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Five key takeaways from Modi-Trump talks.

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  Despite the hype, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first visit to Washington under Donald Trump's second term was a sober, business-first affair - unsurprising for a working visit, which lacks the pomp of a state visit. Trump announced expanded US military sales to India from 2025, including F-35 jets, along with increased oil and gas exports to narrow the trade deficit. Both sides agreed to negotiate a trade deal and finalise a new defence framework. He also confirmed the US had approved the extradition of  Tahawwur Rana , a Chicago businessman accused of playing a role in the 2008 terror attack in Mumbai. "That's a  lot of deliverables  for an administration less than a month old," Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center's South Asia Institute in Washington told the BBC "Overall, both sides seem comfortable continuing Biden-era collaborations, particularly in tech and defence, though many will be rebranded under Trump." Still, major challenges...
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Trump’s Gaza ‘Riviera’ vision needed an Arab reality check. This royal visit only encouraged it.

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It was supposed to be the moment US President Donald Trump’s vision of bringing peace to the Middle East by redeveloping the war-torn Gaza strip into “Riviera” style premium housing and permanently relocating its more than 2 million residents finally got a reality check. Instead, it was the moment the true scale of the challenge facing America’s Arab allies became clear.  When King Abdullah II of Jordan met Trump at the Oval Office on Tuesday, there were widespread expectations that his visit – as the first Arab leader to meet the US president since his reelection – might help to rein in some of the more far-fetched elements of Trump’s vision.  (To recap, Trump apparently envisions the US taking control of the territory, rehoming millions of Palestinian refugees in Jordan and Egypt, replacing the rubble of Gaza with glass towers with Mediterranean views and inviting “the world’s people” to move in.) But it became clear almost as soon as Trump began talking at their joint p...
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Wrongfully detained American teacher Marc Fogel meets with Trump after being released from Russia in an ‘exchange’.

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Marc Fogel, an American teacher detained for more than three years in Russia, was welcomed back to the US by President Donald Trump on Tuesday night after the White House secured his release in an “exchange.” Fogel arrived at the White House late Tuesday draped in an American flag and was greeted by Trump, who said it was “an honor to have played a small role” in his release. “Thank you all, and I love our country, and I’m so happy to be back here. And I wish I could articulate it better,” said Fogel, who appeared overwhelmed with emotion as he spoke in the Diplomatic Reception Room.   The deal to release Fogel, who was designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department, was negotiated by Trump, Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, “and the President’s advisers,” according to a statement from national security adviser Mike Waltz. The statement did not provide any details about the “exchange,” other than to say it was “a show of good faith from ...
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Trump warns ‘all hell’ will break loose if Gaza hostages not returned

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US President Donald Trump warned Monday that “all hell” would break loose if every Israeli hostage was not released from Gaza within days, after Hamas threatened to postpone further exchanges under a fragile ceasefire deal it said Israel was violating. The truce that went into effect on January 19 largely halted more than 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip and saw five groups of Israeli hostages freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli custody.   But tensions have been running high since a shock proposal by Trump to take over the Gaza Strip and remove its more than 2 million inhabitants. Trump said Monday he would call for the end of the ceasefire if every Israeli hostage was not released by noon on Saturday.   “But as far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday 12 o’clock – I think it’s an appropriate time – I would say cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out,” Trump told reporters at the White Ho...
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Trump warns ‘all hell’ will break loose if Gaza hostages not returned.

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US President Donald Trump warned Monday that “all hell” would break loose if every Israeli hostage is not released from Gaza within days, after Hamas threatened to postpone further exchanges under a fragile ceasefire deal it said Israel was violating. The truce that went into effect on 19 January largely halted more than 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip and saw five groups of Israeli hostages freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli custody.  But tensions have been running high since a shock proposal by Trump to take over the Gaza Strip and remove its more than two million inhabitants. Trump said Monday he would call for the end of the ceasefire if every Israeli hostage was not released by noon on Saturday.  “But as far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday 12 o’clock—I think it’s an appropriate time—I would say cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out,” Trump told reporters at the White House. The cea...
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Two tourists died in Sri Lanka after hostel fumigated for bedbugs, police say.

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  Two tourists have died from suspected pesticide poisoning after their hostel in   Sri Lanka   was fumigated for   bedbugs , Britain’s PA Media news agency has reported. Ebony McIntosh, a 24-year-old digital marketing and social media manager from the English city of Derby, and 26-year-old Nadine Raguse from Germany were both staying in the Miracle Colombo City hostel in the Sri Lankan capital, PA reported Sri Lanka Police as saying on Thursday. They both fell ill after a room at the hostel was fumigated to treat bedbugs, Sri Lanka Police spokesman Buddhika Manatunga told PA, and McIntosh was hospitalized on Saturday. Officers are investigating whether the two women were poisoned by pesticides, the Manatunga said. Related article He added that an autopsy to determine McIntosh’s cause of death will take place after her family arrives in Sri Lanka on Monday. Manatunga said the hostel, which is currently closed, will remain shut until then, according to PA. A spokesper...
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Trump says India 'will do what's right' on illegal immigration.

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  US President Donald Trump has said India "will do what's right" on the deportation of  illegal migrants following a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The leaders spoke on Monday, their first conversation since Trump's inauguration last  week. They discussed immigration, security issues and trade in what the White House  described as a "productive call". Trump told reporters after the call that Modi was likely to visit the United States  "sometime in February". Since taking office on 20 January, Trump has announced a number of  immigration-related executive orders, paving the way for a widespread effort to crack  down on undocumented migrants in the US. According to the Pew Research Center, there are an estimated 725,000 undocumented  Indian immigrants in the US as of 2024. Last week, India's foreign ministry said Delhi would take in Indians overstaying  "anywhere in the world" as long as their documents were shared and n...
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OpenAI says Chinese rivals using its work for their AI apps

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  The maker of ChatGPT, OpenAI, has complained that rivals, including those in China, are using its work to make rapid advances in developing their own artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The status of OpenAI - and other US firms - as the world leaders in AI  has been dramatically undermined this week  by the sudden emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese app that can emulate the performance of ChatGPT, apparently at a fraction of the cost. Bloomberg has reported that Microsoft is investigating whether data belonging to OpenAI - which it is a major investor in - has been used in an unauthorised way. The BBC has contacted Microsoft and DeepSeek for comment. OpenAI's concerns have been echoed by the recently appointed White House "AI and crypto czar", David Sacks. Speaking on Fox News, he suggested that DeepSeek may have used the models developed by OpenAI to get better, a process called knowledge distillation. "There's substantial evidence that what DeepSeek did here is ...
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Australian police find explosives for possible antisemitic attack

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  Authorities in Sydney are investigating whether explosives discovered in a caravan were intended for an antisemitic attack. The explosives could have caused a 40-metre-wide blast and "significant damage,"  police said on Wednesday, adding that the threat was contained. A note was found in the caravan that displayed antisemitic messages, investigators said. "This is the discovery of a potential mass casualty event," New South Wales Premier  Chris Minns said. New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson told a news conference  that the caravan was discovered on 19 January in Dural, a suburb of north-west Sydney. The investigation became public on Wednesday after details of it were leaked to the  media. There was "some indication that the explosives might be used in some form of  antisemitic attack," Mr Hudson said, but he wouldn't be drawn on the possible target. He said officers had "mitigated the risk as much as possible" but str...
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