuing in the location and the troops had actually recuperated some arms and ammunition, consisting of automatic rifles.

There was no instant statement from the rebels.

Sunday's fighting is the greatest so far this year and the second major clash in less than a month in Chhattisgarh, according to law enforcement officers Jitendra Yadav.

2 mass graves with bodies of almost 50 migrants found in southeastern Libya

CAIRO (AP) - Libya authorities uncovered nearly 50 bodies today from two mass graves in the country ´ s southeastern desert, officials said Sunday, in the latest catastrophe including people seeking to reach Europe through the chaos-stricken North African nation.

The first mass grave with 19 bodies was discovered Friday in a farm in the southeastern city of Kufra, the security directorate said in a declaration, adding that authorities took them for autopsy.

Authorities posted images on its Facebook page revealing law enforcement officer and medics digging in the sand and recovering dead bodies that were covered in blankets.

The al-Abreen charity, which helps migrants in eastern and southern Libya, said that some were obviously shot and eliminated before being buried in the mass tomb.

A different mass grave with at least 30 bodies was likewise discovered in Kufra after raiding a human trafficking center, according to Mohamed al-Fadeil, head of the security chamber in Kufra. Survivors said almost 70 individuals were buried in the tomb, he included. Authorities were still browsing the location.

Rescuers hunt for 28 individuals still missing after a landslide in southwest China; 1 body recovered

BEIJING (AP) - Emergency teams in China's southwestern Sichuan province fought against time Sunday to locate 28 individuals missing after a rain-triggered landslide eliminated one person and buried homes.

Nearly 1,000 workers, consisting of armed cops, firefighters and physician, continued to operate in the rescue operation following the landslide in the village of Jinping in Junlian county on Saturday. Some officers browsed through the remains of collapsed structures, using drones and life-detection radars to locate any signs of life with the aid of regional officials who recognized with the area, state broadcaster CCTV said.

They rescued two injured individuals and evacuated about 360 other people after 10 houses and a manufacturing building were buried, CCTV reported.

At a news conference Sunday, authorities said preliminary assessments associated the disaster to current heavy rainfall and local geological conditions. They said these elements transformed a landslide into a particles flow, leading to an accumulation of particles stretching about 1.2 kilometers (over half a mile) in length, with an overall volume exceeding 100,000 cubic meters (3.5 million cubic feet).

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong was at the site to assist the rescue operation and went to the affected residents. He prompted authorities to strive to look for the missing individuals, according to main news agency Xinhua.

Kosovo votes for brand-new parliament as foreign aid decreases and talks with Serbia are stalled

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) - Kosovars cast their votes Sunday in a parliamentary election thought about a crucial test for Prime Minister Albin Kurti as talks on normalizing ties with rival Serbia remain stalled and foreign financing for among Europe's poorest countries in concern.

Kurti ´ s left-wing Vetevendosje!, or Self-Determination Movement Party, is seen as the front-runner but is not expected to win the required majority to govern alone, exposing the possibility the other 2 competitors sign up with ranks if he fails to form a Cabinet.

The other challengers are the Democratic Party of Kosovo, or PDK, whose main leaders are detained at a worldwide criminal tribunal at The Hague implicated of war criminal activities, and the Democratic League of Kosovo, or LDK, the earliest celebration in the country that lost much of its assistance after the death in 2006 of its leader, Ibrahim Rugova.

The parties made big-ticket promises to increase public salaries and pensions, enhance education and health services, and fight poverty. However, they did not explain where the cash would come from, nor how they would draw in more foreign investment.

Kurti has actually been at chances with Western powers after his Cabinet took a number of actions that raised stress with Serbia and ethnic Serbs, consisting of the restriction on using the Serbian currency and dinar transfers from Serbia to Kosovo ´ s ethnic Serb minority that depends upon Belgrade ´ s social services and payments. The U.S., the European Union and the NATO-led stabilization force KFOR have actually urged the government in Pristina to refrain from unilateral actions, fearing the revival of inter-ethnic conflict.

Here's what we understand about a commuter airplane crash in Alaska that killed 10 people

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Authorities are working to recover the wreckage of an airplane crash in western Alaska that killed 10 people while private investigators are attempting to determine what caused the little commuter aircraft to go down in the icy Bering Sea.

The single-engine turboprop airplane was traveling from Unalakleet to the hub community of Nome when it disappeared Thursday afternoon. The Bering Air airplane was discovered the next day after an extensive search. Nine guests and the pilot were killed.

Crews on Saturday succeeded in recovering the remains of those killed in the crash from a wandering ice floe before the awaited onset of high winds and snow.

Here are things to learn about the airplane crash, which is one of the deadliest airplane crashes in the state in 25 years.

Officials said contact with the Cessna Caravan was lost less than an hour after it left Unalakleet on Thursday. Authorities said the flight was a regularly scheduled commuter journey, and the aircraft went missing out on about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Nome.

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Trump's AI aspiration and China's DeepSeek overshadow an AI summit in Paris

PARIS (AP) - The of expert system will remain in focus at a significant summit in France where world leaders, executives and specialists will work out promises on directing the advancement of the quickly advancing technology.

It's the current in a series of international discussions around AI governance, but one that comes at a fresh inflection point as China's buzzy and economical DeepSeek chatbot shocks the industry.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance - making his very first journey abroad since taking office - will go to the Paris AI Action Summit starting Feb. 10, while China's President Xi Jinping will be sending his unique envoy, signifying high stakes for the meeting.

Here's a breakdown:

Presidents and top government officials, tech bosses and scientists are gathering in Paris for the two-day top cohosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event aims to attend to how to harness artificial intelligence ´ s prospective so that it benefits everyone, while containing the innovation ´ s myriad risks.