Behind the hostage deal

At this week's UN General Assembly, President Trump threatened to “annihilate” Iran, and defended a worldview where, as he put it, “to the victor belong the spoils.” But behind the scenes in New York, diplomacy is also underway. Top US and Iranian officials have held their first ...  Show more

President Trump is hosting Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a major summit today. Europe will be watching closely, and the EU itself has much to grapple with, from a resurgent far-right, to the threat from Russia, to managing its relationship with the US. European Commission Presiden ...  Show more

It’s been nearly seven weeks since 240 Israeli hostages were seized in a terrorist attack by Hamas. The attack was followed by intense retaliatory bombings of the Gaza strip by the Israeli army and thousands of Palestinians have been killed. Finally, a deal for the release of som ...  Show more

Hostages are at the heart of the fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, now in its fifth day. As of Monday night, 50 Israeli hostages had been released, as had 150 Palestinian prisoners. More releases were expected on Tuesday, under what Qatari mediators said was a deal ...

By Monday morning, more than fifty hostages held in Gaza had been released as part of a deal between Israel and Hamas. The deal, which includes a four-day pause in fighting, came seven weeks after the 7 October attacks on Israel. In exchange, more than a hundred Palestinian women ...  Show more

After weeks of <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/11/22/israel-strikes-a-hostage-deal-but-promises-the-gaza-war-isnt-over?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_n ...