(Reuters) -Israel’s defense minister said on Wednesday he planned to close publicly funded Army Radio in what he described as an attempt to preserve the military’s nonpartisan character, but the decision was denounced by the station's chief as a blow to press freedom.

The minister, Israel Katz, said in a statement he would soon submit a proposal to the country's right-wing government to close the station, which is editorially independent, and he expected it to end its broadcasts by March 1.

(Reuters) -At least 42 migrants are missing and presumed dead after a rubber boat capsized off the coast of Libya, the International Organization for Migration said on Wednesday.

Libyan authorities rescued seven survivors who had drifted at sea for six days after the vessel, carrying 49 people, sank near the Al Buri oilfield.

(Reporting by Jana Choukeir and Ahmed Elumami; Editing by Alex Richardson)

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia is ready to resume peace negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul, Russian state news agency TASS cited a foreign ministry official as saying on Wednesday.

No face-to-face talks have taken place between the two sides since they met in the Turkish city on July 23. TASS quoted the official, Alexei Polishchuk, as saying that Turkish officials had repeatedly urged a resumption of the peace negotiations.

"The Russian team is ready for this, the ball is in the Ukrainian court," he said.

By Ariba Shahid

KARACHI (Reuters) -Afghanistan's economic recovery is buckling as nine in 10 households are forced to skip meals, sell belongings or take on debt to survive, the United Nations said on Wednesday, warning that mass returns are exacerbating the country's worst crisis since the Taliban returned to power.

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey's defence ministry said on Wednesday that 20 soldiers were killed in the crash of a Turkish military cargo plane in Georgia on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Tuesday that any Israeli plans for annexation in the West Bank would be a "red line" and would provoke a European reaction.

He spoke as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas visited Paris one month into a fragile truce between Hamas and Israel, following two years of war triggered by the militant group's October 7, 2023 attack against Israel.

CAIRO (Reuters) -Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer has resigned from his position, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Jaidaa Taha and Muhammad Al Gebaly)

PARIS (Reuters) -France will help the Palestinian Authority draft a constitution for a future state, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday after talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris.

A number of major Western nations including France formally recognised a Palestinian state in September, a move driven by frustration with Israel over its devastating war in Gaza and a wish to promote a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict.

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher held Tuesday what he called "constructive" talks with Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to ensure life-saving aid reaches all corners of the war-ravaged country.

Since April 2023, the war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 12 million, creating one of the world's largest humanitarian crises.

On the streets of Damascus on Tuesday, Syrians viewed their leader's visit to Washington as a shift towards the West that could pave the way to reviving the country's war-battered economy.

On Monday, Donald Trump received Ahmed al-Sharaa, a first for a Syrian head of state since independence in 1946 and a crowning achievement for the former jihadist, whom Washington once sought to arrest in return for a $10 million bounty.

"God willing, this visit will be a new beginning for Syria and an opening to the world after years of isolation," law student Boushra Abdel Bari said.