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Israel has agreed to release Palestinian prisoners who were due to be freed last week in exchange for the bodies of four Israeli hostages, Egyptian state-linked media reported, as Washington’s top Middle East envoy said talks for a second phase of a Gaza ceasefire deal remained on track.Palestinian militant group Hamas late Tuesday confirmed the release agreement, negotiated under Egyptian supervision.In Washington, US President Donald Trump’s point person on the Middle East said Israeli representatives were already en route to talks on the next phase of the ceasefire deal.”We’re making a lot of progress. Israel is sending a team right now as we speak,” Steve Witkoff told an event for the American Jewish Committee.”It’s either going to be in Doha or in Cairo, where negotiations will begin again with the Egyptians and the Qataris,” he said.This first phase is supposed to end on Saturday, but negotiations planned for the rest of the process — which were to begin in early February — have not started.Hamas has said it is ready to release “in one go” all the hostages remaining during the second phase.On Sunday, the group accused Israel of endangering the Gaza truce by delaying the release of 600 Palestinian prisoners.Israel justified the delay by citing concerns over how the hostages have been freed, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describing the process as “humiliating ceremonies”.- ‘Dignified swaps’ -Since the ceasefire took effect on January 19, Hamas has released 25 Israeli hostages in public ceremonies across Gaza, where masked, armed fighters have escorted the captives onto stages decorated with slogans.Israel has released over 1,100 Palestinian prisoners.The International Committee of the Red Cross has urged all parties to carry out prisoner and hostage swaps “in a dignified and private manner”.Given the nature of the deep-rooted Israeli-Palestinian conflict, prisoner releases from Israeli jails are highly controversial.In Israel, the prisoners are largely viewed as “terrorists” for the violent attacks they have carried out against civilians and security forces.The Israeli authorities and much of the public see their imprisonment as a necessary measure to prevent further attacks.For Palestinians, however, the releases are viewed as long-delayed justice with the prisoners often regarded as symbols of resistance against the Israeli occupation.- Ceasefire holds -Both sides have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, but it has so far held.Israel vowed to destroy Hamas after its October 7, 2023 attack, and has made bringing back all hostages seized that day one of its war objectives.The attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, and Israel’s retaliation killed more than 48,000 in Gaza, according to figures from both sides.In Israel, hundreds of people attended the funeral Tuesday of hostage Oded Lifshitz, a peace activist and former journalist who died in captivity and whose body was returned last week.”We have fought all these years for social justice and peace. Unfortunately, we have received a terrible blow from those we helped on the other side,” said his wife, Yocheved Lifshitz, who was also kidnapped on October 7 in Kibbutz Nir Oz but released a few weeks later.Three other Israelis kidnapped in Nir Oz — Shiri Bibas, 32, and her two boys Ariel and Kfir, aged four and eight and a half months respectively — will be buried on Wednesday.Alongside the Gaza war — which displaced almost the enclave’s entire population of 2.4 million — Israel has intensified its military operations in the West Bank.The Israeli army said Tuesday it also carried out air strikes targeting military sites containing weapons in southern Syria, just days after Netanyahu called for demilitarising the area.At least two people were killed by a strike on one of the sites, the headquarters of a military unit southwest of Damascus, a war monitor said. 

An Australian couple have criticised Qatar Airways after a blanket-draped corpse was seated next to them during a long-haul flight.Mitchell Ring said a passenger died part-way through the 14-hour flight from Melbourne to Doha last week.”They tried to wheel her up towards business class, but she was quite a large lady and they couldn’t get her through the aisle,” he told Australian network Nine News this week.”They looked a bit frustrated, then they just looked at me and saw seats were available beside me.” Ring said he was made to wait next to the corpse even after the plane landed.”The ambulance officers and the police came in, and the ambulance officers started pulling the blankets off the lady,” he said.”It wasn’t nice.”Ring and wife Jennifer Colin were seated next to the corpse while travelling en-route to Venice.”I’m not a great flier at the best of times,” said Colin.”There has to be a protocol that looks after the customers on board.”Ring said he was seated with the body for around four hours despite other empty seats. “They said,’Can you move over please’ and I just said, ‘Yes no problem’.”Then they placed the lady in the chair I was in. “There were a few spare seats around that I could see.” In a statement to Australian media, Qatar Airways apologised “for any inconvenience or distress this incident may have caused”. “First and foremost our thoughts are with the family of the passenger who sadly passed away on board our flight.”

The EU’s top team is to embark on an “unprecedented” visit to India this week, as the bloc seeks to broaden its commercial and diplomatic ties to hedge against souring relations with the United States.EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and her college of commissioners are to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his …

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Mediators have reached an agreement to release all Palestinian prisoners who were due to be freed last week in exchange for the bodies of four Israeli hostages, Egyptian state-linked media reported late Tuesday.Palestinian militant group Hamas confirmed the agreement, under Egyptian supervision, saying it was part of the first phase of its ceasefire deal with Israel.On Sunday, Hamas accused Israel of endangering the five-week-old Gaza truce by delaying the release of 600 Palestinian prisoners.Israel justified the delay by citing concerns over how the hostages have been freed, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describing them as “humiliating ceremonies”.Since the ceasefire took effect on January 19, Hamas has released 25 Israeli hostages in public ceremonies across Gaza, where masked, armed fighters have escorted the captives onto stages decorated with slogans.Israel has released over 1,100 Palestinian prisoners.The International Committee of the Red Cross has urged all parties to carry out prisoner and hostage swaps “in a dignified and private manner”.- Highly controversial -Given the nature of the deep-rooted Israeli-Palestinian conflict, prisoner releases from Israeli jails are highly controversial.In Israel, the prisoners are largely viewed as “terrorists” for the violent attacks they have carried out against civilians and security forces.The Israeli authorities and much of the public see their imprisonment as a necessary measure to prevent further attacks.For Palestinians, however, the releases are viewed as long-delayed justice with the prisoners often regarded as symbols of resistance against the Israeli occupation.Both sides have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, but it has so far held.Israel vowed to destroy Hamas after its October 7, 2023 attack, and has made bringing back all hostages seized that day one of its war objectives.The attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, and Israel’s retaliation killed more than 48,000 in Gaza, according to figures from both sides.US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said he was headed to the Middle East this week to “get an extension of phase one” of the truce.”We’re hopeful that we have the proper time… to begin phase two, and finish it off and get more hostages released,” Witkoff told CNN.Trump has floated the idea of a US takeover of war-ravaged Gaza under which its Palestinian inhabitants would move elsewhere, triggering widespread criticism.Alongside the Gaza war — which displaced almost the enclave’s entire population of 2.4 million — Israel has intensified its military operations in the West Bank.The Israeli army said Tuesday it carried out air strikes targeting military sites containing weapons in southern Syria, just days after Netanyahu called for demilitarising the area.At least two people were killed by a strike on one of the sites, the headquarters of a military unit southwest of Damascus, a war monitor said. 

A Tunisian court sentenced eight defendants to death on Tuesday over the 2013 assassination of leftist opposition figure Mohamed Brahmi, according to local reports.Charges included “attempting to change the state’s nature” and “inciting armed conflict”, local media reported.Three of the defendants also received additional death sentences for “deliberate participation in premeditated murder”, according to the reports.A ninth, who is on the run, was sentenced to five years in prison for “failing to report terrorist crimes to the authorities”, said the reports.Tunisia still hands down death sentences, particularly in “terrorism” cases, even though a de facto moratorium in effect since 1991 means they are effectively commuted to life terms.The verdict marked the first set of rulings in the case of Brahmi’s assassination, which took place outside his home on July 25, 2013, amid Tunisia’s turbulent post-revolution political landscape.Demonstrators took to the streets across the country, as Brahmi’s distinctive round face and thick mustache became symbols of protest against jihadist violence.Brahmi, a nationalist left-wing leader of the People’s Movement and member of Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly, was an outspoken critic of the Islamist-inspired government dominated by Ennahdha at the time.His assassination further shocked the nation as it came less than six months after the killing of another prominent leftist figure, Chokri Belaid, who was also gunned down outside his home.- ‘Martyrs’ -Brahmi had been elected in Sidi Bouzid, the birthplace of the 2011 revolution that toppled ex-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and later swept through the Arab World.He was shot 14 times by two assailants in front of his wife and children.His family had long accused Ennahdha of being behind the murder, but the then ruling party denied the allegations.It had also pushed back against accusations of excessive leniency, blacklisting the formerly legal Salafist movement Ansar al-Charia as a terrorist organisation.Jihadists affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for both the Brahmi and Belaid assassinations.The aftermath of the 2011 revolution saw a surge in Islamist radicalism in Tunisia with thousands of jihadist volunteers leaving to fight in Syria, Iraq and neighbouring Libya.Tunisia faced heightened security threats, with armed groups operating from the Chaambi Mountains near the Algerian border, primarily targeting security forces and the military. In 2015, jihadist attacks in Sousse and the capital Tunis killed dozens of tourists and police, although authorities say they have since made significant progress against the extremists.In recent years, Tunisian authorities claim significant progress in combating jihadist violence, but the country remains under a state of emergency.  In 2022, President Kais Saied — who has framed the murders of Brahmi and Belaid as national issues and often called them “martyrs” — dismissed dozens of judges after alleging they had obstructed investigations.  The high-profile killings, and the mass protests they drew, ultimately forced Ennahdha to relinquish power to a technocratic government following the adoption of a new constitution.The crisis had nearly derailed Tunisia’s fragile democratic transition.But political dialogue led by four civil society organisations, including the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), helped restore stability and earned the nation of 12 million the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize.

Shares of the US electric vehicle pioneer Tesla plunged Tuesday, leaving its market value below $1 trillion as investors digested disappointing European sales and chief executive Elon Musk’s aggressive foray into politics.The auto giant sold less than 10,000 units in Europe last month, down around 45 percent from a year earlier.Tesla’s shares fell finished down …

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