Nine children to be returned to their families in Russia and Ukraine in the latest humanitarian exchange.

Nine Russian and Ukrainian children will be returned to their families this week in the latest humanitarian exchange between Kyiv and Moscow mediated by Qatar.

Russian Commissioner for Children, Maria Lvova-Belova, told reporters on Thursday that seven children, aged six to 16, will be sent from Russia to live with close relatives in Ukraine.

Lvova-Belova said the children had been living in Russia under varying circumstances. Most were living with a grandparent, she said, although one 16-year-old boy was living in a Russian orphanage.

Two boys, aged seven and nine, will also be returned to Russia after living in Ukraine for several years with a parent, she said.

Qatar said in a statement that its role as a mediator in the return of the children was “an extension of its approach to mediation and conflict resolution through peaceful means, in accordance with the principles of international law”.

Earlier this year, Qatar also helped to negotiate the return of 22 additional children to their families in Ukraine.

قطر تعلن عن نجاح وساطتها في لم شمل دفعة جديدة من الأطفال مع عائلاتهم في روسيا وأوكرانيا#الخارجية_القطرية pic.twitter.com/wqfZFBumwp

— الخارجية القطرية (@MofaQatar_AR) November 28, 2024

Translation: Qatar announces the success of its mediation in reuniting a new batch of children with their families in Russia and Ukraine.

The latest exchange of children follows claims by Ukraine that more than 20,000 children have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of a parent or guardian since the war began.

The removal of the children from Ukraine forms the basis of a 2023 arrest warrant issued for Lvova-Belova and Russian leader Vladimir Putin by the International Criminal Court.

The court said it had found “reasonable grounds” to believe the pair were responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation and unlawful transportation of children in occupied Ukraine to Russia.

Moscow has denied the charges and said it has moved children out of combat zones for their safety.

Russia and Ukraine have been at war since February 2022 following Putin’s all-out invasion of the country.

More than one million Russians and Ukrainians have been either killed or wounded since the war began, according to a recent report by US media outlet The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed intelligence sources.

The US is reportedly pressuring Ukraine to lower the age of conscription from 25 to 18 – something Kyiv has been reluctant to do so far.

Ukraine’s military capability is also under threat following the election earlier this month of Donald Trump as the next US president. The US has supplied Ukraine with more than $64.1bn in military aid since 2022, but Trump has indicated he wants to end the war, which many see as requiring a settlement that will be to Kyiv’s disadvantage.

In advance of his departure from the White House in January, President Joe Biden recently announced an additional $725m in military aid to Ukraine.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Super Bowl pregame will have some Louisiana flavor: Multi-talented performer Jon Batiste will hit the stage to sing the national anthem, while Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle are slated to perform “America the Beautiful.”

The performances will take place Feb. 9 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans before the NFL’s championship matchup and halftime show featuring rap megastar Kendrick Lamar, the league announced Thursday.

“We’re honored to work with this year’s pregame lineup to celebrate the rich musical legacy of New Orleans and the entire state,” said Seth Dudowsky, the head of music at the NFL.

Ledisi will perform “ Lift Every Voice and Sing ” as part of the pregame performances that will air on Fox. The pregame performers are all Louisiana natives.

The national anthem and “America the Beautiful” will be performed by actor Stephanie Nogueras in American sign language.

Otis Jones IV will sign “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and the halftime show will be signed by Matt Maxey.

Jay-Z’s Roc Nation company and Emmy-winning producer Jesse Collins will serve as co-executive producers of the halftime show.

Batiste is a Grammy and Oscar winner who is the former bandleader for the “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” His documentary “American Symphony” is nominated for best music film, and his “It Never Went Away” from the documentary is up for best song written for visual media at the upcoming Grammys. He composed the score for Jason Reitman’s film “Saturday Night” and this month released “ Beethoven Blues (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1),” which reimagined the iconic German pianist’s work.

Trombone Shorty, a Grammy winner known for blending funk, soul, R&B and rock, has toured with major acts such as Lenny Kravitz, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Foo Fighters. Daigle made her way as a contemporary Christian singer, winning two Grammys for her 2018 song “You Say” from her third studio album, “Look Up Child.”

Ledisi won a Grammy for her 2020 single “Anything for You.” She also appeared in the films “Leatherheads,” “Spinning Gold” and the Oscar-nominated “Selma.”

JERUSALEM – A radical Islamist group unleashed its biggest military incursion against Syrian regime forces since 2020 in the northwest of the war-ravaged Syrian Arab Republic, triggering Russian and Syrian warplanes on Thursday to bomb the insurgent offensive.

Rebels led by the U.S-designated Islamist terrorist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham stormed a dozen towns and villages in northwest Aleppo province, which is controlled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

The Syrian Islamist offensive started on the same day that Assad’s ally, the Lebanese-based terrorist organization, Hezbollah, reached a ceasefire agreement with Israel to end over 14 months of warfare.

The battle unfolding in Syria involves a motley crew of U.S.-classified state-sponsors of terrorism — Assad’s regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran — against a Turkey-backed Islamist terrorist movement. Vladimir Putin’s Russian regime has faced accusations of war crimes during its invasion of Ukraine. 

NEARLY 30,000 CHILDREN ARE SUFFERING HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN SYRIA, UN-BACKED COMMISSION SAYS

Former U.S. defense intel officer Rebekah Koffler, who is an expert on Putin, told Fox News Digital, “This is classic Putin’s Playbook, what’s going on in Syria, on Thanksgiving Day. He is doing what’s called lateral escalation in Syria, in response to Biden’s giving authorization to [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky to use U.S. ATACMs to strike deep into Russia, and Zelensky taking Biden up on his offer. Russia and the United States are on the opposite sides of the war in Syria. So Putin is ratcheting up support of Assad, which is counter to U.S. policy, signaling to Biden that he will be countering U.S. interests across multiple geographic areas.”

Anti-regime groups take control of some villages in the western countryside as the clashes between the Bashar al-Assad regime and the opposition armed group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) continued in Aleppo, Syria on Wednesday. (Kasim Rammah/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Koffler added, “Putin is signaling pressure on Biden to withdraw authorization from Zelensky to use ATACMs against Russia. The doctrine is ‘escalate to de-escalate.’ With the recent strike of hypersonic missile Oreshnik on Ukraine, Putin climbed several rungs on the escalation ladder. With Russian air forces joining Syrian airfare bombing rebel-held northwestern Syria, he is also moving laterally on the escalation ladder, to out escalate the United States, unbalance Biden, and create as much negotiating leverage on Ukraine for himself before President Trump begins his second term. I would not be surprised if Assad strikes the rebel-held territories with chemical weapons again.”

Alex Grinberg, an Israeli expert on Russia, told Fox News Digital that the rest of Assad’s army cannot fight against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham without Russian air power. 

He said this is “usually what the Russians do” in Syria.

ISRAEL KEEPING ITS ‘EYES OPEN’ FOR IRANIAN ATTACKS DURING TRUMP TRANSITION PERIOD, AMBASSADOR SAYS

Iranian regime-controlled state media said that Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Kioumars Pourhashemi was killed in Aleppo during the incursion. Pourhashemi was a senior IRGC military adviser in Syria.

Anti-regime groups took control of some villages in the western countryside as the clashes between the Bashar al-Assad regime and the opposition armed group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) continued in Aleppo, Syria on Wednesday. (Kasim Rammah/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Islamist rebels say the campaign was in response to stepped-up strikes in recent weeks against civilians by the Russian and Syrian air forces on areas in southern Idlib, and to preempt any attacks by the Syrian army, which they said was building up troops near front lines with rebels.

Assad’s war against his population, which started with Syrians calling for democracy in 2011, has resulted in the murders of over 500,000 people.

Iran has sent thousands of fighters to Syria during the Syrian war. While these have included members of the Guards, officially serving as advisers, the bulk have been Shi’ite militiamen from all over the region.

Turkish security sources said on Thursday the rebels initially launched a limited operation after attacks by Syrian government forces, and expanded the operation after government forces abandoned their positions.

Reuters contributed to this report.