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The rebels are returning to the city for the first time since 2016, when Assad and his allies Russia, Iran, and regional Shi'ite militias retook it. Photo: AFP / BAKR ALKASEM By Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Reuters Syrian authorities closed Aleppo airport as well as all roads leading into the city, three military sources told Reuters, as rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad said they had reached the heart of Aleppo. The opposition fighters, led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, carried out a surprise sweep through government-held towns this week and reached Aleppo nearly a decade after having been forced out by Assad and his allies. Russia, one of Assad's key allies, has promised Damascus extra military aid to thwart the rebels, two military sources said, adding new ha...

President Joe Biden said that his administration was working with the FBI to address the bomb threats and swatting incidents. Photo: AFP / ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS By Jeff Mason and Rich McKay, Reuters US President Joe Biden said that his administration was working with the FBI to address "swatting" and bomb threats made this week targeting lawmakers and several of President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks. Seth Magaziner, a House Democrat from Rhode Island, said on Friday local time he was targeted by a bomb threat at home, a day after six Democratic lawmakers from Connecticut reported similar threats to their homes over the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Law enforcement in each case found no evidence of explosive devices, the lawmakers said. Pete Hegseth, Trump's choice to become US de...

By Felix Light, Reuters Protesters carrying Georgian and EU flags pressed towards the parliament building in the nation's capital, Tbilisi. Photo: AFP / GIORGI ARJEVANIDZE Police deploying water cannon and pepper spray moved against thousands of pro-European protesters massed in the centre of Tbilisi after Georgia's ruling party said it was halting EU accession talks until 2028. EU accession is overwhelmingly popular in Georgia according to opinion polls, and the move saw thousands protest outside the parliament building in Tbilisi on Thursday, with riot police using water cannon and gas to disperse them. Protesters carrying Georgian and EU flags pressed towards the Soviet-built fortress-like parliament building and hurled fireworks at police officers trying to disperse them. Elene K...

Offering Ukraine NATO membership while allowing Russia to keep captured territories could end the "hot stage" of the war, Volodymyr Zelensky told Sky News. Photo: LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP By John Irish and Tom Balmforth, Reuters Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has urged his NATO counterparts to issue an invitation to Kyiv at a meeting in Brussels next week to join the Western military alliance, according to the text of a letter seen by Reuters on Friday. The letter reflects Ukraine's renewed push to secure an invitation to join NATO, which is part of a "victory plan" outlined last month by President Volodymyr Zelensky to end the war triggered by Russia's 2022 invasion. Zelensky told UK-based Sky News that offering Ukraine NATO membership while allowing Russia to keep for the moment ...

Dozens of Palestinians returned to areas where the army had retreated to check on damage to their homes. Photo: AFP / EYAD BABA By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Reuters Israeli military strikes killed at least 40 Palestinians overnight and on Friday in the Gaza Strip, medics said, as efforts to revive Gaza ceasefire talks received a boost with officials from the Palestinian group Hamas headed to Cairo for a new round of talks. Medics said they had recovered 19 bodies of Palestinians killed in northern areas of Nuseirat, one of the enclave's eight long-standing refugee camps. Later on Friday, an Israeli air strike killed at least 10 Palestinians in a house in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, medics said. Others were killed in the northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip, medics added. There was n...