GAZA -- The Palestinian death toll in Gaza has surpassed 54,000 since the outbreak of the conflict between Hamas and Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Gaza's health authorities said on Tuesday.
During the past 24 hours, 79 Palestinians were killed and 163 others injured as a result of Israeli attacks on various areas of the Gaza Strip, the health authorities said in a press statement, noting that the statistics do not include hospitals in the North Gaza Governorate due to the difficulty of accessing them. (Gaza-Israel-Casualty)
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MOSCOW -- Moscow and Washington are coordinating the details of a previously agreed prisoner exchange, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.
During a press briefing after his talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Moscow, Lavrov confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump had agreed to arrange a prisoner swap during their latest call. (Russia-US-Prisoner Swap)
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NEW YORK -- The U.S. government has ordered U.S. embassies and consular sections worldwide to pause scheduling new interviews for student-visa applicants as it is considering requiring all foreign students applying to study in the United States to undergo social media vetting, local media cited a cable dated Tuesday and signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued, which we anticipate in the coming days," the cable said. (US-Student Visa-Pause)
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JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military said on Tuesday that two food distribution compounds operated by private U.S. companies have begun functioning in southern Gaza, as part of an aid initiative that has drawn sharp criticism from humanitarian organizations.
According to a military statement, the centers -- located in Tel al-Sultan near Rafah and in the Morag Corridor between Rafah and Khan Younis -- began operating on Tuesday and "are distributing food packages to thousands of families." (Israel-Gaza-Aid) ■
