International News
US Diplomats In Israel For High-Stake-Talks On Lebanon Truce
Senior U.S. officials are set to meet their Israeli counterparts on Thursday to negotiate a potential agreement aimed at stabilizing Israel’s northern border and reducing the escalating conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
This high-stakes visit comes amid ongoing hostilities in Gaza, where the Palestinian militant group Hamas has rejected multiple ceasefire proposals as Israeli strikes persist.
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Just days before the U.S. presidential election, American envoys Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk are expected to arrive in Israel.
Their mission focuses on securing a framework that could see Hezbollah withdraw approximately 20 miles (30 kilometers) north, beyond the Litani River.
In exchange, Israeli forces would pull back from Lebanon, allowing the Lebanese army, supported by UN peacekeepers, to manage border security.
Under this arrangement, Lebanon would be responsible for preventing Hezbollah from rearming, while Israel would retain its right to self-defense under international law, according to Israeli media reports.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati expressed hope on Wednesday that a ceasefire could be reached “in the coming hours or days.”
Newly appointed Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has indicated that the group would consider a truce under certain conditions, saying Hezbollah could sustain its resistance but remains open to negotiation.
Qassem’s appointment follows the assassination of his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah, in an Israeli airstrike last month.
In parallel, U.S. and Qatari mediators are attempting to negotiate a brief humanitarian pause in Gaza, where Israel’s campaign against Hamas is ongoing.
However, on Thursday, senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu reiterated the group’s stance against a temporary ceasefire, stating, “The idea of a temporary pause in the war, only to resume aggression later, is something we have already expressed our position on.
Hamas supports a permanent end to the war, not a temporary one.”
This proposed pause would have allowed essential humanitarian aid to reach Gaza and opened up negotiations for a longer-term resolution, but Hamas’s rejection of the offer dims prospects for an immediate breakthrough.
As a result, attention remains firmly fixed on Lebanon, where efforts for a ceasefire along Israel’s northern front are likely to take precedence.
Last week, Israeli Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi spoke to the growing potential for resolution in Lebanon, saying, “In the north, there’s a possibility of reaching a sharp conclusion.”
Israel’s military has since intensified its strikes, particularly in southern Lebanon, where it issued evacuation orders in areas such as the Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidieh, warning of imminent action following previous strikes.
In the early hours of Thursday, Kyiv was rocked by a devastating Russian missile and drone attack, described by Ukrainian officials as one of the most brutal strikes on the capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.
The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia unleashed 70 missiles and 145 drones overnight, targeting several cities across the country.
The barrage on Kyiv left at least nine people dead and over 60 wounded, including six children.
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Air raid sirens blared across the capital around 1:00 a.m., warning residents to seek shelter.
Moments later, loud explosions shattered the night, lighting up the sky and shaking buildings. “Phone calls can be heard from under the rubble — the search will continue until we are confident that we have found everyone,” said Interior Minister Igor Klymenko.
He confirmed that two children remained unaccounted for amid the chaos.
Rescue workers scrambled to pull survivors from under collapsed buildings. Fires broke out across multiple apartment blocks, and damage was reported in at least 13 locations.
In one tragic scene in the Sviatoshinsky district, a woman sat on a foldout chair beside a covered body, gently stroking the arm of a loved one killed in the strike.
Nearby, a bloodied woman clutched her dog as a first responder spoke calmly to her, trying to provide comfort amid the destruction.
Prime Minister Denys Shmygal condemned the assault in stark terms. “Cruise and ballistic missiles, drones, air bombs — Russia is cruelly and cynically firing missiles at Ukrainian cities, killing people while the world is making efforts to establish peace,” he wrote on social media.
The attack came just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his call for a ceasefire. “Stopping the killings is the number one task,” Zelensky stated online following a meeting between his aides and Western officials in London.
However, any momentum toward peace appeared to falter. Russian President Vladimir Putin has yet to respond to Zelensky’s offer to halt airstrikes on civilian areas and previously dismissed a joint U.S.-Ukrainian proposal for an unconditional ceasefire.
“Putin demonstrates through his actions, not words, that he does not respect any peace efforts and only wants to continue the war,” said Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga. Echoing that sentiment, presidential aide Andriy Yermak declared, “Putin shows only a desire to kill.”
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking hours before the attack, claimed a peace deal with Russia was close.
He blamed Zelensky for stalling negotiations by refusing to accept Moscow’s annexation of Crimea, stating that Ukraine’s position “will do nothing but prolong the ‘killing field’.”
Meanwhile, Russian forces expanded their offensive to other regions.
In Kharkiv, at least seven missiles struck a densely populated residential district, according to city mayor Igor Terekhov. Russia’s defense ministry also reported downing 87 Ukrainian drones, including 45 over Crimea.
Earlier this month, Russia’s campaign of aerial terror intensified. A missile strike on the city of Sumy killed at least 35 people, while another attack on Zelensky’s hometown, Kryvyi Rih, claimed 19 lives — nine of them children.
Residents of Istanbul were jolted by a 6.2-magnitude earthquake on Wednesday, which struck the Marmara Sea near the city’s western fringes, prompting widespread concern but causing no immediate casualties.
The quake, which occurred at 12:49 p.m. local time (0949 GMT), originated in Silivri, according to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.
“An earthquake of 6.2 magnitude occurred in Silivri, Marmara Sea, Istanbul,” he confirmed on X, formerly Twitter. Yerlikaya also noted that tremors were felt in nearby provinces.
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Following the initial tremor, Turkey’s disaster management authority, AFAD, reported three more earthquakes ranging from 4.4 to 4.9 in magnitude.
The seismic activity sent people fleeing onto the streets, with many seen anxiously checking their phones or making calls.
“I just felt earthquake, I’ve got to get out,” said a decorator who dashed out of a fourth-floor apartment near Galata Tower. He declined to give his name, visibly shaken by the experience.
Despite the intensity, there were no reports of injuries or building collapses in the city of approximately 16 million people.
“Until now, we have no information about any buildings collapsing,” the governor’s office stated, urging residents to avoid entering structures that may have sustained damage.
Reassuring citizens, the Istanbul municipality also confirmed, “No serious cases have been reported so far following the earthquake in Istanbul,” in a post on X.
Tremors from the quake were reportedly felt as far as Sofia, Bulgaria, according to AFP journalists in the capital.
Authorities continue to monitor the situation as aftershocks persist and damage assessments are conducted across the region.
The Vatican has disclosed that Pope Francis died of a stroke, which caused a coma and irreversible heart failure, according to his official death certificate released on Monday.
The 88-year-old pontiff passed away on Monday morning, nearly a month after being discharged from hospital following treatment for double pneumonia.
In the statement released by the Holy See Press Office, the cause of death was identified as “a stroke, followed by coma and irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse.”
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The certification was issued by Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, Director of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State.
The medical report also detailed the Pope’s history of health challenges, including “acute respiratory failure caused by multimicrobial bilateral pneumonia, multiple bronchiectases, high blood pressure, and Type II diabetes.”
His death was confirmed through electrocardiographic thanatography.
“I hereby declare,” wrote Dr. Arcangeli, “that the causes of death, to the best of my knowledge and judgment, are as stated above.”
Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, became the 266th leader of the Roman Catholic Church in 2013 and was widely recognized for his efforts to modernize Church doctrine and promote global social justice.
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