Author: ALJAZEERA

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Israel as he seeks to seal a truce deal to bring the war in Gaza to a halt. Following meetings the previous day in Egypt and Qatar, both mediating between Hamas and Israel, Blinken landed in Jerusalem on Wednesday on his fifth tour of the tense region since October last year. He will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, among others, to discuss the Palestinian group’s response to the proposed deal. Hamas has said previously that any deal must bring about a definitive end to the…

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Dhaka, Bangladesh – Amid allegations of Indian interference in national elections, there’s a call to boycott Indian goods in Bangladesh. Last week, a supplier for the Indian consumer goods giant Marico faced a chilly reception in Dhaka’s Panthapath area. Grocery shops, usually eager to stock their shelves with its hair oil, cooking oil, body lotion and other products, refused to take new deliveries. “Sales of Parachute oil, a Marico bestseller, have plummeted to almost zero in recent weeks,” local shopkeeper Aman Ullah said. “Indian products just aren’t moving. We’re stuck with unsold stock and won’t be restocking.” Another shop owner who…

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Jordan have reached their first Asian Cup final after defeating South Korea 2-0. Jordan’s Yazan al-Naimat opened the score 53 minutes into the game, lifting the ball over the keeper. Mousa Al-Tamari doubled the advantage with an incredible individual effort. South Korea dominated possession in the end, but it was not enough. Even with one of the star players on the global stage in attack, Son Heung-min, they were unable to breach the Jordan goal. Prior to the tournament, Jordan had never made the semifinals. They’ve only twice reached the quarterfinals before this edition. Now, they have knocked out one…

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The United States House of Representatives has rejected a Republican-led bill to provide $17.6bn in assistance to Israel as a wider bipartisan bill that would also help Ukraine and ensure more money for border security looked to be in trouble as well. The Tuesday vote on the Israel bill, which needed a two-thirds majority to advance, was largely along party lines. Aid for Israel – one of the largest recipients of US foreign aid – has traditionally received strong bipartisan support. However, the bill’s opponents said it was a Republican ploy to distract from their opposition to the $118bn Senate…

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Mediator Qatar says Hamas has given a “generally positive” response to a proposed truce deal with Israel, as the Palestinian group reiterated its demand for an end to the Israeli assault on Gaza. During a press conference on Tuesday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani described Hamas’s reaction to the proposal as “generally positive”, without providing more details. Blinken said Hamas’s response to the proposal brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States has been shared with Israeli officials. Blinken is on a lightning tour of the Middle…

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Jeanine Hennis-Plasscha urges cessation of attacks, ‘reining in armed actors operating outside state control’.The head of the United Nations political mission in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, has told the Security Council she expects to step down at the end of May, adding the country was “on a knife edge”. The former Dutch defence minister was appointed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in late 2018. The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq aims to advance inclusive political dialogue and helps coordinate humanitarian and development aid. “For Iraq to further continue on its path of stability and progress, an enabling environment will prove essential.…

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The organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest are under increasing pressure to exclude Israel from this year’s competition as it wages a devastating war on Gaza. More than 20 politicians wrote to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) on Tuesday saying Israel’s participation in the contest “whitewashes a regime that is carrying out ethnic cleansing in Palestine and committing war crimes and genocide”. European Parliament members and politicians from Spain’s left-wing Podemos party are among the signatories of the letter seen by Al Jazeera. The annual contest is set to take place in May at Sweden’s Malmo Arena after Swedish singer…

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