After two years of brutal war, the families of Israel's remaining hostages in the territory were also hoping the truce -- pushed by US President Donald Trump -- would endure.

While crediting the United States, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey for their role in brokering the ceasefire deal, Indonesia hopes for the opening of humanitarian aid access to Gaza while also calling for the international community to resume talks on a two-state solution.

Takaichi became head of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) less than a week ago and had been expected to be approved by parliament as premier this month.

Hailed as "la libertadora", in an allusion to Venezuelan independence hero Simon "The Liberator" Bolivar, Machado, a fearless activist with rock-star appeal, is a key face of the opposition to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's iron-fisted regime.

Minister Sugiono flies to Pyongyang at the invitation of his North Korean counterpart Choe Son-hui to discuss ways for both countries to strengthen bilateral, regional and global cooperation, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Thousands of Gazans began heading north in the territory after the Israeli military announced that a ceasefire had come into effect on Friday.

The quake hit about 20 kilometers off Manay town in the Mindanao region at 9:43 a.m., according to the United States Geological Survey.

The return of more than 28,000 fossils unearthed by Dutch geologist Eugene Dubois was among highlights of Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel’s first trip to Indonesia for a meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Sugiono in Jakarta.

The Israeli government said the ceasefire was to take hold within 24 hours of meetings on Thursday to approve the deal, under which the military should withdraw from Gaza.

A top official within Hamas said Israel will release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners: 250 among those serving life sentences and 1,700 others detained since the start of the war.

The agreement, to be signed Thursday, also calls for Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as well as prompt a surge of aid into Gaza after more than two years of war started by Hamas's unprecedented October 2023 attack on Israel. 

"On Friday morning, President Trump will visit Walter Reed Medical Center for a planned meeting and remarks with the troops. While there, President Trump will stop by for his routine yearly checkup," Leavitt said Wednesday.

The backdrop is bleak: the number of armed conflicts worldwide involving at least one state has never been as high as in 2024, since Sweden's Uppsala University started its global conflict database in 1946.

The new media landscape has implications for not only traditional journalism, but Japanese democracy.

Major General Ruphin Fortunat Dimbisoa Zafisambo is named head of government late Monday in a bid to quell anti-government unrest that has claimed 22 lives.

Myanmar has been reeling from civil war since the military seized power in a 2021 coup, prompting pro-democracy rebels to take up arms and ally with ethnic armed groups against the junta.

Indonesian religious groups and civil society organizations rallied in unity on Tuesday to show solidarity with the Palestinian struggle as the Gaza war entered its second year.

Behind closed doors and under tight security, negotiators were to speak through mediators shuttling back and forth, only weeks after Israel tried to kill Hamas's lead negotiators in a strike on Qatar.

President Emmanuel Macron tasked Lecornu, 39, with forming a government in early September after parliament toppled his predecessor over an unpopular austerity budget.

Analysts noted that while Indonesia’s formal foreign policy remains technically unchanged, public perception has shifted due to President Prabowo Subianto’s perceived softer tone toward Israel.

His resignation compounds a political crisis that has rocked France for over a year, after Macron called legislative elections in the summer of 2024 which ended in a hung parliament.

Police were called on Sunday evening to the city's Inner West, where the alleged gunman was firing from his property at random at passing cars and police.

The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail last month seeking to ferry aid to war-battered Gaza but Israel blocked the boats, detaining more than 400 people whom it began deporting on Friday.

Under pressure from Donald Trump to end the two-year-old war, Netanyahu is facing a backlash from ultra-nationalist allies whose opposition to the US president's Gaza proposal could force the Israeli leader into early elections.

Under the Pukpuk defence treaty, which is the first signed by Papua New Guinea, Australia and its northern neighbour are obliged to come to each other’s aid if attacked.

The diplomatic push follows Hamas's positive response to Donald Trump's roadmap for an end to the fighting and the release of captives in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, with the US leader urging both sides to "move fast".

The 64-year-old, whose hero is Margaret Thatcher, said that a "mountain of work" lay ahead to restore the fortunes of her ailing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).