Author: Disha Mishra
The threat of powerful wind gusts, combined with bone-dry humidity, in Los Angeles on Wednesday could test firefighters who have been battling to keep monstrous fires in Los Angeles in check since last week. Some 6.5 million people in the Los Angeles area were under a critical fire threat as winds were forecast to be 20 to 40 miles (32-64 km) an hour with gusts up to 70 mph and humidity dropping into the single digits, the National Weather Service said. The death toll from the fires rose by one on Tuesday to 25, according to the Los Angeles medical…
Negotiators in Qatar appeared on Wednesday to be close to sealing a deal on a ceasefire in the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas after 15 months of death and destruction. An Israeli official said Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire and hostage return proposal shared by Qatari negotiators. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said shortly afterward that Hamas had not yet given a response. A Hamas official who declined to be named also said that the group had not yet given a written response to the proposal. Officials from mediators Qatar, Egypt…
The Palestinian Authority must be the sole governing power in Gaza after the war, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said on Wednesday, as expectations grew that a deal to halt fighting and start returning Israeli hostages was near. Who will run Gaza after the war remains one of the great unanswered questions in the negotiations, which have focused on an immediate ceasefire and exchanging hostages still held in the enclave for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Speaking at a conference in Norway, Mustafa said pressure must continue to agree the ceasefire in Gaza and allow in more humanitarian aid for…
(Forelines) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office denied on Wednesday that Hamas had agreed to the Gaza ceasefire proposal from Qatari mediators, following an Israeli official stated the Palestinian militant group had given its approval. After the green light from Hamas, the deal would be officially announced on Thursday and would come into effect on Sunday with the release of the first of the hostages, according to Reuters cited Israeli media channels report. However the prime minister’s office stated that the Hamas had not returned its response to the deal. “Contrary to reports, the Hamas terror organisation has not…
Advisers to President-elect Donald Trump now concede that the Ukraine war will take months or even longer to resolve, a sharp reality check on his biggest foreign policy promise – to strike a peace deal on his first day in the White House. Two Trump associates, who have discussed the war in Ukraine with the president-elect, told Reuters they were looking at a timeline of months to resolve the conflict, describing the Day One promises as a combination of campaign bluster and a lack of appreciation of the intractability of the conflict and the time it takes to staff up…
The Senate intelligence committee holds a confirmation hearing on Wednesday for President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be CIA director, John Ratcliffe, a former Republican lawmaker who was accused of using intelligence for political ends as the nation’s top spy during the incoming U.S. leader’s first term. Ratcliffe is all but certain to win the Republican-run Senate’s approval to lead the premier U.S. intelligence agency as the United States grapples with China, Russia’s war in Ukraine and growing ties between the two nuclear powers, Iran and North Korea. But the hearing also will replay allegations that Ratcliffe allowed politics to interfere…
Firefighters on Tuesday held the line against two massive wildfires that have ravaged parts of Los Angeles for the past week, even as desert winds and a parched landscape presented extremely hazardous conditions. Some 8,500 firefighters from at least seven states and two foreign countries prevented the blazes from growing for the second day running. Still, the fires have consumed an area the size of Washington, D.C. A fleet of aircraft dropped water and retardant into the rugged hills while ground crews with hand tools and hoses have worked around the clock since the fires broke out on Jan. 7,…
President Joe Biden will cap his half-century political career on Wednesday with a final Oval Office speech, hoping to cement a legacy that has been overshadowed by Democrats’ failure to stop Donald Trump from returning to the White House. Biden ran for president in 2020 as a transition figure, but opted at the unprecedented age of 80 to run for reelection, convinced he was the only Democrat who could beat Trump. Forced out of the race in July after a disastrous debate against Trump, Biden has been blamed by some Democrats for their November wipeout, after Vice President Kamala Harris…
The ceasefire deal that is close to being agreed in Gaza has left families of the 98 hostages still held in the enclave facing a mix of hope, apprehension, and, in some cases, anger as negotiators make a final push to seal an agreement. The draft proposal shared with Israel and Hamas by Qatari mediators would see 33 children, women and older men, as well as sick and wounded hostages released during the first phase of an extended ceasefire. Israel believes most of these hostages on the list are alive but has not had confirmation from Hamas. In exchange, hundreds…
International power rivalry is playing out in the Indian Ocean region, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday, adding that a strong naval presence in the key trade route was his country’s biggest priority. While Singh did not name any country, analysts say that China, which commands the world’s largest naval force with more than 370 ships, has been a security concern for India since ties nosedived in 2020 after 24 troops died in clashes along their Himalayan frontier. The UK and the U.S. also have a joint military base in the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. Chinese…