US President Joe Biden and other leaders of the global community have hailed the ceasefire deal brokered between Israel and Hamas aimed at ending the 15- month brutal war in Gaza.

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire starting on Sunday to halt the war in Gaza, Qatar’s Prime Minister said on Wednesday.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said the deal will lead to the release of Israeli captives and a surge in humanitarian aid to Gaza. The deal is expected to take effect from Sunday January 19.

Speaking after the deal was announced the US president said his team and that the in-coming President Donald Trump and Trump worked ‘as one’

The deal involves a full and complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of all the hostages held by Hamas.

Biden said the first phase will allow Palestinians to return home to their neighbourhoods and let more humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip

The outgoing US president has said key members of his administration “worked relentlessly” to get the deal.

“I’d also note that this deal was developed and negotiated under my administration, but its terms will be implemented for the most part by the next administration,” he told reporters at the White House.

“For the past few days, we’ve been speaking as one team,” Biden said.

Gaza-based Palestinian militant group Hamas said the ceasefire deal was due to Palestinian ‘steadfastness’

It said its ceasefire deal with Israel to halt the war in Gaza was the result of the “steadfastness” of the Palestinian people and its own “resistance”.

“The ceasefire agreement is a result of the legendary steadfastness of our great Palestinian people and our valiant resistance in the Gaza Strip for over 15 months,” the group said, adding that it paved “the way towards the realisation of our people’s aspirations for liberation and return”.

Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said the agreement was reached “after more than a year of strenuous efforts” mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the US.

 

“With this agreement, I stress the importance of accelerating the entry of urgent humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, to confront the current catastrophic humanitarian situation, without any obstacles,” the Egyptian president said in a post on X.

 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also welcomed the ceasefire and stressed that the “priority now must be to ease the tremendous suffering caused by this conflict”.

 

“The United Nations stands ready to support the implementation of this deal and scale up the delivery of sustained humanitarian relief to the countless Palestinians who continue to suffer,” he told a news conference.

 

Martin Griffiths, the UN’s former humanitarian aid chief said “I’m not yet convinced that the conditions are such that these essentially different positions by the two parties [Israel and Hamas] will be reconciled,” Griffiths told Al Jazeera.

 

Israel views the agreement as one to secure the release of captives held in Gaza, he explained, while for Hamas it is one to secure a permanent ceasefire. “These are not the same objectives,” Griffiths said.

 

Griffiths also said “there is quite a lot of opportunity for one or other party not to go to the second or the third phase” of the agreement.

 

“For Israel, the war aims have not radically changed. We’ve heard still that Israel reserves the right to re-engage, although I think the deal itself is very positive. We know that there is no resolution at the moment to the day after, the governance of the Palestinian territories, the role of Hamas.”

 

Griffiths also noted that it remains unclear whether Israel will continue with its plans to ban UNRWA – the UN agency for Palestinian refugees – at the end of January, something that would severely curtail the ability to deliver aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

 

“If you want major humanitarian aid … you need UNRWA, you need them there,” he said.

 

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a televised statement that the deal announced between Israel and Hamas was the “right move” to bring all the captives home.

 

 

The Joe Biden administration, on Friday, extended the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Venezuela, Ukraine, Sudan, and other countries, granting them an additional 18 months of deportation protection and work authorisation.

The sweeping decision will complicate efforts by President-elect Donald J. Trump, who vowed to roll back immigration programmes, to immediately strip the protections when he takes office this January.

“These designations are rooted in careful review and interagency collaboration to ensure those affected by environmental disasters and instability are given the protections they need while continuing to contribute meaningfully to our communities,” said the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas.

TPS, first signed into law in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush, allows individuals from countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other upheavals to remain in the US temporarily. Democratic and Republican administrations alike have used it to provide relief, but its future application has faced heightened scrutiny in recent years.

Under the extension, 600,000 Venezuelans can now renew their TPS status until October 2026, while 100,000 Ukrainians are protected until August 2026. Similarly, about 232,000 Salvadorans and 1,900 Sudanese nationals are covered until early 2026.

During his first term in office, Trump attempted to terminate TPS for approximately 400,000 people from countries like El Salvador, but his efforts were stymied by legal challenges. On the campaign trail, his running mate and Vice President-elect, JD Vance, called TPS “illegal,” criticising its repeated extensions as a “de facto means to enable people to stay in the country indefinitely.”

“We’re going to stop doing mass grants of Temporary Protected Status,” Vance said in October, while also criticising Haitian migrants, many of whom fled political turmoil and gang violence.

More than 200,000 Haitians currently benefit from TPS, allowing them to stay in the US until 2026. Immigrants from countries like Ethiopia, Lebanon, and Syria were also added to the programme in recent years, reflecting the growing global crises impacting migration patterns.

While supporters argued that TPS was a humanitarian lifeline for people escaping unsafe conditions, critics contended that its frequent renewals made it a permanent solution rather than the temporary relief it was originally intended to provide.

“Because President Biden has extended protection for the nationals of all these countries, President Trump will be unable to deport these individuals any time soon,” said Steve Yale-Loehr, an immigration scholar at Cornell Law School. He noted that the legal framework for TPS, enacted in 1990, binded Trump to the program’s regulations until these new extensions expire.

Gonzalo Roa, a 43-year-old Venezuelan immigrant living in Columbus, Ohio, expressed relief at the news. A TPS beneficiary, Roa worked at a car dealership and co-owned a small restaurant with his wife.

“It is great news that it’s being renewed,” he said. “Without the temporary status, I would lose my job at the dealership, and my two Venezuelan-born children wouldn’t qualify for college scholarships or other benefits requiring legal status.”

The TPS programme now protects over a million immigrants from countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Middle East. However, its expansion also highlighted broader issues with the US immigration system.

“TPS is a lifeline for many, but it also underscores the need for Congress to reform our immigration laws to address the realities of global migration,” said an advocate.

Funeral of former President Jimmy Carter on Thursday was marked by heartfelt tributes from leaders, family, and close associates, ABC News reports.

President Joe Biden highlighted Carter’s unwavering commitment to dignity, justice, and integrity in his eulogy, emphasising lessons of character and respect.

“We have an obligation to give hate no safe harbor and to stand up to — [what] my dad said, the greatest sin of all — the abuse of power,” Biden said, as all of the former presidents looked on.

“It’s not about being perfect, none of us are perfect. We’re all fallible.”

“Jimmy Carter, throughout his life, he showed us what it means to be a practitioner of good works and a good and faithful servant of God, and of the people,” Biden said.

Carter’s grandson, Jason Carter, called him the “definition of integrity,” reflecting on his grandfather’s consistency in private and public life, as well as his pioneering environmental and humanitarian efforts.

 Carter’s domestic policy adviser, Stuart Eizenstat, praised his moral compass and bipartisan approach, noting Carter’s role in advancing civil rights and prioritising human rights in US foreign policy.

Former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young spoke to Carter’s sensitivity and spirituality, recalling his efforts to foster unity and equality.

“I don’t mean this with any disrespect, but, it’s still hard for me to understand how you could get to be president from Plains, Georgia, Young noted prompting a big laugh from the crowd in the cathedral.

“He never wavered from his commitment to God almighty and his love of all of God’s children,”Young added.

Carter, who passed away at the age of 100 on December 29, 2024, was remembered as a leader whose vision transcended his time.

 His legacy, including the near-eradication of Guinea worm disease, stands as a testament to his lifelong service. The funeral gathered political figures across the spectrum, celebrating a statesman whose impact resonated globally.

 Former US Vice Presidents Al Gore and Mike Pence, Karen Pence, former US President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former US President George W. Bush, Laura Bush, former US President Barack Obama, US President-elect Donald Trump, Melania Trump, US President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden US Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff attend the state funeral for Carter at Washington National Cathedral.

Leading US tech companies including Amazon, Microsoft and Meta, under the aegis of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC), on Tuesday, urged President Joe Biden’s administration to refrain from issuing a last-minute rule that would control global access to Artificial Intelligence (AI) chips.

They warned that the restrictions would jeopardise US leadership in artificial intelligence.

The rule, expected as early as Friday, is part of efforts to curb the use of advanced AI technologies by adversaries, particularly China, by imposing sweeping restrictions on the sale of AI chips overseas.

Though the target is China, this would also limit access to AI chips from the US for several other countries of the world, including Nigeria, which is currently pushing its AI agenda.

The White House and the Department of Commerce have not responded, according to Reuters’ report.

The Information Technology Industry Council CEO Jason Oxman criticised the administration’s “insistence” on publishing the rule in the final days of Joe Biden’s presidency, according to a letter to US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the Reuters report said.

“Rushing a consequential and complex rule to completion could have significant adverse consequences,” Oxman said in the January 7 letter, a copy of which was obtained by reporters.

While the industry acknowledges the importance of national security, Oxman emphasized the potential risks to U.S. leadership in AI.

He urged the administration to adopt a more measured approach, calling for the rule to be issued as a proposed rulemaking to allow for broader consultation and deliberation.