An elderly British couple released by the Taliban authorities after almost eight months in detention in Afghanistan arrived back in the UK on Saturday, telling the press that they feared "we would never be released".
Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, arrived on a flight from the Qatari capital Doha, where they had stayed for medical checks following their release on Friday.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told AFP Friday the world should not be "intimidated" by Israel and its creeping annexation of the occupied West Bank.
In an interview at UN headquarters in New York, he also called for more ambitious climate action saying that efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 Celsius above pre-industrial levels were at risk of "collapsing."
Guterres spoke to AFP ahead of the UN's signature high-level week at which 10 countries will recognize a Palestinian state, according to France -- over fierce Israeli objections.
By Christian Martinez
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he was speaking with Afghanistan about regaining control of the Bagram air base.
"We should have never given it up," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
The comments come a day after Trump, in a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said the United States sought to regain control of the base used by American forces following the attacks of September 11, 2001.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told AFP Friday that the world should not be "intimidated" by Israel as it presses its devastating Gaza war and pursues a "creeping" West Bank occupation.
Israel has reportedly threatened to annex the West Bank if Western nations press ahead with recognizing a Palestinian state at next week's UN high-level gathering in New York.
LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal will recognize a Palestinian state on Sunday, the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday.
The Official Declaration of Recognition will take place even before next week's High-Level Conference, it added.
Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel already said this week that the country was considering the recognisition of a Palestinian state during a visit to the UK.
(Reuters) -The U.S. will terminate deportation protections for Syrian migrants, the Department of Homeland Security said on Friday, part of President Donald Trump's broad effort to strip legal status from migrants.
The action will terminate temporary protected status for more than 6,000 Syrians who have had access to the legal status since 2012, according to a Federal Register notice posted Friday.
By Mike Stone and Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Trump administration is seeking congressional approval to sell Israel $6.4 billion in support equipment and weapons including attack helicopters and troop carriers, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Israel's military said it had expanded operations in Gaza City on Friday and bombarded Hamas infrastructure, while displaced Palestinians traumatized by the advance said they had no means to flee.
British trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack have joined other bands and musicians in seeking to block their tracks being streamed in Israel as part of a cultural boycott campaign over the war in Gaza.
The Bristol natives said they had joined "No Music for Genocide", a new collective of musicians modelled on the "Film Workers for Palestine" group.
From the music, film to publishing industries, growing numbers of Western artists are calling for a cultural boycott of Israel over the Gaza war, hoping to emulate the success of the apartheid-era blockade of South Africa.
With most Western governments resistant to major economic sanctions, musicians, celebrities and writers are hoping to build public pressure for more action.
GAZA (Reuters) - Israel's military said it had expanded operations in Gaza City on Friday and bombarded Hamas infrastructure, while displaced Palestinians traumatised by the advance said they had no means to flee.
"The situation is really bad. All night long, the tank was firing shells," said Palestinian Toufic Abu Mouawad, who left a camp for the displaced with nowhere else to go.
