Diplomats Press Assad, Top Syrian General Defects

BEIJING — China’s vice president held meetings with the U. S. vice president-elect and U. S. business leaders, including Elon Musk, in Washington on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration, as the two major powers tackle ongoing tensions over trade and technology. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Han Zheng, who serves as an envoy for Chinese President Xi Jinping at the inauguration, “discussed a range of topics including fentanyl, balancing trade and regional stability” with J.

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — More than 80 people were killed in the country’s northeast over the weekend following the government’s failed attempts to hold peace talks with the National Liberation Army, a Colombian official said. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Twenty others were injured in the violence that has forced thousands to flee as Colombia’s army scrambled to evacuate people on Sunday, according to William Villamizar, governor of North Santander, where many of the killings took place. Among the victims are community leader Carmelo Guerrero and seven people who sought to sign a peace deal, according to a report that a government ombudsman agency released late Saturday. Officials said the attacks happened in several towns located in the Catatumbo region near the border with Venezuela, with at least three people who were part of the peace talks being kidnapped. Thousands of people are fleeing the area, with some hiding in the nearby lush mountains or seeking help at government shelters. “We were caught in the crossfire,” said Juan Gutiérrez, who fled with his family to a temporary shelter in Tibú after they were forced to leave behind their animals and belongings.

When Russia invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago, President Joe Biden set three objectives for the U. S. response. Ukraine’s victory was never among them. The phrase the White House used to describe its mission at the time—supporting Ukraine “for as long as it takes”—was intentionally vague. It also raised the question: As long as it takes to do what? [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “We were deliberately not talking about the territorial parameters,” says Eric Green, who served on Biden’s National Security Council at the time, overseeing Russia policy.

For 467 days, millions of Israelis were yearning for Wednesday’s announcement that Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire and hostage release deal. The agreement is expected to see 33 Israelis in Gaza freed in the first 42-day phase, which starts on Sunday. The rest will follow if a permanent end to the fighting comes in the second phase.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are eager to leave miserable tent camps and return to their homes if a long-awaited ceasefire agreement halts the Israel-Hamas war, but many will find there is nothing left and no way to rebuild. Israeli bombardment and ground operations have transformed entire neighborhoods in several cities into rubble-strewn wastelands, with blackened shells of buildings and mounds of debris stretching away in all directions.

ISLAMABAD — A Pakistani court on Friday sentenced the country’s already-imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife to 14 and seven years in jail after finding them guilty of corruption, officials and his lawyer said. It’s yet another blow for the former premier who has been behind the bars since 2023. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The couple are accused of accepting a gift of land from a real estate tycoon in exchange for laundered money when Khan was in power. Prosecutors say the businessman, Malik Riaz, was then allowed by Khan to pay fines that were imposed on him in another case from the same laundered money of 190 million British pounds ($240 million) that was returned to Pakistan by British authorities in 2022 to deposit to the national exchequer. Khan has denied wrongdoing and insisted since his arrest in 2023 that all the charges against him are a plot by rivals to keep him from returning to office. Bibi was taken into custody by prison officials after the announcement of the verdict, according to officials.