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Gaza peace plan talks to continue as Trump says chance of a deal is ‘really good’

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Israel has been carrying out an offensive in Gaza City for weeks [BBC]

Indirect talks aimed at reaching a final agreement on a US peace plan to end the war in Gaza are set to continue on today [Tuesday] in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Palestinian and Egyptian officials have told the BBC that the sessions are focused on “creating the field conditions” for a possible exchange that would see the release of all Israeli hostages in return for a number of Palestinian prisoners.

Israel’s prime minister said on Saturday that he hoped to announce the release of hostages “in the coming days”.

As the officials met on Monday, US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House: “We have a really good chance of making a deal, and it’ll be a lasting deal.”

Hamas has said it agrees to the peace plan proposals in part, but has not responded to several key demands – including its disarmament and not having any future role in the governance of Gaza.

The second day of the talks, which will see Egyptian and Qatari officials holding shuttle meetings with delegations from both Israel and Hamas separately, will be taking place on the second anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response. Since then, 67,160 have been killed by Israeli military operations in Gaza, including 18,000 children, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

In a statement commemorating the anniversary, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Trump’s plan “presents an opportunity that must be seized to bring this tragic conflict to an end”.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer reiterated his support for the plan in his statement commemorating the anniversary, saying: “We welcome the US initiative towards peace in the Middle East, and this government will do everything in our power to bring about the day where every child of Israel can live peacefully, alongside their Palestinian neighbours, in safety and security.”

A senior Israeli security source said the talks initially would focus only on the release of hostages and give Hamas a few days to complete that phase.

These discussions are expected to be among the most consequential since the start of the war and could determine whether a path toward ending the conflict is finally within reach.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani are among those attending.

Trump, writing on social media, has urged everyone involved in efforts to end the Gaza war to “move fast” and says he has been told the first phase of the peace plan – which includes the hostage release – “should be completed this week”.

On Monday, he told reporters that “Hamas has been agreeing to things that are very important.”

“I really think we’re going to have a deal,” he said at the White House.

A Palestinian official close to the negotiations told the Reuters news agency that the first session ended late Monday evening, and more talks were due to take place on Tuesday.

State-affiliated Al-Qahera News also said talks would continue on Tuesday – and that the first day had ended “amid a positive atmosphere”.

The 20-point plan, which has been agreed upon by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, proposes an immediate end to fighting and the release of 48 hostages, only 20 of whom are thought to be alive, in exchange for hundreds of detained Gazans.

The plan stipulates that once both sides agree to the proposal “full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip”.

It also states that Hamas would have no role in governing Gaza, and it leaves the door open for an eventual Palestinian state.

However, after the plan was announced publicly a week ago, Netanyahu reinstated his longstanding opposition to a Palestinian state, saying in a video statement: “It’s not written in the agreement. We said we would strongly oppose a Palestinian state.”

On Friday, Hamas responded to the proposal in a statement, in which the group agreed “to release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, according to the exchange formula contained in Trump’s proposal” – if the proper conditions for the exchanges are met.

It did not specifically mention or accept Trump’s 20-point plan but said it “renews its agreement to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats), based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support.”

The statement made no mention of one of the key demands of the plan – that Hamas agree to its disarmament and to playing no further role in the governance of Gaza.

It added that the part of the proposals dealing with the future of Gaza and the rights of Palestinian people was still being discussed “within a national framework”, of which it said Hamas will be a part.

Many Palestinians described Hamas’ response to the peace plan as unexpected, after days of indications that the group was preparing to reject or at least heavily condition its acceptance of Trump’s peace plan proposal.

Instead, Hamas refrained from including its traditional “red lines” in the official statement, a move many interpret as a sign of external pressure.

European and Middle Eastern leaders have welcomed the proposal. The Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has called the US president’s efforts “sincere and determined”.

Iran – which has been one of Hamas’s main sponsors for many years – has also now signalled its support for Trump’s Gaza peace plan.

Israeli bombardment continued in several parts of the Gaza Strip on Monday ahead of the talks beginning.

Israel is carrying out an offensive in the city, which it has said is aimed at securing the release of the remaining hostages.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defence, told the BBC that “no aid trucks have been allowed into Gaza City since the offensive began four weeks ago”.

“There are still bodies we cannot retrieve from areas under Israeli control,” he said.

Hundreds of thousands of Gaza City residents have been forced to flee after the Israeli military ordered evacuations to a designated “humanitarian area” in the south, but hundreds of thousands more are believed to have remained.

Israel’s defence minister has warned that those who stay during the offensive would be “terrorists and supporters of terror”.

In the last 24 hours, 21 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and a further 96 injured, the Hamas-run health ministry said in its latest update.

International journalists have been banned by Israel from entering the Gaza Strip independently since the start of the war, making verifying claims from both sides difficult.

[BBC]



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Everest record holder warns of Nepal danger as two Indian mountaineers die

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Mountaineers practise walking on a ladder during a training session at Everest Base Camp in Nepal [Aljazeera]

Two Indian climbers have died on Mount Everest during a record-breaking period of ascents via Nepal’s southern route, as experts warn of overcrowding on the world’s highest peak.

Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring.

At least five climbers have died during this Everest season, including the two Indians and three Nepalis. A United States and a Czech climber died on Mount Makalu earlier this month.

Nivesh Karki, director at Pioneer Adventures, named the latest victims as Sandeep Are, who he said summited on May 20, and Arun Kumar Tiwari, who reached the peak on May 21.

“They fell ill while descending at high altitude. We are working out how to retrieve the bodies,” Karki told the AFP news agency.

Nepali climber Kami Rita Sherpa, who scaled Everest for a record 32nd time earlier this month, returned to the capital, Kathmandu, on Friday, where he expressed concern about the experience of some climbers.

Pictures posted by climbers show a long line of people climbing up fixed ropes, queueing in the icy, low-oxygen high-altitude zones.

“The expedition this time felt a bit crowded,” said Kami Rita Sherpa, dubbed the “Everest Man”.

“The government should regulate this a bit … They should let in only climbers of quality – there should be a limit,” he told AFP.

On Thursday, a record number of climbers reached the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) Himalayan peak from the Nepali side, according to tourism officials, who gave a preliminary total of 275 pending final confirmation.

The peak can be tackled from both Nepal and the northern face in Tibet, but Chinese authorities have closed the latter route this year.

The Guinness Book of World Records lists the highest number to climb Everest in a single day as 354, in May 2019.

Nepali tourism officials said the final number will be tallied after the climbs are verified, which require photographs and statements from the climber’s expedition company and guides.

Among the successful climbers on Friday was British guide Kenton Cool, who reached the top for the 20th time – extending his own record for the most ascents of the world’s highest peak by a non-Nepali.

The high number of climbers has rekindled concerns about overcrowding on the mountain – especially if poor weather shortens the climbing window.

The country has issued a record 492 Everest permits for foreigners this season, with a city of tents set up at the foot of the mountain for climbers and support staff.

Approximately 600 people – including guides – have summited Everest since the start of this year’s spring climbing season in April.

[Aljazeera]

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Sunrisers Hyderabad win big but Royal Challengers Bengaaluru, Gujarat Titans seal top two spots

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Eshan Malinga had Devdutt Padikkal holing out to deep midwicket [Cricinfo]

Sunrisers Hyderabad [SRH] won, and yet it didn’t feel like a win.  Royal Challengers Bengaluru [RCB] lost, but it didn’t feel like that either. In a nutshell, that’s how Friday night went in Hyderabad as RCB secured a top-two finish – they finished No 1 – despite a 55-run defeat, while SRH remained third.

On the back of half-centuries from Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klassen and Ishan Kishan,  SRH posted a monster total of 255, but had to restrict RCB to 166 or below for a chance to move into the top two. Rajat Patidar’s 56, Venkatesh Iyer’s 44 and Krunal Pandya’s unbeaten 41 ensured there were no blushes for RCB even as they finished the league stage with a defeat.

That left the top three teams all on 18 points, with Gujarat Titans sandwiched between the two teams at No. 1 and No. 3. Eventually, it came down to net run-rate to decide which team would go to Qualifier 1, and which team would play the Eliminator.

Going into the game, RCB wanted to win but also wanted to ensure they didn’t slip outside the top two should they lose. After SRH pumped 255 for 4 in 20 overs, the equation became clear – RCB had to avoid losing by 90 or more runs.

The start given by their new opener, Venkatesh, calmed the nerves. He gave Pat Cummins a four-six jab in the first over, and saved his best for the fourth over delivered by left-arm wristspinner Shivang Kumar. He punished Shivang for two sixes in one over, with a boundary sandwiched in between. Venkatesh fell for a 19-ball 44 but by then RCB had already scored 60 in 4.3 overs.

Even though Virat Kohli (15) failed to leave a mark in the game with the bat, a spunky 21 from No. 3 Devdutt Padikkal ensured RCB stayed on course for 166 even if the chase looked to get out of hand. Sakib Hussain,  who delivered 1 for 31 in four overs, was a major reason why RCB could not push on.

Patidar scored his fourth half-century of the season, staying in from the sixth over to the 19th. His 39-ball 56 included crisp boundaries off Eshan Malinga, Cummins and Harshal Patel, but fell to part-timer Travis Head. Krunal stayed till the end with an unbeaten 41 in 31 balls as RCB finished on a commendable 200 for 4 by the end.

Dropped in the sixth, seventh and eighth overs, Abhishek made full use of the chances RCB’s fielders offered him. On a flat surface with no grass, he did not let purple-cap holder Bhuvneshwar Kumar settle. His early boundaries over the off-side against Bhuvneshwar’s awayswingers moved into his takedown of Suyash Sharma’s googly and Romario Shepherd’s seam-up balls.

Abhishek was finally out in the ninth over, but by then his turbo-charged innings had SRH almost touching triple-digits.

Kishan had three fifties against RCB in his last three outings, and on Friday, he made it four in a row with a 46-ball 79. While Abhishek was going, Kishan took his time to score nine off his first ten balls, but then found his groove.

His best shot of the night was probably the leg-side slog towards the bigger boundary against Krunal in the 11th over, a sign that timing and form continued to be on his side. A sixth 50-plus score for Kishan this season also made IPL 2026 his most prolific as a batter. His sweeps, cuts and pulls allowed SRH to pump 73 runs across overs 11 to 15.

Klaasen’s story was similar, starting off with only five runs in nine balls, but one that was unlocked with his takedown of Josh Hazlewood in the 13th over. One six over cow corner and two more over long-on made Hazlewood leak 27. His effortless loft of Bhuvneshwar over extra cover took him close to yet another landmark, and he brought up his sixth half-century of the season in the 16th over. He fell in the 17th over to a low-arm slinger from Krunal for 52, but not before becoming the first player to cross 600 runs while batting at No. 4 or lower in a T20 tournament.

Nitish Kumar Reddy scored a blazing unbeaten 29 in 12 balls to give SRH a late push. He hit Krunal for two sixes in his first three balls in the crease and then deposited Hazlewood for another.

The late flourish took SRH past 250 while also leaving RCB’s senior seam-bowling pair of Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood ducking for cover. Hazlewood conceded 55 on the night while Bhuvneshwar leaked 51. They both finished the evening wicketless.

Brief scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 255 for 4 in 20 overs (Abhishek  Sharma 56, Travis Head 26,  Ishan Kishan 79, Heinrich  Klaasen 51, Nitish Kumar Reddy 29*; Rasikh Salam 2-52, SuyashSharma 1-36, Krunal Pandya 1-24) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru 200 for 4 in 20 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 44, Virat Kohli 15, Devdutt Padikkal 21, Rajat Patidar 56,  Krunal Pandya 41*, Tim David 15*; Eshan Malinga 2-33, Sakib Hussain 1-31, Travis Head 1-07) by 55 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Flood warning issued to the Aththanagalu Oya basin extended until 0600AM on Monday [25]

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The warning mentioned in the flood warning message No. 01 issued for the Aththanagalu Oya basin on 22.05.2026 at about 5.30 am will be extended for the next 48 hours.

It is requested that residents in the area and vehicle drivers running through those areas  pay high attention in this regard by the . Disaster Management Authorities are requested to take adequate precautions in this regard

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