The Israeli Defence Forces, IDF, have confirmed the release of three hostages by Hamas terrorists.

Their release was part of the ceasefire agreement mediated between both warring parties.

In a statement on Sunday evening, the IDF said the released hostages would be reunited with their families.

The IDF said: “The three released hostages have arrived at the initial reception point in southern Israel, where they will be reunited with their mothers.

“IDF officers from the Manpower Directorate and IDF medical officials are accompanying the released hostages during an initial medical assessment.

“IDF representatives are accompanying their families at the hospital and updating them with the latest available information.”

The three freed Israeli hostages are part of the first group of 33 to be released.

Those released are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari.

In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees will also be released from Israeli prisons.

US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed three film stars to be special ambassadors tasked with promoting business opportunities in Hollywood.

“It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!”

All three celebrity figures have recently been associated with Trump and his election campaign. It is unclear what their roles will involve.

In a statement, Gibson, 69, said he received the news “at the same time as all of you and was just as surprised.

“Nevertheless, I heed the call. My duty as a citizen is to give and help and insight I can.”

Gibson, who recently lost his home in the Los Angeles wildfires, added: “Any chance the position comes with an Ambassador’s residence?”

The Braveheart and Mad Max star had publicly endorsed Trump in a video released shortly before November’s election. He also criticised Vice-President Kamala Harris, who was Trump’s Democratic rival in the presidential race.

Stallone, 78, best known for playing the titular character in the Rocky franchise, introduced Trump at Mar-a-Lago for his post-election victory speech.

He compared the president-elect to America’s first leader, calling him the “second George Washington”.

“Without him, you can imagine what the world would look like?” he said.

He added that Washington – who was president from 1789 to 1797 – didn’t realise he would change the world when he defended his country.

Voight, 86, who starred in Midnight Cowboy and Pearl Harbor, is a long-time supporter of Trump and has called him the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln.

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It’s been a difficult few years for Hollywood with the Covid pandemic, multiple labour strikes, and competition with streaming services.

Lucas Shaw, a long-time Hollywood analyst, does not believe the new envoys can do much to help the struggling industry.

“He [Trump] sees them as allies, and he can use them to talk about change in Hollywood, but I don’t imagine you’re going to have John Voight and Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson trying to figure out how to restore the cable bundle, or make streaming more profitable, or figure out how to make China import more Hollywood movies,” he said.

Trump’s relationship with Hollywood has been fraught with tension and controversy.

The entertainment industry was partly responsible for bringing Trump back to prominence with his reality show, The Apprentice, as it bolstered his image as a savvy businessman, Mr Shaw told the BBC.

Trump’s ascent to the White House changed the dynamic, putting him at odds with the politics of much of the industry.

“Hollywood tends to donate to and support Democrats more than Republicans, and so it serves as an effective industry for him to criticise,” said Mr Shaw.

It is also easy to “portray as these rich fat cats who don’t have your interests in mind”.

In August 2019, during his first term, Trump criticised the film industry as “racist” and accused it of creating “very dangerous” movies.

His comments stemmed from controversy ahead of the release of the film The Hunt, an action-horror about a group of elites who hunt people for sport.

Speaking outside the White House, he said that Hollywood was doing a “tremendous disservice to the country” by producing content that incites violence and division.

The following year, Trump took aim at the Academy Awards for selecting South Korean film Parasite as best picture.

He questioned how a foreign film could win the top honour and suggested it was undeserving.

Trump’s stance on immigration, climate change, and social justice has drawn sharp criticism from major celebrities, and he has faced the ire of stars like Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro.

Some of his policies have also targeted Hollywood, including a push to end tax breaks for film production in certain states.

The announcement of his special ambassadors for Hollywood comes just four days before his inauguration in Washington DC on 20 January.

Los Angeles – the heart of the entertainment industry – is currently struggling to contain deadly wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes and buildings and left many businesses struggling to recover.

Damages are estimated at approximately $250bn (£204bn).

By Francesca Hangeior.

President Joe Biden on Friday commuted the sentences of nearly 2,500 people convicted of non-violent drug offences in what the White House called the largest single-day act of clemency in US history.

Those whose sentences were commuted were serving “disproportionately long sentences” compared to what they would receive today, Biden said in a statement.

He called the move “an important step toward righting historic wrongs, correcting sentencing disparities, and providing deserving individuals the opportunity to return to their families.”

“With this action, I have now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in US history,” Biden said, adding that he may issue further commutations or pardons before he hands over power to President-elect Donald Trump on Monday.

Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoned 39 others last month.

Among those pardoned in December was Biden’s son Hunter, who was facing a possible prison sentence after being convicted of gun and tax crimes.

Biden has meanwhile reportedly been debating whether to issue blanket pardons for some allies and former officials amid fears they could be targeted for what Trump has previously called “retribution.”

In December, Biden also commuted the death sentences of 37 of the 40 inmates on federal death row.

Three men were excluded from the move: one of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers, a gunman who murdered 11 Jewish worshippers in 2018 and a white supremacist who killed nine Black churchgoers in 2015.

Trump has indicated that he will resume federal executions, which were paused while Biden was in office.