Nobel prize winner Ales Bialiatski and opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava among those freed after US talks with Alexander Lukashenko

The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has freed 123 prisoners, including Nobel peace prize winner Ales Bialiatski and leading opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava, after the US lifted sanctions on Belarusian potash, a key export.

The announcement came after two days of talks with an envoy of the US president, Donald Trump, the latest diplomatic push since the Trump administration started talks with the autocratic leader.

Thai PM says military will keep fighting and Cambodia suspends border crossings as casualties rise

• Thailand-Cambodia fighting explained

Thailand’s caretaker prime minister has denied the existence of a ceasefire with Cambodia, despite Donald Trump announcing that both countries had agreed to halt fighting.

As heavy clashes continued along the border between the two countries, Anutin Charnvirakul said on Saturday that Thailand had not agreed to a ceasefire with Cambodia and that its forces would continue fighting. Cambodia announced it had suspended all border crossings with Thailand.

Residents say incursions and raids have increased since forces first entered country a year ago after fall of Assad

On the day Bashar al-Assad’s regime fell, Abu Ibrahim and his family went to sleep wondering what sort of future awaited them in the morning. They woke in a panic, to the sound of gunfire and tanks.

The bullets announced the arrival of the Israeli military into the remote southern Syrian province of Quneitra on 9 December 2024. In the place of Assad militias who used to patrol the roads, bulky armoured personnel carriers filled with Israeli soldiers rumbled down the potholed streets, stopping to assure residents that they were there for their protection.