CHAPPAQUA: Former US president Bill Clinton will be grilled by a Congressional panel on Friday on his well-documented links to Jeffrey Epstein. Clinton features prominently throughout the latest <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/bill-gates-admits-affairs-but-denies-involvement-in-epstein-crimes" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Epstein</a>&nbsp;files disclosures, with the former president insisting that he <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/uk-police-arrest-exenvoy-peter-mandelson-in-epstein-case" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">broke ties</a> with him well before the disgraced billionaire&#39;s 2008 conviction for sex offenses. Mere mention in the files released by the US Department of Justice does not imply wrongdoing, and Clinton has not been accused of a crime or formally investigated. He follows his wife, former secretary of state <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/tell-me-why-jeffrey-epstein-mossad-the-missing-answers" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hillary Clinton</a>, who testified Thursday. &#39;Kangaroo court&#39;The depositions are being held behind closed doors even though the Clintons called for them to be open and televised, a move <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/epstein-estate-agrees-to-settle-victim-claims-for-up-to-35-mn" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bill Clinton</a> denounced as akin to a &quot;kangaroo court.&quot; The grilling comes with greater peril for the former president than for his wife, as he has acknowledged extensive interactions with Epstein, but said he never visited the shady financier&#39;s private Caribbean island. Epstein associated with the world&#39;s rich, famous and powerful, and was convicted in 2008 for soliciting sex from girls as young as 14. He died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while facing trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide. The Republican-led House Oversight Committee is probing those who were linked to Epstein, particularly in light of the Justice Department&#39;s disclosures of millions of new documents related to its investigation of him. Hillary insisted that she had neither flown on Epstein&#39;s plane nor visited his island. The Clintons had initially rejected subpoenas ordering them to testify in the panel&#39;s probe, but the Democratic power couple agreed to do so after House Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Newly released pictures&nbsp;</h2>Hillary Clinton said in her opening statement to the panel that it &quot;justified its subpoena to me based on its assumption that I have information regarding the investigations into the criminal activities of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.&quot; &quot;Let me be as clear as I can. I do not.&quot; Democrats say the investigation is being weaponized to attack Trump&#39;s political opponents rather than to conduct legitimate oversight. Bill Clinton features prominently in the trove of investigative files related to Epstein released by the Justice Department, but has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Previously unseen photographs from the files include one showing the former president reclining in a hot tub, part of the image obscured by a stark black rectangle. In another, Clinton is pictured swimming alongside a dark-haired woman who appears to be Epstein&#39;s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. &#39;Innocent of any wrongdoing&#39;Clinton has acknowledged flying on Epstein&#39;s private plane several times in the early 2000s for Clinton Foundation-related humanitarian work. David Markus, an attorney for Maxwell, said recently that Clinton and Trump are &quot;innocent of any wrongdoing.&quot; The depositions are being held in Chappaqua, New York, where the Clintons reside. Dozens of journalists have converged on the wealthy hamlet, and the Secret Service erected metal barricades around the arts center where the depositions are happening. Republican committee chair James Comer said at the conclusion of Hillary&#39;s appearance that lawmakers had &quot;a lot of questions for her husband tomorrow.&quot;

Americas

The Clintons had initially rejected subpoenas ordering them to testify in the panel's probe, but the Democratic power couple agreed to do so after House Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress.

Former US president Bill Clinton to face grilling on significant Epstein ties

HONG KONG: Gold prices soared to a fresh record near $5,600 on Thursday, while oil rallied after Donald Trump ramped up geopolitical tensions with his threatened military strike on Iran. The surge in safe-haven precious metals also saw silver hit another peak and has been helped by a softer dollar sparked by speculation that the US president is happy to see the world&#39;s reserve currency weaken. An uneventful policy announcement by the Federal Reserve did little to inspire buying, though observers said traders are optimistic that interest rates will come down as Trump prepares to name his pick for the next governor. Bullion piled on more than $300 at one point to top $5,595 after Trump said Tehran needed to negotiate a deal over its nuclear program, which the West believes is aimed at making an atomic bomb. &ldquo;Hopefully Iran will quickly &#39;Come to the Table&#39; and negotiate a fair and equitable deal -- NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS -- one that is good for all parties. Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!&rdquo; he wrote on his Truth Social platform. &quot;The next attack will be far worse! Don&#39;t make that happen again,&quot; he added, referring to US strikes against Iranian targets in June. A US naval strike group Trump described as an &ldquo;armada,&rdquo; led by aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln, is now in Middle East waters, with the president saying it was &ldquo;ready, willing and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary.&rdquo; CNN said he was mulling an attack after nuclear talks failed to advance. Iran&#39;s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, warned on Wednesday that Tehran would respond immediately and forcefully to any US military operation -- adding that its forces have their &ldquo;fingers on the trigger&rdquo; -- but did not rule out a new nuclear deal. International benchmark Brent crude oil briefly topped $70 a barrel Thursday for the first time since September with a gain of more than two percent.&nbsp;On stock markets, Meta jumped in after-hours trade after the US parent of Facebook and Instagram published quarterly earnings that topped expectations, as revenue grew along with investments in artificial intelligence. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">&#39;Inverse of confidence&#39;&nbsp;</h2>Stephen Innes said the surge in gold indicated deeper structural concerns. &ldquo;After blowing through $5,500 in early Asia, bullion is no longer trading like a commodity. It is trading like a referendum. Not on inflation. Not on rates. On trust,&rdquo; he wrote. &ldquo;Gold is the inverse of confidence. When belief in policy coherence weakens, gold ceases to behave like a hedge and instead acts as an alternative. That is what we are watching now. This is not fear of recession. There is doubt about fiat stewardship.&rdquo; Rising tensions sent oil prices up by more than 1% -- with WTI at its highest since September and Brent at levels not seen since July -- amid supply worries. On equity markets, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Mumbai, and Seoul rose, while Tokyo was flat. Sydney, Wellington, Taipei and Bangkok dropped. London and Frankfurt edged up at the open but Paris fell. Manila sank as data showed the Philippines economy grew last year at its slowest non-pandemic rate since 2011. Jakarta tanked 8%, prompting a temporary halt and extending Wednesday&#39;s collapse, which followed index compiler MSCI&#39;s call for regulators to look into ownership concerns.&nbsp; Stocks later pared those losses to trade around 3% lower. MSCI also said it would hold off on adding Indonesian stocks to its indexes or increasing their weighting, while there are concerns it could announce a downgrade from emerging markets to frontier markets, which could spark an outflow of foreign capital. &ldquo;I think this sharp downward pressure may last one or two days,&rdquo; said Hans Kwee, a stock analyst at PasarDana.&nbsp; &ldquo;It was yesterday and today; at most, tomorrow it starts to move sideways. &ldquo;Then next week the market should be more normal.&rdquo; The dollar remained under pressure, even after Treasury Secretary Bessent told CNBC that &ldquo;the US always has a strong dollar policy,&rdquo; a day after Trump appeared to welcome its recent weakness. The Fed&#39;s policy meeting ended with few surprises as boss Jerome Powell said officials were keeping tabs on data. But Matthias&nbsp;Scheiber and Rushabh Amin at Allspring Global Investments said attention was now on Trump&#39;s choice to take the helm when Powell steps down in May. &ldquo;The big focus will remain on the announcement of the new Fed chair, with the race wide open though a general expectation of someone more dovish to succeed Jerome Powell,&rdquo; they wrote in a commentary. Hong Kong-listed property stocks surged on a report that Chinese leaders had rowed back on stringent measures aimed at reining in borrowing, which helped spark a chronic debt crisis in the country&#39;s real estate sector that is still weighing on the economy. Troubled developers soared, with Country Garden up around 17%, Sunac rocketing 30%, and Agile Group 15% higher. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Key figures at around 0815 GMT&nbsp;</h2>Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 53,375.60 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5% at 27,968.09 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2% at 4,157.98 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4% at 10,189.97 West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.6% at $64.24 per barrel Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.5% at $69.43 per barrel Dollar/yen: DOWN at 153.21&nbsp;yen from 153.38 yen on Wednesday Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1974 from $1.1944 Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3829 from $1.3797 Euro/pound: UP at 86.58 pence from 86.56 pence New York - Dow: FLAT at 49,015.60 (close)

Business

Bullion piled on more than $300 at one point to top $5,595 after Trump said Tehran needed to negotiate a deal over its nuclear program, which the West believes is aimed at making an atomic bomb.

Gold soars toward $5,600 as Trump rattles sabre over Iran

BRUSSELS: NATO chief <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nato-chief-cannot-negotiate-for-denmark-on-greenland-danish-govt" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mark Rutte</a>&nbsp;warned Monday Europe cannot defend itself without the United States, in the face of calls for the continent to stand on its own feet after tensions over Greenland.&nbsp;US President Donald Trump roiled the transatlantic alliance by threatening to seize the autonomous <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/eu-leaders-take-stage-in-davos-as-trump-rocks-global-order" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Danish territory </a>-- before backing off after talks with Rutte last week.&nbsp;The diplomatic crisis sparked gave fresh momentum to those advocating for Europe to take a tougher line against Trump and break its military reliance on Washington.&nbsp;&quot;If anyone thinks here again, that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the US -- keep on dreaming. You can&#39;t,&quot; Rutte told lawmakers at the European Parliament.&nbsp;He said that EU countries would have to double defence spending from the five percent NATO target agreed last year to 10 percent and spend &quot;billions and billions&quot; on building nuclear arms.&nbsp;&quot;You would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the US nuclear umbrella,&quot; Rutte said. &quot;So hey, good luck.&quot;&nbsp;The former Dutch prime minister insisted that US commitment to NATO&#39;s Article Five mutual defence clause remained &quot;total&quot;, but that the United States expected European countries to keep spending more on their militaries.&nbsp;&quot;They need a secure Euro-Atlantic, and they also need a secure Europe. So the US has every interest in NATO,&quot; he said.&nbsp;The NATO head reiterated his repeated praise for Trump for pressuring reluctant European allies to step up defence spending.&nbsp;He also appeared to knock back a suggestion floated by the EU&#39;s defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius earlier this month for a possible European defence force that could replace US troops on the continent.&nbsp;&quot;It will make things more complicated. I think (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will love it. So think again,&quot; Rutte said.&nbsp;On Greenland, Rutte said he had agreed with Trump that NATO would &quot;take more responsibility for the defence of the Arctic&quot;, but it was up to Greenlandic and Danish authorities to negotiate over US presence on the island.&nbsp;&quot;I have no mandate to negotiate on behalf of Denmark, so I didn&#39;t, and I will not,&quot; he said.&nbsp;Rutte reiterated that he had stressed to Trump the cost paid by NATO allies in Afghanistan after the US leader caused outrage by playing down their contribution.&nbsp;&quot;For every two American soldiers who paid the ultimate price, one soldier of an ally or a partner, a NATO ally or a partner country, did not return home,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;I know that America greatly appreciates all the efforts.&quot;

Europe

Mark Rutte warns Europe cannot defend itself without the US, dismissing calls for strategic autonomy. He urged defence spending, reaffirmed NATO’s nuclear umbrella and Article Five, rejected a European army, and said Washington remains committed.

'Keep dreaming': NATO chief says Europe can't defend itself without US

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump announced Thursday he will sue The New York Times over an unfavorable opinion poll and suggested that what he called &quot;fake&quot; surveys should be criminalized. Trump lashed out after the publication of a New York Times/Siena University poll finding only 40% approval for the 79-year-old Republican, in line with multiple other polls showing declining support a year into his second term. &quot;The Times Siena Poll...will be added to my lawsuit against The Failing New York Times,&quot; Trump said on his Truth Social platform. &quot;They will be held fully responsible for all of their Radical Left lies and wrongdoing!&quot; Expanding on the threat, Trump posted that &quot;Fake and Fraudulent Polling should be, virtually, a criminal offense.&quot; Trump has fired off multiple defamation lawsuits against media companies, including the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-says-will-file-lawsuit-against-bbc-by-tuesday" style="color:#0073e6;">BBC</a>, CNN, Wall Street Journal, CBS, and ABC. Some have ended in multi-million-dollar settlements. He first filed a <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-files-15-billion-defamation-lawsuit-against-nyt" style="color:#0073e6;">$15 billion defamation suit</a> against the Times in September 2025, claiming the leading US newspaper had run false stories to hurt his 2024 presidential campaign and reputation. The complaint was thrown out by a federal judge before being refiled in amended form in October. The Times responded by calling that new lawsuit &quot;an attempt to stifle independent reporting&quot; and &quot;intimidation.&quot; Thursday&#39;s Times/Siena poll was the latest opinion survey finding that Trump&#39;s popularity continues to slide over his handling of the economy and a military-style crackdown on illegal immigration. Times/Siena is considered to be among the most accurate and highest profile of US political surveys. Its latest findings were especially notable for laying out what the Times called the unraveling of Trump&#39;s winning 2024 coalition. Young and non-white voters who turned out for Trump in the election against Democrat Kamala Harris have now left him, the poll found, leaving him with his previous core base of older and white voters.

US president lashes out after publication of New York Times/Siena University poll finding only 40% approval for the 79-year-old Republican; Times responded by calling the new lawsuit "an attempt to stifle independent reporting" and "intimidation."


Trump to sue New York Times over unfavorable opinion poll

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for negotiations on the acquisition of Greenland while explicitly ruling out the use of force, using a sweeping address at the World Economic Forum to link US economic strength, energy policy and security guarantees to what he described as America&rsquo;s renewed global leadership.&nbsp;Speaking on the first anniversary of his inauguration, Trump said the United States was undergoing the &ldquo;fastest economic turnaround in its history,&rdquo; citing strong growth, low inflation and record stock market gains.&nbsp;&ldquo;When America booms, the entire world booms,&rdquo; he told business and political leaders gathered in Davos. &ldquo;The United States is now the hottest country in the world.&rdquo;&nbsp;Trump sharply criticized European climate and energy policies, branding them the &ldquo;Green New Scam&rdquo; and blaming them for economic decline.&nbsp;He said Europe had replaced affordable energy with wind power that &ldquo;destroys your land,&rdquo; adding: &ldquo;You&rsquo;re supposed to make money with energy, not lose it.&rdquo;&nbsp;The US president pointed to falling electricity production in Germany and restrictions on drilling in the North Sea as evidence of what he called policy failure, while accusing China of profiting from selling wind turbines abroad while relying on coal and gas at home.&nbsp;Turning to Greenland, Trump said the vast Arctic territory was a &ldquo;core national security interest&rdquo; for the United States and argued that only Washington could properly defend it.&nbsp;&ldquo;Every NATO ally has to defend its territory, but only the United States can secure Greenland,&rdquo; he said. Trump said the US had protected the island during World War II and later returned it to Denmark, calling that decision &ldquo;a mistake.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;I have tremendous respect for the people of Greenland and Denmark,&rdquo; Trump said, adding that he was seeking negotiations for Greenland&rsquo;s acquisition by the United States.&nbsp;He stressed, however, that he would not use military force. &ldquo;This would not be a threat to NATO,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It would greatly enhance the security of the entire alliance.&rdquo;&nbsp;Trump repeated complaints that NATO had treated the United States &ldquo;very unfairly,&rdquo; while saying he had done more than any previous president to strengthen the alliance by pushing members to increase defense spending.&nbsp;He also highlighted a major military buildup, including new aircraft, missile defense systems and what he described as a &ldquo;golden dome&rdquo; to protect the US and its allies.&nbsp;On foreign policy, Trump said he was meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later on Wednesday in an effort to end what he called a &ldquo;bloodbath&rdquo; in Ukraine, claiming 30,000 soldiers were dying each month.&nbsp;He said he had settled eight other conflicts in his first year back in office and argued that US military power was central to global stability.&nbsp;Trump closed by portraying the United States as &ldquo;back bigger, stronger and better than ever before,&rdquo; urging allies to follow Washington&rsquo;s economic and energy model while warning that American strength would determine the trajectory of the global economy.

The US president returns to Davos after six years as Europe rallies behind Denmark, rejecting any Washington claim to Greenland and warning against escalation.

Trump seeks Greenland negotiations, rules out force in Davos address

HONG KONG:&nbsp;Gold and silver hit record highs on Monday, while most equity markets fell after Donald Trump revived trade war fears by threatening several European nations with tariffs over their opposition to the United States buying Greenland. The US president has fanned already-rising geopolitical tensions this month by insisting that Washington would take control of the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-threatens-europe-with-tariffs-over-greenland-as-protesters-rally" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">North Atlantic island</a>, citing national security needs. And on Saturday, after talks failed to resolve &quot;fundamental disagreement&quot; over the Danish autonomous territory, he announced he would hit eight countries with fresh levies over their refusal to submit to his demands. He said he would impose 10% tariffs on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland from February 1 -- rising to 25% from June 1 -- if they did not agree to the takeover. Tariffs threats&nbsp;The announcement drew an immediate response, with a joint statement from the countries saying: &quot;Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.&quot; The move also threatened a trade deal signed between the United States and European Union last year, with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul telling ARD television: &quot;I don&#39;t believe that this agreement is possible in the current situation.&quot; &lsquo;Anti-coercion instrument&rsquo;Meanwhile, aides to French President Emmanuel Macron said he would ask the EU to activate a never-before-used &quot;anti-coercion instrument&quot; against Washington if Trump makes good on his threat. This measure allows for curbing imports of goods and services into the EU, a market of 27 countries with a combined population of 450 million. Bloomberg reported member states were discussing the possibility of retaliatory levies on &euro;93 billion ($108 billion) of US goods. Trade war&nbsp;The prospect of a trade war between the global economic heavyweights shook markets, with <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/gold-soars-past-4500-as-safehaven-demand-hits-record-levels" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">safe-haven</a> assets extending gains that had come on the back of Trump&#39;s threats against Iran last week and the US ouster of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/gold-price-hits-record-high-of-438376-on-us-rate-cut-bets" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gold</a>, a key go-to in times of turmoil, hit a peak of $4,690.59, while silver struck $94.12. On equity markets, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, and Wellington retreated, though there were gains in Seoul and Taipei.&nbsp;European and US futures sank. &lsquo;Next signpost&rsquo;The dollar also retreated against its peers, with the euro, sterling, and yen all higher. &quot;The next signpost is whether this moves from rhetoric to policy, and that is why the concrete dates matter,&quot; wrote Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets. &quot;On the European side, the decision path matters as much as the headline, because there is a difference between merely mentioning the anti-coercion instrument as a signal and formally pursuing it as action. &quot;Even if the immediate tariff threat gets negotiated down, the structural risk is that fragmentation keeps rising, with more politicized trade, more conditional supply chains, and higher policy risk for companies and investors.&quot; There was little major reaction to data showing China&#39;s economy expanded five percent last year, in line with its target.&nbsp; However, growth in the final three months slowed sharply from the previous quarter. Investors in Seoul and Taipei brushed off a warning from US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick that South Korean chipmakers and Taiwan firms not investing in the United States could be hit with 100% tariffs unless they boost output in the country. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Key figures at around 0230 GMT </h2>Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0% at 53,412.88 (break) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.7% at 26,670.01 Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1% at 4,099.23 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1628 from $1.1604 on Friday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3397 from $1.3382 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 157.54 yen from 158.07 yen Euro/pound: UP at 86.79 pence from 86.69 pence West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1% at $59.52 per barrel Brent North Sea Crude: FLAT at $64.15 per barrel New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2% at 49,359.33 (close) London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 10,235.29 (close)

Gold, a key go-to in times of turmoil, hit a peak of $4,690.59, while silver struck $94.12; on equity markets, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore and Wellington retreated; there were gains in Seoul and Taipei.

Gold, silver hit records and stocks fall as Trump fans trade fears

PARIS: The United States would also suffer if President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/eu-warns-against-trumps-tariffs-threat-over-greenland" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">impose tariffs</a> implements threats to impose tariffs on European countries opposing his plans to acquire Greenland, a French minister said on Sunday. &ldquo;In this escalation of tariffs, he has a lot to lose as well, as do his own farmers and industrialists,&rdquo; French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard told broadcasters Europe 1 and CNews. Trump has threatened to impose a 10 percent tariff from Feb. 1 on all goods sent to the United States from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland. All are part of the European Union, except the United Kingdom and Norway. That levy would then be increased to 25 percent on June 1 &ldquo;until such time as a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland,&rdquo; said Trump, who claims the United States needs the Arctic island, an autonomous Danish territory, for its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-says-us-needs-greenland-for-national-security" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">national security</a>. An extraordinary meeting of European Union ambassadors was called in Brussels for Sunday afternoon. &ldquo;The European Union has potential strike force&rdquo; from a commercial standpoint, Genevard said. &ldquo;This is a response that must be handled with caution, because this escalation could be deadly &mdash; but it could also be deadly for the United States.&rdquo; Any US takeover of Greenland would be &ldquo;unacceptable,&rdquo; the minister added. &ldquo;It is clear that the Europeans will not let the United States do as it pleases.&rdquo;

France's Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard answers journalists' questions after attending an inspection of imported foodstuffs at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Paris, on January 15, 2026 (AFP)

Trump threatens to impose sweeping tariffs on European imports, warning of a 10 percent levy from Feb. 1 that would rise to 25 percent by June unless a deal is reached over Greenland.

Trump also 'has a lot to lose' from threatened tariffs: French minister

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump&#39;s so-called &quot;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-announces-board-of-peace-formed-for-gaza" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Board of Peace</a>&quot; for postwar Gaza began to take shape Saturday, with the leaders of Egypt, Turkey, Argentina and Canada asked to join.&nbsp;The announcements from those leaders came after the US president named his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former British prime minister Tony Blair, and senior negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to the panel.&nbsp;Trump had already declared himself the chair of the body, as he promotes a controversial vision of economic development in the Palestinian territory, which lies in rubble after two-plus years of relentless Israeli bombardment.&nbsp;The moves came after a Palestinian committee of technocrats meant to govern Gaza held its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/gaza-governance-committee-begins-work" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">first meeting in Cairo</a>which was attended by Kushner, Trump&#39;s son-in-law who has partnered with Witkoff for months on the issue.&nbsp;In Canada, a senior aide to Prime Minister Mark Carney said he intended to accept Trump&#39;s invitation, while in Turkey, a spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had been asked to become a &quot;founding member&quot; of the board.&nbsp;Egypt&#39;s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Cairo was &quot;studying&quot; a request for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to join.&nbsp;Sharing an image of the invitation letter, Argentine President Javier Milei wrote on X that it would be &quot;an honor&quot; to participate in the initiative.&nbsp;In a statement sent to AFP, Blair said: &quot;I thank President Trump for his leadership in establishing the Board of Peace and am honored to be appointed to its Executive Board.&quot;&nbsp;Blair is a controversial figure in the Middle East because of his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Trump himself said last year that he wanted to make sure Blair was an &quot;acceptable choice to everybody.&quot;&nbsp;Blair spent years focused on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as representative of the &quot;Middle East Quartet&quot; -- the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia -- after leaving Downing Street in 2007.&nbsp;The White House said the Board of Peace will take on issues such as &quot;governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding and capital mobilization.&quot;&nbsp;The other members of the board so far are World Bank President Ajay Banga, an Indian-born American businessman; billionaire US financier Marc Rowan; and Robert Gabriel, a loyal Trump aide who serves on the US National Security Council.&nbsp;Trump has created a second &quot;Gaza executive board&quot; that appears designed to have a more advisory role.&nbsp;It was not immediately clear which world leaders were asked to be on each board.&nbsp;The White House, which said Friday that additional members would be named to both entities, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.&nbsp;Israel strikesWashington has said the Gaza plan had gone on to a second phase -- from implementing the ceasefire to disarming Hamas, whose October 2023 attack on Israel prompted the massive Israeli offensive.&nbsp;On Friday, Trump named US Major General Jasper Jeffers to head the International Stabilization Force, which will be tasked with providing security in Gaza and training a new police force to succeed Hamas.&nbsp;Jeffers, from special operations in US Central Command, in late 2024 was put in charge of monitoring a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, which has continued periodic strikes aimed at Hezbollah militants.&nbsp;Gaza native and former Palestinian Authority deputy minister&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/former-palestinian-deputy-minister-to-lead-gaza-governance-body-mediators" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ali Shaath</a>was earlier tapped to head the governing committee.&nbsp;Trump, a real estate developer, has previously mused about turning devastated Gaza into a Riviera-style area of resorts, although he has backed away from calls to forcibly displace the population.

Middle East

US President Donald Trump launched a “Board of Peace” for postwar Gaza, inviting leaders from Egypt, Turkey, Argentina and Canada, appointing senior US and international figures to oversee governance, reconstruction, security, and economic development efforts

Trump invites more leaders to join Gaza 'Board of Peace'

CARACAS:&nbsp;Venezuela&#39;s interim president on Friday dismissed businessman Alex Saab, accused of working as a front man for deposed leader Nicolas Maduro, from his post as minister of industry. In a Telegram message, Delcy Rodriguez announced the ministry would be combined with a commerce ministry and thanked Saab -- a Colombian-born Venezuelan &ndash; &ldquo;for his service to the Homeland; he will be taking on new responsibilities.&rdquo; Pressure from Washington&nbsp;The change comes amid <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/us-plans-for-venezuelan-oil-postmaduro-ouster" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">pressure from Washington</a> following the Jan. 3 US military raid that ousted Maduro. Saab, released in 2023 as part of a prisoner exchange with the United States, was appointed to office in 2024 by Maduro. A confidant of then-president Maduro, Saab was arrested during a 2020 refueling stopover in Cape Verde due to an Interpol notice over accusations he had served as a money launderer for the socialist leader. He was extradited to the United States, where he and his business partner, Alvaro Pulido, were charged with running a network that exploited food aid destined for Venezuela. Hero&rsquo;s welcome&nbsp;Upon his release, Saab was given a hero&#39;s welcome in Caracas.&nbsp; He assumed office as minister of industry in Oct. 2024. Saab&#39;s dismissal is among the latest key changes to Venezuela&#39;s government by Rodriguez since the US <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/deposed-venezuelan-leader-pleads-not-guilty-in-us-court" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">capture of Maduro</a> and his wife, Cilia Flores.

Change comes amid pressure from Washington following the Jan. 3 US military raid that ousted Maduro; Saab, released in 2023 as part of a prisoner exchange with the US, was appointed to office in 2024 by Maduro.

Venezuela interim leader sacks industry minister, a Maduro ally

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump thanked Iran&#39;s leadership on Friday after saying Tehran had called off the executions of <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/iranian-ambassador-says-recent-unrest-was-foreignbacked-terrorism-not-protest" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">hundreds of protesters</a> arrested in a brutal crackdown. &quot;I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!&quot; Trump wrote on his Truth Social network. Trump repeatedly threatened military action against Iran over the past two weeks to <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-says-iran-killings-stopped-tehran-says-no-plan-for-hanging" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">help protesters</a>, where rights groups say Iranian forces have killed thousands of people. But he is now holding off on intervening after saying on Wednesday that he had been told the killings had stopped. Trump also dismissed comments by Gulf officials on Thursday that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman led efforts to talk him out of an attack, and said that it was Iran&#39;s actions that swayed him. &quot;Nobody convinced me -- I convinced myself,&quot; Trump told reporters later Friday as he left the White House to head to Florida for the weekend. &quot;They didn&#39;t hang anyone. They cancelled the hangings. That had a big impact.&quot;

Central Asia

Trump thanked Iran for cancelling executions of hundreds of protesters, saying halted killings influenced his decision to pause military action, dismissing Gulf mediation claims and insisting Iran’s actions alone convinced him to hold back temporarily.

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