Category: World

Blair and Rubio among names on Gaza 'Board of Peace'7 hours agoShareSaveMaia DaviesShareSaveGetty ImagesThe Trump administration has named US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former UK prime minister Sir Tony Blair as two of the founding members of its “Board of Peace” for Gaza.
Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner will also sit on the “founding executive board”, the White House said in a statement on Friday.
Trump will act as chairman of the board, which forms part of his 20-point plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas.
It is expected to temporarily oversee the running of Gaza and manage its reconstruction.
Also on the founding executive board are Marc Rowan, the head of a private equity firm, World Bank chief Ajay Banga and a US national security adviser, Robert Gabriel.
Each member would have a portfolio “critical to Gaza's stabilisation and long-term success”, the White House statement said.
Trump had ..

Exiled crown prince urges world to help protesters topple Iran's government11 hours agoShareSaveMallory MoenchShareSaveWatch: 'The Islamic Republic will fall', says exiled crown princeThe exiled son of the last Iranian shah (king) has called on the world to help protesters topple Iran's government, saying he is confident “the Islamic Republic will fall – not if, but when”.
Reza Pahlavi, a US-based opposition leader, asked the world to target Iran's Revolutionary Guard leadership, which he said would “facilitate our task and prevent more loss of life”.
More than 2,600 protesters have been killed, according to a human rights group, in demonstrations that started over the economy on 28 December and turned into calls for the end of the rule of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei.
The Iranian government has called the protests “riots” backed by Iran's enemies.
Pahlavi has emerged as a prominent figure in Iran's fragmented opposition and has pr..

Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize winner presents her medal to Trump5 hours agoShareSaveMax MatzaShareSaveWatch: Machado says she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to TrumpVenezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado says she has given her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Trump during a meeting at the White House, saying it was a recognition of his commitment to her country's freedom.
“I think today is a historic day for us Venezuelans,” she said after meeting Trump in person for the first time, weeks after US forces seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas and charged him in a drug-trafficking case.
Trump expressed his gratitude in a social media post, saying the move was “a wonderful gesture of mutual respect”.
However, the US president has declined to endorse Machado as Venezuela's new leader, despite her movement claiming victory in 2024's widely contested elections.
Trump has instead been dealing with the acting head of state in Venezuela, Delc..

Troops and vessels from European Nato allies arrive in GreenlandBBC Europe editor Katya Adler is in Greenland where troops and ships from several European states are gathering.
The limited deployment involves Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and the UK.
US President Donald Trump says the US needs to “own” Greenland to prevent Russia and China from doing so.
Greenland's Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said this week that the territory was in the midst of a geopolitical crisis, and that if his people were asked to make a choice they would choose Denmark over the US.
More on this story.
9 hours agoEuropeGreenlandFranceGermanyDenmarkDonald TrumpShareSaveAbout 15,000 crabs recovered after lorry crashThe crustaceans, which were worth about €60,000 (£52,000) were bound for shops and restaurants in Portugal.
EuropeWatch: Moment skier and dog swept along by avalancheFootage recorded by Spanish skier Ares Masip shows the incident on Pic de l'Hortell, a m..

Trump says Iran has 'no plan' to execute protesters1 hour agoShareSaveTabby WilsonShareSaveWatch: Trump says the “killing has stopped” in IranPresident Donald Trump says Tehran has “no plan” to execute protesters, but still hasn't ruled out US military action against the country over its violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.
The US and UK are both reducing the number of personnel at the Al-Udeid air base in Qatar, while officials have told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that a partial American withdrawal is a “precautionary measure”.
Iran's airspace was closed to nearly all flights for five hours overnight, with several airlines announcing that they will reroute flights around Iran.
The Foreign Office has also temporarily closed the British embassy in Tehran, which will now operate remotely, a government spokesperson said.
Speaking from the White House on Wednesday, Trump said his administration had been told “on good authority” that “the killing in I..

'I carried my wife's body for an hour and a half' – BBC hears stories of protesters killed in Iran9 hours agoShareSaveSarah Namjoo and Roja AssadiBBC PersianShareSaveUser generated contentProtesters march through Kashani, Tehran, on 8 JanuaryWarning: This article contains graphic descriptions of death and injury
Heading home after joining a protest in Tehran on 8 January, Reza put his arms around his wife Maryam to protect her. “Suddenly, I felt my arm go light – there was only her jacket in my hands,” he told a family member, who later spoke to BBC Persian. Maryam had been fatally shot – and they had no idea where the bullet had come from.
Reza carried Maryam's body for an hour and a half. Exhausted, he sat down in an alley. After a short time, the door of a nearby house opened. The people who lived there took them into their garage, brought a white sheet and wrapped Maryam's body in it.
Days before Maryam headed out to the protests, she had told her children ..