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Donald Trump defended Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the murder of a journalist and hailed a $1 trillion investment pledge Tuesday as the US president laid on a lavish welcome at the White House.Trump moved to consolidate his growing bromance with the de facto Saudi leader, giving him a parade of soldiers on horseback and a military flypast featuring F-35 jets that he said Washington would soon sell to Riyadh.Opening their White House meeting with praise for the prince’s “incredible” human rights record, Trump dismissed the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, saying “things happened” and calling the dead journalist “extremely controversial.”Trump also raged at a reporter, accusing her of “embarrassing” Prince Mohammed with her questions over the murder — which US intelligence has suggested the prince approved — and saying the visiting royal knew “nothing about it.” The Saudi prince responded by saying the murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was a “huge mistake,” while insisting it had been fully investigated.The heir to the throne then delighted Trump by announcing that he was increasing the $600 billion Saudi investment he promised Trump when the US president visited the country in May.”We can announce that we are going to increase that $600 billion to almost $1 trillion for investment,” Prince Mohammed said in the Oval Office.A grinning Trump asked him to confirm the figure, to which the Saudi royal replied: “Definitely.”- Rose Garden tour -Trump pulled out all the stops for the Saudi prince, giving him treatment normally reserved for a state visit to the White House, despite the fact that he is not a head of state.He welcomed bin Salman — who is widely known as MBS — on the South Lawn of the White House as cannon fire boomed out, before they watched the noisy flypast by US military jets.The 79-year-old Republican then showed the prince a new gallery of presidential portraits by the Rose Garden — including one portraying his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden as an autopen.Trump has accused an ageing Biden of using the automated device to sign presidential pardons, and questioned their legality.Later in the day First Lady Melania Trump will hold a gala dinner.Portugal soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays in Saudi Arabia, will also be at the White House for the gala day of events, a White House official told AFP.The president has made a priority of boosting ties with the oil-rich Gulf kingdom, particularly as he seeks to turn the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza into a longer-lasting regional peace.Trump said he had pushed the prince to normalize relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords that he launched in his first term.Prince Mohammed said he was working to do so “as soon as possible” but insisted on securing a “clear path of two-state solution” for a Palestinian state first.- ‘Destroyed my life’ -Trump meanwhile reiterated his intention to sell Saudi Arabia coveted F-35 stealth fighters, despite concerns from Israel and warnings from US officials that China could steal technological knowledge about the jets. In another area of past contention, Trump will sign a deal on a framework for civilian nuclear cooperation, a US official and a source familiar with the negotiations said.The 40-year-old prince has fostered close ties with Trump and his family over the years, including through investment pledges to the property billionaire-turned-US president.But the shadow of Khashoggi’s murder during Trump’s first term, which sparked global outrage and chilled relations between Washington and Riyadh for years, hung over the meeting.Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, told CNN that her husband’s killing had “destroyed my life.””I hope they look at the American values of human rights and (democracy)” besides any deal and selling weapons, she said.

A car-ramming and stabbing attack left one person dead and three injured on Tuesday near Israeli settlements in the southern occupied West Bank, Israeli emergency services and the military said.Paramedics and an army medical force “established the death of a man aged 30 with a stab wound and referred three injured people” to two Jerusalem hospitals, Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s equivalent of the Red Cross, said in a statement.The three injured people are a woman in her 40s in a serious condition, a man in his 30s and a boy of about 15, both in moderate condition, MDA added.In a separate statement the army reported a “ramming and stabbing attack in the area of Gush Etzion Junction” in the southern West Bank, which has seen repeated attacks against Israelis in recent years.The army statement did not specify the number of casualties, but said that soldiers “eliminated two terrorists at the scene” and that “explosive materials were found in (their) vehicle”.It also said that “soldiers are conducting searches and roadblocks, and encircling the area”.The Israeli West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, near Hebron, said the victim was local resident Aharon Cohen. The Palestinian Civil Affairs Authority named the assailants as Imran al-Atrash and Walid Sabbarna, two 18-year-olds from the Hebron area, and said that Israeli forces were “holding their bodies”.The Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem said the woman who had been seriously injured suffered a gunshot wound to her lower body and was undergoing surgery.Israeli media reported that she was shot by accident by Israeli security forces.- ‘Pay a very high price’ -The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas hailed the attackers, saying in a statement: “The heroic car-ramming and stabbing attack that took place near the Gush Etzion settlement south of Bethlehem is a natural response to (Israel’s) attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause and the escalating aggression perpetrated by occupation soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group also praised the attackers.”These heroic operations come in response to the relentless crimes of the settler gangs and the occupation army against our people,” it said.Yaron Rosenthal, the head of the Gush Etzion regional council, vowed in a video statement from the scene of the attack that residents of the area “together with the army, will make the terrorists and all their community pay a very high price”.The Yesha Council, a body representing all Israeli settlements in the West Bank, blamed the assault on the Israeli government’s refusal to annex the Palestinian territory. “When the State of Israel silently allows a ‘pathway to a Palestinian state’, terrorism raises its head again,” the council said in a statement.Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023.At least 1,007 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the war started, according to the Palestinian health ministry.During the same period, 43 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the West Bank, according to official Israeli figures.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a red carpet welcome from President Donald Trump on Tuesday, on his first visit to the United States since the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.Trump laid on a noisy military flypast featuring F-35 stealth fighters that Washington will sell to Riyadh as the de facto Saudi ruler arrived at the White House.Cannon fire and a parade of horses also greeted the Saudi prince as Trump doubles down on Washington’s burgeoning alliance — and his own personal bond — with the key Middle Eastern ally.Portugal soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays in Saudi Arabia, will also be at the White House for the gala day of events, a White House official told AFP.Trump has made a priority of boosting ties with the oil-rich Gulf kingdom, and said on Monday he would sell coveted F-35 stealth fighters to Saudi Arabia, calling it a “great ally.”The move comes despite concerns from Israel and warnings from US officials that China could steal technological knowledge about the jets. In another area of past contention, Trump will sign a deal on a framework for civilian nuclear cooperation, a US official and a source familiar with the negotiations said.- ‘Honoring Saudi Arabia’ -The 40-year-old prince has fostered close ties with Trump and his family over the years — a relationship burnished by a lavish welcome and $600 billion in investment pledges when the president visited Saudi Arabia in May.Saudi Arabia is also expected to announce a “multi-billion dollar investment” in AI infrastructure in the United States on Tuesday, the US official added.Trump will meanwhile push Prince Mohammed to normalize relations with Israel as he seeks a wider Middle East peace deal after the war in Gaza.”We’re more than meeting,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday when asked about the visit. “We’re honoring Saudi Arabia, the Crown Prince.”Trump will host the prince in the Oval Office, while later in the day First Lady Melania will hold a gala dinner.The Saudi heir to the throne is looking forward to a fresh start on his first US trip since the murder and dismembering of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents sparked global outrage.The killing also chilled relations with Washington, as US intelligence suggested that Prince Mohammed approved the operation inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, an allegation which Saudi authorities deny.Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, told CNN that her husband’s killing had “destroyed my life” and she hoped Washington would remember that as it seeks ties with Riyadh.”I hope they look at the American values of human rights and (democracy)” besides any deal and selling weapons, she said.- Security guarantees -Prince Mohammed will have his own agenda, seeking firmer US security guarantees after Israeli strikes in September on Qatar, an iron-clad US ally, rattled the wealthy Gulf region.Along with the F-35 jets, Riyadh is seeking to buy advanced air and missile defense systems. It will also push hard for access to the high-tech chips it needs to fuel its AI ambitions, experts said.But Saudi Arabia is unlikely to agree to normalization with Israel at this stage, despite Trump’s aim for the grand prize of Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords that he launched in his first term.Potential Saudi moves towards normalization in return for security and energy guarantees were put on hold after the outbreak of Israel’s devastating war in Gaza in October 2023.Riyadh appears in no mood to budge without any progress on its international push for a Palestinian state.

Israel on Tuesday hailed Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan after its endorsement by the UN Security Council, as Hamas rejected the resolution which calls for the deployment of an international force in the Palestinian territory.The United Nations Security Council voted on Monday in favour of a US-drafted resolution bolstering President Trump’s plan for the Gaza Strip — which has allowed a fragile ceasefire to hold between Israel and Hamas since October 10.The peace plan notably authorises the creation of an international force that would work with Israel and Egypt and newly-trained Palestinian police to help secure border areas and demilitarise Gaza.Following the vote, Gazans embraced a chance for life to improve, but had little faith that Israel would comply with the resolution.”Any international decision that benefits the Palestinians now is welcome. The important thing is that the war ends,” said 39-year-old Saeb Al-Hassanat, who lives in a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza.”It doesn’t matter who rules us. We welcome international administration of Gaza,” he told AFP, but added that “without strong pressure from the US, Israel will not comply with any decision, and the Security Council resolution will remain worthless.”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office hailed Trump’s plan on Tuesday, saying it would lead to “peace and prosperity because it insists upon full demilitarisation, disarmament and the deradicalisation of Gaza”.On X, Netanyahu’s office said the plan would also lead to an expansion of the Abraham Accords, under which a few Arab countries have normalised ties with Israel.There were 13 votes in favour of the resolution and none against, with Russia and China both abstaining but not deploying their veto as permanent members.- ‘Conditions are catastrophic’ -The Gaza Strip has been largely reduced to rubble after two years of fighting, sparked by Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.Rawia Abbas, who lives in a partially destroyed house in Gaza City’s Zeitun neighbourhood, said conditions in the territory remained dire despite the ceasefire.”We still have no food, no water and no homes. Winter has begun and people’s conditions are catastrophic. My young children stand in line for hours to get a gallon of water and a coupon for some food,” the 40-year-old told AFP.Hamas, which is excluded by the resolution from any governance role in Gaza, said it did not meet Palestinians’ “political and humanitarian demands and rights”.In a statement, the Islamist militant group decried the establishment of an international force and said the resolution imposes “an international trusteeship on the Gaza Strip, which our people, its forces, and its constituent groups reject”. The peace plan authorises the creation of an International Stabilisation Force that is mandated to work on the “permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups”, protecting civilians and securing humanitarian aid corridors.It also authorises the formation of a “Board of Peace”, a transitional governing body for Gaza — which Trump would theoretically chair — with a mandate running until the end of 2027.The resolution also calls for the resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries at scale through the UN, the Red Cross and the Red Crescent.- ‘Soft occupation’ -“The UN Security Council’s resolution is something that gives me a lot of hope,” Israeli entrepreneur Ron Poole-Dayen told AFP in Tel Aviv.”It is vital that we have as many forces reinforcing the little bit of common interest and will that has been displayed in the ceasefire agreement to increase the chances that we will go through to more long-lasting arrangements and hopefully for peace, eventually.”But Ahmad Al-Kabariti, a Gaza City resident, told AFP he thought the “unjust resolution will undermine the rights of the Palestinian people” and amounted to “a soft occupation” in the territory.The European Union’s foreign affairs spokesman, Anouar El Anouni, hailed Monday’s vote as “an important step” in ending the Gaza conflict, enabling scaled-up aid access and reconstructing the war-battered territory.On X, the Palestinian foreign ministry, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the vote affirmed the Palestinian people’s “right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state,” stressing the need for immediate implementation.In convoluted language, the resolution does mention a possible pathway to a future Palestinian state once the Palestinian Authority completes reforms — but it is something firmly and repeatedly rejected by Israel.burs-acc/rjm/dcp

The UN’s World Food Programme warned Tuesday that funding cuts mean it will struggle to feed even a third of the 318 million people facing severe hunger in 2026.”Declines in global humanitarian funding are forcing WFP to prioritise food assistance to roughly one third of those in need,” targeting 110 million of the most vulnerable, it said in a statement.That would cost $13 billion, the agency estimated — but warned that “current funding forecasts indicate WFP may only receive close to half that goal”.The WFP’s largest donor is the United States which, under President Donald Trump, has cut foreign aid, including to UN agencies. Other big donors, including some European nations, have also shrunk their humanitarian budgets. The 318 million people facing acute hunger is more than double the figure recorded in 2019, as conflict, extreme weather and economic instability have taken their toll, the WFP said.UN agencies this year declared famine in Gaza and parts of Sudan, something that WFP executive director Cindy McCain called “completely unacceptable in the 21st century”.In a foreword to the WFP’s 2026 Global Outlook report, she said the world’s response “remains slow, fragmented and underfunded”.”Global aid now covers less than half of total needs, with steep reductions in food assistance. Almost all operations have had to cut food and cash, and prioritise which vulnerable group receive help,” she wrote. “At the same time, attacks on aid workers have surged, revealing a growing disregard for international humanitarian law.”For those facing hunger in 2026, 41 million people are classified as facing emergency or worse levels.Last week, both UN food agencies — WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) — warned of 16 “hunger hotspots” around the globe, from Haiti to South Sudan, saying that funding shortfalls were worsening already dire conditions. In a joint report, the agencies said that they had so far received only $10.5 billion out of a required $29 billion to help those at risk.