UN Special Envoy for Syria to Take Part in Astana Talks 

29 November 2020, Switzerland, Geneva: Geir Otto Pedersen, United Nations special envoy for Syria, speaks during a press conference at the UN's European headquarters.
29 November 2020, Switzerland, Geneva: Geir Otto Pedersen, United Nations special envoy for Syria, speaks during a press conference at the UN's European headquarters.
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UN Special Envoy for Syria to Take Part in Astana Talks 

29 November 2020, Switzerland, Geneva: Geir Otto Pedersen, United Nations special envoy for Syria, speaks during a press conference at the UN's European headquarters.
29 November 2020, Switzerland, Geneva: Geir Otto Pedersen, United Nations special envoy for Syria, speaks during a press conference at the UN's European headquarters.

The United Nations special envoy for Syria, Geir Otto Pedersen, will take part in talks on Syria's future in Astana, Russia's TASS state news agency reported on Tuesday, quoting Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.

Deputy foreign ministers from Russia, Syria, Türkiye and Iran will meet in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, on Wednesday.

Bogdanov also said that representatives from the observer countries that are Syria's neighbors - Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan - will also participate in the talks.



Italy Sends Humanitarian Flight with Aid for Gaza Population

Palestinians inspect the destroyed home of the Muheisen family following an Israeli airstrike in the Al Zwaida neighbourhood in the central Gaza Strip, 18 July 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Palestinians inspect the destroyed home of the Muheisen family following an Israeli airstrike in the Al Zwaida neighbourhood in the central Gaza Strip, 18 July 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
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Italy Sends Humanitarian Flight with Aid for Gaza Population

Palestinians inspect the destroyed home of the Muheisen family following an Israeli airstrike in the Al Zwaida neighbourhood in the central Gaza Strip, 18 July 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Palestinians inspect the destroyed home of the Muheisen family following an Israeli airstrike in the Al Zwaida neighbourhood in the central Gaza Strip, 18 July 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

Italy has sent food supplies and health equipment for the Gaza population aboard a humanitarian flight that landed in Jordan, a statement said on Thursday, as part of Rome's "Food for Gaza" initiative to help civilians there.
Aid includes over 60 tons of food, hygiene kits and sanitary equipment, along with 150 tents. The flight, which departed from the southern city of Brindisi, has landed in the Jordan capital of Amman from where the materials will be delivered to Gaza.
"With this operation we give a tangible demonstration of the attention that the Italian government is dedicating to the humanitarian situation in the Strip," Reuters quoted Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani as saying.
He added Italy was committed "to do everything possible to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian population in Gaza."
The Food for Gaza initiative is led by Italy together with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food program (WFP) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
On Wednesday, the US military announced that its mission to install and operate a temporary, floating pier off the coast of Gaza was complete, formally ending an effort to bring humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
Italy said in May it would allocate 30 million euros ($32.8 million) in the Food for Gaza plan, as it resumed funding for the United Nations' Palestinian relief organization UNRWA.

UNRWA faced criticism over allegations that some of its staff were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.