2 h. ago US and Russian officials draft new peace plan based on capitulation from Ukraine

Unclear if Trump administration backs deal that would mean Kyiv giving up territory and slashing size of militaryUS and Russian officials have quietly drafted a new plan to end the war in Ukraine that would require Kyiv to surrender territory and severely limit the size of its military, it was reported on Wednesday as Russian drone and missile strikes killed at least 25 people in the city of Ternopil.. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago US and Russian officials draft plan to end Ukraine war based on capitulation from Kyiv

It is unclear if Trump administration backs deal that would mean Kyiv giving up territory and slashing size of militaryUS and Russian officials have quietly drafted a new plan to end the war in Ukraine that would require Kyiv to surrender territory and severely limit the size of its military, it was reported on Wednesday as Russian drone and missile strikes killed at least 25 people in the city of Ternopil.The draft plan, which was reportedly developed by Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the Kremlin adviser Kirill Dmitriev, would force draconian measures on Ukraine that would give Russia unprecedented control over the country’s military and political sovereignty. The plan is likely to be viewed as surrender in Kyiv. Continue reading...

Politics

3 h. ago Trump 'will force Zelensky into accepting peace deal with Russia that hands over land and slashes Ukraine's army'

The United States has signalled to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky that he will be forced to accept a deal with Russia that would see Ukraine hand over land to Russia. 

Politics

4 h. ago 'US tells Zelensky: You have to accept peace deal with Russia that sees you hand over land and cut back your army'

The United States has signalled to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky that he has to accept a deal with Russia that would see Ukraine hand over land to Russia. 

Economics

12 h. ago Trump administration ‘secretly working with Russia to form new Ukraine peace plan’

The US has also sent two army generals to Ukraine as it looks to bring Moscow and Kyiv back to the negotiating table

Politics

20 h. ago Democratic state election officials demand answers on Justice Department's requests for voter data

Ten Democratic secretaries of state are asking the Trump administration to provide more information about its efforts to seek voter registration data

Politics

31 h. ago UN plan just ‘first step’ toward peace in Gaza, says Palestinian foreign minister

Varsen Aghabekian Shahin backs resolution, while Hamas rejects idea of international force inside territoryAnalysis: One of the oddest UN resolutions in historyThe Palestinian foreign minister has described the UN security council resolution endorsing Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza as a necessary first step on a long road towards peace, even as Hamas rejected it as a form of international guardianship with which it will not cooperate.Arab state leaders who have reluctantly adopted the plan said the US urgently needed to set out the composition of the proposed Palestinian technocratic committee that is to deliver services inside Gaza, as well as the leadership of the international stabilisation force (ISF), which is supposed to oversee security. Membership of the board of peace, the body that is to oversee the ISF and a Palestinian civilian police force also remains unknown. Continue reading...

Politics

34 h. ago Next step in Gaza plan is more about triumph for Trump than peace for the region

Trump heralded the UN-backing of his 20-point Gaza plan as leading to ‘peace all over the world’, but the Herculean task of trying to bring a just and practical peace agreement remains as difficult as ever, writes chief international correspondent Bel Trew

Politics

44 h. ago Trump celebrates 'incredible' UN resolution approving his Gaza ceasefire plan

The UN Security Council voted Monday in favor of a US-drafted resolution bolstering Donald Trump 's Gaza peace plan.

Politics

52 h. ago Eswatini confirms receiving over $5m from US to accept deportees

Trump administration struck largely secretive deals with at least five African countries to accept migrantsEswatini has confirmed for the first time that it had received more than $5m from the United States to accept dozens of people expelled under Washington’s aggressive mass deportation drive.The tiny southern African kingdom has taken in 15 men since Donald Trump’s administration struck largely secretive deals with at least five African countries to accept migrants under a third-country deportation programme fiercely criticised by rights groups. Continue reading...

Economics

9 d. ago Hegseth says six people killed in two new US attacks on alleged drug boats

US defense secretary says without providing evidence that dead from strikes in eastern Pacific were ‘narco-terrorists’US forces struck two more alleged drug trafficking boats off the coast of South America, killing six people, the Trump administration’s defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has said.The US began carrying out such strikes – which some experts say amount to extrajudicial killings even if they target known traffickers – in early September, taking aim at vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago This isn’t a real ceasefire in Gaza – it’s a holding pattern before war returns | Sanam Vakil

Israel’s airstrikes have exposed the fragility of Trump’s ‘peace plan’. Without international support, it risks crumbling altogether Israel’s recent airstrikes in Gaza, which have killed more than 100 people, show just how fragile this arrangement truly is. This is not the first violation since it came into effect on 10 October, but rather one of many over past weeks – showcasing that without stronger enforcement mechanisms and determined planning this is a ceasefire in name only.According to Israel, this round of violence resulted from Hamas fire against IDF forces in Rafah, an area still under Israeli control, resulting in the death of an IDF reservist. Hamas has denied involvement. Israel responded with additional strikes on Gaza City and Khan Younis. With each side interpreting violations to suit its own interests, the ceasefire’s vague structure leaves a wide margin for miscalculation and opportunism.Sanam Vakil is a senior research fellow in the Middle East and North Africa pr...

Events

3 w. 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

3 w. ago Pete Hegseth says ‘we will hunt and kill them’ as he announces further strikes on alleged drug

Trump administration’s defence secretary says on social media that US forces killed 14 people onboard vessels in the Pacific in three separate operationsIn a letter this morning, House oversight chair James Comer has asked the justice department to investigate whether Joe Biden’s aides improperly used an autopen to sign executive actions, claiming the former president’s inner circle concealed his cognitive decline while exercising presidential authority without authorization.“While President Biden’s deterioration was evident to the American people, and consequently, robust systems should have been put in place to document executive actions reflected the actual will of the president, the President’s inner circle took no action to establish such a record,” Comer wrote in the letter. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago US military kills 14 in attacks on vessels in the Pacific, according to Hegseth

US forces in recent weeks carried out at least eight strikes against boats in the Caribbean off Venezuela’s coast, killing about 40 peopleUS politics live – latest updatesThe US military on Monday carried out three deadly strikes on four vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean, announced Pete Hegseth, the Trump administration’s defense secretary, on Tuesday.Fourteen were killed in the attacks while one survived, Hegseth said in an X post. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. 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

4 w. ago Kyiv and European allies prepare Russia peace plan to keep Trump onside

Measures to be discussed on Friday follow Ukraine’s insistence that talks to end war should be based on current frontline

Politics

last month Putin rejects Trump peace plan after expletive ridden White House meeting with Zelensky

The Kremlin rejected Donald Trump's latest effort to end the war in Ukraine.

Politics