South Korean intelligence has found that North Korea has dispatched 12,000 troops including special operation forces to support Russia’s war against Ukraine, news reports said Friday, a development that could bring a third country into the war and intensify a standoff between North Korea and the West.

Yonhap news agency cited the National Intelligence Service as saying that the North have already left the country, formed into four brigades. Other South Korean media outlets carried similar reports.

If confirmed, it would be North Korea’s first major participation in a foreign war. North Korea has 1.2 million troops, one of the largest militaries in the world, but it lacks actual combat experience.

Many experts question how much the North Korean troop dispatch would help Russia, citing North Korea’s outdated equipment and shortage of battle experiences.

During a meeting in Pyongyang in June, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a pact stipulating mutual military assistance if either country is attacked, in what was considered the two countries’ biggest defense deal since the end of the Cold War.

The NIS didn’t immediately confirm the report, but South Korea’s presidential office said in a statement that President Yoon Suk Yeol had presided over an emergency meeting earlier Friday to discuss North Korea’s troop dispatch to Ukraine.

The statement said participants of the meeting agreed that North Korea’s troop dispatch poses a grave security threat to South Korea and the international community.

But the presidential office gave no further details like when and how many North Korean soldiers have been sent to Ukraine and what roles they are expected to play.

Russia has denied using North Korean troops in the war, with Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov describing the claims as “another piece of fake news” during a news conference last week, according to Russia media.

Ukrainian media reported earlier this month that six North Koreans were among those killed after a Ukrainian missile strike in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region on Oct. 3.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his government has intelligence that 10,000 troops from North Korea are being prepared to join Russian forces fighting against his country, warning that a third nation wading into the hostilities could turn the conflict into a “world war.”

“From our intelligence we’ve got information that North Korea sent tactical personnel and officers to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy told reporters at NATO headquarters. “They are preparing on their land 10,000 soldiers, but they didn’t move them already to Ukraine or to Russia.”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the western alliance “have no evidence that North Korean soldiers are involved in the fight. But we do know that North Korea is supporting Russia in many ways, weapons supplies, technological supplies, innovation, to support them in the war effort. And that is highly worrying.”

The US, South Korea and their partners have accused North Korea of supplying Russia with artillery shells, missiles and other equipment to help fuel its war on Ukraine.

Outside officials and experts say North Korea in exchange possibly received badly needed food and economic aid and technology assistance aimed at upgrading Kim’s nuclear-armed military.

Both Moscow and Pyongyang have repeatedly denied the existence of an arms deal between the countries.

Israel succeeded Wednesday in its year-long mission to kill Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the man accused of being one of the masterminds of the October 7, 2023 attacks.

But while Sinwar’s death is a huge blow for Hamas, it does not signal the immediate demise of the group. Hamas has vowed to continue fighting, saying that the killing of leaders – including Sinwar – does not mean the end of their movement.

A Friday statement from Hamas’ political office confirming Sinwar’s death said: “Hamas each time became stronger and more popular, and these leaders became an icon for future generations to continue the journey towards a free Palestine.”

As rumors swirl about Sinwar’s successor, here’s what we know about what’s next for Hamas:

It is unclear whether Sinwar himself left any instructions on who should replace him, but his younger brother Mohammed Sinwar is seen by many as his heir apparent. Like his brother, Mohammed is a hardline militant who recently became Hamas’ military commander.

Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy chief of Hamas’ political bureau who helped found Hamas, could also be a contender to become Sinwar’s replacement. He spent five years living in the United States before the FBI designated him as a terrorist. He was eventually deported.

Khaled Meshaal, the group’s former political chief, is also seen as a powerful contender for the role. Meshaal is well known internationally, having met with top officials including former United States President Jimmy Carter, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the past.

However, he might face difficulty over his past support for a Sunni uprising against Syrian President Bashar al Assad as Hamas, itself a Shia group, is supported by Shia-majority Iran.

Sinwar’s deputy Khalil Al Hayya is seen as another powerful contender for the role. He acted as the chief negotiator for Hamas during recent ceasefire talks in Cairo and is based in Qatar.

Both Meshaal and Al Hayya have been among Hamas’ top-ranking officials for many years. And both have been the targets of Israeli assassination attempts in the past. In 1997, Israeli Mossad agents posing as Canadian tourists sprayed a poisonous substance into Meshaal’s ear. The incident was widely publicized as the Israeli intelligence service agents were captured in Jordan.

Israel has killed Hamas’ previous leaders: In 2004 they killed Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. A few weeks later, his successor Abdel Aziz Rantisi was killed.

While Hamas has always managed to recover from multiple assassinations on its leadership, it is hard to say how they will now regroup, given how Hamas’ organizational structure changed under Sinwar’s rule.

Sinwar had consolidated power during the war, becoming Hamas’ sole decision maker in Gaza following the killing of the other two top Hamas officials there.

Mohammed al-Masri – popularly known as Mohammed Deif – was the commander of Hamas’ military arm, the Al-Qassam Brigades, and was killed in an Israeli airstrike in July. Deif’s deputy Marwan Issa was killed in March, according to the Israeli military. Hamas never acknowledged their deaths.

Sinwar became Hamas’ most senior leader after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran in July. Iran blamed the killing on Israel. The Israel Defense Forces did not comment on the accusation.

In his first television interview since leaving Venezuela, Edmundo González Urrutia explained the role of the Spanish government in his departure from the Latin American country. The former diplomat also reiterated that he believes he is “more useful outside than inside,” free and not detained, to solve Venezuela’s political crisis.

Venezuela has been in a state of crisis since the country’s July presidential vote, in which authoritarian incumbent Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner by the country’s electoral authority – a body stacked with his allies – with 51% of the vote.

But tens of thousands of tallies published by the opposition suggested a win for Gonzalez. Venezuela’s opposition and multiple Latin American leaders refused to recognize Maduro’s victory, which sparked deadly protests during which thousands were arrested.

‘I had to negotiate with the regime’s envoys’

González described the days before he fled his home country. He first took refuge in the Dutch embassy because he had three summonses from the Venezuelan Public Ministry and an arrest warrant. “What awaited me was the raid of my house,” he stated. He claims he was in the Dutch embassy for 32 days “without anyone noticing I was there.”

Later, with his wife and team, he decided “the best option was to seek asylum in a friendly country like the Kingdom of Spain.” After two days at the Spanish ambassador’s residence in Caracas, González managed to leave Venezuela after signing a document at the Spanish embassy “that was initially going to be confidential” but “those who signed on behalf of the government took it upon themselves to disclose.”

The document in question accepts the ruling of the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela (TSJ), which ratified President Maduro’s victory in the July 28 elections. The Venezuelan government has yet to provide detailed results by voting center or “table” to support that announcement.

In September, González said on social media that he signed the document after several hours “of coercion, blackmail, and pressure” in the presence of Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez and her brother Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly.

“I had to negotiate with the regime’s envoys” to leave the country, he said. “The legal weakling there was me: either I signed that [document] or I didn’t leave.”

The version of events shared by Venezuela’s National Assembly president, Jorge Rodríguez, differs from González. On September 18, Maduro’s representative assured in a press conference that they had not coerced the former diplomat and that he was the one who decided to contact the government.

González said that he never specifically requested the presence of Delcy and Jorge Rodríguez at the meeting.

“There were only four people, so someone took them without the proper authorization of the host, the ambassador himself,” he said.

The former diplomat said his last hours in Venezuela “were very tense” because he faced the prospect of leaving the country freely with his wife or staying at the embassy “without the possibility of leaving.”

He said that at the airport, he was just waiting to board the plane “to end this nightmare.”

Would María Corina Machado go into exile? González hopes not

González said leaving the country was a personal decision “that was appropriate to keep confidential,” so he only informed María Corina Machado — who was disqualified from running in the elections and backed González’s campaign — two days before his departure.

González said he explained his reasons to her, and the opposition leader agreed.

The candidate said he has maintained “permanent” contact with Machado and that they have a very fluid relationship.

This Wednesday, Machado denied having fled Venezuela, as Maduro previously claimed.

“Venezuelans know I am here in Venezuela, people know it, and Nicolás Maduro knows it too, but they are desperate to know where I am, and I will not give them that satisfaction,” she told Florida’s EVTV network.

Would exile be the future of Machado? “I hope not,” said González, stating that he has not discussed that scenario with her.

The role of the Spanish government

Narbona said she knows “the vice president stopped for a few hours at Barajas Airport” in Madrid, but she “has no more information than what has emerged over time.”

For Narbona, the political asylum granted by Spain to González benefits him because “he lived under threat and wanted to leave Venezuela.” Spanish opposition parties, like the conservative Popular Party [PP] and the far-right Vox, have accused the Spanish government of only helping Maduro’s regime with González’s asylum.

“I have found myself in the middle of the diatribe between the two main political forces in Spain,” González said, adding that the Spanish government has provided him with all the facilities in his exile.

On September 18, the Spanish Senate approved by majority a motion presented by the Popular Party urging the Spanish government to recognize González as the elected president of Venezuela.

The former diplomat said he does not know whether Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is mediating with Nicolás Maduro’s regime. He reiterated that he considers dialogue always a tool to resolve a political crisis and says he supports the “important effort” of the Colombian and Brazilian governments to find a solution.

González’s goal: January 10

González said that he and the exiled opposition are working to respect the will “of the nearly 8 million who voted for a peaceful change.” The goal, he says, is to be in Venezuela on January 10 for the inauguration.

The National Electoral Council of Venezuela (CNE), controlled by Chavismo, says Maduro won with 51.95% of the votes to González’s 43.18%, although it has not yet published detailed results. This result is questioned by much of the international community for its lack of transparency.

Regarding the official figures, González says that “there is no evidence to prove they [Maduro’s regime] won.”

The opposition candidate said that an inauguration in exile has not been considered. At the same time, the possibility of not being in Venezuela on January 10 “is a scenario we have not considered,” but he is approaching it with “coolness and a fresh mind.”

Abu Mohammed stands with red, bleary eyes. Women and young men walk on a muddied pathway as children run between rows of improvised tents in Deir al-Balah displacement camp, central Gaza.

Mohammed and others staying in makeshift displacement camps have survived Israeli bombardments that have laid waste to Gaza’s streets for over a year, enduring catastrophic violence, constant killings and disfigurement, and crippling hunger.

As Israel celebrated its killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar this week – with its allies hoping Sinwar’s death will now open a possibility for peace in Gaza – Mohammed and many others remain skeptical it will change their daily reality.

Sinwar was a divisive figure to Palestinians: a militant hardliner, Sinwar was seen as a brutal force by some, a pragmatic political thinker by others, and a freedom fighter to many.

Born in a refugee camp in 1962, his family displaced from the Palestinian village of Al-Majdal – in what is now the Israeli city of Ashkelon – Sinwar was “a symbol of the Palestinian people,” in Mohammed’s view and that of many others.

Many Gazans today are afraid to publicly voice support for Sinwar and Hamas for fear of being targeted by the Israeli military — which launched its siege of Gaza with the stated aim of destroying Hamas after it led the October 7 terror attacks, and to save the hostages taken that day. Others fear condemning Hamas, which controls the Palestinian enclave.

“Sinwar was a target for Israel and he was targeted and killed. He attacked Israel, and committed crimes that we have paid the price for … We paid with horrific tragedies, with the blood of our children, our money, and our homes.”

She too said she had little hope that his death would be a turning point in the war. “The assassination of leaders seems to change nothing. (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu wants more and more people to be killed. We wish to live in security, peace, and stability,” she said.

Sinwar’s last moments

Sinwar’s death has prompted speculation among Western allies over whether the coming weeks could signal the beginning of the end of fighting in Gaza, and the release of 101 remaining Israeli hostages.

But Netanyahu has given no signal he is ready to end the war. And Hamas has vowed to continue fighting.

On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces released drone footage that it said shows Sinwar in his final moments. The edited video shows the interior of a hollowed-out building, where a man that the IDF identifies as Sinwar can be seen perched alone on an armchair.

In the footage, the figure’s face is obscured by a scarf and covered in a thick layer of dust. His right arm appears to be injured, as he turns toward the drone. He is holding what the IDF described as a piece of wood, before throwing it toward the lens.

The footage appeared to show Sinwar at his weakest – alone and nearing defeat. But that’s not how most Palestinians see it, according to Mustafa Barghouti, a physician and an independent Palestinian politician.

“This image will make him look like a hero for most Palestinians,” Barghouti added, explaining that Sinwar’s apparent defiance in his final moments would be perceived by Palestinians as part of a broader historical resistance, even among those who did not agree with the Hamas leader’s tactics.

Like Sinwar, at least 70% of residents in Gaza are refugees, or descendants of those uprooted by al-Nakba, or “the catastrophe,” according to Amnesty International, when about 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes during the creation of Israel in 1948.

Decades later, those same descendants are grappling with the same reality of being unable to return to their homes in Gaza, with an estimated 69% of buildings in the enclave now destroyed or partly damaged, according to the CUNY Institute.

For Abu Fares, one of hundreds of thousands prevented from returning to their homes, Sinwar’s death is just a continuation of a brutal war. “It will not stop the battle or the fighting, because the children who carried their father’s dismembered body and those who carried their sister’s dismembered body — what do you expect from them after 20 years?”

‘I wish for my own death’

Sinwar’s killing comes as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza spirals and the death toll from Israeli airstrikes continues to rise.

At least 42,500 people have been killed since October 8, 2023, with another 99,546 injured, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. At least 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.2 million people have been displaced, according to the UN.

Entire families have been erased, with many neighborhoods reduced to wastelands of thick sewage pools. More than a million people in northern Gaza are facing a looming famine compounded by Israel’s aid restrictions, the UN warned earlier this year.

Around 70% of Palestinians killed by Israel’s strikes are women and children, according to the Hamas-run Government Media Office (GMO). More than 17,000 children have been killed in the Israeli attacks since October 8, the office said.

Israel has said that its sustained military campaign in Gaza is designed to root out what remains of Hamas, following the Hamas-led attacks that killed 1,200 people in Israel and saw more than 250 people abducted, according to Israeli authorities.

Israel says it takes steps to minimize civilian harm, like making phone calls and sending text messages to residents in buildings designated for attack. For years, it has also said Hamas fighters use mosques, hospitals and other civilian buildings to hide from Israeli attacks and launch their own – claims that Hamas has repeatedly denied.

But human rights agencies and many world leaders, including Israel’s allies, have repeatedly raised concerns over Israel’s war conduct and the civilian toll. Groups like Amnesty International also say warnings do not absolve Israel of responsibilities under international humanitarian law to limit civilian harm.

Mahmoud Jneid, also displaced in Deir al-Balah, said the world’s focus should rest on civilian suffering – not Sinwar’s death. “Sinwar was a target. What about us, the displaced? The closure of crossings and the lack of food and drink for children make our situation worse than (his) assassination,” he said.

“I wish Israel would assassinate me too,” Jneid said. “My brothers and family have died, and I wish for my own death so that I can find peace.”

Italian parents who have made the often difficult and expensive decision to have children through surrogacy abroad have been thrown into a state of fear after a sudden shift in the country’s already strict restrictions on bringing those children up in Italy.

Italy has broadened its legislation on surrogacy, which has been illegal in the country since 2004, to now criminalize “surrogacy tourism” in countries like the United States and Canada, subjecting any intended parent who breaks the law to fines of up to €1 million ($1 million) and jail terms of up to two years.

As written, the law does not affect parents whose children born of surrogacy are already registered in the country, but many parents of younger children fear they could be targeted anyway when their children reach school age and have to register for the public school system.

The law, which came into effect immediately, passed the Italian Senate 84-58 after an impassioned debate that lasted more than seven hours on Wednesday and at times seemed as if it would come to blows.

Protesters demonstrating in front of the Senate during the lengthy debate carried signs that said: “We are families, not crimes,” and featured photos of their children under the words “the children we could never have.” Meanwhile, some called the proposed law a “medieval” ruling in interviews with Italian media.

The bill was introduced by Giorgia Meloni’s ruling far-right Brothers of Italy party and personally pushed by the prime minister, who has found in Pope Francis an ally on the surrogacy issue – underscoring the continued political influence of the Catholic Church in Italy, especially when it comes to reproductive issues.

Italy was one of the last western European nations to legalize same-sex unions, which it did in 2016, but still does not recognize same-sex unions as “marriage” under pressure from the Italian Catholic Church.

Meloni welcomed the Senate’s decision on X Wednesday, calling it “a common sense rule against the commodification of the female body and children. Human life has no price and is not a commodity.”

Earlier this year, Francis called for a global ban on surrogacy, describing the practice as “deplorable” and insisting that “a child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract.” The pope, however, has not called for the practice to be criminalized and a 2023 Vatican doctrinal ruling pointed out that children born through surrogacy can be baptized.

The Catholic Church opposes surrogacy because it is “contrary to the unity of marriage and to the dignity of the procreation of the human person” and is against in-vitro fertilization (IVF) because the process involves the disposal of unneeded embryos, which the church believes is immoral.

Francis has shifted the church’s approach on welcoming LGBTQ people, but has maintained a strong line opposing both abortion and surrogacy. He has framed his critique of surrogacy as part of his long-running concerns about a “throwaway culture” where human beings are considered as “consumer goods” to be discarded and in surrogacy sees a danger of poorer women being exploited.

The new Italian law does not differentiate between same-sex and heterosexual couples, nor between altruistic or paid surrogacy, but it will disproportionately affect the LGBTQ community, advocates fear.

“The alleged defense of women, the vaunted interest in children, are just fig leaves behind which the homophobic obsession of this majority is hidden, not so much,” Laura Boldrini, an Italian politician and former speaker of Italy’s lower house of Parliament who also joined the protest in front of the Senate posted on X.

“Law or no law, same-sex families exist and will continue to exist. We will always be at their side in the battle for the affirmation of the rights of boys and girls and the self-determination of women.”

Alessia Crocini, president of the Rainbow Families advocate group, said: “We as Rainbow Families will not stop and will continue our battle in the courts and in the streets. We will fight every day to affirm the beauty and freedom of our families and our sons and daughters.”

Italy already bans gay couples from adopting children and last year the country started removing lesbian mothers’ names from some birth registrations if they were not the biological parent. Many local governments have already changed birth registrations to allow for only “mother” and “father” rather than “parent 1” and “parent 2,” which is widely accepted across the European Union.

Michela Calabro, head of LGBTQ rights group Arcigay’s political arm, called the law a serious denial of individual freedoms and self-determination.

“Introducing a crime, even a universal one, not only limits the possibility of choice, but also fuels a patriarchal vision of women’s bodies,” she said in a statement on X. “This measure highlights the Government and Parliament’s inability to address other important and urgent issues in our country. In fact, the parliamentary majority once again chooses to demonstrate its strength mainly on ideological arguments, while on pragmatic issues it confirms its total inability.”

It is unclear how the new law will be enforced, or if DNA checks could be required when babies are said to be born to Italian women abroad.

LGBTQ activists who protested outside the Senate on Wednesday said that heterosexual couples make up 90% of all surrogacies.

They argue that those couples will still be able to “sneak their children in” and get around the new law since, in the US and Canada, intended parents’ names can be put on foreign birth certificates for babies born to surrogates in compliance with state rules. Gay male couples would find it harder to find a loophole when returning to Italy.

The new legislation could prove challenging for Meloni politically. She enjoys a strong approval rating, with the latest polls showing she has 29.3% support (up 3% from when she took office in late 2022).

But the broad reach of the legislation has prompted wide criticism, including from heterosexual couples who have come out to protest alongside those in the gay community. She is also a close political ally of tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has had children via surrogates and who spoke at her political convention in December, telling her supporters to “make more Italians” to combat the country’s dwindling birth rate.

The pope and Meloni have also found common ground on this topic, with the pair joining forces at a conference aimed at tackling Italy’s declining birth rate, while Francis has generated attention for his view that some couples nowadays prefer to have pets rather than children.

But not all of Meloni’s policies are in line with those of Francis. The same day the controversial law passed, Italy began shipping some migrant men rescued at sea to Albania, in a move that is starkly against the Church’s teaching that migrants should be welcomed and Francis’ outspoken advocacy on this topic.