Donald Trump's son-in-law represents the kind of Washington figure for whom public office serves as a means to extraordinary wealth. "Kushner is plagued with conflicts of interest," Virginia Canter, a former White House counsel, said. "He is supposed to be working for the American people, but in fact he has tremendous financial incentives to further the interests of his investors." In the waning hours before the U.S. went to war with Iran, this February, Jared Kushner held a meeting with Iranian negotiators in Geneva--one last chance to avoid a conflict that would plunge the region into chaos and shock the world economy. Afterward, Kushner dismissed his counterparts as unworthy of his time. "Lots of tricks," he told reporters. Kushner, the boyish-looking son-in-law of Donald Trump, has been given an extraordinary brief in recent years. Along with Steve Witkoff, the President's special envoy, he has been charged with ending wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and just about anywhere else they might break out. Kushner, who is forty-five, has little regard for the craft of diplomacy. In his view, it is less important to know a region's history or the details of the partisans' negotiating positions than to simply hear the sides out and split the difference. Peace deals are like real-estate deals, he has said. Both involve hard bargaining and, at times, bluffing. The fact that so many diplomats before him have struggled is a testament not to the intransigence of international problems but to the mediocrity of his predecessors. "I've been getting criticized for the last couple of years, by all the people who have tried and failed, for not doing this the same way that they have," he said in 2020, after Trump unveiled his first Middle East peace plan. "If somebody was successful, I wouldn't be dealing with this." When Kushner and Witkoff began meeting with the Iranian negotiators, in February, the two countries were on the brink of war. In 2025, American and Israeli forces had bombed Iran's nuclear-enrichment facilities, which Western leaders said were engaged in a decades-long drive to develop a nuclear weapon. Afterward, Trump declared that Iran's capability to enrich uranium had been "obliterated." Yet Trump and other Western officials wanted further concessions. The Iranians maintained a large stockpile of lower-grade uranium. It was buried under rubble from the bombing in 2025, but Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, insisted that the Iranians give it up and forswear any intention of enriching uranium in the future. Trump sent Kushner and Witkoff to present the Iranians with what amounted to a binary choice: turn over their entire stockpile or expect an attack. To emphasize his threats, he had dispatched an armada to the Middle East. "We have to have a meaningful deal, otherwise bad things happen," he said.

'This is an apartheid regime' Does Trump have real leverage over Netanyahu? Israeli minister threatens to revoke filmmakers' citizenship over Gaza film Share Israeli minister threatens to revoke filmmakers' citizenship over Gaza film on social media Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar has said that he will move to revoke the citizenship of filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor after their documentary on Israel's genocide in Gaza, NAZA, won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. In an X post on Sunday, Zohar called the documentary "vile" and its win at the film festival "shocking". He accused the filmmakers of harming the country "just to get applause from antisemites around the world". "As culture minister, I will act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship of these despicable creators for treason against the state," he wrote.

Could AI really kill us within a decade? Could AI really kill us within a decade? AI companies are warning that their technology could wipe out humanity. But are the apocalyptic predictions actually benefiting the companies themselves? Al Jazeera's Lina Serene explains.

'This is an apartheid regime' Does Trump have real leverage over Netanyahu? A film documenting Israel's use of AI-powered systems to target Palestinians in Gaza has received a 25-minute standing ovation at its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The 80-minute film, NAZA, was directed by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, who won an Oscar in 2025 for No Other Land, a documentary on Israeli settler pogroms in the occupied West Bank, made with Palestinian co-directors Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal. Their voices and faces were digitally altered, and they were filmed at night on Tel Aviv rooftops. "We are letting the soldiers and the officers speak about what they did," Abraham told the AFP news agency.

The families of eight Ecuadorian fishermen who vanished at sea after reporting US surveillance are demanding answers. They believe the men could be victims of a US drone strike or detention. UN approves new map showing Africa's true size Did Israel's destruction of Gaza worsen its water crisis? Judge declares mistrial in Lindsay Clancy children's murder case

Rescue teams in Algeria are racing against time to save a 10-year-old boy named Ayoub, after he fell into an 80-metre-deep well in El Ghassoul municipality in southwest Algeria. Ayoub reportedly fell into the well two days ago. Russian drone strikes Ukraine's security service headquarters At least 100 killed as Yemen's Houthis push towards key strait Jerusalem Daily: Israel's plan to expel Gaza's population

A couple chose to get married in the middle of severe flooding in the Philippines. The bride shortened her wedding gown so she could walk through the flooded church. Russian drone strikes Ukraine's security service headquarters At least 100 killed as Yemen's Houthis push towards key strait Jerusalem Daily: Israel's plan to expel Gaza's population

Is the war entering a new phase? Russian drone strikes Ukraine's security service headquarters Russian drone strikes Ukraine's security service headquarters A Russian drone has struck Ukraine's domestic intelligence headquarters in central Kyiv, injuring five people. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says it directly targeted the agency chief's office and has ordered a response, as Ukraine presses NATO allies for more air defences. Share Russian drone strikes Ukraine's security service headquarters on social media At least 100 killed as Yemen's Houthis push towards key strait Jerusalem Daily: Israel's plan to expel Gaza's population'Build The Wall': White House arcade games face backlash

The battle over Palestine has never been fought only on the ground. For decades, Israel and its powerful political, lobbying and public-relations networks have devoted enormous resources to shaping how the conflict is understood in Washington and across the Western world. But an investigation into an Israeli-funded influence operation suggests that this campaign has entered a new and potentially more consequential arena: the artificial intelligence systems increasingly used by millions of people to determine what is true. Recent investigations exposed the Hanover Institute for Public Policy as a purported American think tank that appeared to have no real offices, identifiable scholars or meaningful institutional presence. Instead, the institute appears to have been created as a sophisticated propaganda operation aimed at shaping search engine results and influencing the answers generated by AI chatbots.

'This is an apartheid regime' Does Trump have real leverage over Netanyahu? Jerusalem Daily: Students sing'Erase Palestine' Jerusalem Daily: Students sing'Erase Palestine' Two Palestinian teens were killed in the occupied West Bank as Israeli settlers and snipers surround a village. Netanyahu and Smotrich rally support for their policies as elections approach. Share Jerusalem Daily: Students sing'Erase Palestine' on social media'Can I take the door?' woman pleads at Syrian prison exhibit Faith leaders say they were'duped' into attending RSS-linked event Egypt's Sisi welcomes China's President Xi in Grand Egyptian Museum tour OpenAI's Sam Altman tells G20 AI will be as essential as electricity