POLITICS & POLICY

US envoy Steve Witkoff arrives to meet families of Israelis held hostage by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip

US Envoy Meets Israeli Hostage Families In Tel Aviv

US envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday met the anguished families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, as fears for the captives' survival mounted almost 22 months into the war sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack.

Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's Unapologetic 'Dictator'

Bukele made El Salvador the first country to accept bitcoin as legal tender
El Salvador's gang-busting President Nayib Bukele, who can now seek unlimited reelection following a constitutional change, embraces the moniker of "dictator" and breezily shrugs off concerns about human rights transgressions.

Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines In Row With Russia

Zelensky has been appealing to allies for more air defence systems
US President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines Friday in an extraordinary escalation of what had been an online war of words with a Russian official over Ukraine and tariffs.
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US president Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East is due to meet Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the next steps after indirect talks with Hamas broke down

Trump's Envoy Arrives In Israel As Gaza Criticism Mounts

US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Israel on Thursday to discuss ways to end the crisis in Gaza, where nearly 22 months of grinding war and dire shortages of food have drawn mounting international criticism.
Trump said it would be hard to make a trade deal with Canada after Prime Minister Mark Carney said Ottawa intends to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September

Trump Announces New Tariffs As Deadline Nears

US President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs to punish or favor major trading partners Wednesday, as governments raced to strike deals with Washington less than 24 hours before an August 1 deadline.
Beachgoers cross the street in Oahu, Hawaii after being told to evacuate following the tsunami warning

Huge Quake Off Russia Sparks Pacific Tsunami Warnings

One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia's sparsely populated Far East early Wednesday, causing tsunamis of up to four metres (12 feet) across the Pacific and sparking evacuations from Hawaii to Japan.
Wildfires across Turkey over the past week have led to at least 14 deaths

Turkey Battles Wildfires As Heatwave Grips Med

Firefighters battled blazes across Turkey on Monday as the country sweltered in a summer heatwave across much of the Mediterranean, with wildfires leading to at least 14 deaths in the country in the past week.
Donald Trump's core MAGA base is clamoring for the release of the so-called "Epstein files."

Balancing Act For Pro-Trump Influencers As Epstein Furor Spirals

Far-right MAGA influencers are treading a tightrope as outrage escalates over the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein: they are caught between a fired-up base demanding more information and President Donald Trump, who is eager to turn the page.
More than 100 aid and rights groups have warned that 'mass starvation' is spreading across the population of more than two million

Hamas Says Responded To Latest Gaza Ceasefire Proposal

Hamas said on Thursday that it had responded to an Israeli proposal for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, as pressure mounted for a breakthrough to end almost two years of devastating conflict that has triggered a humanitarian crisis.

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