The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), on Monday night, backed the plan of the American President, Donald Trump, for the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
The approval was by 13 positive votes and two abstentions.
The only abstentions are Russia and China, both permanent members of the 15- member council, who said they did not want to support a plan that was bereft of details, hence vulnerable to violation.
Ironically, both Hamas and Israel, whose two- year war had led to the plan, rejected core elements of the plan.
Hamas and other resistance factions in Gaza said they would not disarm until the occupation and annexation of their territories by Israel ends.
Israel, on its part, said it totally rejects any prospects of a Palestinian State.
The Trump plan envisages the creation and operationalisation of a Board of Peace headed by Trump himself,to oversee the administration of Gaza by a technical committee of Palestinians, the creation, operationalization and deployment of an In International Stabilisation Force (ISF), the reconstruction of Gaza and the training and operationalization of a Palestinian Police Force.
Trump said that the Board of Peace would comprise credible international figures, while the ISF would soon deploy to keep the peace in Gaza.
Bangladesh
The Bangladeshi government says India is obligated under international law to extradite former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was yesterday sentenced to death by a Dhaka Tribunal, for crimes against humanity.
It denied the charges of witch-hunt by Hasina who fled the country to India during the turbulent days of students – led street protests that toppled her administration.
More than 1,400 protesters were killed in the protests which began after her administration introduced a quota – based employment policy that the youth said put them at a serious disadvantage.
America
US Congress Votes On Epstein Files Today
The House of Representatives, otherwise called Congress, is set to vote later today on the opening/ release of the controversial Epstein files.
The vote is coming after Trump, in a major volte- face, urged members of his party( Republicans) to vote in affirmation of the release / opening.
Before his volte- face, Trump had accused Democrats of using the case of the Epstein files, which he described as a hoax, to target him.
But he had to change position after many of his party members had publicly threatened to vote against his position.
The files relate to Jeffrey Epstein, a serial sex offender who died in prison, allegedly by suicide, while serving a term for the rape of a teenager and another woman.
Democrats had released 2,300 pages of the files in which Trump was mentioned in at least three places.
Trump has repeatedly denied any relationship with the late offender but media publication of their affectionate mutual communications, including Trump’s affectionate personal letter to Epstein on his 50th birthday has done little to douse suspicion that the President is admitting to far less than he knows.
Trump.has threatened to order the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to probe the alleged links of top Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, to the Epstein saga.
The crucial Congress Votes comes up later today.
United Kingdom
UK To Ban Ticket Touting
The United Kingdom (UK) says it is at the threshold of banning the resale of tickets above their face value.
The move is to check what it called ticket touting, a process by which syndicates buy up tickets for top grade shows for resale, at times, at far in excess of the face value,( cost of purchase) to fans and spectators.
It said that by the ban, nobody would resell a ticket for more than the original cost of purchasing it.
Details of the new policy are to be unveiled today by the Sir Keir Starmer government.
America
America To Sell Stealth Bombers To Saudi Arabia
The United States of America is set to sell advanced fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.
The President Donald Trump, made the disclosure to the media.
He gave no details.
However, the disclosure comes against the backdrop of the imminent visit of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia to America, the first official trip by a Saudi Arabia government to America in seven years.
Trump, during his first and subsisting second terms of office, made the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia his first choice of country to visit.
During his visit earlier this year to Saudi Arabia, Trump claimed that the tiny but oil- rich nation had pledged to invest more than $300billion in the American economy.
During the visit of the Crown Prince, hopefully this week, America is expected to offer the kingdom support for its non- military nuclear programme and help beef up its military to whittle the influence of Iran, while it will seek to encourage Riyadh to join the Abraham Accord , a coalition or grouping of Arab and Islamic countries that recognize and signed peace deals with the state of Israel.
The tiny kingdom, in spite of being a close ally of America and the West, has resisted overtures to join the group, citing the poor treatment of Palestinians by the Jewish state.
