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I'm VOA's Joe Ramsey with your worldwide news update.
A Hamas official says that after a weeks-long hiatus, international mediators have resumed negotiating with the militant group and Israel over a cease-fire in Gaza and that he was hopeful a deal to end the 14-month war was within reach. An official in Hamas's political wing, Bassem Naim, said Thursday in an interview with the Associated Press that there have been efforts to end the fighting, release hostages from Gaza and free Palestinian prisoners in Israel. "... but I got from our brothers and colleagues in the movement that, yes, there are reactivation of the negotiation talks ..." But Naim said that no, quote unquote, "solid, well-formed, new cease-fire proposal" has yet been presented to Hamas. Cease-fire negotiations were halted last month when Qatar suspended its talks with mediators from Egypt and the United States over frustration with a lack of progress between Israel and Hamas. A cease-fire was declared last week between Israel and Hamas ally Hezbollah in Lebanon. Video released on Telegram shows Syrian insurgents sweeping into the central city of Hama after days of intense clashes with government forces. The Syrian army said Thursday it has withdrawn from Hama after insurgents broke through its defenses. It is yet another setback for President Bashar al-Assad only days after losing control of the city of Aleppo. The Syrian army said it redeployed from Hama and took positions outside the city to protect civilians. The stunning week-long offensive appears likely to continue, with the insurgents setting their sights on the central city of Homs. This is VOA News. U.S. Senators on Capitol Hill will soon be weighing in on President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks. VOA's congressional correspondent Catherine Gibson has more. The traditional process in the nation's capital - President-elect Donald Trump's nominees for key cabinet positions meeting with the U.S. senators who will decide if they should be confirmed. Trump's pick to lead the U.S. State Department, Republican Senator Marco Rubio, is expected to be confirmed. "The president sets foreign policy, our job at State will be ...." But Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon, has never held a leadership position in the military. He was a host on the conservative Fox News Network. "We're putting the war fighters first. That's what Donald Trump asked me to do. Your job is to bring a war fighting ethos back to the Pentagon." Hegseth is one of several nominees with a history of controversial policy remarks that some Republican senators could have a hard time confirming. Catherine Gibson, VOA News, Washington. The U.S. Secret Service's acting director is vowing big changes in the agency's culture and operations after the assassination attempt against Trump in the state of Pennsylvania. AP correspondent Sagar Meghani reports. Ronald Roe says it was an "abject failure" and he's taking action. "We are reorganizing and reimagining this organization." But as he appeared before a bipartisan House task force, panel members pushed Roe on how so many things went wrong, like a drone operator unable to get his drone to work and a counter sniper positioned behind a tree. "Yet nobody said anything." Democrat Jason Crow and a fellow veteran, Republican Mark Green: "Apathy and complacency, period." Roe says when he was a protective agent, everyone felt empowered to speak up when something wasn't right. "I don't know where we lost that." The panel's public report on the shooting will be out next week. Sagar Meghani, Washington. Law enforcement officials say there was writing on the bullets used to kill an American health care executive. AP correspondent Jake Offenhartz reports from New York. The masked gunman who fatally shot the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare on a Manhattan sidewalk Wednesday used ammunition emblazoned with the words "deny," "defend" and "depose." That's according to law enforcement officials, who also told the AP that the shooter used a silencer on his gun. A motive of the killing has not yet been identified, but the words may refer to a strategy used by insurance companies to deny coverage to patients. AP correspondent Jake Offenhartz. That wraps up this update, but the world and news never stop. For additional updates, visit our website, voanews.com. I'm Joe Ramsey, VOA News. |