Foreign News
Trump pursues peace deal after leaving Alaska without ceasefire pact
Donald Trump has said he would prefer a permanent peace agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine war over a temporary ceasefire.
Writing on Truth Social after leaving a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska without reaching any deal, the US president said that ceasefires “often times do not hold up”.
Trump had earlier said that “great progress” was made during the meeting but “we didn’t get there” when it came to a deal.
On his flight back to Washington, he held a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who later said he would travel to Washington DC on Monday.
Trump said it had been “a great and very successful day in Alaska” after arriving back in Washington.
He added that the meeting with Putin had gone “very well”, as had phone calls with Zelensky, European leaders and Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
“It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere ceasefire agreement, which often times do not hold up,” he wrote.
“If all works out” with Zelensky on Monday “we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin”, Trump added.
Zelensky said that a “real peace must be achieved, one that will be lasting, not just another pause between Russian invasions”.
Putin and Trump’s arrival at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage was carefully choreographed.
The Russian president, who is facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, stepped off his jet and onto a red carpet to be warmly received by Trump.
Over the roar of a B2 bomber overhead, the two leaders posed for photos before climbing in Trump’s presidential vehicle, known as The Beast.
But despite the pageantry and public shows of geniality – as well as the Kremlin’s earlier estimate that the meeting could last six or seven hours – Trump and Putin emerged less than three hours later with just a joint statement to the press.
Putin said that, in order to make a “settlement lasting and long-term, we need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict” in Ukraine.
The phrasing indicated that Putin has not budged from his longstanding position that Ukraine should withdraw from four regions partially occupied by Russia – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – and give up its efforts to join Nato.
Zelensky has ruled out ceding territory, saying it would embolden Russia to invade again in the future, as it had in 2022 eight years after illegally annexing Crimea.
Putin also urged Ukrainians and Europeans to “not throw a wrench” into the peace process. Trump remained silent as his guest spent about eight minutes addressing the media.
After being given the floor, the US president said he had a “fantastic relationship with President Putin. Vladimir”.
Even though “many points were agreed”, he said, “a few” remain, adding that “one is the most significant” – without specifying. Neither took questions.
The two also did not attend the planned bilateral “working lunch” that was set to follow the talks.
(BBC)
A court in Malta has acquitted businessman Yorgen Fenech of masterminding the murder of prominent anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Fenech, 44, was acquitted on Wednesday at the end of a jury trial. He had been tried on charges of complicity to murder and for the lesser charge of criminal association to commit murder.
If found guilty, Fenech could have faced life in prison.
Caruana Galizia’s family were seen weeping in the packed courtroom in Valletta after the businessman was cleared of both counts by an 8-1 margin following eight hours of deliberation by the jury.
“Nine years after Daphne’s brutal assassination, the institutional failures that enabled her murder remain unaddressed and unreformed,” the slain reporter’s family said in a statement.
“Lasting justice means no person should ever face the same risks again. Our country failed to protect Daphne’s life. It owes it to her to prevent other lives being lost.”
Fenech’s family members were seen celebrating the jury’s decision.
The killing of Caruana Galizia in October 2017 shocked Europe’s journalist community and set off a political firestorm in Malta, focusing international attention on its police and judiciary.
Dubbed a “one-woman WikiLeaks”, Caruana Galizia had exposed corruption at the highest level in the Mediterranean island country, shining a spotlight on links between Malta’s business and political elites. She was 53 when she was killed.
Prosecutors argued that Fenech had wanted Caruana Galizia killed because she was about to reveal information about him.
Fenech has denied the accusations. His defence instead pointed fingers at his one-time friend Keith Schembri, the former chief of staff of then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and a target of Caruana Galizia’s blogs.
Muscat, who was never linked to the murder, stepped down in January 2020 due to the political fallout from the assassination.
Police told the court that Schembri had never been a suspect. He has denied any role in the murder.
An independent inquiry in 2021 found that officials in Malta had failed to protect Caruana Galizia from threats to her life before her death.
[Aljazeera]
A head teacher’s quick decision to evacuate his school saved 900 pupils from deadly flash floods along the Nepal-Tibet border
Rajendra Dawadi tells the BBC he was tipped off about incoming flood waters and moved students to higher ground with just minutes to spare. One pupil says she and her friends survived by just 10 seconds and watched as a nearby bazaar was swept away
Wednesday’s disaster has killed at least 794 people and more than 2,500 people are missing in Nepal, local officials say
In Tibet, the official death toll is 16, with 546 reported to be missing, according to Chinese state media –
[BBC]
A ferry carrying around 260 people has capsized off the coast of northern Cyprus with a search underway for survivors, according to local media.
The catamaran-style boat was travelling from the port of Kyrenia, also known as Girne, and started sinking a few kilometres off the coast of the island state on Sunday.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
[Aljazeera]
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