3 h. ago Israeli president condemns ‘serious’ attack by settlers on West Bank villages

Isaac Herzog makes rare statement on often-ignored violence as settlers injure Palestinians and attack soldiersDozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, injuring four Palestinians and attacking Israeli soldiers in the latest incident of rising settler violence.The settlers attacked the Palestinian villages of Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf, setting vehicles on fire and damaging property belonging to a Bedouin community, with charred remains of cars left behind the next day. Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago Trump writes to Israeli president calling on him to pardon Netanyahu

The US president has repeatedly offered Netanyahu public declarations of support amid his ongoing corruption trial

Politics

9 h. ago Trump repeats request to Israeli president for Netanyahu pardon

Isaac Herzog can pardon convicted criminals in some circumstances, but cases against Israeli PM are still ongoingDonald Trump has repeated a request to Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, for a pardon for Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial in three separate corruption cases.The Israeli prime minister has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the ongoing court cases. No rulings have been delivered, and his supporters have dismissed the trials as politically motivated. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Five biggest takeaways from Democrats’ blue tsunami election night that should have Trump worried

Record voter turnout, a revolt against Trump and DOGE in Virginia, affordability remains a throughline and all should worry Trump, Mike Johnson and the Republicans, Eric Garcia writes. Plus, one tough lesson for Democrats

Politics

1 week ago Trump throws down ultimate loyalty test for GOP with nuclear option dare. Are they willing to break the Senate for him?

Republicans have resisted the temptation to eliminate the filibuster so far, writes Eric Garcia. But Trump has a way of beating them into submission

Politics

1 week ago Trump ally Stephen Miller at heart of FBI agent purge, new book reveals

Miller urged firings of those who had investigated president to satisfy Trump’s desire for revenge, Injustice authors writeStephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, was the driving force behind a purge of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents who had investigated Donald Trump, a new book reveals.Miller trampled the independence of the FBI by demanding firings that would satisfy the US president’s desire for retribution, journalists Carol Leonnig and Aaron Davis write in Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America’s Justice Department. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Lebanese president orders army to confront Israeli incursions after deadly raid

IDF says it was attacking Hezbollah infrastructure when it fired at a ‘suspect’ and the incident is under reviewIsraeli troops have killed a Lebanese municipal worker while carrying out a raid in the south of the country, prompting Lebanon’s president to order the army to confront future incursions.Lebanese state media identified the slain man as Ibrahim Salameh, an employee of the Blida municipality, a village near the border with Israel. The Israeli military confirmed the raid and said it was attacking Hezbollah infrastructure when it fired at a “suspect”. It said the incident was under review. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Americans go hungry and all Republicans and Democrats will do is point fingers while shutdown nears milestone

The whole exchange in the Senate about SNAP shows nobody is serious about stopping people from going hungry. Eric Garcia writes that Democrats aren’t blameless, but Trump bears the most responsibility

Politics

2 w. ago Wole Soyinka, Nigerian Nobel laureate and Trump critic, says US visa revoked

Soyinka, 91, who recently compared US president to Idi Amin, says ‘I have no visa – I am banned’The Trump administration has revoked the visa for Wole Soyinka, the acclaimed Nigerian Nobel prize-winning writer who has been critical of Trump since his first presidency, Soyinka revealed on Tuesday.“I want to assure the consulate that I’m very content with the revocation of my visa,” Soyinka, who won the 1986 Nobel prize for literature, told a news conference. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. 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

3 w. ago Go nuclear or ‘go hungry’: GOP senators warm to drastic move of killing filibuster as voters suffer and shutdown nears record

Democrats’ nuclear option had wide-reaching consequences that ultimately empowered Trump, Eric Garcia writes. If Republicans kill the filibuster to reopen the government, it might permanently break the Senate

Events

3 w. ago Gaza ceasefire not like monitoring a toddler, says JD Vance during Netanyahu meeting

JD Vance has said monitoring the ceasefire in Gaza is not like monitoring a toddler, as he met with Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu.

Events

3 w. ago Gaza ceasefire live: JD Vance has ‘great optimism’ truce will hold as he meets Netanyahu

On a visit to Israel, the US vice-president said Washington would not set a deadline for the group to disarm under the US-brokered dealIsrael has completed the identification of the bodies of two more hostages, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday, the Associated Press (AP) reports. Authorities identified the deceased hostages as Arie Zalmanovich and Tamir Adar. Their bodies were transported in coffins by the Red Cross and handed over to the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip. A military ceremony attended by the chief rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces was planned for later in the day, Netanyahu’s office said. The two were killed in kibbutz Nir Oz during the 7 October 2023, attack by Hamas militants, which triggered the two-year war. Since the ceasefire began on 10 October, the remains of 15 hostages have been returned to Israel. Another 13 still need to be recovered in Gaza and handed over, a key element to the ceasefire agreement. Meanwhile, the burial of m...

Events

3 w. ago Ruth Ellis' grandchildren call for posthumous pardon for last woman to be hanged in Britain saying she was physically and emotionally abused by her lover before she shot him dead

The nightclub hostess, was executed on July 13, 1955, aged 26 after being convicted of murdering her lover, racing driver David Blakely.

Events

3 w. ago Gaza ceasefire live: JD Vance has ‘great optimism’ truce will hold as he prepares to meet Netanyahu

On a visit to Israel, the US vice-president said Washington would not set a deadline for the group to disarm under the US-brokered dealHello and welcome to our continuing Middle East coverage.JD Vance has expressed “great optimism” that the Gaza truce would hold, during a visit to Israel aimed at shoring up support for a ceasefire and postwar reconstruction plans.The top United Nations court will rule on Wednesday on Israel’s obligations towards agencies providing humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, as aid groups scramble to scale up assistance after a ceasefire. Judges at the International Court of Justice in The Hague have been asked for an “advisory opinion” laying out Israel’s duty to facilitate aid in Gaza.At a press conference in Israel on Tuesday, JD Vance referred to Hamas as a “terrorist organisation” and said the Israeli army was “defending itself” throughout the conflict. He said there is “a lot of work left to do” and that it is going to take a “long time” a...

Events

3 w. ago Gaza ceasefire live: Vance arrives in Israel as Qatar condemns ‘continued violation’ of ceasefire

US vice-president’s trip comes a day after two Trump envoys met NetanyahuUS vice-president JD Vance has arrived in Israel with his wife, Usha.Vance is expected to meet top US Middle East envoys and military experts monitoring the truce on Tuesday. He is expected to meet with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and president Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem tomorrow. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago US envoys arrive in Israel to shore up the Gaza ceasefire after a major flareup

A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy says that Washington's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the U.S. president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner have arrived in Israel

Politics

3 w. ago Xi Jinping is preparing to go toe to toe with Donald Trump – and there will only be one winner | Simon Tisdall

Beijing has realised that reckless America First policies are alienating old and new friends alike, creating a vacuum it can fillHolding court for the cameras in Sharm el-Sheikh last week, a manically self-congratulatory Donald Trump, Gaza’s make-believe saviour, hailed his fellow “tough guys” – tame tyrants, such as Egypt’s Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who helped fabricate his flimsy Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.Yet later this month, the American pharaoh-president is due to face a far less biddable tough guy: China’s leader, Xi Jinping. Bookmakers may withhold odds on the outcome. In the US-China race for 21st-century primacy, Xi is sprinting ahead, assisted by spur-heeled Trump’s many missteps.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago ‘Indecency has become a new hallmark’: writer and historian Jelani Cobb on race in Donald Trump’s America

In a new essay collection, the dean of Columbia University’s graduate school of journalism makes a compelling argument that everything is connected and nothing is inevitable about racial justice or democracy“From the vantage point of the newsroom, the first story is almost never the full story,” writes Jelani Cobb. “You hear stray wisps of information, almost always the most inflammatory strands of a much bigger, more complicated set of circumstances.”The dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York could be reflecting on the recent killing of the racist provocateur Charlie Kirk. In fact, he is thinking back to Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African American student from Florida who was shot dead by a white Latino neighbourhood watch volunteer in 2012. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago While the eyes of the world are on Gaza, Israeli settlers in the West Bank still behave with impunity | Ofer Cassif

As the harvest season begins, attacks on Palestinian farmers and their land are spiralling. The words of peace following the Gaza ceasefire ring hollowLast Monday, when the US president, Donald Trump, addressed the Knesset alongside the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, my compatriot lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner calling them to “Recognise Palestine”. We were brutally expelled by force from the parliament’s plenum, revealing the fragile state of the supposed “only democracy in the Middle East”. How can Trump and Netanyahu speak of peace in the Middle East without recognition of the people deprived for decades of their basic liberties and rights under vicious occupation?Nowhere is the deceit more clear than in the occupied West Bank. There, the words of peace are but a weak and distant voice, but the horrifying sounds of settler violence and terror still echo loudly. More than 30 occurrences of settler violence against Palestinians have been documented since the...

Politics