Author: Disha Mishra
(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…
Iran never plotted to kill Republican U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an NBC News interview on Tuesday, denying past claims from Trump and the U.S. government. In November, the U.S. Justice Department charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged plot ordered by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps to assassinate the U.S. president-elect. Law enforcement thwarted the alleged plan before any attack was carried out. Trump also said last year during the U.S. election campaign that Iran may have been behind attempts to kill him. “None whatsoever,” Pezeshkian said on NBC News , opens…
Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested and questioned by authorities in relation to a criminal insurrection investigation on Wednesday, saying he was only cooperating with what he called an illegal probe to avoid violence. His arrest, the first ever for an incumbent South Korean president, is the latest head-spinning development for one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies even though the country has a history of prosecuting and imprisoning former leaders. Since lawmakers voted to stand him down after his short-lived declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, Yoon has been holed up at his hillside residence, guarded…
WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, came under fire during his confirmation hearing on Tuesday as Democrats railed against him and voiced deep concern about his inexperience, alleged drunkenness and past opposition to women in combat. Hegseth, a former Fox News host, is one of the most controversial figures ever nominated to be Secretary of Defense. The 44-year-old slammed diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the military, and, in his latest book, questioned whether the top U.S. general has the job because he’s Black. Prior to his nomination, Hegseth strongly opposed…