3 d. ago Leaked transcript reveals how US envoy coached Russian official on how Putin should flatter Trump and praise his peace deal in Gaza in bid to achieve Ukraine ceasefire

A leaked transcript has revealed how the U.S. Special Envoy coached a Kremlin aide on how Putin should flatter Trump and praise his peace deal in Gaza , in a bid to achieve the Ukraine ceasefire.

Politics

9 d. 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

9 d. 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

1 week 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

1 week 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

1 week 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

1 week ago UN security council votes to endorse Donald Trump’s Gaza plan

The resolution, which includes references to an independent Palestine, was passed by a vote of 13-0 with China and Russia abstaining The UN security council has endorsed proposals put forward by Donald Trump for a lasting peace in Gaza, including the deployment of an international stabilisation force and a possible path to a sovereign Palestinian state.The resolution, passed by a vote of 13-0 with abstentions by China and Russia, charted “a new course in the Middle East for Israelis and Palestinians and all the people of the region alike”, the US envoy to the UN, Mike Waltz, told the council chamber. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago The Guardian view on Fifa’s new ‘peace prize’: Gianni Infantino should concentrate on the day job | Editorial

The president of world football’s governing body should abandon geopolitical networking and address criticisms over World Cup ticketing To general bemusement, Gianni Infantino, the president of world football’s governing body, Fifa, was pictured congratulating Donald Trump last month at the Gaza peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, having been personally invited by the US president. Mr Infantino did not hold back in lauding the president’s peace-making prowess, commenting: “Now we can really write some new pages. Pages of togetherness, of peace, in a region which really, really needs it.”News that Fifa is to launch its own annual peace prize, with the inaugural award to take place in Washington next month, would therefore seem to point to only one outcome. To use a metaphor from another sport, it surely looks like a slam dunk for the man Fifa’s president describes as a “winner” and “close friend”. As Mr Infantino told an American business forum on the day he announce...

Politics

2 w. ago David Squires on Fifa’s peace prize and Donald Trump’s eligibility

Our cartoonist on how the US president’s actions in office may have put him in line for an awardBuy a Squires cartoon in our Print ShopDavid’s latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Unrwa has the capacity and expertise to support a postwar Gaza. We want to help make this peace work | Philippe Lazzarini

With a ceasefire in place, rebuilding must begin, justice be delivered and healing seriously addressed by Palestinian and Israeli societiesPhilippe Lazzarini is the commissioner-general of UnrwaAfter two years of brutal warfare in Gaza, a fragile ceasefire – the first phase of US president Donald Trump’s 20-point plan – offers some respite to an exhausted population. For my Unrwa colleagues on the ground in Gaza, the constant fear of being killed by bombs and guns may have abated, but there is still much to worry about – access to shelter, food and clean water remains challenging, and winter is approaching fast.There is no time to lose in tackling widespread hunger and disease. The scale of physical and psychological trauma is immense, and expectations about access to healthcare and education are growing. The next weeks and months will determine whether this watershed moment will lead to a new dawn or be a prelude to greater despair.Philippe Lazzarini is commissioner-general of the ...

Events

3 w. ago Where is the Gaza ‘peace process’ really going? | Ahmad Ibsais

Israel turns the violence up and down at will, maintaining full dominion over Gaza and the West Bank, then calls each pause a generous ‘ceasefire’If you started attending one funeral a day beginning 1 January 2025, you would finish in the year 3887. That is how long it would take to mourn every life lost in Gaza. By then, your grandchildren’s great10 grandchildren would be dust, and still you would be burying Palestinian bodies from a “war” Israel insists was about self-defense. Even then, this number does not tell you about the thousands of ways these bodies were burned, torn, crushed and made anything but whole.And yet here we are, watching world leaders gather in Egypt for a “peace summit” last month where the only people absent were Palestinians. The banner read “Peace 2025”, while Palestine’s representatives were barred from the room.Ahmad Ibsais is a first generation Palestinian American, law student and poet who writes the newsletter State of Siege Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago As Trump’s Gaza plan unravels, what’s next for the Middle East? Join live Q&A with Bel Trew

With tensions rising once more and the US rushing to uphold its fragile deal, chief international correspondent Bel Trew will answer readers’ questions on what – if anything – is achievable for the Middle East under the current framework

Politics

4 w. ago Gaza sliding into deadly limbo of ‘no war, no peace’, top Qatari diplomat warns

Majed al-Ansari calls for international force to be urgently set up to pave way for Israeli withdrawalGaza is sliding towards a deadly limbo where a ceasefire is nominally in place but killing continues, a top Qatari diplomat has warned, calling for rapid progress in setting up the international security force and administration to pave the way for full Israeli withdrawal.“We don’t want to reach a situation of no war, no peace,” said Majed al-Ansari, adviser to Qatar’s prime minister and spokesperson for the foreign ministry. Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago Gaza risks sliding into deadly limbo of ‘no war, no peace’, top Qatari diplomat warns

Majed al-Ansari calls for international force to be set up urgently to pave way for Israeli withdrawalGaza risks sliding towards a deadly limbo where a ceasefire is nominally in place but killing continues, a top Qatari diplomat has warned, calling for rapid progress in setting up the international security force and administration to pave the way for full Israeli withdrawal.“We don’t want to reach a situation of no war, no peace,” said Majed al-Ansari, adviser to Qatar’s prime minister and spokesperson for the foreign ministry. Continue reading...

Events