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No US soldiers would be needed in Gaza plan, Trump says

Published

2 years ago

2025/02/6

Priyan

Thousands of displaced Palestinians made the journey from south Gaza to the north of the strip following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in January [BBC]

US President Donald Trump has restated a vision in which the US would take over Gaza, after officials in his administration appeared to contradict his earlier comments.

“The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” Trump said on Thursday. He reiterated that the idea would mean resettling Palestinians, and that no US soldiers would be needed.

Trump’s resettlement idea has prompted accusations that he is planning ethnic cleansing, and has drawn condemnation from the UN, human rights groups and Arab leaders. Analysts doubt it will ever happen.

After Trump’s first comments on the issue, his officials suggested any relocation would be only temporary.

Under his plan, Trump wrote, Gazans “would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region”. The US would then be part of an effort to redevelop the enclave, he said.

His post, written on Truth Social, did not make clear whether the two million residents of the Palestinian territory would be invited to return.

Under international law, attempts to forcibly transfer populations from occupied territory are strictly prohibited.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday that any displacement would be temporary. In his own comments, made on the same day, Secretary of State Rubio said the idea was for Gazans to leave the territory for an “interim” period while debris was cleared and reconstruction took place.

These views contradicted Trump’s initial comments on the matter. Speaking on Tuesday, when he proposed the development of Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East”, Trump suggested that the displacement of Palestinians would be permanent.

“The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too,” he said on Tuesday during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the idea “worth paying attention to”.

The announcement took even senior Trump aides by surprise due to a lack of planning around the idea, the New York Times reported, citing four anonymous sources with knowledge of the discussions.

Trump’s fresh comment on Thursday that no American soldiers would be needed was more clearly in agreement with Leavitt, who said the US had not committed to putting “boots on the ground”.

Fifteen months of fighting have left the Gaza Strip, a territory 41km (25 miles) long and 10km (6 miles) wide, largely uninhabitable.

Entire districts have been razed to the ground. Agricultural land where greenhouses once stood has been reduced to sand and rubble.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has warned that it could take 21 years to remove and dispose of all debris.

It described the water and sanitation systems as “almost entirely defunct”, warned of mounting rubbish around camps and shelters, and highlighted the risk that chemicals from destroyed solar panels and the munitions being used could contaminate soil and water supplies.

More than 50 million tonnes of debris have accumulated as a result of the destruction, according to the UN body.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

More than 47,550 people have been killed and 111,600 injured in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

A bar chart showing the average number of lorries that have entered Gaza per day each month since October 2023. It highlights that about 500 mostly commercial lorries a day were entering before October, that fell to nine a day in the first month of the war and in September it was the lowest number since then at 53. The highest number was in April when about 190 lorries entered every day. The data is provided by the UN, which says it doesn't have complete data for commercial vehicles after 7 May.

[BBC]

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Little time to unpack as India open in Christchurch

Published

2 hours ago

2026/10/21

Priyan

India have had four days to swap Bengaluru for Christchurch [Cricbuzz]

India have barely unzipped their suitcases this month. The Asian Games assignment in Japan ended on October 3; three days later they were in Lucknow for a five-match series that ran through Ranchi, Indore and Hyderabad before closing in the Bengaluru rain late on October 17. Four days on, they start again in Christchurch, with the jet lag surely travelling with them.

New Zealand is a tricky tour at the best of times. India come here less often than they go to England or Australia, and a turnaround this short only sharpens the challenge. For Shreyas Iyer, it may feel familiar. He spoke about acclimatisation in his pre-series press conference in Christchurch, and with reason: his tenure began with India out of rhythm in Ireland, where they lost 0-2, before England beat them too.

It is an occupational hazard of the modern Indian cricketer, and there’s a good chance that conditions won’t meet them halfway either. White-ball cricket may have standardized conditions, but early-season New Zealand can still offer a different challenge. The last 200 in this country came nine T20Is ago, a world away from the kind of cricket India have been involved at home.

When these sides last met, in the T20 World Cup final in Ahmedabad in March, India piled up 255. Much has changed since, not least Iyer’s elevation to the captaincy. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi debuted in Manchester at 15 but has struggled for game time behind World Cup-winning openers. The bowling, meanwhile, has kept reaching for experience, culminating in Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s recall after two excellent IPL seasons with RCB.

But two lynchpins remain missing. Jasprit Bumrah has been rested with the Test series in mind, and Hardik Pandya hasn’t played international cricket since that night in Ahmedabad. Finding the right balance is India’s first puzzle in Christchurch, and they may have to solve it before their body clocks catch up.

Varun Chakaravarthy returns after another spell on the sidelines with injury, though fitting him into the XI could be tricky if India opt for three frontline seamers in a season opener. Nman Dhir wax the find of the series against West Indies, but he may be the one to make way if India go with two seam-bowling all-rounders in Nitish Reddy and Shivam Dube.

Without Mark Chapman and Rachin Ravindra, the hosts have a top-three spot for Devon Conway. They have as many as six seamers in the squad to pick from, with Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell offering part-time spin in a fairly stacked bowling attack.

India Probable XI: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prince Yadav/Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh

New Zealand Probable XI: Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (wk), Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson

[Cricbuzz]

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Bangladesh and Nepal to host Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup from January 21 to February 6

Published

4 hours ago

2026/10/21

Priyan

Defending champions India won the first two editions of the tournament, in 2023 and 2025 (Cricinfo)

Four venues in Bangladesh and Nepal will host the 2027 Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, which is set to run from January 21 to February 6. Chattogram, Sylhet, Kirtipur and Mulpani are the four venues, with Chattogram set to host the two semi-finals on February 4 as well as the final on February 6.

The 16-team event will feature four groups of four teams each, with the group stage set to be followed by a two-group Super Six stage, and then the semi-finals and final.

This is the third edition of the tournament, with India having won the first two back-to-back in 2023 and 2025. The defending champions have been drawn in group A alongside Ireland, West Indies and Nepal. Group B has 2025 runners-up South Africa as well as New Zealand, Pakistan and Samoa.

Australia, Bangladesh, Nigeria and UAE make up Group C, while England, Sri Lanka, USA and Scotland have been drawn in Group D.

The tournament will kick off with four matches on January 21, with Sylhet hosting Bangladesh vs UAE and Australia vs Nigeria, and Mulpani hosting Sri Lanka vs Scotland and England vs USA. The other two venues and other eight teams will be involved on January 22: New Zealand vs Samoa and South Africa vs Pakistan in Chattogram, and Nepal vs Ireland and India vs West Indies in Kirtipur.

All 41 games of the tournament will be played during the day. Morning matches will begin at 9.30am local time, and afternoon games at 1.30pm local time.

“The ICC U19 World Cup is the stage that showcases the future of our sport and serves as the ultimate platform for young players to make the leap towards elite careers representing their countries,” ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta said. “These future stars representing 16 teams will garner the world’s attention and become relatable role models for many young girls playing the sport, serving inspiration for their continued cricket journeys.

“The choice of our hosts – Bangladesh and Nepal – is also reflective of the ICC’s belief and investment in the future of the cricket ecosystem. With deep passion for cricket and nearly 40% of the two countries’ populations below the age of 20, they serve as the ideal hosts for one of the world’s biggest youth sporting events.”

(Cricinfo)

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President pays last respects to Most Venerable Kappetiyagoda Siri Wimala Thera

Published

1 day ago

2026/10/20

Priyan

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake today (20) paid his last respects to the remains of Most Venerable Kappetiyagoda Siri Wimala Thera, Anunayake of the Sri Lanka Ramanna Maha Nikaya and Chief Incumbent of the Rajopawanaramaya Temple in Gatambe, Kandy, who passed away.

The President visited the Rajopawanaramaya Temple in Gatambe, Kandy, where the remains of the Thera are lying, and paid his last respects. He subsequently expressed his deepest condolences to the Maha Sangha and the temple’s Dayaka Sabha, who are mourning the passing of the Thera.

Central Province Governor and Consultant Physician Dr Harsha Suranga Fernando, Kandy District Secretary Indika Udawatta and several others were present.

President’s Media Division (PMD)