JERUSALEM, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli government confirmed on Tuesday that the fifth batch of hostages released from the Gaza Strip by Hamas has returned to Israel.

The 12 hostages, including 10 Israelis and two Thai nationals, will undergo an initial medical examination before being escorted by security forces to the hospital to be reunited with their families, according to the statements issued by the Israeli Prime Minister's Office and Israel Defense Forces.

29 November 2023; MEMO: Israeli National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has threatened to dissolve the coalition government if the bombing of Gaza stops.

Ben-Gvir said in a post on X yesterday: “Stopping the war = dissolution of the government.”

The far-right minister’s threat coincided with talk about a possible new agreement for a long-term humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip.

DUBAI, Nov 29 (APP): Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Wednesday arrived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates to attend the 28th United Nations Conference of Parties (COP-28).

Minister for Justice of the United Arab Emirates Abdullah Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE Faisal Niaz Tirmizi and the Pakistani diplomatic staff welcomed the prime minister at Dubai’s Al-Maktoum airport, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia earned a total of 1.2 billion U.S. dollars from the exports of raw cashew nuts and dry rubber during the first 10 months of 2023, according to official reports on Wednesday.

A report from the Cashew Nut Association of Cambodia showed that the kingdom exported a total of 615,000 tonnes of raw cashew nuts to Vietnam during the January-October period this year, down 16.7 percent year-on-year.

The Southeast Asian country made 831 million dollars in revenue from the exports of the commodity, the report said.

LONDON, November 29. /TASS/: NATO member states do not pressure Ukraine regarding the beginning of peace talks with Russia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview for BBC.

When asked if any NATO member state pushes Ukraine towards negotiations, Stoltenberg answered in a negative.

Stoltenberg called the military aid to Ukraine a "path towards peace," opining that the stronger Ukraine is on the battlefield, the stronger it will be at a negotiation table.

MEXICO CITY, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Mexico's president has requested permission from the Mexican Senate to allow a group of U.S. military personnel to enter the country to train Mexican special forces in early 2024, according to an announcement in the Senate's official gazette.

The presence of U.S. military personnel on Mexican soil has long been a sensitive issue in Mexico, which lost much of its territory to the United States due to war in the 1840s and also endured U.S. military incursions in the early 20th century.

CHINYALISAUR, India, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Hope that they would be rescued soon kept workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in India strong through their 17-day ordeal, some of the men said on Wednesday after their rescue.

All 41 men, low-wage workers from some of India's poorest states, were rescued. They were taken to a specialist hospital in Rishikesh city after spending the night at a makeshift medical facility in this small Himalayan town.

Doctors said they were all doing well but would need long-term support, including monitoring for post-traumatic stress.

NEW YORK (AP) — Computer-generated writers ... writing computer-generated stories?

Sports Illustrated is the latest media company to see its reputation damaged by being less than forthcoming — if not outright dishonest — about who or what is writing its stories at the dawn of the artificial intelligence age.

The once-powerful publication said it was firing a company that produced articles for its website written under the byline of authors who apparently don’t exist. But it denied a published report that stories themselves were written by an artificial intelligence tool.

CAIRO, November 29. /TASS/: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for an international conference to protect the rights of the Palestinians.

He made the appeal on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

28 November 2023; MEMO: Nasser Beydoun revealed on social media that he had been contacted by the Israeli lobby group AIPAC and offered $20 million to run against Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib in Michigan. Beydoun is the second candidate who has been offered funds to run against Tlaib, with Senate candidate Hill Harper speaking of a similar offer last week.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Tighter water restrictions for drought-stricken northeast Spain went into effect Wednesday, when authorities in Catalonia said that Barcelona may need to have fresh water shipped in by boat in the coming months.

Catalonia is suffering its worst drought on record with reservoirs that provide water for about 6 million people, including Spain’s second-biggest city Barcelona, filled to just 18% of their capacity. By comparison, Spain’s reservoirs as a whole are at 43% of their capacity.

MANILA, Nov 29 (NNN-PNA) – The Philippine government posted a budget deficit of 34.4 billion pesos (about 621.8 million U.S. dollars) in Oct, 65.27 percent lower than in the same period of 2022, the country’s Bureau of the Treasury said, today.

The total aggregate budget deficit for the 10-month period amounted to 1.018 trillion pesos (about 18.4 billion dollars), down by 8.45 percent year on year, the bureau said.