Pope Francis will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday, the Vatican said in a planning note on Tuesday.Abbas is traveling to Italy this week, where he is expected also to meet with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.Francis and Abbas have met several times. The pope has recently become more vocal in his criticism of Israel's military campaign in the ongoing conflict with Hamas.The pope in October criticized the "shameful inability" of the international community to bring an end to the war.Francis, leader of the global Catholic Church since 2013, has also criticized Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon against Hezbollah targets as going "beyond morality."Abbas and Francis last met at the Vatican in November 2021. On Thursday, the Palestinian leader is expected to have a meeting with Francis at the Vatican's apostolic palace before also meeting with the Catholic Church's top diplomatic officials.

British police said six people had been charged in an investigation into suspected activity linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as the PKK.The individuals were charged with membership of a terrorist organization and will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court later on Tuesday, London's Metropolitan Police said.

The United Nations' special envoy for Syria said on Tuesday that it was essential transitional arrangements following the ouster of Bashar Assad be as inclusive as possible, also including organizations like the victorious HTS rebel army, which the UN has labeled a terrorist group."It is now nine years since that resolution (declaring HTS's predecessor a terrorist group) was adopted," he told a briefing at the UN's Geneva headquarters. "The reality is so far that HTS and also the other armed groups have been sending good messages to the Syrian people ... of unity, of inclusiveness."He cautioned against calls to start repatriating the many refugees who have fled Syria over its past 13 years of conflict, stressing that the situation remained "fluid," with conflict continuing in the northeast and Israeli incursions."It is extremely important that we don't see any action from any international actor that destroys the possibility for this transformation in Syria to take place," he added, with reference to Israeli moves to extend a buffer zone inside the country.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva underwent a craniotomy in Sao Paulo to drain a subdural hematoma linked to a fall at home on Oct. 19, according to a medical note published by the government on Tuesday.The surgery was uneventful, and Lula is "well" and is being monitored in the intensive care unit, the note added.

Former defense minister Yoav Gallant met with US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk at the White House, Gallant wrote in a post on X/Twitter on Tuesday. סיימתי כעת פגישה חשובה בבית הלבן, עם ברט מקגרק, שליח נשיא ארה״ב למזרח התיכון.במרכז שיחתנו, עמדה האפשרות הממשית לפריצת דרך בנושא השבת החטופים בזמן הקרוב.הדגשתי בפני שליח הנשיא כי הימים הקרובים יהיו קריטיים עבור השבת החטופים וכי אני רואה במשימה זו חשיבות לאומית וערכית עליונה.… pic.twitter.com/QgTI6jdaBK— יואב גלנט - Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) December 10, 2024"At the center of our discussion was the tangible possibility of a breakthrough on the issue of releasing the hostages in the near future," Gallant wrote.

A visibly Jewish student was punched in the face by a pro-Palestine activist during a Monday rally organized by Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, footage on social media showed on Tuesday.In footage of the event published on X/Twitter, someone can be heard saying to a Jewish man, "You guys start something, and then you play the victim." The Jewish man is then punched in the face. The attacker, wearing a Palestinian flag and a keffiyeh, can be seen in a video stealing an Israeli flag from someone and running away with it.For months I've been begging @Columbia to take this seriously.For months, @Columbia has been ignoring escalating threats. Today, a Jewish student wearing a yarmulka was punched in the face. I know this student's family. I've met his parents. They're some of the loveliest… https://t.co/7OWRfPDiFV— Shai Davidai (@ShaiDavidai) December 10, 2024Shai Davidai, a pro-Israel professor at Columbia who was previously banned for his activism, wrote on X that he knew the student and his family and that they are "some of the loveliest people I've ever met."