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PlayStation Network back online after 24-hour outage

Sony PlayStation's online services came back online on Saturday, the Japanese group said, after a 24-hour outage frustrated gamers around the world.

PlayStation Network "has been restored. You should be able to access online features without any problems now," said a statement on X around midnight GMT Sunday, 24 hours after a message acknowledged users were experiencing "difficulty launching games, apps or network features."

"Sorry for the inconvenience!" the post added, without providing further details on the reasons for the outage.

A member of the media tries out Sony's PlayStation 5 console during the Tokyo Game Show in Chiba City on September 26, 2024

Israel putting Gaza ceasefire at risk of collapse: Hamas official to AFP

Israel's "lack of commitment" is putting the Gaza ceasefire in danger of collapse, a senior Hamas official told AFP on Saturday with talks yet to start on its second phase.

In an interview with AFP, Hamas political bureau member and former Gaza health minister Basem Naim warned the deal was in danger, but said the Palestinian militant group did not want to return to war.

The fifth release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners took place on Saturday, about halfway through the six-week first phase of the ceasefire deal.

Basem Naim is a member of Hamas's political bureau

'Thousands' in Gaza at risk from unexploded ordnance: aid group

Unexploded bombs and shells buried in the ruins of Gaza could kill or injure thousands of people in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory in the future, an aid organisation has warned.

The volume of ordnance dropped on Gaza during 15 months of conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas was "mind-boggling", said Simon Elmont, a demining expert with Handicap International - Humanity & Inclusion.

The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023 with Hamas's attack on Israel

Shock in Tel Aviv over the emaciated faces of freed Israeli hostages

Horror swept through the crowd of onlookers in Tel Aviv's "Hostage Square" on Saturday as the three emaciated faces of hostages freed by Hamas in Gaza appeared on screen.

Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy appeared to the crowds of supporters, on the huge display in the square, flanked by Hamas fighters during the fifth such release of hostages as part of an ongoing ceasefire deal for Gaza.

It was the first time, however, since the ceasefire came into effect on January 19 that hostages released by Hamas appeared so physically marked by their ordeal.

People wave an Israeli flag as they watch a military helicopter transporting a newly-released Israeli hostage, preparing to land at the Sheba hospital in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv

Israeli hostages forced by Hamas captors to speak in Gaza release

Emaciated and disoriented, three Israeli hostages freed in Gaza on Saturday were forced by their Hamas captors to speak on stage, in the latest of the increasingly familiar handover ceremonies.

Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy were led on to a makeshift stage in the central Gaza city of Deir el-Balah and asked questions by a masked militant in Hebrew on a microphone in front of watching crowds, before being handed over to the Red Cross.

Palestinian Hamas fighters escort Israeli hostages Ohad Ben Ami, Or Levy and Eli Sharabi on a stage before handing them over to a Red Cross team in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza

Syrians stuck in camps after finding homes destroyed

Mehdi al-Shayesh thought he would quickly resettle in his central Syrian home town after Bashar al-Assad was ousted, but like many others stuck in camps, he found his home uninhabitable.

"We were unbelievably happy when the regime fell," the 40-year-old said from his small, concrete-block house in Atme displacement camp, one of the largest and most crowded in the Idlib area in the northwest.

But "when we reached our village" in Hama province "we were disappointed", said the father of four, who has been displaced since 2012.

A woman and her baby in a tent at the Atme camp for displaced people in northwest Syria

Israel orders negotiators to Doha after fifth hostage-prisoner swap

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered negotiators on Saturday to return to Qatar to discuss the fragile ceasefire in the war with Hamas, after the fifth hostage-prisoner swap agreed under the truce was completed.

He repeated his vow to crush Hamas and free all remaining hostages, denouncing the militant group as "monsters" after the handover of three captives in Gaza who appeared emaciated and were forced to speak on a stage.

Hamas fighters escort Ohad Ben Ami on a stage before handing him over to a Red Cross team in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza

US approves sale of $7.4 bn in bombs, missiles to Israel

The United States on Friday announced the approval of the sale of more than $7.4 billion in bombs, missiles and related equipment to Israel, which has used American-made weapons to devastating effect during the war in Gaza.

The State Department has signed off on the sale of $6.75 billion in bombs, guidance kits and fuses, in addition to $660 million in Hellfire missiles, according to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).

US President Donald Trump (R) announced his proposal for Gaza to audible gasps at a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

'Red line': Arab-Americans oppose Trump's Gaza takeover plan

In America's largest Arab enclave, where frustration with President Joe Biden's Gaza policy led many to back Donald Trump, anger is now growing over the president's explosive proposal to take control of the Palestinian territory.

But Dearborn voters say their only viable option in 2024 was to punish Democrats, leveraging their influence as a minority community on their core issue.

"I do not regret my vote," said Samra'a Luqman, a political activist in this Detroit suburb of 110,000, where most residents have Middle Eastern or North African heritage.

Faye Nemer, CEO of the MENA American Chamber of Commerce talks about President Donald Trump's comments on Gaza in her office in Dearborn, Michigan on February 8, 2025

US envoy says Hezbollah 'defeated', must not be in Lebanon government

A senior US official visiting Beirut warned on Friday against any Hezbollah presence in Lebanon's new government, saying the Iran-backed group was "defeated" in its war with Israel.

Hezbollah slammed the remarks by US Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus as "blatant interference", as Lebanon's prime minister-designate struggles to form a government amid political pressure from the Iran-backed group.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (R) meets with US deputy special envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus in Beirut on Friday