4 d. ago Home Office minister defends plans to house asylum seekers on military bases

Asylum minister Alex Norris said the two sites in Inverness and East Sussex are an ‘important part’ of driving down hotel use.

Events

4 d. ago Tony Blair ‘has a contribution to make’ to Trump’s Gaza peace deal, UK’s Middle East minister says

Exclusive: Hamish Falconer has spoken to The Independent on Gaza and why cutting international aid has not made the migrant crisis worse

Politics

4 d. ago Jared Kushner is back – and so are big questions about his financial ties | Mohamad Bazzi

Kushner’s investment firm is backed by three Arab petrostates critical to the Gaza agreement. And the deals keep comingIn Donald Trump’s first term, his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner was omnipresent. He worked on criminal justice reform, Covid-19 vaccine development and modernizing technology across federal agencies. His portfolio extended to foreign policy, as he brokered a new North American trade agreement and negotiated peace deals in the Middle East. But when Trump returned to the White House in January, Kushner stayed out of the limelight and declined to take a formal role in the administration.A few weeks ago, Kushner re-emerged as a central player behind Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, which so far has achieved a ceasefire, an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory. Kushner took a victory lap, as Trump and others in the US administration gave him significant credit for helping negotiate ...

Politics

4 d. ago Dear Donald Trump, here’s how you can win that Nobel peace prize | Mehdi Hasan

Make Israel release Marwan Barghouti, the ‘Palestinian Mandela’. The future of peace in the region depends on itDear Donald Trump,You still want that Nobel peace prize, right? You believe you deserve it, don’t you? Even as you send the world’s biggest warship towards Venezuela, promise to just “kill people that are bringing drugs into our country they’re going to be, like dead”, and threaten further national guard invasions of Democratic-run cities here in the United States.Mehdi Hasan is a broadcaster, author and a former host on MSNBC. He is also a Guardian US columnist and the editor-in-chief of Zeteo Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Tony Blair should be part of Trump’s Gaza peace deal, UK’s Middle East minister says

Exclusive: Hamish Falconer has spoken to The Independent on Gaza and why cutting international aid has not made the migrant crisis worse

Politics

5 d. ago Jordan’s Queen Rania praises Donald Trump for Gaza ceasefire plan

Jordan's Queen Rania has praised Donald Trump for his 20-point peace plan for Gaza.

Politics

7 d. ago The war in Gaza is supposed to be over. But be warned: without truth and justice, it will never truly end | Simon Tisdall

A fragile ceasefire is in place, but what’s needed is an international tribunal for resolution and reparation. That’s the only route to lasting peaceDonald Trump insists the war in Gaza is over. No, it isn’t. The violence is much reduced. Yet Israeli forces have reportedly killed about 100 Palestinians and wounded hundreds more since the 10 October ceasefire began. Food aid supplies are still heavily restricted. The occupation continues, in Gaza and the West Bank. US officials fear prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his accomplices may renege on the deal, as in the past.Likewise, Hamas elements and rival gangs have kept fighting. The terrorist group is not disarming; Israeli forces have not fully withdrawn to the agreed lines. US-framed security, governance and reconstruction proposals remain vague, hypothetical and contentious. The war’s root causes, principally the denial of Palestinian sovereignty and statehood, are not addressed. Unless that changes, it will all kick off agai...

Events

9 d. ago Vance says Knesset votes on annexing West Bank are an ‘insult’ as Netanyahu halts progress

US vice-president suggests votes were ‘stupid political stunt’ as Israeli PM halts further work on billsMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered a halt to the advancement of parliamentary bills linked to the annexation of the West Bank after the US vice-president, JD Vance, described a vote on two bills in the Knesset as an “insult”.The bills applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, which would be tantamount to the annexation of land Palestinians want for a state, won preliminary approval from Israel’s parliament on Wednesday, barely a week after Donald Trump pushed through a deal aimed at ending a two-year Israeli offensive in Gaza. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago PM announces £10m additional funding to protect British Muslims from hate crime

On Thursday, Sir Keir Starmer announced the funding boost following a visit to the Peacehaven Mosque in East Sussex.

Economics

1 week ago The EU was complicit in the war in Gaza. Trump's plan can't be an excuse to dodge responsibility now | Nathalie Tocci

Tiptoeing around Israel has cost Europe its credibility. It must exert meaningful pressure to ensure the horrors we have seen never happen againThe first phase of Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza has drawn a collective sigh of relief from European leaders. After two years of slaughter, the ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, the Israeli military’s partial withdrawal from Gaza and humanitarian access to the territory offer hope – and unfortunately, an excuse for Europe to continue doing nothing.When it comes to the war in Gaza, unlike Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European governments have shown their worst colours. They are divided, and their political splits have led to policy paralysis. But worse than sitting on the sidelines hand-wringing, European governments and EU institutions in Brussels can be accused of complicity in Israel’s war crimes. They have been unwilling to exert any pressure on the perpetrators, while continuing economic, political and...

Politics

1 week ago JD and Usha Vance arrive in Israel for urgent talks as Netanyahu drops 153 tons of bombs on Gaza

The vice president and second lady are hoping to shore up support for the historic peace deal brokered by Donald Trump between Israel and Hamas.

Politics

1 week ago Trump says Gaza peace deal is holding and insists Hamas leaders are not to blame for 'rebels' within the group attacking IDF troops, as Israel launches deadly retaliation strikes

Speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday, the president downplayed fears that the fragile ceasefire was collapsing, insisting that Hamas' s leadership was not behind the flare-up.

Politics

1 week ago In Gaza, and now Ukraine, Donald Trump may be peace activists' greatest ally. That deserves our backing | Simon Jenkins

It’s a fool’s game trying to understand the president’s true motives, but do our misgivings matter if the outcome is a speedy end to war?Donald Trump is sensible and he is right. Basking in glory after his Gaza ceasefire, he was on Friday evening flying to Florida with his entourage of reporters. The drums of war were beating across Europe and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had pleaded with him for Tomahawk missiles. What was his reply?Trump was clearly fed up. He had told Zelenskyy: go make a deal. He had said, “They should stop the war immediately. You go go by the battle line wherever it is and both sides should go home. Go to their families, stop the killing and that should be it.” Matter closed. Tomahawks would merely mean escalation and more killing. Get a deal.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Reform’s newest MP Danny Kruger: ‘On a personal level I deeply regret rejecting the Tory party’

Danny Kruger became Nigel Farage’s biggest scalp after the shadow minister defected to Reform. Alex Ross visited the East Wiltshire MP at his office to find out why he left the Tories – and what the future holds for Reform

Politics

2 w. ago Trump’s peace plan is just about holding together, but may be unravelled by two unresolved issues | Rajan Menon

The withdrawal of Israeli troops and the establishment of an international stabilisation force are key in securing long-term peace, but the plan is dangerously vague on these issuesTwo years of death and destruction in Gaza ended once Israel and Hamas signed off on Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan. A ceasefire is in place. Humanitarian trucks have begun to roll in. Hostages and prisoners are being exchanged. Israel has begun a first-phase pullback from the territories it controls, and under Trump’s plan its troops will eventually be deployed in a buffer zone along Gaza’s land border.Given these developments – all part of the opening phase – dismissing the momentous changes in Gaza is to deny reality. There have already been disputes over the return of the bodies of Israeli hostages, but there are unresolved longer-term problems that could derail the ceasefire and imperil the rest of the Trump plan.Rajan Menon is a professor emeritus of international relations at the City College o...

Politics

2 w. ago Gaza latest: Aid delivery ‘extremely challenging’ despite Israel

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said humanitarian groups have a ‘mountain to climb’ to deliver the necessary scale of aid in Gaza

Politics

2 w. ago Gaza latest: Trump threatens to ‘go in and kill Hamas’ if violence continues amid delays over dead hostages

Families of Israeli hostages demand termination of ceasefire deal if Hamas fails to return the 19 bodies remaining in Gaza

Events

2 w. ago Fears for Gaza ceasefire grow after Israel and Hamas accuse each other of breaching Trump’s peace

Hamas has claimed Israel has killed 24 Palestinians since the ceasefire began, while Israeli hostage families call on the truce to be terminated if the remaining bodies in Gaza are not returned

Politics

2 w. ago Inside staff rebellion at Time magazine: Staff sabotaged 'worst ever' Trump cover... now they're in crosshairs of billionaire owner

When Donald Trump secured a historic peace deal that ended the war in Gaza, Time magazine tried to meet the moment with its traditional cover.

Politics

2 w. ago Behind the scenes at Time as laughing staff picked Trump's 'worst' photo: 'It's not Vogue'

When Donald Trump secured a historic peace deal that ended the war in Gaza, Time magazine tried to meet the moment with its traditional cover.

Culture