Talking to Terrorists

Lost in the acoustics of Donald Trump’s fiery address to Congress has been another significant departure from decades-long US policy. America didn’t talk to terrorists. And Hamas has been designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the US since 1997. Yet on March 5 the Trump administration broke with tradition to begin direct negotiations with Hamas leaders to secure the release of the remaining American hostages in Gaza. Trump himself had called the group “vicious and violent” earlier. He returned to form with “sick and twisted” on Truth Social and issued another ultimatum, his “last warning” to the group about “hell to pay” if it didn’t release all the hostages. Trump’s ultimatums have not been followed by action but he reasserted that he was “sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job”. The fragile ceasefire has held so far and Hamas claimed the second phase, following the expiry of the six-week first phase on March 1, would commence as scheduled. Israel, unhappy for half a day with being bypassed, has since joined the US in rejecting the Arab League’s alternative plan for Gaza that proposes a phased rebuilding of the Strip while housing Palestinians in prefabs.

Finding Lesotho

The 1994 FIFA World Cup changed America more than it changed the world, or football. Americans, notorious for their poor knowledge of geography as George HW Bush had famously rued (well, Sophia Loren too couldn’t locate India on the map, so let’s not be too harsh), hadn’t heard of Bulgaria and thought Saudi Arabia was off the coast of Florida. That’s not quite being flippant but Donald Trump was when he complained about the “$8 million dollars to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of.” As it turns out, Lesotho enjoys rather cordial trade and diplomatic relations with the US and hasn’t taken kindly to Trump’s little joke or political hyperbole, if that’s what it was. Lesotho’s foreign minister told AFP, “We are not taking this matter lightly.” Landlocked within South Africa, Lesotho’s capital is Maseru and the US has an embassy there. Its government, however, was unable to confirm Trump’s claim about the $8 million as the money supposedly went directly to LGBTQI+ organisations. The 1994 World Cup did indeed make football, or soccer, more popular in the US as FIFA had hoped. What it didn’t do was improve Americans’ sense of geography.

Cancelled by Kim

It wasn’t good while it lasted and it lasted only a few weeks. North Korea had just opened up the remote eastern city of Rason, where the Supreme Leader plans to build a special economic zone, to Western tourists. While Chinese tourists made up 90 per cent of foreign visitors before the pandemic, this was the Hermit Kingdom’s first attempt at opening up to Westerners after sealing itself off during Covid. No reason was given for throwing them out again, so soon. Tour agencies complained that the new no-gos were more severe than pre-pandemic restrictions.

Donald TrumpFifa World CupGaza StripHamasKImNorth Korea