MOSCOW -- Russia and Ukraine on Saturday exchanged 307 prisoners each under an agreement reached during recent talks in Istanbul, said the Russian Defense Ministry.
The ministry said 307 Russian servicemen have "returned from Kiev-controlled territory," while the equivalent number of Ukrainian prisoners was freed as well. (Russia-Ukraine-Prisoner swap)
- - - -
BERLIN -- The knife attack at Hamburg Central Station that left 18 people injured was not politically motivated, and the suspect likely suffers from a mental illness, German news agency dpa reported Saturday, citing police.
Train services at the station resumed as normal on Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after the incident, which occurred around 6:05 p.m. local time (1605 GMT) on Friday on a platform outside the main station hall near a stationary train. (Hamburg-Attack)
- - - -
GAZA/JERUSALEM -- At least 32 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on multiple areas of the Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to Gaza's Civil Defense.
Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the authority, told Xinhua that 17 people were killed and dozens wounded in Israeli strikes targeting a house and gatherings west and east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. (Gaza Strip-Hamas-Israel)
- - - -
ADEN, Yemen -- U.S. drone strikes overnight targeted a suspected al-Qaeda hideout in Yemen's southern province of Abyan, killing at least six people, a Yemeni military official told Xinhua on Saturday.
The strikes hit the mountainous Marakisha area in eastern Abyan late Friday, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. All those killed were believed to be members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Yemen-based branch of the militant network. (Yemen-US-Drone attacks)
- - - -
LOS ANGELES -- The United States took initial steps on Friday to ease sanctions on Syria, following President Donald Trump's pledge to do so during his Middle East trip.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a document, known as GL 25, to ease financial restrictions on Syria. (US-Syria-Sanctions) ■
