International from Thursday, January 30th, 2025

President Paul Kagame said Rwanda was ready for "confrontation" as he rejected criticism over his backing for M23 rebels who were pushing south on Thursday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after capturing the major city of Goma.

The UN human rights chief appealed on Thursday for $500 million in funding for 2025 to support its work such as investigating human rights abuses around the world from Syria to Sudan, warning that lives hang in the balance.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani arrived on Thursday in Syria's Damascus, the first visit by a foreign head of state since Bashar al Assad's fall.

A Russian drone struck a multi-storey apartment building in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy early on Thursday, killing four people and injuring nine, including a child, the regional authorities said.

Israeli troops will remain in the Palestinians' Jenin refugee camp once the large-scale raid they launched last week is complete, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday, as an Israeli airstrike killed 10 the West Bank's Tubas. 

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa was declared president for a transitional phase on Wednesday, tightening his hold on power less than two months after he led a campaign that toppled Bashar al-Assad.

More than 60 people were feared dead after an American Airlines regional passenger jet collided with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday and crashed into the frigid Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport.

Hamas handed over three Israeli hostages in return for 110 Palestinian prisoners to be freed later on Thursday in the latest stage of a ceasefire deal, while five Thai hostages were also released in Gaza.