Qatar renews $60 mn grant for Lebanon army salaries
Qatar is to renew a $60 million grant to pay the salaries of Lebanon's army and provide 162 military vehicles,...
Geostrategy
Netanyahu visits Gaza as Hamas warns hostages may die amid continued Israeli offensive
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited northern Gaza Tuesday, his office announced, as the military kept up the offensive it...
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Geostrategy
Trump and Zelensky clash in heated Oval Office meeting over Ukraine peace deal
During a tense meeting at the White House, Trump and Zelensky argued over the war with Russia, with Trump accusing...
- Zelensky was at the White House to sign a deal on sharing Ukraine's mineral riches and discuss a peace deal with Russia, despite the US president recently branding him a dictator
- Tempers frayed after Vice President JD Vance said that "diplomacy" was needed to end the war. Zelensky asked "what kind of diplomacy" and Vance accused him of being disrespectful
Geostrategy
Mediators hope for end to conflict as next phase of Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo begins
Mediator Egypt say Israeli, Qatari and US delegations were already in Cairo for "intensive" talks on the next stage of...
- A hostage-Palestinian detainees swap early Thursday was the final one under the initial stage of the truce that took effect on January 19.
- Over the past several weeks, Hamas freed in stages 25 living Israeli and dual-national hostages and returned the bodies of eight others.
Geostrategy
Hamas, Israel prisoner swap advances as talks for ceasefire’s next phase loom
Israeli authorities received four hostage bodies from Hamas, while Palestinian prisoners were welcomed in Ramallah, as ceasefire negotiations involving Egypt,...
- The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed they had received the coffins of "four fallen hostages", and a process to formally identify them had started in Israel
- The ceasefire has largely halted the war sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, and seen 25 hostages released alive so far in exchange for more than 1,100 prisoners
Business
Clip of Gaza as seaside resort posted on Trump social media accounts
The video, which racked up more than 15 million views on Instagram and was shared thousands of times on Trump's...
- The 33-second clip remained on Trump's accounts without denial or retraction hours after the initial posting.
- Trump has floated the idea of a US takeover of Gaza under which its Palestinian population would be relocated -- a proposal met with global condemnation.
Geostrategy
Deal restored: Hamas, Israel finalize exchange of Palestinian prisoners for bodies of Israeli hostages
Mediators have revived a deal for Israel to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the bodies of four Israeli hostages,...
- Palestinian militant group Hamas confirmed the agreement, under Egyptian supervision, saying it was part of the first phase of its ceasefire deal with Israel
- On Sunday, Hamas accused Israel of endangering the five-week-old Gaza truce by delaying the release of 600 Palestinian prisoners
Geostrategy
UN warns of last chance for two-state Israeli-Palestinian solution
Sigrid Kaag, the UN envoy for the peace process in the region, also warned against calls for Israel to annex...
- "The people of the region can emerge from this period with peace, security, and dignity. However, this may be our last chance to achieve the two-state solution," said Kaag.
- Kaag called on Hamas and Israel to agree on the second phase of the ceasefire in the Gaza war and avoid a resumption of fighting.
Geostrategy
US, Russia to appoint negotiators for Ukraine talks; Kyiv protests exclusion, Europe awaits role
Washington noted European nations would have to have a seat at the negotiating table "at some point", following the first...
- Some European leaders, alarmed by President Donald Trump's overhaul of US policy on Russia, fear Washington will make serious concessions to Moscow
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed his nation's exclusion from the Riyadh gathering, which lasted for more than four hours, saying talks should involve European nations
Geostrategy
Iran’s Khamenei: US plan to displace Gazans ‘will go nowhere’
Tehran, Iran - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday dismissed a proposal by the United States to displace Palestinians...
- Khamenei made the remarks during a meeting in Tehran with Ziyad al-Nakhalah, leader of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad
- US President Donald Trump this month proposed a plan for a US takeover of the war-battered Gaza Strip and its Palestinian inhabitants to be relocated elsewhere
Geostrategy
More than one million Syrians return to their homes: United Nations
Geneva, Switzerland -- More than one million people have returned to their homes in Syria after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad,...
- The returnees include 280,000 Syrian refugees and more than 800,000 people displaced inside the country.
- Syria's war has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions from their homes.
Israel army pulls out of Lebanon border villages, holds five positions: source
Israel's army has pulled out of southern Lebanese villages but remains in five positions as a deadline for the withdrawal...
- Authorities estimate reconstruction costs in Lebanon's South could reach more than US$10 billion
- More than 100,000 remain internally displaced
Qatar renews $60 mn grant for Lebanon army salaries
Qatar is to renew a $60 million grant to pay the salaries of Lebanon's army and provide 162 military vehicles,...
Geostrategy
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Amid Israeli warning of military action, Iran says deal can be reached if US shows goodwill
Trump made the surprise announcement that his administration would open talks with Iran during a White House meeting on Monday...
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After Instagram restrictions, Meta to introduce teen accounts for Facebook
Paris, France -- Meta on Tuesday announced that it was extending its teen accounts to its social network Facebook, after...
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Geostrategy
Netanyahu meets Trump for tariff and Gaza talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, becoming the first foreign leader to...
- Netanyahu and Trump are also set to discuss Gaza, where a short-lived US-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas has collapsed, and growing tensions with Iran
- Trump greeted Netanyahu outside the West Wing and pumped his fist, before the two leaders went inside for a meeting in the Oval Office.
Geostrategy
PA alone must be in charge of post-war Gaza, say France, Egypt and Jordan
Cairo, Egypt -- The leaders of France, Egypt and Jordan on Monday said the Palestinian Authority alone must be in...
- French President Emmanuel Macron earlier said that Palestinian group Hamas should have no role in governing the Gaza Strip once its war with Israel is over.
- King Abdullah stressed the need for "a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution", a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Geostrategy
Turkey’s main opposition leader urges elections ‘in November at the latest’
The leader of Turkey's main opposition party on Sunday called for expected elections to be held "at the latest in...
- Addressing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, CHP party leader Ozgur Ozel said: "In November at the latest, you will come to confront our candidate,"
- Ozel hailed the demonstrations triggered by last month's arrest of Imamoglu, Istanbul's popular opposition mayor who is widely considered Erdogan's greatest political threat