Headline
Netanyahu, Biden Discuss Progress In Gaza Ceasefire-for-hostages Deal Talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken with US President Joe Biden about the progress in negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal.
“The prime minister discussed with the American president the progress in the negotiations to release our hostages and updated him on the mandate he gave to the negotiating team to Doha in order to advance the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement about the call on Sunday.
It added, “the prime minister wanted to thank the American President (Joe) Biden and the incoming President Donald Trump for their cooperation for the holy mission.”
The White House said Biden and Netanyahu discussed the negotiations in Doha, based on the proposal the US president laid out in May. Biden once again called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the return of the hostages and increased humanitarian aid to the enclave.
Biden also spoke to Netanyahu about the “fundamentally changed regional circumstances” following the ceasefire in Lebanon in November last year, the collapse of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime the following month, and Iran’s weakened position in the region, the White House said.
This is the first publicly announced call between the two men since October 2024, and it comes as Netanyahu summoned two major critics of Biden’s ceasefire deal proposal to meetings to discuss a potential deal.
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Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir have previously rejected a peace proposal laid out by Biden in May of last year, which would pair a release of hostages with a “full and complete ceasefire.” Both ministers rejected the idea of an immediate ceasefire and have called for fighting to continue until Hamas is destroyed and all hostages are returned.
The far-right ministers have previously threatened to resign and topple Netanyahu’s governing coalition if he accepted Biden’s proposal.
The meetings with the Israeli cabinet members on Sunday come as Israeli negotiators have expressed “cautious optimism” at the talks ongoing in Doha this weekend, which involve a high-level Israeli delegation including Mossad chief David Barnea.
Netanyahu under pressure
Netanyahu, who met with Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Saturday, is facing pressure from both the current and incoming US administrations to reach a deal.
Last week, Witkoff touted progress made at the Doha talks and expressed optimism about making gains by the time of Trump’s inauguration on January 20, though a senior administration official said talks remained difficult.
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Trump himself has said there would be “hell to pay” in the Middle East if the hostages are not released by the time he is sworn into office. His incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz told ABC on Sunday said he wants to see some type of agreement before inauguration.
“I want to see (the hostages) walking across the tarmac, or at a minimum, some type of agreement before the inauguration because President Trump is serious,” Waltz said.
Waltz also said Hamas was “completely isolated” and has “to enter into some type of agreement.”
The Biden administration said earlier Sunday it was still working toward securing a hostage deal before the president leaves office.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday that while reaching a deal by January 20 is “possible,” he “cannot make any predictions.”
“We are very, very close, and yet being very close still means we’re far, because until you actually get across the finish line, we’re not there,” Sullivan said on “State of the Union.”
Sullivan said White House Middle East adviser Brett McGurk is still in Doha, “hammering out with the mediators the final details of a text to be presented to both sides.”
In a December interview with CBS that aired Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that when an agreement is reached, it will be “on the basis of what President Biden put forward.”
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Meanwhile those close to the Israeli prime minister have stressed his commitment to securing a deal. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar emphasized Israel’s aim to secure a hostage deal as he welcomed his British counterpart to Jerusalem on Sunday. And Netanyahu spokesperson Omer Dostri told Israeli outlet Channel 14 that the government was making “every effort” to reach a deal but there had been “slow progress.”
“In the end, it depends on Hamas,” he said on Sunday, pushing back against critics who have claimed Netanyahu didn’t want a deal.
“I am in various discussions and I can tell you the prime minister works on this 24-seven, holds discussions into the night, conversations with leaders,” he said.
“When I hear all kinds of sources saying that the prime minister does not want to return our hostages home, I tell you, this tears me apart. The prime minister wants a deal.”
Headline
US Lifts Restrictions On Visa Validity For Ghanaians, Leaves Nigeria’s Unchanged

The United States has restored the maximum validity periods for all categories of nonimmigrant visas for Ghanaian nationals following Ghana’s agreement to accept West African deportees, but similar restrictions for Nigerians remain in place.
The B1/B2 visitor visa is now valid for up to five years, with multiple entries allowed, while the F1 student visa’s maximum validity has been restored to four years, with multiple entries permitted.
“The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce that the maximum validity periods for all categories of nonimmigrant visas for Ghanaians have been restored to their previous lengths. The maximum validity allowed for the B1/B2 visitor visa is again five years, multiple entry. The maximum validity for the F1 student visa is again four years, multiple entry,” the U.S. Embassy announced in a tweet on Saturday.”
Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Ablakwa, also announced in a tweet that the new policy now allows citizens to apply for five-year multiple-entry visas.
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Ablakwa also stated that the reversal of the restriction comes with other enhanced consular privileges, adding that the development was the result of months of diplomatic engagement.
“The U.S. visa restriction imposed on Ghana has been reversed. Ghanaians can now be eligible for five-year multiple-entry visas and other enhanced consular privileges,” Ablakwa stated.
“This good news was directly communicated to me by U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Allison Hooker, at a bilateral meeting earlier today, in the margins of the UN General Assembly. I am really pleased that months of high-level diplomatic negotiations have led to a successful outcome.”
These changes reverse earlier restrictions imposed under the Trump administration, which had limited most visas to single-entry and a three-month validity period.
READ ALSO:H-1B Visas: Trump To Impose $100,000 Annual Fee For Skilled Foreign Workers
The restrictions affected several African countries, including Ghana and Nigeria, and were based on concerns over visa reciprocity and the acceptance of deported migrants.
In July, the U.S. Consulate in Nigeria announced updates to its reciprocal nonimmigrant visa policy, stating: “The United States Department of State has announced updates to its reciprocal non-immigrant visa policy, impacting several countries, including Nigeria. Effective immediately, most non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to citizens of Nigeria will be single-entry visas with a three-month validity period.
“Those U.S. non-immigrant visas issued prior to July 8, 2025, will retain their status and validity. We wish to underscore that, as is standard globally, visa reciprocity is a continuous process and is subject to review and change at any time, such as increasing or decreasing permitted entries and duration of validity. You can view the latest information on visa reciprocity schedules for all countries at travel.state.gov.”
Reports indicate that the U.S. pressured some African nations to accept deported migrants, including Venezuelan detainees from U.S. prisons.
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Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar rejected these pressures, stating that Nigeria would not serve as a “dumping ground” for deportees.
“It would be difficult for countries like Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria,” Tuggar said during a televised interview.
“We have enough problems of our own; we cannot accept Venezuelan deportees to Nigeria. We already have 230 million people.”
Meanwhile, Ghanaian President John Mahama confirmed that Ghana had begun accepting deported West African nationals after U.S. requests.
“We were approached by the U.S. to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the U.S., and we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable,” Mahama said.
“All our fellow West African nationals don’t need visas to come to our country.”
Headline
UK Nursery Worker Jailed For Abusing 21 Babies

A judge on Friday jailed a nursery worker for eight years for a string of “gratuitous” and “sadistic” attacks on babies.
In one incident, Londoner Roksana Lecka, 22, kicked a little boy in the face several times.
Lecka, who blamed cannabis for her crimes, admitted seven counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 and was convicted after a trial of another 14 counts.
Sentencing her for attacks on 21 babies, Judge Sarah Plaschkes said she had committed “multiple acts of gratuitous violence” at two London nurseries where she worked.
“You pinched, slapped, punched, smacked and kicked them. You pulled their ears, hair and their toes. You toppled children headfirst into cots,” she said.
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“Often the child would be quietly and happily minding its own business before you deliberately inflicted pain… Your criminal conduct can properly be characterised as sadistic,” she added.
Lecka’s cruelty was revealed in June 2024 after she was seen pinching a number of children.
Police were called in and found multiple incidents recorded on the nursery CCTV.
Victim impact statements submitted to London’s Kingston Crown Court from parents of Lecka’s victims told how they were left heartbroken and guilt-stricken by the attacks.
“These children were so innocent and vulnerable,” one mother told the court.
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“They couldn’t speak, they couldn’t defend themselves and they couldn’t tell us as parents that something had happened to them,” she added.
“They were totally helpless and Roksana preyed upon them.”
The hearing was told that she had apologised to the parents in a letter to the court in which she said cannabis had turned her into a different person.
She had been addicted to the drug around the time of the offences, but had not told the nursery.
She was found not guilty of three further counts of child cruelty.
Headline
Italy Fines Six Oil Firms $1bn Fine For Restricting Competition

Italy’s antitrust regulator said Friday it has slapped Italian energy giant Eni and five other companies with fines totalling more than 936 million euros ($1.1 billion) for “restricting competition” in the sale of fuel.
The authority said in a statement that Eni, Esso, Ip, Q8, Saras and Tamoil “coordinated to set the value of the bio component factored into fuel prices”, which tripled between 2019 and 2023.
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A probe following a whistleblower’s complaint revealed that “the companies implemented parallel price increases — largely coinciding — which were driven by direct or indirect information exchanges among them”, the authority said.
“The cartel began on 1 January 2020 and continued until 30 June 2023,” it added.
AFP
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