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Israel, Hamas Reach Gaza Ceasefire Ahead Of Trump’s Inauguration—-Thecloudngr reports that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a deal for a ceasefire and release of hostages being held in Gaza, following separate meetings with Qatar’s prime minister.

A US official confirmed the deal.

Pressure to put an end to the fighting had ratcheted up in recent days, as mediators – Qatar, Egypt and the United States – intensified efforts to cement an agreement.

A source close to the talks said Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, was meeting Hamas negotiators in his office for a final push to seal the deal.

The source, who briefed on the talks later, said the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal was reached, following the Qatari PM’s meeting with Hamas negotiators and, separately, Israeli negotiators in his office.

The announcement comes after months of failed bids to end the deadliest war in Gaza’s history, and days ahead of the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, who immediately hailed the deal before it was officially announced by the White House.

Trump

“We have a deal for the hostages in the Middle East. They will be released shortly. Thank you!” Trump said on his Truth Social network.

Trump had warned Hamas of “hell to pay” if it did not free the remaining captives before he took office, and envoys from both his incoming administration and President Joe Biden’s outgoing one had been present at the latest negotiations.

Hamas sparked the war in Gaza by staging the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an official Israeli figures.

Palestinian militants also took 251 people hostage during the attack, 94 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed 46,707 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.

Sticking points

Among the sticking points in successive rounds of talks had been disagreements over the permanence of any ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the scale of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory.

The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, facing an Israeli ban on its activities set to take effect later this month, said it will continue providing much-needed aid.

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed to crush Hamas in retaliation for the October 7 attack, has opposed any post-war role for the militant group in the territory.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday Israel would ultimately “have to accept reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under the leadership of a reformed” Palestinian Authority, and embrace a “path toward forming an independent Palestinian state”.

He added that the “best incentive” to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace remained the prospect of normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Palestinian PM

Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Mustafa, speaking in Oslo, said the latest push for a Gaza ceasefire showed international pressure on Israel “does pay off”.

The October 7 attack on communities in southern Israel sparked uproar around the world, as did the scale of the suffering in Gaza from the retaliatory war.

World powers and international organisations have for months pushed for a ceasefire, which up until today had remained elusive.

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Nigerian Singer Tems Acquires Stake In American Football Club San Diego FC

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Tems Acquires Stake In American Football Club San Diego FC

Nigerian Singer Tems Acquires Stake In American Football Club San Diego FC—-San Diego FC (SDFC) has announced that Tems, the globally acclaimed, two-time GRAMMY Award-winning artist and Oscar-nominated singer, songwriter, and producer, has joined the club’s ownership group through her company, The Leading Vibe.

SDFC CEO Tom Penn expressed excitement about Tems joining, highlighting her influence as a cultural icon and her dedication to empowering young talent. “Her passion for creativity and community aligns perfectly with our mission,” Penn stated.

She joins a prestigious group of Club Partners, including Issa Rae, Juan Mata, Jocko Willink, and Manny Machado.

Her involvement is in collaboration with Pave Investments, an African private investment firm. Pave’s Chairman Tunde Folawiyo and Founding Director Kwamena Afful will also join the ownership group, further strengthening SDFC’s mission to inspire and empower communities through sport, culture, and opportunity.

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Car Ramming in Munich Injures 28 at Demonstration

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Car Ramming in Munich Injures 28

Police say the suspect is a 24-year-old Afghanistan national who has been apprehended at the scene of the incident, which the authorities believe was intentional.

28 people are reported to have been injured in Munich after a car ram into a crowd of demonstrators near the city’s centre, police said.

The authorities identified the suspect as a 24-year-old Afghanistan-born man currently in Germany as an asylum seeker, was arrested on-site and posed no further danger.

Bavaria’s Minister President Markus Söder said the incident was “presumably an attack”. Munich’s Mayor Dieter Reiter said that “many people have been injured, including children.”

Söder, the leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU), said in the aftermath of the attacks that the incident shows that “something has to change in Germany and quickly”.

“We cannot go from attack to attack and show concern, but we must actually change something,” he added.
 Local media, citing authorities, said that an extremist motivation could not be ruled out.

A police spokesperson said that the car approached a demonstration organised by Verdi, one of Germany’s largest trade unions, from behind, before overtaking a police vehicle and deliberately ploughing into the crowd.

Officers fired at the vehicle before the suspect was detained.

Police said they believed the suspect acted alone. He was previously known to the police for drug and theft incidents.

The injured are currently being treated in several hospitals in the city. However, Munich’s second mayor, Dominik Krause, confirmed that employees of city administration were among those injured.

Many of the demonstration participants brought their children to the event, Krause said.

No further information about possible deaths has been released at this time.

Deep shock over ‘senseless’ act

The incident is the latest in a string of attacks in which the suspect was an asylum seeker, including one three weeks ago in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg in which a man and a two-year-old boy were killed.

Söder’s party, the sister party of the CDU who are predicted to win Germany’s upcoming elections, has pushed for tougher immigration and asylum policies in the wake of such attacks.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a crackdown in response to the incident, saying that the perpetrator must “leave the country.” Friedrich Merz, the frontrunner in Germany’s election and leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said, “Everyone must feel safe again in our country. Something had to change in Germany.”

Other German politicians reacted to the incident, with Greens chancellor candidate Robert Habeck calling the act of violence “senseless.”

“It is important that the background to the attack is now quickly clarified,” Habeck said.

Alice Weidel, the co-leader of the far-right AfD, which is currently second in the polls, called for a “turning point” in migration and asylum policy.

Verdi’s branch in Munich said it was “deeply shocked” by the incident, with chairman Frank Werneke calling it a “difficult moment for all colleagues.”

The Bavarian Municipal Employers’ Association said that the right to strike is essential to society and that it stood with the trade union in such moments.

The Bavarian city is set to host scores of world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Vice President JD Vance, for the Munich Security Conference from Friday to Sunday.

Authorities confirmed there is no known link between the incidents.

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