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Last SDF fighters leave Syria's Aleppo, Ekhbariya TV reports

Jan 11 (Reuters) - The last Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces fighters have left Aleppo, Syrian state-run Ekhbariya TV said on Sunday.

The SDF head said the group had reached an understanding on a ceasefire and the evacuation of trapped civilians and fighters from Aleppo's Ashrafiyya and Sheikh Maksoud neighborhoods to northern and eastern Syria.

(Reporting by Yomna EhabEditing by Rod Nickel)

Members of the military police walk following the collapse of an agreement between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in Aleppo, Syria, January 10, 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Bangladesh seeks to join international force in Gaza

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Bangladesh said on Saturday it has told the United States that it wants to join the international stabilization force that would be deployed in Gaza.

Bangladesh said its national security adviser, Khalilur Rahman, met U.S. diplomats Allison Hooker and Paul Kapur in Washington.

Palestinians walk near damaged buildings in the Gaza Strip, as seen from Israel, December 29, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Protester put pre-Islamic revolution Iran flag on London embassy: witnesses

A protester briefly replaced the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran on its London embassy with a former flag, flown before 1979, during a demonstration Saturday, witnesses told AFP.

A video posted to social media showed a man on the balcony of the embassy, near Hyde Park, replace the country's current flag with one used during the rule of the ousted shah to cheers from hundreds of demonstrators below.

The flag -- tri-coloured, with a lion and sun, surrounded by a wreath and crown -- was a ceremonial one used in Iran before the Islamic revolution.

Demonstrators in front of the Iranian embassy in London waved pre-Islamic Revolution flags

Egypt announces results of last seats in parliament vote that gave Sisi strong majority

Jan 10 - Egypt’s National Elections Authority declared the results on Saturday of the last 49 seats in a parliamentary election that began more than three months ago and gave President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi the super-majority he needs to amend the constitution.

The results of the final seats had been held up by reruns of voting in constituencies where initial results had been annulled.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi poses next to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not pictured) in Athens, Greece, May 7, 2025. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki/File Photo

Yemen's main separatist group denies disbanding

CAIRO, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Yemen's main separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council, denied on Saturday it was disbanding, according to a statement posted on X.

The statement comes amid conflicting remarks by members on the UAE-backed group's fate, reflecting a feud between Gulf powers Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that was blown into the open by a separatist advance last month.

(Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din and Jaidaa Taha. Editing by Mark Potter)

FILE PHOTO: A soldier stands guard outside the headquarters of the Southern Transitional Council in Aden, Yemen January 8, 2026. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman/File Photo

Iran's army vows to protect public property as Tehran seeks to quell growing unrest

DUBAI, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The Iranian army said on Saturday it would safeguard strategic infrastructure and public property and urged Iranians to thwart "the enemy's plots", as the clerical establishment steps up efforts to quell the country's biggest protests in years.

The Iranian military statement came after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a new warning to Iran's leaders on Friday, and after Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday declared: "The United States supports the brave people of Iran."

FILE PHOTO: Protesters gather as vehicles burn, amid evolving anti-government unrest, in Tehran, Iran, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released on January 9, 2026. Social Media/via REUTERS/File Photo

Fresh protests in Iran as internet blackout persists

Anti-government chants filled the streets of Iran's capital on Saturday night, as protesters pressed the biggest movement against the Islamic republic in more than three years despite a deadly crackdown under cover of an internet blackout.

Iran has blamed the United States for the demonstrations, which ignited in Tehran two weeks ago over economic hardship and have since fanned nationwide with calls for ousting the clerical authorities.

Rights groups have reported dozens of deaths and expressed alarm on Saturday that authorities were intensifying the crackdown.

Protesters filled streets across Iran

China, Russia, Iran start 'BRICS Plus' naval exercises in South African waters

By Tim Cocks

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 10 (Reuters) - China, Russia and Iran began a week of joint naval exercises in South Africa's waters on Saturday in what the host country described as a BRICS Plus operation to "ensure the safety of shipping and maritime economic activities".

BRICS Plus is an expansion of a geopolitical bloc originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - and seen by members as a counterweight to U.S. and Western economic dominance - to include six other countries.

A Russian vessel arrives at the Simon's Town Naval base ahead of the BRICS Plus countries which include China, Russia and Iran for a joint naval exercises in South Africa's, in Cape Town, South Africa, January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Esa Alexander

Israel's Netanyahu hopes to 'taper' Israel off US military aid in next decade

JERUSALEM, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview published on Friday that he hopes to "taper off" Israeli dependence on American military aid in the next decade.

Netanyahu has said Israel should not be reliant on foreign military aid but has stopped short of declaring a firm timeline for when Israel would be fully independent from the U.S.

"I want to taper off the military within the next 10 years," Netanyahu told the Economist. Asked if that meant a tapering "down to zero," he said, "Yes."

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures during a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (not pictured) at the Prime Minister's Office, during Rubio's visit, in Jerusalem, September 15, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool/File Photo

Syrian army says it finished combing through Aleppo neighbourhood, signalling takeover from Kurdish forces

Jan 10 (Reuters) - The Syrian army said on Saturday that it had finished combing through Aleppo city's Sheikh Maksoud neighbourhood, signalling a takeover from Kurdish fighters.

The Syrian army earlier said it would push into the last Kurdish-held district of Aleppo on Friday after Kurdish groups there rejected a government demand for their fighters to withdraw under a ceasefire deal.

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Editing by William Mallard)

Syrian military police stand guard in Ashrafiyah neighbourhood in Aleppo, Syria, January 9, 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri