Syrian leader meets Saudi crown prince for first official foreign visit

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Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh on trip that highlights reset of regional alliances after end of Iran-backed Assad regime

Syria’s transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, met the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in Riyadh on Sunday in his first foreign trip as Syrian leader, in a sign of the major shifts under way in regional alliances.

Sharaa assumed power as transitional president last week, after leading a rebel campaign that ousted the longtime Iran-backed leader Bashar al-Assad, whose ties with the rest of the Arab world were strained throughout the nearly 14-year Syrian war.

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Syria’s interim president lands in Saudi Arabia on first trip abroad, likely a signal to Iran – The Associated Press

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  1. Syria’s interim president lands in Saudi Arabia on first trip abroad, likely a signal to Iran  The Associated Press
  2. Syrian leader lands in Saudi Arabia for first foreign visit since toppling Assad  The Guardian
  3. Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa to visit Saudi Arabia on Sunday  Al Jazeera English
  4. Egypt's president Sisi congratulates Syria's new president Sharaa, statement says  Reuters
  5. Syria’s new Islamist president consolidates power  Financial Times
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The West is seeing Kim Jong Un’s army in action. The North Korean soldiers are brutal zealots undeterred in the face of death. – Business Insider

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  1. The West is seeing Kim Jong Un's army in action. The North Korean soldiers are brutal zealots undeterred in the face of death.  Business Insider
  2. North Korean Troops No Longer Seen on Front Lines Fighting Ukraine  The New York Times
  3. Suicidal tendencies and ’80s battlefield tactics: How North Korean soldiers are operating in Russia’s war on Ukraine  CNN
  4. Ukraine says N Korea troops may have quit front line after heavy losses  BBC.com
  5. Better Armed, but No Helmets: How North Koreans Fought Ukraine  Newsweek
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Starmer should end UK’s ‘cycle of hesitation’ with EU, says Neil Kinnock

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Former Labour leader says government should show greater willingness to work with bloc

Labour needs to end its “cycle of hesitation” over Europe and press ahead with an ambitious new relationship with the European Union, the party’s former leader Neil Kinnock has said.

Keir Starmer will head to a Brussels dinner with EU leaders this week as he attempts to negotiate a security and defence pact with the bloc. It is the first summit of its type to be attended by a British prime minister since Brexit.

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Germany: Protesters decry CDU/CSU over AfD collaboration – DW (English)

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  1. Germany: Protesters decry CDU/CSU over AfD collaboration  DW (English)
  2. German immigration bill rejected despite far-right backing  BBC.com
  3. Merkel, Musk and the far right: What is going on in Germany’s election?  POLITICO Europe
  4. Migration law gamble backfires for Germany's conservative chancellor hopeful  Reuters
  5. German politicians signal to Syrian asylum-seekers: It’s time to go home  The Washington Post
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Trump aid spending freeze halts leading malaria vaccine programme

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Global collaboration with US researchers likely to be set back by years, including on spread of drug-resistant HIV

A flagship programme to create malaria vaccines has been halted by the Trump administration, in just one example of a rippling disruption to health research around the globe since the new US president took power.

The USAid Malaria Vaccine Development Program (MVDP) – which works to prevent child deaths by creating more effective second-generation vaccines – funds research by teams collaborating across institutes, including the US university Johns Hopkins and the UK’s University of Oxford.

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Trump’s vision for transforming Gaza – and how Hamas might surrender – Israel Hayom

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  1. Trump's vision for transforming Gaza – and how Hamas might surrender  Israel Hayom
  2. ‘Colonial erasure’: Iran slams Trump plan to ‘clean out’ Gaza  Al Jazeera English
  3. Why Arab States Hate Trump’s Plan to Relocate Palestinians  The Wall Street Journal
  4. Approx. 80% of Israelis support Trump's plan to relocate Gazans - survey  The Jerusalem Post
  5. Trump's plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza may impede release of hostages  Haaretz
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Hamas captors said to have tormented Yarden Bibas with incessant talk of wife, kids – The Times of Israel

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  1. Hamas captors said to have tormented Yarden Bibas with incessant talk of wife, kids  The Times of Israel
  2. Father of Hamas’ youngest hostages is released — but his family remains in Hamas captivity  Fox News
  3. Israeli hostage's release brings some relief for family but fate of wife, children unknown  Reuters
  4. Israelis brace to learn the fate of Hamas' youngest hostage, taken captive as a baby  NBC News
  5. For Yarden Bibas, it's not a happy ending. It's not even the end.  Ynetnews
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NSW minister apologises after asking chauffeur to drive 446km for Australia Day weekend lunch

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Transport minister Jo Haylen admits ‘I made the wrong decision’ after ministerial car booked out for 13 hours for Hunter Valley lunch at winery

The NSW transport minister, Jo Haylen, has apologised after using her ministerial driver to chauffeur her and some friends to and from a three-hour private lunch on the Australia Day weekend – at a cost of $750.

“I made the wrong decision,” Haylen said on Sunday when apologising and confirming she would repay the money for the 13-hour, 446km trip to the Hunter Valley.

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