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I'm VOA's Joe Ramsey with your worldwide news update.
Palestinian medics said dozens of people were killed and wounded in an Israeli strike on a house in northern Gaza early on Sunday. It comes as hopes for a cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel fade further after Qatar said it was stalling its mediation efforts until both sides show they are serious about ending the war. Reuters correspondent Diane To reports. In video obtained by Reuters, a relative of the deceased says the building that was hit in Jabalia was sheltering dozens of his family members. They included children, all displaced by the war. The Israeli military said it struck a site in Jabalia in which "terrorists were operating," adding that the details were "under review." On Saturday, Qatar's Foreign Ministry said the country told Israel and Hamas 10 days ago, during the last try to reach a deal, it would stall its mediation efforts if nothing came of those talks. It said, quote, "Qatar will resume those efforts with its partners when the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war." The latest round of talks in October failed to produce an agreement, with Hamas rejecting a short-term cease-fire proposal. Israel has previously rejected some proposals for longer truces. Disagreement have centered on the long-term future of Hamas and Israel's presence in Gaza. Hamas wants an agreement that ends the war and a prisoner-for-hostages deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war will only stop once Hamas is eradicated. Qatar, along with Egypt and the United States, have been working for months on fruitless talks between the warring sides in Gaza. Any disengagement from that process could further complicate efforts to reach a deal. Reuters correspondent, Diane To. This is VOA News. A source familiar with the conversation told Reuters on Sunday that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and advised him not to escalate the Ukraine war as President Joe Biden plans to urge Trump not to abandon Kyiv. The source said Trump and Putin spoke in recent days. Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday. Trump has criticized the scale of U.S. military and financial support for Kyiv, vowing to end the war quickly without saying how. The White House said Biden has invited Trump to come to the Oval Office on Wednesday. U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that Biden's top message will be his commitment to ensure a peaceful transfer of power and he will also talk to Trump about what's happening in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. China has published baselines for a contested shoal in the South China Sea that it seized from the Philippines, a move that's likely to increase tensions over overlapping territorial claims. AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports. China's Foreign Ministry on Sunday posted online geographic coordinates for the baselines around Scarborough Shoal. A nation's territorial waters and exclusive economic zone are typically defined as the distance from the baselines. Both China and the Philippines claim Scarborough Shoal and other outcroppings in the South China Sea. A 2016 ruling by an international arbitration court found that most Chinese claims in the South China Sea were invalid, but Beijing refuses to abide by it. I'm Karen Chammas. Ships from China and the Philippines have collided several times as part of increased confrontations and the Chinese Coast Guard has blasted Philippine vessels with water cannons. A transitionally (transitional) council created to re-establish democratic order in Haiti has signed a decree firing the country's interim prime minister, Garry Conille, replacing him with Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, a businessman who was previously considered for the job. The decree, set to publish on Monday, was provided to the Associated Press by a government source. It marks even more turmoil in an already rocky democratic transition process for Haiti, which hasn't held democratic elections in years in large part due to the soaring levels of gang violence plaguing the Caribbean nation. Conille, a longtime civil servant who has worked with the United Nations, served as prime minister for only six months. The transitional council was established in April tasked with choosing Haiti's next prime minister and cabinet with the hope that it would help quell turmoil in Haiti. That wraps up this update, but the world and news never stop. For additional updates, visit our website. I'm Joe Ramsey, VOA News. |