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US President Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza will imperil attempts to forge landmark ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel and fuel anti-American sentiment in the oil-rich kingdom, analysts said.Trump’s proposal to redevelop Gaza and oust the more than two million Palestinians living in the territory prompted a global backlash and enraged the Arab world, making it difficult for the Saudis to consider normalisation.”If this is going to be his policy, he shut the door on Saudi recognition of Israel,” James Dorsey, researcher at the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore, told AFP.Recognition of Israel by Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest sites, is seen as a grand prize of Middle East diplomacy intended to calm chronic tensions in the region.But Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter and the Middle East’s largest economy, now faces the spectre of instability on its borders if neighbouring Jordan and Egypt suddenly house large numbers of Gaza exiles.At the same time, Riyadh must maintain cordial relations with Washington, its long-time security guarantor and bulwark against key regional player Iran.”When it comes to security, Saudi Arabia has nowhere to go but to Washington,” Dorsey said. “There’s nobody else. It’s not China. They’re not willing and they’re not able. “And post-Ukraine, do you want to rely on Russia?”- Quick reaction -The Saudis were engaged in tentative talks on normalisation via the United States until the outbreak of the Gaza war, when they paused the negotiations and hardened their position.They reacted with unusual speed to Trump’s proposal, made during an appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington.About an hour after his comments, at around 4:00 am Saudi time, the foreign ministry posted a statement on X that “reaffirms its unequivocal rejection of… attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land”.In the same statement, the Saudis rejected Netanyahu’s comment that normalisation was “going to happen”, repeating their insistence there would be no ties without a Palestinian state.Trump’s plan carries real risks for Riyadh, which is throwing everything at an ambitious post-oil economic makeover that relies on stability to attract business and tourism.If Gazans are displaced to Egypt and Jordan, it “will weaken two countries essential to regional stability and particularly to Saudi security”, said Saudi researcher Aziz Alghashian.”Trump’s plan, coupled with Netanyahu’s approach, poses major risks for Saudi Arabia. “It highlights that they are not true partners for peace in Riyadh’s eyes — especially Netanyahu, who appears to want all the benefits without making concessions.”- ‘Making normalisation harder’ -Trump’s declarations “will further destabilise the region and fuel anti-American sentiment, particularly in Saudi Arabia”, said Anna Jacobs, of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.”He is making Saudi-Israel normalisation harder, not easier.”Andreas Krieg of King’s College London said Saudi Arabia would not agree meekly to normalisation if ordered by Washington.Prior to the Gaza war, the Saudis were negotiating for security guarantees and help building a civilian nuclear programme in return for Israeli ties.”They are not a US vassal state and so they’re not just taking a diktat from Trump,” said Andreas Krieg of King’s College London.”And I think it will stand firm on their positions, willing to negotiate here and there. But the principal red lines remain.”Nobody in Saudi Arabia has an interest in selling out Palestinian statehood. That is the last and the most important bargaining chip that the Saudis have in terms of authority and legitimacy in the Arab and Muslim world.”But the question is how Saudi Arabia and its 39-year-old de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, will proceed.”I don’t think that the Saudis will take any major steps now,” said Krieg.”They obviously have their own levers that they can use for pressure on America, particularly in the energy sector. I don’t think the Saudis will want to use it at this point.”

Inflation picked up in China last month, official figures showed Sunday, as the Lunar New Year holiday boosted January spending.China has struggled to raise consumption and stave off deflation for months as sluggish spending, a property slump and ballooning local government debt all weigh on growth.The consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, …

China inflation picks up after Lunar New Year spending boost Read More »

The families of Thai farm workers held hostage in Gaza for over a year wept with joy and hugged their loved ones as they arrived in Bangkok on Sunday. The five Thais smiled as they walked into the arrivals hall at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport after being freed on January 30, as part of a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the Gaza war.The five — Watchara Sriaoun, Pongsak Tanna, Sathian Suwannakham, Surasak Lamnau and Bannawat Saethao — landed in Bangkok at 7:30 am (0030 GMT) on Sunday and were met by a small group of overjoyed relatives and officials from the ministry of foreign affairs.Pongsak told reporters that he was at a “loss for words” as he saw his family.”I thank everyone who helped us make it out. We wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for them. We can finally return to our motherland,” he said.Somboon Saethao, the father of Bannawat, said he was “so happy” and that his family would welcome his son home with a traditional Thai ceremony.”I don’t think I want him to be far from home again,” Somboon, who comes from Nan province in northern Thailand, told AFP.Bannawat moved to Israel nine months before his kidnap in search of a better income for the family, he added.Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said it was “very inspiring” to witness their return, and that officials would monitor their reintegration into Thai society, “focusing on their mental health”.”We never gave up on these hostages,” he said during a press conference at the airport.The five returnees are now making their way to their hometowns.Boonsong Tapchaiyut, a labour ministry official at the airport Sunday, said that each hostage would receive a one-time payment of around $18,000 (600,000 baht), along with a monthly salary of $900 until the age of 80, to ensure they did not have to return to Israel.When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, 31 Thais were abducted, with 23 released by the end of that year and two confirmed dead in May.One Thai national is still believed to be alive in Gaza.The handover of the five hostages last month in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza was marked by chaotic scenes as Islamic Jihad and Hamas fighters struggled to hold back hundreds of spectators.After the release Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said she was “elated” that they were out of captivity and thanked Israel, as well as Qatar, Egypt, Iran, Turkey and the United States for their work to secure the releases.A total of 46 Thai workers have been killed since October 2023, according to the foreign ministry in Bangkok, the majority in the Hamas attack and some by rockets fired by Lebanon’s Hezbollah.Thailand’s labour ministry said last week that the country will expand its workforce in Israel by 13,000.

Sony PlayStation’s online services came back online on Saturday, the Japanese group said, after a 24-hour outage frustrated gamers around the world. PlayStation Network “has been restored. You should be able to access online features without any problems now,” said a statement on X around midnight GMT Sunday, 24 hours after a message acknowledged users were experiencing “difficulty launching games, apps or network features.” “Sorry for the inconvenience!” the post added, without providing further details on the reasons for the outage. The network’s failure prevented many owners of Sony consoles including the PS4 and the PS5 from playing multiplayer games such as the hugely popular “Fortnite” and “Call of Duty.”  The specialized site DownDetector.com had reported that users’ difficulties peaked sharply around 7:00 pm US Eastern time on Friday (midnight GMT Saturday), before falling steadily, but not quite returning to normal levels. Players expressed impatience and anger on social media during the outage. One user said on X that it was “criminal” to have a PlayStation outage on a Friday evening, but another quipped more equably that it was time for him to reintroduce himself to the woman he married five years ago. 

He has no foreign policy experience but sports a reputation as a talented negotiator unafraid to speak his mind. And Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has already made his mark.A close friend to the US president, 67-year-old real estate magnate Witkoff is credited with playing a key role in negotiating the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and the Hamas armed group. The truce took effect January 19, on the eve of Trump’s inauguration for a second term in the White House. This week, Witkoff found himself in the spotlight, defending the US president’s stunning suggestion that he wanted to “take over” the Gaza Strip and move its two million Palestinian inhabitants elsewhere.”When the president talks about cleaning it out, he talks about making it habitable, and this is a long-range plan,” Witkoff told reporters at the White House just ahead of a joint news conference by Trump and visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”And this guy knows real estate,” National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, appearing alongside the special envoy, said with a smile.  Speaking later that day on Fox News, Witkoff continued laying out the administration’s justification for the notion of a large-scale relocation of Palestinians from Gaza — even as the idea drew fire in the region, with some calling it tantamount to ethnic cleansing.”A better life is not necessarily tied to the physical space that you’re in today,” he said, seeming to gloss over the complexities of the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Trump had nothing but praise for Witkoff at the White House news conference.”Steve, stand up, Steve, please. What a job you’ve done. Quite a good job. You’ve done a fantastic job,” he said.It was Witkoff, a billionaire like his friend and a regular golfing partner of his, who was called on to introduce the new president at a celebratory gathering at a Washington arena following his January 20 inauguration. – ‘Not a real estate deal’ -Though a complete neophyte in the world of diplomacy, Witkoff was named as special envoy to the Middle East only a week after Trump’s election, a reflection of the two men’s close relationship. Eight years earlier, after Trump was elected for his first term, he named another diplomatic novice — his son-in-law Jared Kushner — to the same position.Even before Trump took office, Witkoff joined in the Gaza ceasefire talks, taking part in a final round of negotiations in early January alongside Brett McGurk, the Middle East advisor to then-president Joe Biden. It was a rare collaboration between an outgoing and incoming US administration.After attending the talks in the Qatari capital of Doha, Witkoff flew to Israel on a Saturday — interrupting Netanyahu on the Jewish Sabbath — in an urgent bid to finalize an agreement.  Then on January 29, Witkoff traveled to Gaza, much of which has been reduced to rubble after 15 months of an Israeli offensive launched in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack.He was the first US official to visit the territory since the war began.In an article published Thursday by Foreign Policy journal, Steven Cook, an expert with the Council on Foreign Relations, said that Witkoff’s lack of diplomatic experience could be an advantage, giving him a fresh perspective.Still, he added: “The Israel-Palestine conflict is not a real estate deal.”Born on March 15, 1957, in the New York borough of the Bronx, Witkoff made his fortune in real estate, first as a corporate lawyer and then at the head of big realty firms. In 1997, he founded the Witkoff Group, which describes itself as “one part developer, one part investor (and) one part landscape-changer.” His wife and a son work there.A graduate of Hofstra University near New York, Witkoff has several children, including one who died in 2011, aged 22, from an OxyContin overdose. 

Fakhri Barghouti grimaced in pain as an exultant crowd lifted him onto their shoulders next to his son Shadi, released from an Israeli jail on Saturday under a Gaza ceasefire deal.Though Barghouti, 71, shed tears of joy at seeing his son, he was also in physical pain. The night before, Israeli forces stormed his family home in the occupied West Bank village of Kobar, warning him not to celebrate his son’s release and assaulting him, he said.”They entered after midnight, smashed everything, took me into a side room and beat me before leaving,” Barghouti told AFP.”I was taken to the hospital, where they found that I had a broken rib.”Israeli forces conducted several raids on the family homes of prisoners about to be released, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group.When asked by AFP about about Barghouti’s allegations and the raid in Kobar village, the military said it was “not aware of such an incident involving violence during the forces’ activity in the area overnight as claimed”.Earlier the military had said in a statement it “conveyed messages that celebrations and processions in support of terrorism are prohibited during the release of the terrorists”.Shadi Barghouti, 47, had been imprisoned since 2003 and was serving a 27-year sentence for weapons possession, membership in an illegal organisation and complicity in murder, according to Israel’s justice ministry.In total, 183 Palestinians were released on Saturday in exchange for three Israelis held in Gaza since the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.Of those released, 41 returned to the West Bank city of Ramallah, four were released in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, 131 were sent to Gaza and seven were deported to Egypt.- ‘Long live the resistance’ -In Ramallah, a crowd of hundreds came to see the released prisoners, waving Palestinian flags, wearing keffiyeh scarves and clapping as the bus with the inmates approached.The police cordon struggled to keep the crowd away from the prisoners who stepped off the bus one by one, greeted by cheers and chants.Further back, women and children standing on the steps of the building where the prisoners were to undergo health checks struggled to keep their composure, fighting back tears as they caught glimpses of their loved ones.At the front, a group of young men called to their friend as they recognised him.Shadi Barghouti, at first protected from the crowd by a wall of relatives, eventually began to talk to the crowd and reporters while hoisted on his relatives’ shoulders.”We always dreamed that this would happen, that one day the prison director would be forced to open the gates,” he said, still in a grey prison tracksuit.”Long live the resistance!” he shouted as he shook hands with those around him.His father, Fakhri Barghouti, was himself released in a similar prisoner exchange, when in 2011 Israel freed 1,027 Palestinians in exchange for the return of its soldier Gilad Shalit.Fakhri Barghouti had been serving a life sentence for participating in the killing of an Israeli soldier, among other charges.- ‘Brutality’ -One prisoner was helped off the bus in the arms of a medic while another held his oxygen bottle.Abdullah al-Zaghari, head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, said that seven of the freed prisoners were transferred to hospital.”All the prisoners who were released today are in need of medical care, treatment and examinations as a result of the brutality they were subjected to during the past months,” he added.In the crowd, Abbas al-Sharbati was waiting with relatives for his cousin Yasser al-Sharbati’s release.Yasser, 53, was arrested in 2003 and is set to meet his grown-up children who were babies at the time of his arrest, including his 23-year-old daughter who is now married.Like most freed prisoners’ relatives, Yasser’s family was also told not to celebrate his return.”The occupation warned us not to display any signs of celebration when welcoming the prisoner,” Abbas al-Sharbati said.”We have informed all our family members, children, and young men that we will avoid any festivities to ensure everyone’s safety. We don’t want any problems for Yasser or for us.”Earlier, Israeli soldiers had distributed fliers in the villages of the released prisoners, warning in Arabic that “We will visit you at every celebration of the release of prisoners, whatever it may be. You have been warned”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered negotiators on Saturday to return to Qatar to discuss the fragile ceasefire in the war with Hamas, after the fifth hostage-prisoner swap agreed under the truce was completed. He repeated his vow to crush Hamas and free all remaining hostages, denouncing the militant group as “monsters” after the handover of three captives in Gaza who appeared emaciated and were forced to speak on a stage.The hospital treating the three Israeli hostages released from Gaza on Saturday said Or Levy and Eli Sharabi were in a “poor medical condition,” while Ohad Ben Ami was in a “severe nutritional state”.Of the 183 inmates released by Israel in return, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group said seven required hospitalisation and decried “brutality” and mistreatment in jail.While 41 of those released returned to the West Bank city of Ramallah, four were released in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, 131 were sent to Gaza and seven were deported to Egypt.- ‘Doesn’t look well’ -The fifth exchange since the truce took effect last month came as negotiations were set to begin on the next phase of the ceasefire, which is intended to pave the way for a permanent end to the war.But senior Hamas official Bassem Naim on Saturday said Israel’s “procrastination and lack of commitment in implementing the first phase… exposes this agreement to danger and thus it may stop or collapse”.He also described, in an interview with AFP, the condition of the hostages as “acceptable under the difficult circumstances that the Gaza Strip was living”.Saturday’s swap followed remarks by President Donald Trump suggesting the United States should take control of the Gaza Strip and clear out its inhabitants, sparking global outrage.The three Israeli hostages, who were all seized by militants during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war, “crossed the border into Israeli territory” on Saturday, the Israeli military said.With their return, 73 out of 251 hostages taken during the attack now remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.Jubilant crowds in Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv cheered as they watched live footage of the hostages, flanked by masked gunmen, brought on stage in Deir el-Balah before being handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross.But the joy at their release was quickly overtaken by concern for their condition, with all three appearing thin and pale.Sharabi’s cousin Yochi Sardinayof said “he doesn’t look well”.”I’m sure he will now receive the right treatment and he will get stronger… He has an amazing family, and we will all be there for him.”- ‘Cruel spectacle’ -The choreographed handover included forced statements from the three on stage, in which they stated support for finalising the next phases of the Israel-Hamas truce.The “disturbing images” from Gaza show that “we must get them all out”, said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group.The ICRC meanwhile called on “all parties, including the mediators, to take responsibility to ensure that future releases are dignified and private”.Sharabi, 52, and Ben Ami, a 56-year-old dual German citizen, were both abducted from their homes in kibbutz Beeri when militants stormed the small community near the Gaza border.Sharabi lost his wife and two daughters in the attack.Levy was abducted from the Nova music festival, where gunmen murdered his wife.In the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, relatives and supporters gathered to welcome inmates released by Israel, embracing them and cheering as they stepped off the bus that brought them from nearby Ofer prison.But Fakhri Barghouti, 71, whose son was among the prisoners, told AFP that Israeli soldiers had stormed his home and beaten him, warning him not to celebrate his son’s release.”They entered after midnight, smashed everything, took me into a side room, and beat me before leaving”, Barghouti told AFP.”I was taken to the hospital, where it was found that I had a broken rib.”The Israeli military said in a statement it had “conveyed messages that celebrations and processions in support of terrorism are prohibited during the release of the terrorists”, but did not give an immediate response when asked about Barghouti’s allegations.- ‘Slow killing’ -Israel’s prison service said that “183 terrorists… were released” to the West Bank, annexed east Jerusalem and Gaza.The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group said “all the prisoners who were released today are in need of medical care… as a result of the brutality they were subjected” to in jail.Hamas in a statement accused Israel of undertaking a “policy of… the slow killing of prisoners”.Gaza militants have so far freed 21 hostages, including 16 Israelis in exchange for hundreds of mostly Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails.Five Thai hostages freed last week from Gaza were discharged on Saturday from a hospital in central Israel, where they had been treated since their release, and were headed back to their home country.The ceasefire, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, aims to secure the release of 17 more hostages during the remainder of the 42-day first phase.Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.Israel’s retaliation has killed at least 48,181 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.