Author: CNN

Robbie Chen, father of Itai Chen, who is held hostage by Hamas, holds an hourglass while speaking at a bipartisan news conference of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., on January 17. Bryan Olin Dozier/NurPhoto/APFamily members of the six remaining Israeli-American hostages believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza met with several of US President Joe Biden’s top national security advisers at the White House on Thursday.Robbie Chen, the father of 19-year-old reservist Itai Chen who has been missing since October 7, told CNN that the conversation was “informative” and that officials offered…

CNN  —  Here’s a look at the life of Charles III, King of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. Birth date: November 14, 1948 Birthplace: Buckingham Palace, London, England Birth name: Charles Philip Arthur George Windsor Father: Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh Mother: Queen Elizabeth II Marriages: Camilla Parker Bowles (April 9, 2005-present), Lady Diana Spencer (July 29, 1981-August 28, 1996, divorced) Children: with Princess Diana: William (June 21, 1982), Henry “Harry” (September 15, 1984) Education: Trinity College, Cambridge, UK, B.A., 1970, Royal Air Force College Cranwell, Lincolnshire, UK, 1971 Military: Royal Navy 1971-1976. In 2012, Queen Elizabeth…

CNN  —  Here’s a look at the life of award-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave. Birth date: January 30, 1937 Birth place: London, England Birth name: Vanessa Redgrave Father: Sir Michael Redgrave, actor Mother: Rachel Kempson, actor Marriage: Tony Richardson (April 29, 1962-April 28, 1967, divorced) Children: with Franco Nero: Carlo Gabriel (September 16, 1969); with Tony Richardson: Joely (January 9, 1965), Natasha (May 11, 1963-March 18, 2009) Education: Attended Central School of Speech and Drama in London, 1955-1957 Many members of the Redgrave family are/were actors, including her grandparents, parents, brother Corin, niece Jemma, sister Lynn, and daughters Natasha and Joely.…

Members of the Egyptian Red Crescent and civil organizations work to mobilize aid in preparation for its entry into Gaza on January 17 in Rafah, Egypt. Ali Moustafa/Getty Images Medicine for Israeli hostages and Palestinians has entered Gaza, Qatar said Wednesday, after the Gulf nation brokered a deal between Israel and Hamas to provide vital medication to the war-torn enclave. The agreement mediated by Qatar Tuesday will see medication delivered to Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for medicine and humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians. “Over the past few hours, medicine & aid entered the Gaza Strip, in implementation of the agreement announced yesterday for…

CNN  —  Here’s a look at the life of Nicolas Sarkozy, former president of France. Birth date: January 28, 1955 Birth place: Paris, France Birth name: Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarkozy de Nagy-Bocsa Father: Pal Sarkozy de Nagy Bocsa Mother: Andrée (Mallah) Sarkozy de Nagy Bocsa Marriages: Carla Bruni (2008-present); Cécilia Ciganer-Albeniz (1996-2007, divorced); Marie-Dominique Culioli (1982-1996, divorced) Children: with Carla Bruni: Giulia; with Cécilia Ciganer-Albeniz: Louis; with Marie-Dominique Culioli: Jean and Pierre Education: Attended the Paris Institute of Political Studies, 1979-1981; University of Paris, Law, 1978 Religion: Roman Catholic Son of a French mother and Hungarian immigrant father. Grew up…

The Biden administration is expected to re-classify the Yemeni militant group, the Houthis, as a global terrorist entity amid continued attacks in the Red Sea, a source familiar told CNN on Tuesday.The administration removed the Houthis’ Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDTG) designation and de-listed it as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in February 2021, after it was designated by the Trump administration in its final weeks.At the time, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the decision to remove the group’s designations was driven by concerns that it could imperil the ability to deliver crucial assistance to the people of Yemen.He said it…

Children scream for food relief in Rafah, Gaza on December 31, 2023. Rizq Abdel Jawad/Xinhua/Getty ImagesIsrael’s war on Gaza has brought famine “with incredible speed,” a UN aid official told CNN on Monday, warning that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are starving in the blockaded enclave.UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that the “vast majority” of Gaza’s 400,000 residents described by UN agencies as being at risk of famine “are actually in famine.” “And not only are they at risk of starvation.” .”It was an exceptional and unwelcome aspect of the…

Displaced Palestinians gather outside temporary shelters in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on Sunday. Magdy Fathi/Nour Photo/AFPDisplaced people from Gaza who spend their days in makeshift tents or huddled around outdoor fires told CNN about the additional hardships winter has brought.Temperatures have dropped to near zero in the eastern Mediterranean in recent days, and the region has witnessed several winter storms, bringing heavy rains to the region.Ayman Jamal, who moved his family to Deir al-Balah in central Gaza from Shujaiya in the north, showed CNN inside his tent. Its walls consist of thin sheets of nylon attached to a primitive wooden structure.…

A spokesman for the Houthi rebels said the Iran-backed armed group would provide a strong response to a second, albeit much smaller, series of US air strikes in Yemen overnight.Spokesman Nasr al-Din Amer told Al Jazeera Arabic that there were no casualties or “material damage” resulting from the latest US action, but that there would be a “firm, strong and effective response.”The United States targeted a radar facility used by the Houthis in the early hours of Saturday morning local time, according to a US official. A joint US-UK operation 24 hours earlier had hit nearly 30 separate sites, in…

The United States has carried out more strikes against Houthi positions in Yemen, according to a US official, a day after launching a coordinated multi-country attack on nearly 30 Houthi positions.Additional strikes carried out Friday night (Eastern time) were much smaller in scope than the previous night. The official said they targeted a radar facility used by the Houthis. The Houthis had fired at least one anti-ship ballistic missile towards a commercial ship earlier on Friday.On Thursday, the US and UK bombed 28 separate Houthi sites in an attempt to disrupt their ability to fire on international shipping lanes in…