US advisor on India accused of taking documents, meeting Chinese

A well-known US scholar on India who advised the US government was charged with retaining classified information and allegedly met Chinese officials, prosecutors said Tuesday.Ashley Tellis, 64, who has worked in or advised the US government for more than two decades, was found to have kept more than 1,000 pages of top-secret or secret documents in his home, a criminal affidavit said.Late in the evening of September 25, Tellis entered the State Department, where he served as an unpaid advisor, and appeared to print from a secret document on US Air Force techniques, the affidavit said.It said Tellis met multiple times with Chinese government officials at a restaurant in the Washington suburb of Fairfax, Virginia. At one dinner, Tellis entered with a manila envelope but did not appear to leave with it, and on two occasions the Chinese officials presented him a gift bag, the affidavit said.Tellis faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted on the charges of unlawfully holding documents, the Justice Department said. “The charges as alleged in this case represent a grave risk to the safety and security of our citizens,” said Lindsey Halligan, the US attorney for Virginia’s eastern district who has become known for pursuing charges against critics of President Donald Trump.The State Department confirmed that Tellis was arrested Saturday — the same day the affidavit said he was due to fly to Rome — but declined further comment due to the ongoing investigation.Tellis, a naturalized US citizen originally from India, is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and served in senior positions under former president George W. Bush. He helped negotiate the Bush administration’s civil nuclear deal with India that was seen as a landmark in building ties between the world’s two largest democracies.But in recent years, Tellis has become known as one of the most outspoken contrarians in Washington on the US courtship of India.In a recent essay in Foreign Affairs, Tellis said India was often pursuing policies at odds with the United States, pointing to its relations with Russia and Iran, and doubted that India would match China’s strength anytime soon.Trump in August slapped major tariffs on India over its purchases of oil from Russia.Lawyers for Tellis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Brash Trump approach brings Gaza deal but broader peace in question

A new US president, focused on domestic priorities, criticizes his predecessor as too hard on Israel but soon takes on the mantle of peace and reaches a deal heralded around the world.In September 1993, it was Bill Clinton, who brought Israeli and Palestinian leaders together at the White House for the landmark first Oslo accord which marked the beginnings of Palestinian self-governance.This weekend it was Donald Trump who sealed an agreement to end two years of devastating war in Gaza and hailed a “historic dawn of a new Middle East.” But despite his typically immodest language, Trump has quickly drawn questions about whether he is ambitious and committed enough for a broader agreement to solve one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.On his way back from a lightning trip to Israel and Egypt, Trump said vaguely that he will “decide what I think is right” on the Palestinians’ future “in coordination with other states.””A lot of people like the one-state solution, some people like the two-state solution. We’ll have to see,” Trump told reporters.Trump’s brash approach marks a sharp change from the Oslo process, in which Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met quietly with help from Norway and set up a roadmap that was eventually supposed to settle heated disputes such as permanent borders and the status of Jerusalem.Trump had firmly backed Israel despite growing international outrage over its Gaza offensive launched in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.But Trump then forcefully pushed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Israel attacked Hamas leaders meeting in Qatar, a key US partner.”In a lot of ways, the easy part is what was just accomplished, but what would be necessary to move this conflict toward resolution is going to take so much more than the very vague details that are presented in the plan,” said Mona Yacoubian, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.This 20-point plan released by the White House speaks only of an eventual “credible pathway” to Palestinian statehood.It also has little on the West Bank, where Israel has ramped up construction and extremist settlers have attacked Palestinians in the wake of the attack from Gaza-based Hamas.”Maybe it’s the failure of Oslo that gave rise to the rather unconventional approach that Trump has taken, where he has short-circuited any sort of process and simply pressured and cajoled,” Yacoubian said.”The problem, of course, is in the implementation. And that was the problem with Oslo,” she said.If there is no “sustained commitment to seeing through an actual solution to the conflict, rather than kicking the can down the road, then we see how those these processes fall apart.”Other Western powers including France and Britain in their own way also broke with Oslo’s model of painstaking diplomacy and last month recognized a Palestinian state.- Netanyahu long resistant on state -Clinton, who negotiated in meticulous detail, had sparred with Netanyahu, Israel’s long-serving prime minister who has adamantly opposed the prospect of a Palestinian state and the Oslo process.After Netanyahu lost power, Clinton at the end of his term sought to end the conflict with his Camp David summit, which failed.Ghaith al-Omari, who was an advisor to Palestinian negotiators at the time of Clinton’s Camp David summit, said he did not believe any of the current leaders were capable of reaching a lasting peace deal.Netanyahu, he said, is widely mistrusted, even among Arab leaders who want better relations with Israel.Powers from the Arab and Islamic worlds have considered sending troops to stabilize Gaza, but it remains uncertain if they would do so without stability, and Netanyahu has opposed a role for the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank-based rival of Hamas.Mahmud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, turns 90 next month and, beyond his age, is “just too discredited” after his “last 30 years has been associated with failure,” said al-Omari, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.Al-Omari said Lebanon could show the future ahead, with Israel repeatedly carrying out strikes against Hezbollah since a ceasefire took hold nearly a year ago but without full-scale war.As for Trump, he has shown skill in seizing the moment but has not put in place staff that would indicate sustained diplomacy, he said.”I would be very skeptical if we see the level of engagement we have seen over the last few weeks,” al-Omari said.”We’re nowhere near the kind of kumbaya moment that was projected.”

Brash Trump approach brings Gaza deal but broader peace in question

A new US president, focused on domestic priorities, criticizes his predecessor as too hard on Israel but soon takes on the mantle of peace and reaches a deal heralded around the world.In September 1993, it was Bill Clinton, who brought Israeli and Palestinian leaders together at the White House for the landmark first Oslo accord which marked the beginnings of Palestinian self-governance.This weekend it was Donald Trump who sealed an agreement to end two years of devastating war in Gaza and hailed a “historic dawn of a new Middle East.” But despite his typically immodest language, Trump has quickly drawn questions about whether he is ambitious and committed enough for a broader agreement to solve one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.On his way back from a lightning trip to Israel and Egypt, Trump said vaguely that he will “decide what I think is right” on the Palestinians’ future “in coordination with other states.””A lot of people like the one-state solution, some people like the two-state solution. We’ll have to see,” Trump told reporters.Trump’s brash approach marks a sharp change from the Oslo process, in which Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met quietly with help from Norway and set up a roadmap that was eventually supposed to settle heated disputes such as permanent borders and the status of Jerusalem.Trump had firmly backed Israel despite growing international outrage over its Gaza offensive launched in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.But Trump then forcefully pushed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Israel attacked Hamas leaders meeting in Qatar, a key US partner.”In a lot of ways, the easy part is what was just accomplished, but what would be necessary to move this conflict toward resolution is going to take so much more than the very vague details that are presented in the plan,” said Mona Yacoubian, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.This 20-point plan released by the White House speaks only of an eventual “credible pathway” to Palestinian statehood.It also has little on the West Bank, where Israel has ramped up construction and extremist settlers have attacked Palestinians in the wake of the attack from Gaza-based Hamas.”Maybe it’s the failure of Oslo that gave rise to the rather unconventional approach that Trump has taken, where he has short-circuited any sort of process and simply pressured and cajoled,” Yacoubian said.”The problem, of course, is in the implementation. And that was the problem with Oslo,” she said.If there is no “sustained commitment to seeing through an actual solution to the conflict, rather than kicking the can down the road, then we see how those these processes fall apart.”Other Western powers including France and Britain in their own way also broke with Oslo’s model of painstaking diplomacy and last month recognized a Palestinian state.- Netanyahu long resistant on state -Clinton, who negotiated in meticulous detail, had sparred with Netanyahu, Israel’s long-serving prime minister who has adamantly opposed the prospect of a Palestinian state and the Oslo process.After Netanyahu lost power, Clinton at the end of his term sought to end the conflict with his Camp David summit, which failed.Ghaith al-Omari, who was an advisor to Palestinian negotiators at the time of Clinton’s Camp David summit, said he did not believe any of the current leaders were capable of reaching a lasting peace deal.Netanyahu, he said, is widely mistrusted, even among Arab leaders who want better relations with Israel.Powers from the Arab and Islamic worlds have considered sending troops to stabilize Gaza, but it remains uncertain if they would do so without stability, and Netanyahu has opposed a role for the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank-based rival of Hamas.Mahmud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, turns 90 next month and, beyond his age, is “just too discredited” after his “last 30 years has been associated with failure,” said al-Omari, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.Al-Omari said Lebanon could show the future ahead, with Israel repeatedly carrying out strikes against Hezbollah since a ceasefire took hold nearly a year ago but without full-scale war.As for Trump, he has shown skill in seizing the moment but has not put in place staff that would indicate sustained diplomacy, he said.”I would be very skeptical if we see the level of engagement we have seen over the last few weeks,” al-Omari said.”We’re nowhere near the kind of kumbaya moment that was projected.”

Foot: l’Arabie saoudite accrochée par l’Irak mais qualifiée pour sa 7e Coupe du monde

L’Arabie saoudite s’est qualifiée pour la Coupe du monde 2026 à l’issue d’un résultat nul face à l’Irak (0-0), mardi soir à Jeddah, dans le Groupe B des éliminatoires de la zone asiatique.L’équipe entraînée par le Français Hervé Renard n’avait besoin que d’un point alors que son adversaire devait impérativement s’imposer pour obtenir le précieux sésame. Aux Etats-Unis, Canada et Mexique, les Faucons verts disputeront leur septième Coupe du monde après celles de 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018 et 2022.En dépit d’une nette domination, l’équipe saoudienne n’est pas parvenue à trouver la faille dans le bloc compact des Lions de la Mésopotamie, arrivés dans la capitale économique du royaume avec des intentions minimalistes. Les deux équipes terminent avec quatre points chacune et la même différence de buts (+1), mais les Saoudiens décrochent leur qualification au bénéfice de la meilleure attaque (3 buts contre 1).Ils rejoignent le Qatar, qualifié un peu plus tôt après sa victoire 2-1 sur les Emirats arabes unis, ainsi que l’Australie, la Corée du Sud, l’Iran, le Japon, la Jordanie et l’Ouzbékistan, déjà qualifiés dans la zone Asie.Il s’agit de la troisième participation d’affilée au Mondial pour les Faucons verts qui sont également assurés de disputer celui organisé à domicile en 2034.Lors de la dernière édition au Qatar ils avaient remporté une victoire retentissante, déjà sous la houlette d’Hervé Renard, contre l’Argentine, future championne du monde (2-1).L’équipe saoudienne aurait pu prendre l’avantage deux minutes après le début de la seconde période, mais le défenseur latéral de Lens, Saud Abdulhamid, a vu sa frappe frôler la barre transversale irakienne alors qu’il avait le but à sa merci. Quelques instants plus tard, le milieu de terrain d’A-Ahli Saleh Saleh Aboulshamat a contraint le gardien irakien Jalal Hassan à effectuer un bel arrêt, avant de contrer dans la foulée la tentative du capitaine saoudien Salem Al Dawsari. L’Irak, dont la dernière participation remonte à 1986 au Mexique, disputera le mois prochain un match aller-retour contre les Émirats arabes unis, dont le vainqueur se qualifiera pour un barrage intercontinental.

Foot: le Qatar qualifié pour le Mondial-2026

Le Qatar a décroché mardi sa qualification pour le Mondial-2026 grâce à son succès 2-1 à domicile face aux Emirats arabes unis dans le groupe A des éliminatoires asiatiques.Le pays du Golfe participera l’été prochain, aux États-Unis, au Mexique et au Canada, à sa deuxième Coupe du monde, après celle de 2022 dont il était le pays hôte.Le Qatar termine premier du Groupe A et rejoint l’Arabie saoudite, aussi qualifiée mardi grâce à son match nul (0-0) contre l’Irak, ainsi que l’Australie, la Corée du Sud, l’Iran, le Japon, la Jordanie et l’Ouzbékistan, déjà qualifiés dans la zone Asie.Pour espérer aller au prochain Mondial, les Emirats arabes unis devront passer par un barrage aller-retour face à l’Irak, avant de disputer un barrage intercontinental.La sélection qatarie, qui avait impérativement besoin d’une victoire pour se qualifier, a trouvé la faille sur deux coups francs frappés par Akram Afif, le premier repris de la tête par Boualem Khoukhi (49e), le second de la tête également par Pedro Miguel (74e). Réduits à 10 en fin de match, les Qataris ont encaissé un but de Sultan Adil dans le temps additionnel (90+8).Double champion en titre de la Coupe d’Asie des nations (2019, 2023), le Qatar tentera de faire mieux l’an prochain que lors de la précédente édition de la Coupe du monde. Chez eux, les Qataris étaient devenus la pire équipe hôte de l’histoire de la compétition avec trois défaites en trois matches (7 buts encaissés pour un seul marqué).La sélection qatarie est dirigée par l’Espagnol Julen Lopetegui, nommé en mai après avoir été limogé par le club anglais de West Ham en janvier. Le technicien de 59 ans a également entraîné l’Espagne et le Real Madrid.

Mondial 2026: l’Espagne à un pas de l’Amérique après un nouveau carton contre la Bulgarie

L’Espagne, championne d’Europe en titre, a poursuivi sa route vers la Coupe du Monde 2026 mardi en signant une quatrième victoire en quatre journées de qualification face à la Bulgarie (4-0) à Valladolid, confortant sa première place du groupe E.12 points, 15 buts marqués et 0 encaissé: la Roja, même privée de la moitié de ses titulaires, blessés, a conservé un bilan parfait pour se rapprocher un peu plus de la qualification, pas encore mathématiquement assurée en raison du large succès (4-1) de la Turquie (2e, 9 points) contre la Géorgie (3e, 3 points).En l’absence de Rodri, Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, Dani Carvajal, Fabian Ruiz, Dani Olmo, Ferran Torres et du jeune Dean Huijsen, c’est à nouveau le milieu de terrain d’Arsenal Mikel Merino qui a fait parler son sens du but en signant ses cinquième et sixième réalisations en quatre rencontres de la tête (35e, 57e).Le défenseur bulgare Atanas Chernev a creusé l’écart en fin de match en détournant un centre d’Aleix Garcia dans ses propres filets (79e), et l’expérimenté Mikel Oyarzabal a transformé un pénalty obtenu par Merino, encore lui (90e+2).”Je suis dans une période où je trouve les espaces et les ballons me tombent dessus. Ce n’est pas seulement de la chance, bien sûr, mais il en faut un peu pour réaliser une telle série”, a expliqué l’ex-joueur de la Real Sociedad.”Tous les équipes sont bien rodées au niveau tactique. Nous avons vraiment du mérite, quand on voit la quantité d’occasions que l’équipe se créée… C’est le chemin à suivre. Le jour où nous serons plus efficaces, de nombreux buts tomberont. Sinon, nous aurons au moins le match sous contrôle”, a-t-il poursuivi à la télévision publique espagnole.Il faudrait désormais un véritable cataclysme lors des deux dernières journées, en novembre, pour que les Espagnols soient privés de la première place et doivent passer par les barrages.- Pedri ovationné -Même avec un onze largement remanié, les hommes de Luis de la Fuente ont une nouvelle fois étouffé leur adversaire avec plus de 80% de possession de balle, égalant la meilleure série de l’histoire de la Roja avec un 29e match consécutif sans défaite en compétition officielle.Sans le prodige barcelonais Lamine Yamal, c’est son coéquipier Pedri qui a livré un récital technique au milieu de terrain, distillant notamment le ballon du 1-0, remisé par le défenseur franco-espagnol Robin Le Normand pour Merino (35e), avant de quitter la pelouse à la 67e minute sous une superbe ovation du public.Le chef d’orchestre du Barça avait été le joueur le plus dangereux en début de partie, en servant le jeune buteur de Porto Samu Aghehowa, qui a buté sur le gardien bulgare Svetoslav Vutsov (18e), puis en trouvant la barre d’un subtil piqué dégagé ensuite sur sa ligne par un défenseur adverse (19e).Il avait également frôlé le poteau droit d’une volée un peu trop écrasée (30e).La Bulgarie, déjà battue (3-0) en septembre, n’est pas parvenue à cadrer le moindre tir et reste dernière du groupe E avec quatre revers et 0 point marqué.