Skip to main content

Citing better cooperation, Montenegro lifts visas for Turkish citizens

BELGRADE, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Montenegro on Tuesday revoked its decision to insist on visas for Turkish citizens and reintroduced a visa-free regime but for a shortened duration, citing improved cooperation with Turkish authorities.

Following violence triggered by the stabbing of a Montenegrin man in the capital Podgorica by a group of Turks, Montenegro in October suspended a regime that had allowed visa-free stays of up to 90 days for Turkish nationals.

FILE PHOTO: A man looks as he walks past a demolished Turkish owned restaurant in downtown, after a man was stabbed and wounded in a late-night incident in Podgorica, Montenegro, October 27, 2025. REUTERS/Stevo Vasiljevic/File Photo

Greta Thunberg arrested at pro-Palestinian protest in London

London police on Tuesday arrested Swedish activist Greta Thunberg at a demonstration in support of pro-Palestinian hunger strikers, Palestinian campaign groups said.

Thunberg's arrest makes her the highest profile person to be detained by police since the government banned the Palestine Action group under anti-terror laws.

Prisoners for Palestine, which organised the protest, said in a statement that Thunberg was arrested under the UK Terrorism Act.

Thunberg, 22, was holding a sign reading: "I support the Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide."

This handout photo from Prisoners for Palestine shows Greta Thunberg at the protest

Two CMA CGM vessels navigate the Suez Canal in sign of easing tension

CAIRO, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Two vessels from CMA CGM, the world's third-largest container shipping line, have travelled through the Suez Canal, the authority that runs the waterway said on Tuesday, in a sign the disruptions linked to the Gaza war could be easing.

While the Suez Canal provides the fastest link between Asia and Europe, since November 2023, shipping companies have had to take much longer routes because Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militants attacked commercial vessels, saying they were acting in solidarity with Palestinians during warfare in Gaza.

A fisherman travels on a boat in front of a CMA CGM container ship passing through the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt July 7, 2021. Picture taken July 7, 2021. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

US 'not satisfied' with M23 withdrawal from Congo town, official says

Dec 23 (Reuters) - The Trump administration is not satisfied with the Rwanda-backed M23's withdrawal from a strategic town in eastern Congo, a senior U.S. official told Reuters, as residents reported persistent clashes nearby on Tuesday.

M23 seized the town of Uvira, near the border with Burundi, on December 10, days after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan leader Paul Kagame met President Donald Trump in Washington and reaffirmed a U.S.-brokered peace deal.

FILE PHOTO: Congolese civilians walk after returning to their homes following displacement during renewed clashes between Alliance Fleuve Congo AFC/M23 and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), in Uvira town, South Kivu province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo December 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Israeli defence minister vows military to remain in Gaza

JERUSALEM, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that the military would never fully withdraw from the Gaza Strip for security reasons and that a civilian-military army unit would be established in the Palestinian enclave.

According to a U.S.-backed peace plan signed by both Israel and Hamas in October, the Israeli military will gradually withdraw completely from the coastal enclave and Israel will not re-establish civilian settlements in the coastal territory.

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo

Greta Thunberg arrested at pro-Palestinian protest in London, campaign group says

LONDON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - British police arrested Swedish activist Greta Thunberg in London on Tuesday at a pro-Palestinian protest, UK-based campaign group Defend Our Juries said.

Thunberg was arrested under the Terrorism Act for holding a sign that said she supported prisoners linked to Palestine Action, an organisation which the British government has proscribed as a terrorist group, Defend Our Juries said.

A City of London spokesperson said two people had been arrested for throwing red paint on a building.

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg attends a fundraising event "An Evening of Words and Songs for Gaza" at Dalymount Park, in Dublin, Ireland, December 18, 2025. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton

Sinkholes in Turkey's agricultural heartland fuel farmers' concerns

By Ali Kucukgocmen

KONYA, Turkey, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Hundreds of sinkholes have emerged in Turkey's central agricultural region due to dwindling rainfall and receding groundwaters, causing concern among farmers and environmental experts who see it as a worrying sign of climate change.

Gaping sinkholes pockmark farmland producing maize, wheat and sugar beet in Karapinar in Konya province, with more than 10 packed into a field in places. In mountainous areas, vast, ancient sinkholes previously filled with water have now mostly dried up.

A drone view shows sinkholes formed in the middle of a farmland in Konya province, Turkey, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Australia invites Israeli President Herzog for official visit

Dec 23 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday he called Israeli President Isaac Herzog and invited him to visit Australia, expressing his shock and dismay over the attack at the Jewish community Chanukah event on Bondi Beach last week.

Herzog said he would accept the invitation and mentioned that the President of the Zionist Federation of Australia also sent him an official invitation expressing their wish for him to visit, and he intends to do so, Albanese said in a post on X.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog looks on during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the President's residence in Jerusalem, December 6, 2025.    Abir Sultan/Pool via REUTERS