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Stock markets mostly rose Monday as traders geared up for an expected interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve this week.Sentiment was also boosted by news that the United States and China have reached a framework deal over their TikTok dispute, which the US side said will be finalized by President Donald Trump and …

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Arab and Muslim leaders called for a review of ties with Israel after emergency talks in Doha on Monday following last week’s deadly strike on Hamas members in the Qatari capital.The Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation joint session, which brought together nearly 60 countries, sought to take firm action after Israel’s attack on Qatar-hosted Hamas officials as they discussed a Gaza ceasefire proposal.A joint statement from the summit urged “all States to take all possible legal and effective measures to prevent Israel from continuing its actions against the Palestinian people”, including “reviewing diplomatic and economic relations with it, and initiating legal proceedings against it”.Qatar’s fellow Gulf nations the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, along with Egypt, Jordan and Morocco, were among those present that recognise Israel.The leaders of the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, which signed the Abraham Accords recognising Israel five years ago to the day, did not attend Monday’s talks, sending senior representatives instead.The statement also urged member states to “coordinate efforts aimed at suspending Israel’s membership in the United Nations”.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will arrive in Qatar on Tuesday, after pledging “unwavering support” for Israel’s goal of eradicating Hamas during a visit to the country.The attack strained ties between Washington and key allies in the Gulf, raising concerns over US security guarantees in a region housing major US assets including a major military base in Qatar.The State Department said Rubio would “reaffirm America’s full support for Qatar’s security and sovereignty” after last week’s strike.- Mounting pressure over Gaza -Qatar had called for a coordinated regional response after the Israeli attack, which stunned the usually peaceful, wealthy peninsula.The summit aimed to pile pressure on Israel, which is facing mounting calls to end the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.The host country’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, accused Israel of trying to scupper ceasefire talks by firing on Hamas negotiators in Qatar, a key mediator.Hamas says top officials survived last week’s air strike in Doha, which killed six people and triggered a wave of criticism.”Whoever works diligently and systematically to assassinate the party with whom he is negotiating, intends to thwart the negotiations,” the emir told the summit.Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, was among those present on Monday, as were Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.”Tomorrow, it could be the turn of any Arab or Islamic capital,” said Pezeshkian, whose country fought a 12-day war with Israel in June, at one point attacking a US base in Qatar in retaliation for strikes on its nuclear facilities.”The choice is clear. We must unite.” President Abdelfattah al-Sisi of Egypt, the first Arab country to recognise Israel, warned its attack in Qatar “places obstacles in the way of any opportunities for new peace agreements and even aborts the existing peace agreements with countries in the region”.Israel and its main backer Washington have been trying to expand the Abraham Accords, signed during US President Donald Trump’s first term, notably courting Saudi Arabia.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of adopting a “terrorist mentality”, as countries took turns slamming it over Gaza.The rich Gulf countries also met on the sidelines of the summit, urging the US to use its “leverage and influence” to rein in Israel, Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Al-Budaiwi told a press conference.

The United States and China announced a “framework” deal on Monday to resolve their dispute over TikTok that calls for the Chinese-owned app to pass to US-controlled ownership.In a social media post, US President Donald Trump said — without directly naming the social media giant — that a deal was reached with a “certain company …

US, China reach ‘framework’ deal on TikTok ownership Read More »

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called Monday for Israel to be barred from international sport over the Gaza war, as it emerged his government had also cancelled an $825 million military contract with the country.Sanchez expressed “deep admiration” for thousands of protesters who forced the halt of the final stage of the Vuelta a Espana, one of the world’s biggest cycling races, in Spain on Sunday.He said Israel should be penalised just as Russia was over its invasion of Ukraine — angering Israel, which had a team in the race, as well as Spanish conservatives.”Our position is clear and categorical: as long as the barbarity continues, neither Russia nor Israel should participate in any international competition,” said Sanchez.The Spanish leader has become one of Europe’s fiercest critics of Israel’s actions in Gaza, where the UN says Palestinians face starvation.”Sports organizations should ask themselves whether it’s ethical for Israel to continue competing internationally,” said Sanchez.”Why was Russia expelled after invading Ukraine, yet Israel faces no expulsion after invading Gaza?”An official document seen Monday by AFP meanwhile showed the Spanish government had cancelled a contract worth nearly 700 million euros ($825 million) for Israeli-designed rocket launchers.Last week Sanchez’s government announced measures aimed at stopping what it called “the genocide in Gaza”.- ‘Shame for Spain’ -Around 100,000 protestors gathered for Sunday’s final stage of the Vuelta which was cut short around 60 kilometres (40 miles) from the finish in central Madrid. There were some clashes with police.Protesters denounced the participation of the Israel-Premier Tech team, privately owned by Israeli-Canadian property developer Sylvan Adams.On Sunday protesters pushed over barriers and stood in the road where cyclists were due to pass. Police initially intervened at one point on the route, but ultimately allowed protesters to occupy the road peacefully.Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Sunday accused Sanchez of “encouraging protesters to take to the streets”, calling his government a “shame for Spain”.His comments mirrored criticism from Spain’s conservative opposition Popular Party (PP).”The government has allowed and induced the non-completion of the Vuelta and, in this way, an international embarrassment televised worldwide,” PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo wrote on X.Spain’s Federation of Jewish Communities (FCJE) condemned what it called the justification of violence in the protests and the spreading of hostility toward the country’s roughly 45,000 Jews.- Tour de France doubts -Javier Guillen, director of the Vuelta race, told a news conference on Monday the disruptions were “absolutely unacceptable. I regret the image it gave (to the world) and it should not be repeated.”Cycling’s global governing body (UCI) on Monday said it “regretted” the Spanish government’s support for the demonstrations, which “could call into question Spain’s ability to host major international sporting events”.The disruptions raised questions about possible changes to the 2026 Tour de France, scheduled to start in Barcelona.”It’s obvious that since this Vuelta, international organisations will have to take decisions,” Guillen said.”I hope it’s all sorted (by the Tour de France) and the conflict in Gaza has finished, not just for sport but for humanitarian reasons.”- Arms contract cancelled -The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed at least 64,905 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.The Spanish measures announced last week over Gaza included a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel.The cancelled arms contract revealed Monday was awarded to a consortium of Spanish companies and involved the purchase of 12 SILAM rocket launcher systems derived from the PULS platform made by Israeli firm Elbit Systems, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance.Spanish Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun said Monday that Spain should boycott next year’s Eurovision Song Contest if Israel takes part, joining other European nations threatening to pull out.

Qatar’s emir accused Israel of trying to derail Gaza ceasefire efforts with its attack on Hamas in Doha, as Arab and Muslim leaders held emergency talks on Monday to discuss a unified response.The joint Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit was called by Qatar to pile pressure on Israel, which has been facing mounting calls to end the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.Hamas says top officials survived last week’s air strike in Doha, which killed six people and triggered a wave of criticism, including a rebuke from US President Donald Trump.Qatar has been a key mediator in talks to end the war in Gaza — alongside Egypt and the United States — and the Israeli strike came as Hamas officials were discussing a new US proposal.”Whoever works diligently and systematically to assassinate the party with whom he is negotiating, intends to thwart the negotiations,” Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said in his opening remarks.”Negotiations, for them, are merely part of the war.”The emir also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “dreams of turning the Arab region into an Israeli sphere of influence, and this is a dangerous illusion”.A draft final statement from the summit seen by AFP warned that Israel’s “brutal” aggression “threatens all that has been achieved on the path toward establishing normal relations with Israel, including existing and future agreements”.Israel and its main backer the United States have been trying to expand the Abraham Accords, which established ties with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco in 2020.- ‘Actions, not just rhetoric’ -As the meeting opened in Doha, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was visiting Israel in a demonstration of Washington’s steadfast support.Rubio will head to Qatar, also a staunch Washington ally, on Tuesday, a US official said.On Sunday, Qatari premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told a preparatory meeting that “the time has come for the international community to stop using double standards and to punish Israel for all the crimes it has committed”.According to the draft statement, the nearly 60-country grouping in Doha will also emphasise “the concept of collective security… as well as the necessity of aligning together to face common challenges and threats”.Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, was among those present, as were Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also attended.Separately, the United Nations Human Rights Council said it would host an urgent debate on Tuesday on Israel’s air strike in Qatar.And an extraordinary meeting of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council would also be held in Doha on Monday, according to Saudi state media.Aziz Algashian, a Saudi-based researcher of international relations in the Middle East, said “many people are looking at actions, not just rhetoric” from the Arab-Islamic meeting in Doha.”We’ve exhausted all forms of rhetoric. Now it’s just going to have to be actions — and we’ll see what those actions will be,” he said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that Washington was steadfast in its support for its ally Israel’s pursuit of the Gaza war and called for the eradication of Hamas.”The people of Gaza deserve a better future, but that better future cannot begin until Hamas is eliminated,” Rubio told reporters at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.”You can count on our unwavering support,” he said.Netanyahu said Rubio’s visit was a “clear message” the United States stood with Israel and praised President Donald Trump for his backing, calling him the “greatest friend that Israel has ever had”.Rubio criticised plans by Western nations to recognise a Palestinian state, saying they “emboldened” Hamas. “They’re largely symbolic… the only impact they actually have is it makes Hamas feel more emboldened,” he said.Rubio had said he would discuss with Netanyahu Israeli plans to seize Gaza City, the territory’s largest urban centre, as well as the government’s talk of annexing parts of the occupied West Bank in hopes of precluding a Palestinian state.He had also said Trump wanted the Gaza war to be “finished with” — which would mean the release of hostages and ensuring Hamas is “no longer a threat”.But talks were made more difficult last week when the Trump administration was caught off guard by an Israeli attack in Qatar against Hamas leaders.”We sent a message to terrorists: you can run but you cannot hide,” Netanyahu said.The “raid didn’t fail.”Rubio said Washington would continue to tell Qatar to continue its “constructive role” as an intermediary in the Gaza war.A US official later said Rubio will travel on Tuesday to Qatar, where Arab and Muslim leaders gathered Monday to pile pressure on Israel after the attack.Qatar’s emir said at the summit that Israel had sought to derail truce talks, which Doha along with Egypt and the United States have sought to broker between Israel and Hamas.”Whoever works diligently and systematically to assassinate the party with whom he is negotiating, intends to thwart the negotiations… Negotiations, for them, are merely part of the war,” Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said.- ‘Eternal capital’ -In Gaza, Israeli strikes killed another 25 people Monday, all but one in Gaza City, Gaza civil defence agency reported.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the Israelis were pushing more people into the already overcrowded Al-Mawasi, which lacks basics such as food and water and where disease is spreading.The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed at least 64,905 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.Qatar has assiduously courted Trump, including by gifting him a luxury jet.”Qatar has been a very great ally. Israel and everyone else, we have to be careful,” Trump said on Sunday. “When we attack people we have to be careful.”But the United States has not joined European powers in pressing Israel to end the offensive in Gaza, who fear it will aggravate the already severe humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory for its more than two million people.Rubio opened the visit on Sunday with a highly symbolic show of support as he joined Netanyahu at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews are allowed to pray.- Controversial tunnel -Rubio, a devout Catholic, later posted that his visit showed his belief that Jerusalem is the “eternal capital” of Israel.Until Trump’s first term, US leaders had shied away from such overt statements backing Israeli sovereignty over contested Jerusalem, which is also holy to Muslims and Christians.Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, in a sharp break with most of the world.Rubio is expected Monday to attend the inauguration of a tunnel for religious tourists that goes underneath the Palestinian neighourhood of Silwan to the holy sites.Fakhri Abu Diab, 63, a community spokesman in Silwan, said Rubio should instead come to see homes, such as his own, that have been demolished by Israel in what Palestinians charge is a targeted campaign to erase them.”Instead of siding with international law, the United States is going the way of extremists and the far right and ignoring our history,” he said.Rubio played down the political implications, calling it “one of the most important archaeological sites in the world”.

A flotilla bound for Gaza carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists set sail Monday from Tunisia after repeated delays, aiming to break Israel’s blockade and deliver aid to the Palestinian territory.”The fleet that departed Barcelona is already at sea, and the Tunisian boats are now setting sail in stages,” the Global Sumud Flotilla said in a statement.”They will converge on the water and continue together to meet the Italian and Greek ships,” it added.At least 18 boats set sail Saturday from Catania in southern Italy, accompanied by a support vessel from the Italian NGO Emergency, according to organisers and Italian media. Another two boats departed Greece on Sunday to join them.”We are trying to send a message to the people of Gaza that the world has not forgotten about you,” Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg said before boarding in Tunisia’s northern port of Bizerte.”When our governments are failing to step up then we have no choice but to take matters into our own hands,” she told AFP.Around 20 boats that had sailed from Barcelona converged in Bizerte, with the last vessels leaving at dawn, an AFP journalist reported.Yasemin Acar, who helps coordinate the flotilla from the Maghreb, posted images on Instagram of Tunisian boats departing other ports near Tunis in the early hours.”The blockade of Gaza must end” and “We are leaving for solidarity, dignity and justice”, the caption said.The vessels, which were welcomed by support rallies in Tunisia, had transferred to Bizerte after a turbulent stay in Sidi Bou Said near Tunis.- ‘Premeditated aggression’ -The Global Sumud Flotilla said two of its boats were targeted by drone attacks on consecutive nights last week.After the second incident, Tunisian authorities denounced what they called a “premeditated aggression” and announced an investigation.European Parliament member Rima Hassan, who like Thunberg was detained aboard the Madleen sailboat during an attempt to reach Gaza in June, said she feared further attacks.”We are preparing for different scenarios,” she said, noting the most prominent figures had been split between the two largest coordinating boats “to balance things out and avoid concentrating all the visible personalities on a single vessel”.Israel blocked two earlier attempts by activists to reach Gaza by sea in June and July.The departure towards famine-hit Gaza had been repeatedly postponed due to security concerns, delays in preparing some of the boats and weather conditions.Another group of boats left the French island of Corsica on Friday, hoping to participate in another fleet, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which is expected to set sail from Italy by the end of the month.On Monday, a group of activists in Egypt, which shares the only border with Gaza not controlled by Israel, also announced their support for the Sumud flotilla.They hope to participate with “one boat that can carry 34 people, donated by a fisherman,” coordinator Khaled Basiony told AFP.In June, Egyptian authorities blocked dozens of international activists intending to take part in the ‘Global March to Gaza’ to the Rafah border crossing. Many reported being beaten in Egypt, and over 200 activists were detained and deported.