Israel had delayed the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees since Saturday in protest of what it said is the cruel treatment of hostages during their release by Hamas and demanding guarantees that future hostage releases would take place without “humiliating ceremonies.”

Hamas released six Israeli hostages from Gaza on Saturday in two public ceremonies and one private transfer, in what was the final return of living hostages in the first phase of a ceasefire deal that began last month.

Israel was expected to free 620 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including 23 children and one woman — but Israeli officials delayed that release.

Hamas accused Israel of violating the truce with the delay, casting some uncertainty over the precarious ceasefire deal, and said talks on a second phase would not be possible until they are freed.

On Wednesday, an Israeli source familiar with the talks said a new agreement had been reached to transfer the remains of four hostages held in Gaza in exchange for the release of the 620 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Hamas confirmed that an agreement with Israel had been made through Egyptian mediators, but did not specify how many Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and detainees would be released.

Hamas and its allies continue to hold 63 Israeli hostages in Gaza. At least 32 of those are believed to be dead, according to the Israeli government – one of whom, the soldier Hadar Goldin, has been held since 2014.

The 42-day truce between Israel and Hamas is set to expire this weekend unless an agreement is struck to extend it. The two sides were meant to begin talks on a permanent end to the war in early February, but those discussions have not begun yet.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

An airline traveler has spoken of his shock after cabin crew sat him next to the body of a fellow passenger who had died during the flight.

Ring recalled watching the crew try to revive the woman.

“Unfortunately, the lady couldn’t be saved, which was pretty heartbreaking to watch,” he told Nine.

The crew then tried to wheel the body toward the business class section but were unable to maneuver it through the narrow aisle, Ring said.

“So they looked a bit frustrated and then they just looked at me and saw seats were available beside me… and they just said to me, can you move over please?” he said. “And I just said, ‘yes, no problem,’ and then they placed the lady in the chair that I was in.”

Ring then sat next to the body for the roughly four remaining hours of the flight, he said, despite there being other empty seats on the plane.

Another passenger offered Colin an empty seat across the aisle from Ring, where she sat for the rest of the flight.

“I was really shocked,” Colin told Nine, calling the experience “traumatic.”

“We totally understand that we can’t hold the airline responsible for the poor lady’s death, but there has to be a protocol then to look after the customers that are on board,” she said.

After the flight landed, Ring said passengers in his area were told to stay put until ambulance workers and police officers arrived to remove the body.

“I can’t believe they told us to stay,” he said, adding he was present when ambulance officers pulled away the blanket.

The couple said they weren’t immediately contacted by the airline, which they said owes them “a duty of care.”

Ring said he expected the airline to offer counseling support.

Qantas Airways, through which the couple bought their tickets, said they were in touch with Colin and have followed up with Qatar Airways.

“The process for handling incidents onboard an aircraft like this is managed by the operating airline, which in this case is Qatar Airways,” it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Ring and Colin are trying to process the tragedy.

“I don’t really know how I feel,” Ring told Nine.

“And would like… to talk to somebody and to make sure I’m alright.”

Russia says it is open for economic cooperation with the United States, including on energy and mining rare earth minerals.

Moscow’s comments came after US President Donald Trump said Monday he was in “serious discussions” with Russia about ending its war with Ukraine and was “trying to do some economic development deals” with Moscow, noting its “massive rare earth” deposits.

The comments also follow discussions between the US and Ukraine, in which Trump has demanded access to nearly half of Ukraine’s mineral resources in exchange for military aid.

“I want to stress that we certainly have much more of such resources than Ukraine,” Putin said of Russia’s rare earth deposits in an interview with state media correspondent Pavel Zarubin.

“Russia is one of the leading countries when it comes to rare metal reserves. By the way, as for new territories, we are also ready to attract foreign partners – there are certain reserves there too,” Putin said, in an apparent reference to Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

He added that Russia would be willing to sell “about 2 million tons” of aluminum to the US market if the US lifted sanctions restricting the import of Russian metals.

Putin also said Trump’s approach to Russia and Ukraine has been “based not so much on emotions as on cold calculation, on a rational approach to the current situation.”

The statements by Putin and his special envoy came the same day as Trump boasted about his ability to make a deal that could end the war between Russia and Ukraine during a joint press conference with the visiting French President Emmanuel Macron.

“I’ve spoken to President Putin, and my people are dealing with him constantly, and his people in particular, and they want to do something,” Trump said during the conference at the White House.

“I mean, that’s what I do. I do deals. My whole life is deals. That’s all I know, is deals. And I know when somebody wants to make it and when somebody doesn’t,” Trump added.

Ukraine has said previously that it wants security guarantees from the US as part of any deal – something the US president has so far refused to be drawn on.

Later, when asked what makes him think he can trust Putin, Trump responded: “I think it’s to the very much benefit of Russia to make a deal and to go on with – go on with leading Russia in a very positive way. That’s what you have to do.

“I really believe that he wants to make a deal,” Trump said of Putin. “Maybe I’m wrong, but I believe he wants to make a deal.

A US teenager has been arrested in Paris after her newborn baby was allegedly thrown out of a hotel window and died, multiple French media outlets reported, citing a statement from prosecutors.

The teenager, who was not named, was taken to hospital to undergo an operation after giving birth and was subsequently placed under police custody, prosecutors said.

Her newborn baby “was apparently thrown out of the second-floor window of a hotel” in the 20^th arrondissement of Paris on Monday, prosecutors said. “The newborn was taken to emergency care but did not survive.”

Prosecutors said the young woman was part of a “group of young adults traveling in Europe.” An investigation into the homicide of a minor has since been opened, they added.

The case was first reported by Paris Match. AFP news agency and Le Parisien gave the woman’s age as 18.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol faces a string of legal battles as the suspended leader fights to save his political career – and avoid prison – following his brief imposition of martial law last year.

Yoon’s December 3 decree threw South Korea into turmoil when he banned political activity and sent troops to the heart of the nation’s democracy – only to reverse the move within six hours after lawmakers forced their way into parliament and voted unanimously to block it.

The decree was swiftly met by widespread public anger, reviving painful memories of strongmen leaders who curtailed rights and freedoms in the country after the Korean War until its transition to democracy in the late 1980s.

Even several members of Yoon’s own conservative ruling party turned on him. On December 14, parliament voted to impeach him, suspending his presidential powers.

But a defiant Yoon has vowed to “fight to the end,” as the country’s top court reviews his impeachment and as he also appears in a separate criminal trial for insurrection.

Here’s what we know.

What’s happening in Yoon’s impeachment trial?

South Korea’s Constitutional Court will decide whether to remove Yoon from office permanently or reinstate him. It is now reviewing his impeachment by parliament after hearing weeks of testimony by high-ranking current and former officials.

Lawyers for parliament have argued that if Yoon is reinstated, he could try to impose martial law again or undermine constitutional institutions.

Yoon has argued that he had a right as president to issue his martial law decree. The former prosecutor-turned-politician said his move was justified by political deadlock and threats from “anti-state forces” sympathetic to North Korea.

Lawyers for Yoon have also argued that he never actually intended to stop parliament from operating, even though the order was publicly declared, and troops and police were deployed to the legislature.

Yoon also sent troops to the National Election Commission and later said the decree was necessary, in part, because the body had been unwilling to address concerns over election hacking, a claim rejected by election officials.

A ruling in the impeachment case is expected in March.

If the Constitutional Court upholds Yoon’s impeachment, he would become the shortest-serving president in South Korea’s democratic history, having taken office in May 2022. The country must then hold new presidential elections within 60 days.

If Yoon’s impeachment is upheld, it would also remove his immunity from most criminal charges.

What other charges does he face?

Prosecutors indicted Yoon on separate criminal charges related to his martial law decree of leading an insurrection. He was arrested in January after a weeks-long standoff between investigators and his presidential security team. He has since been held in solitary confinement at a detention center near Seoul.

Insurrection is one of the few criminal charges from which a South Korean president does not have immunity. It is punishable by life imprisonment or death, although South Korea has not executed anyone in decades.

The indictment alleges that Yoon’s imposition of martial law was an illegal attempt to shut down the National Assembly and arrest politicians and election authorities. Yoon has said his decree was intended as a temporary warning to the liberal opposition and that he always planned to respect lawmakers’ will if they voted to lift the measure.

Yoon’s lawyers have also repeatedly argued that his arrest was politically motivated and that the warrant was invalid because of flaws in the way the investigation was conducted.

The next preliminary hearing for the criminal proceedings is set for the end of March.

Yoon’s insurrection trial is expected to take months. A verdict could be reached by late 2025 or early 2026, according to legal analysts.

Meanwhile, the court is reviewing a request by Yoon’s lawyers to revoke his arrest order and release him from custody, though such challenges are rarely successful.

What important details did we learn from Yoon’s trial?

The impeachment proceedings offered dramatic details illustrating how Yoon and the military enacted the ultimately short-lived martial law order.

South Korea’s former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said it was he, not the president, who first proposed the ill-fated brief period of military rule.

Kim said he wrote the controversial decree himself, which included a sweeping ban of political activity across South Korea.

“All political activities, including the activities of the National Assembly, local councils, and political parties, political associations, rallies and demonstrations, are prohibited,” the martial law decree said.

Both Yoon and Kim strongly denied ordering military commanders to “drag out” lawmakers inside the National Assembly. However, former Army Commander Kwak Jong-geun consistently testified he received direct orders from Yoon himself to forcibly remove assembly members.

Kim and lawyers for Yoon maintained the order was misheard – arguing the Korean word for lawmakers was confused with the similar sounding word for agents or soldiers.

Former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) Hong Jang-won also repeatedly testified Yoon told him to take advantage of martial law. He said Yoon described it as an opportunity to “arrest” a list of 14 political and legal adversaries and to “clean everything up” – which Yoon denies.

Is that all of Yoon’s legal troubles?

Possibly not: Yoon also faces the prospect of another legal battle.

Police have been investigating Yoon on suspicion of the special obstruction of public duty since around January 3, a police spokesperson told Reuters on February 22.

The crime is punishable by up to five years in jail.

A South Korean court issued an arrest warrant for Yoon on December 31 in the criminal investigation over his martial law decree. The warrant, however, was not executed until January 15 after Yoon did not comply, remaining holed up in his heavily fortified presidential compound as the Presidential Security Service blocked investigators for days.

In the months since Yoon’s martial law declaration, South Korea has been in political disarray with parliament also voting to impeach its prime minister and acting president Han Duck-soo. Finance minister Choi Sang-mok is now acting president.

Additional reporting by Reuters and the Associated Press.