An American who disappeared seven months ago into former Syrian President Bashar Assad's notorious prison system said early Friday he was released by the "liberators" who arrived in Damascus a day after the longtime ruler fled the capital.

Travis Timmerman called his release a "blessing" when he spoke to The Associated Press from a hotel room in Damascus, where he arrived late Thursday. He was among the thousands of people released from Syria's sprawling military prisons this week after rebels reached Damascus, overthrowing Assad and ending his family's 54-year rule.

An Israeli airstrike flattened a multistory building in central Gaza, killing at least 25 people and wounding dozens more, according to Palestinian medical officials, after strikes Thursday across the Gaza Strip killed at least 28 others.

The latest deadly strike hit the urban Nuseirat refugee camp just hours after U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters in Jerusalem that the recent ceasefire in Lebanon has helped clear the way for a potential deal to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

Turkey has appointed a temporary charge d’affaires to reopen its embassy in Syria, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported.

The Turkish Embassy in Damascus had suspended operations in 2012 due to the escalating security problems during the Syrian civil war and embassy staff and their families were recalled to Turkey.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is wrapping up a visit to Turkey with talks with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Friday as he presses ahead with efforts to unify Middle East nations in support of a peaceful political transition in Syria.

On the second stop of his latest Mideast trip — his 12th since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but first since the weekend ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad — Blinken saw Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan late Thursday to try to bring Turkey into a consensus to prevent Syria from collapsing into wider turmoil.

Selena Gomez is having quite a year, and it's being capped with an engagement to music producer and songwriter Benny Blanco.

The Grammy- and Emmy-nominated performer announced she was off the market in an Instagram post Wednesday of her ring and an embrace with her fiancé, with the caption "Forever begins now."

Kylian Mbappé has injured his left thigh and will likely be sidelined for an undetermined period of time, Real Madrid said on Thursday.

The club did not specify the nature of the injury nor how long Mbappé will be out, saying "his progress will be monitored."

President-elect Donald Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration next month — extending a diplomatic olive branch even as Trump threatens to levy massive tariffs on Chinese goods.

Trump's incoming press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed on Thursday that Trump invited Xi, but said it was "to be determined" if the leader of the United States' most significant economic and military competitor would attend.

An Israeli drone targeted Thursday the square of the town of Khiam, reportedly killing one person and injuring another, a day after Israeli troops withdrew from the strategic town, handing it back to the Lebanese army.

The Lebanese army had warned civilians to stay out of Khiam until it can clear the area of any unexploded munitions. The strategic hilltop town, located less than 5 kilometers from the border with Israel, saw some of the most intense fighting during the war.

The jihadi rebels who toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad say they want to build a unified, inclusive country. But after nearly 14 years of civil war, putting that ideal into practice will not be easy.

For Syria's Kurdish minority, America's closest ally in the country, the struggle for a new order is entering a potentially even more challenging phase.

About six months ago, Donald Trump was sitting in a courtroom in lower Manhattan listening to a jury make him the first former president convicted of a crime.

On Thursday, he will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange just blocks from that courthouse and as he was recognized by Time magazine as its person of the year.