Blinken publicly confirms U.S. officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group that ousted Assad
CBSN
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that American officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group that spearheaded the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad's government but is designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and others.
Blinken is the first U.S. official to publicly confirm contacts between the Biden administration and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which led a coalition of armed opposition groups that ousted Assad from power last Sunday.
Speaking at a news conference in Aqaba, Jordan, Blinken would not discuss details of the contacts but said it was important for the U.S. to convey messages to the group about its conduct and how it intends to govern in a transition period.
Khan Younis, Gaza Strip — Hamas on Thursday released the bodies of four Israeli hostages, said to include a mother and her two young children who have long been feared dead and had come to embody the nation's agony following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel.
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Rio de Janeiro — Brazil's prosecutor-general on Tuesday formally charged former President Jair Bolsonaro with attempting a coup to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat, in a plot that included a plan to poison his successor and current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and kill a Supreme Court judge.
A Delta Air Lines jet crashed Monday during a fiery landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport, skidding down the tarmac before coming to a stop while flipped upside down.
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Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Senior officials from Russia and the U.S. met in Saudi Arabia Tuesday to begin talks on improving ties and negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine.
Italian archaeologists recently uncovered a "monumental necropolis" that appeared to honor an elite class of people thousands of years ago, provincial officials announced this month.
Russia has freed a U.S. citizen arrested earlier this month on drug smuggling charges, according to Russian media reports and a U.S. official who spoke with The Associated Press. The move appeared to be an effort to ease tension between Moscow and Washington ahead of talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, which are expected to focus on the war in Ukraine and the fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
Beijing — China's Foreign Ministry took issue Monday with a revised U.S. government fact sheet that removed a line on American opposition to independence for Taiwan. The United States "gravely backpedaled" on its position on Taiwan and sent the wrong message to "separatist forces" on the island, ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.
Israel's prime minister vowed to "open the gates of hell" if Hamas does not return all its hostages and praised President Trump's "bold vision for Gaza's future."
Irish jockey Michael O'Sullivan died on Sunday after suffering injuries in a fall during a race earlier this month, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board said. He was 24.
A hockey match between rivals the United States and Canada descended into chaos from the moment the puck was dropped as three fights broke out in the first nine seconds.
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