President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump are both claiming credit for Israel and Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire deal in Gaza on Wednesday after the White House brought Trump’s Middle East envoy into negotiations that have dragged on for months.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deal's final details were still being worked on, but he thanked Biden for "promoting" it. Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya said it was the result of Palestinian "resilience".
Officials from mediators Qatar, Egypt and the US as well as Israel and Hamas said an agreement for a truce in the besieged enclave and release of hostages was closer than ever.
Prominent diplomat and president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) based in The Hague Nawaf Salam has been named as Lebanon’s new prime minister.
-U.S. drugmaker Pfizer is going “all in” to develop its experimental obesity drug and has been recruiting more experts in that area, Chief Exeuctive Officer Albert Bourla said at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference on Monday.
Los Angeles County this week has been devastated by two major wildfires that have killed at least 10 people as of Friday morning and destroyed more than 10,000 structures, authorities said, making them among the worst natural disasters in California history.
The luxury German auto maker sold 625,800 cars and vans in the fourth quarter as top-end car sales rose 1% on the year while sales of its core models rose 10%.
A home reportedly belonging to Hollywood actors Leighton Meester and Adam Brody was also reportedly destroyed, while other stars evacuated and spoke out about the fires' devastation.
