Hostage Crisis

Russian inmates on Friday took staff hostage at a prison colony in the southern Volgograd region, officials said, the second such incident in a Russian jail since June.

Concerns grew among Israelis on Wednesday over the fate of dozens of hostages still held captive in Gaza following the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

The Gaza Strip is suffering an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe nearly seven months since Israel launched a devastating offensive in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks that killed 1,200 people in Israel.

The main U.N. aid agency operating in Gaza said on Saturday that acute malnutrition was accelerating in the north of the Palestinian enclave as Israel prepared to send a delegation to Qatar for new ceasefire talks on a hostage deal with Hamas.

US President Joe Biden called on Hamas on Tuesday to accept a Gaza ceasefire deal by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, while the Palestinian oppressive group warned talks for a truce and hostage release cannot go on "indefinitely".

Israel announced on Monday the successful rescue of two hostages in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, sparking both relief and renewed concerns over the escalating humanitarian crisis in the region.

A hostage situation on a train in the west of Switzerland on Thursday night ended with the suspect killed in a police raid and the hostages safely freed, authorities said.

With Israel's construction sector suffering a severe manpower crisis post the October 7 conflict with Hamas, some 10,000 workers from India are to make their way starting next week, industry sources said on Wednesday.

Over a month after Hamas's surprise attack on Israel led to the deadliest war the region has seen in many decade, the Palestinian group's chief Ismail Haniyeh said the two sides are closing in on a truce.

A hostage crisis that shut the Hamburg airport in Germany ended after dragging for nearly 16 hours, the police said. A 35-year-old man took his 4-year-old daughter hostage and drove to the airport.

The United States has advised Israel to hold off on a ground assault in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and is keeping Qatar - a broker with the Palestinian militants - apprised of those talks, sources said, as Washington tries to free more hostages

Although Biden's visit is described as a show of strong support to Israel, it also sends a warning to regional powers such as Iran and Hezbollah against escalating the situation.

Air raids against Hamas will not dismantle its structure completely and a ground attack is the only way to go, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated.

Hamas has said it has hidden the hostages in "safe places and tunnels" within Gaza and threatened to kill them if civilian homes are bombed by Israel without warning.

Rebels in Indonesia's Papua region threatened to shoot a New Zealand pilot they took hostage in February if countries do not comply with their demand to start independence talks within two months, a new video released by the group on Friday showed.

Russian inmates on Friday took staff hostage at a prison colony in the southern Volgograd region, officials said, the second such incident in a Russian jail since June.

Concerns grew among Israelis on Wednesday over the fate of dozens of hostages still held captive in Gaza following the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

The Gaza Strip is suffering an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe nearly seven months since Israel launched a devastating offensive in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks that killed 1,200 people in Israel.

The main U.N. aid agency operating in Gaza said on Saturday that acute malnutrition was accelerating in the north of the Palestinian enclave as Israel prepared to send a delegation to Qatar for new ceasefire talks on a hostage deal with Hamas.

US President Joe Biden called on Hamas on Tuesday to accept a Gaza ceasefire deal by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, while the Palestinian oppressive group warned talks for a truce and hostage release cannot go on "indefinitely".

Israel announced on Monday the successful rescue of two hostages in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, sparking both relief and renewed concerns over the escalating humanitarian crisis in the region.

A hostage situation on a train in the west of Switzerland on Thursday night ended with the suspect killed in a police raid and the hostages safely freed, authorities said.

With Israel's construction sector suffering a severe manpower crisis post the October 7 conflict with Hamas, some 10,000 workers from India are to make their way starting next week, industry sources said on Wednesday.

Over a month after Hamas's surprise attack on Israel led to the deadliest war the region has seen in many decade, the Palestinian group's chief Ismail Haniyeh said the two sides are closing in on a truce.

A hostage crisis that shut the Hamburg airport in Germany ended after dragging for nearly 16 hours, the police said. A 35-year-old man took his 4-year-old daughter hostage and drove to the airport.

The United States has advised Israel to hold off on a ground assault in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and is keeping Qatar - a broker with the Palestinian militants - apprised of those talks, sources said, as Washington tries to free more hostages

Although Biden's visit is described as a show of strong support to Israel, it also sends a warning to regional powers such as Iran and Hezbollah against escalating the situation.

Air raids against Hamas will not dismantle its structure completely and a ground attack is the only way to go, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated.

Hamas has said it has hidden the hostages in "safe places and tunnels" within Gaza and threatened to kill them if civilian homes are bombed by Israel without warning.

Rebels in Indonesia's Papua region threatened to shoot a New Zealand pilot they took hostage in February if countries do not comply with their demand to start independence talks within two months, a new video released by the group on Friday showed.