Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Russian President Vladimir Putin has met citizens of the country freed by Hamas from captivity in Gaza and said Moscow's long-standing ties with Palestinians helped secure their freedom.
“The fact that you are now free is a result of Russia's many years of stable relations with the Palestinian people, with the representatives of different organisations,” Russian news agencies quoted Mr Putin as saying to former hostage Alexander Trufanov and members of his family.
Russia would do whatever was necessary to ensure those still in captivity are freed, Mr Putin said in a late-night meeting on Wednesday at the Kremlin.
Mr Trufanov was released in February after about 500 days in captivity as part of talks that led to a Gaza ceasefire. He thanked Mr Putin for helping secure his release and said he viewed the hostages remaining in the enclave “like brothers”.
Mr Putin also presented flowers to Mr Trufanov's mother, Elena Trufanova, and his fiancee, Sapir Cohen, who were also among 240 hostages seized by Hamas during its attack against Israel on October 7, 2023. The pair were released later that year, as was Mr Trufanov's grandmother. Mr Trufanov's father was killed in the violence on October 7.
Russia's chief rabbi and the head of the Federation of Russian Jewish Communities was also at the meeting.
Moscow has sought to maintain good ties with both sides in the Gaza conflict, but has said a settlement in the Middle East is only possible based on a two-state solution.
“Here we have to offer a word of gratitude to the leadership and to the political wing of Hamas for a gesture made to us in carrying out this humanitarian act,” Mr Putin said of the hostage release.
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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RESULTS
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Liverpool 5
Keita 1', Mane 23', 66', Salah 45' 1, 83'
Huddersfield 0
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UAE squad
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UAE tour of Zimbabwe
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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