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Australia says Bondi review to check if terror attack could have been averted

SYDNEY, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday an independent review into law enforcement agencies set up after the Bondi mass shooting will assess whether authorities could have taken additional steps to prevent the terror attack.

Albanese said the review will examine whether existing laws or information gaps stopped police and security agencies from acting against the alleged attackers, a father and son, who police say were inspired by the militant group Islamic State.

People walk at the scene of a shooting incident at Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia, December 14, 2025. REUTERS/Kirsty Needham

Trump, Netanyahu to discuss next phase of Gaza plan

JERUSALEM/PALM BEACH, Florida, Dec 28 - U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to push for progress in the stalled ceasefire in Gaza when he meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday for talks that will include Israel’s concerns over Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran.

Netanyahu said this month that Trump had invited him for talks, as Washington pushes to establish transitional governance and an international security force for the Palestinian enclave.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks on next to U.S. President Donald Trump as Trump leaves Israel en route to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, to attend a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, amid a U.S.-brokered prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, Israel, October 13, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Somaliland recognition prompts celebrations, condemnation

People gathered in several towns in the breakaway region of Somaliland on Sunday to celebrate its recognition by Israel -- a decision condemned by the Somali president as a "threat" to stability in the Horn of Africa.

Israel announced on Friday it was officially recognising Somaliland, a first for the self-proclaimed republic that in 1991 declared it had unilaterally separated from Somalia.

On Sunday, the leader of the Houthis warned that any Israeli presence in Somaliland would be considered a "military target".

Thousands of people thronged the streets in the capital Hargeisa

Three dead in Alawite protests on Syrian coast, local officials say

By Karam al-Masri

LATAKIA, Syria Dec 28 - Three people were killed on Sunday when protests in Syria's Alawite heartland of Latakia spiralledinto gunfire and other violence, according to the province's media office.

Syria has been rocked by several episodes of sectarian bloodshed since longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, who hails from the Muslim Alawite minority, was ousted by a rebel offensive last year and replaced by a Sunni-led government.

People from the Alawite sect hold up signs while protesting as they demand federalism and an end to what they say is the killing and violations against Alawites, in Latakia, Syria, December 28, 2025. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri

'Shivering from cold and fear': winter rains batter displaced Gazans

It only took a matter of minutes after the heavy overnight rain first began to fall for Jamil al-Sharafi's tent in southern Gaza to flood, drenching his food and leaving his blankets sopping wet.

The winter rains have made an already precarious life worse for people like Sharafi, who is among the hundreds of thousands in the Palestinian territory displaced by the war, many of whom now survive on aid provided by humanitarian organisations.

"My children are shivering from cold and fear... The tent was completely flooded within minutes," Sharafi, 47, said on Sunday.

Displaced Palestinians walk past a large pool of standing water in Gaza City. Heavy winter rains have have made an already precarious life worse for displaced Gazans

Iraqis cover soil with clay to curb sandstorms

Deep in Iraq's southern desert, bulldozers and earthmovers spread layers of moist clay over sand dunes as part of a broader effort to fight increasingly frequent sandstorms.

Iraq has long suffered from sand and dust storms, but in recent years they have become more frequent and intense as the country falls prey to the effects of climate change.

Iraq has long suffered from sand and dust storms, but in recent years they have become more frequent and intense as the country falls prey to the effects of climate change

Italy arrests nine over alleged Hamas funding through charities

ROME, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors said on Saturday they had arrested nine people on suspicion of financing Hamas through charities based in Italy, in an operation coordinated by anti-mafia and anti-terrorism units.

The suspects are accused of "belonging to and having financed" the Palestinian group, which the European Union designates as a terrorist organisation, prosecutors in the northern Italian city of Genoa said in a statement.

Netanyahu to meet Trump in US on Monday

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US President Donald Trump in Florida on Monday, an Israeli official told AFP, in what is seen as a crucial visit for the next steps of the fragile Gaza truce plan.

It will be Netanyahu's fifth visit to see key ally Trump in the United States this year.

His trip comes as the Trump administration and regional mediators push to proceed to the second stage of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) praised US President Donald Trump (L)

Saudi-led coalition warns of intervention against Yemen separatists

The Saudi-led coalition warned Saturday it would back Yemen's government in any military confrontation with separatist forces, as Riyadh urged them to withdraw "peacefully" from recently-seized provinces.

The statements came a day after reported Saudi air strikes on separatist positions in Yemen's Hadramawt province -- and after Washington called for restraint in the rapidly escalating conflict.

General Turki al-Malki, the spokesman for the coalition, warned of intervention if efforts to de-escalate the situation failed because of the separatists' actions.

A Yemeni fighter brandishes the flag of the formerly independent south, the emblem of a powerful separatist movement whose grievances persist despite the detente under way between regional heavywights Iran and Saudi Arabia