09/02/2026

MONDAY | FEB 9, 2026

9

‘We will not accept foreign rule’

WASHINGTON: The Washington Post said on Saturday its CEO and publisher Will Lewis was leaving effective immediately, just days after the storied newspaper owned by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made drastic job cuts that angered readers. Though newspapers across the United States have been facing brutal industry headwinds, Lewis’s management of the outlet was sharply criticised by subscribers and employees alike during his two-year tenure as he tried to reverse financial losses at the daily. Lewis, who is British, has been replaced by Jeff D’Onofrio, a former DOHA: A senior Hamas leader said yesterday that the movement would not surrender its weapons nor accept foreign intervention in Gaza, pushing back against US and Israeli demands. “Criminalising the resistance, its weapons, and those who carried it out is something we should not accept,” Khaled Meshal (pic) said at a conference in Doha. “As long as there is occupation, there is resistance. Resistance is a right of peoples under occupation ... something nations take pride in,” said Meshal, who previously headed the group. Hamas has waged an armed struggle against what it sees as Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. A US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza is in its second phase, which foresees that demilitarisation of the territory, including the disarmament of Hamas, along with a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces. Hamas has repeatedly said that disarmament is a red line, although it has indicated it could consider handing over its weapons to a future Palestinian governing authority. Israeli officials say that Hamas still has around 20,000 fighters and about 60,000 Kalashnikovs in Gaza. A Palestinian technocratic committee has been set up with a goal of taking over the day-to-day

DUBAI: Recognition of Iran’s right to enrich uranium is key for nuclear talks with the US to succeed, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said yesterday. American and Iranian diplomats held indirect talks in Oman on Friday, aimed at reviving diplomacy amid a US naval buildup near Iran and Tehran’s vows of a harsh response if attacked. “Zero enrichment can never be accepted by us. Hence, we need to focus on discussions that accept enrichment inside Iran while building trust that enrichment is and will stay for peaceful purposes,” Araqchi said. Iran and the US held five rounds of nuclear talks last year, which stalled mainly due to disagreements over uranium enrichment inside Iran. In June, the US attacked Iranian nuclear facilities at the end of a 12 day Israeli bombing campaign. Tehran has since said it has halted enrichment activity, which the US views as a possible pathway to nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes. A diplomat in the region briefed by Iran told Reuters on Friday that Tehran was open to discussing the “level and purity” of enrichment as well as other arrangements, as long as it was allowed to enrich uranium on its soil and would be granted sanctions relief in addition to military de-escalation”. – Reuters suspected of shooting top Russian military intelligence officer Vladimir Alexeyev in Moscow has been detained in Dubai and handed over to Russia. Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, deputy head of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence arm, was shot several times in an apartment block in Moscow on Friday, investigators said. He underwent surgery after the shooting, Russian media said. The FSB said a Russian citizen named Lyubomir Korba was detained in Dubai on suspicion of carrying out the shooting. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of being behind the assassination attempt. – Reuters Iran defies US threats ITALY WILL NOT JOIN PEACE BOARD MILAN: Italy “cannot participate” in the US-proposed Board of Peace as its charter conflicts with Italy’s Constitution, said Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. He said the board’s charter posed “insurmountable” legal conflicts with Article 11 of the country’s Constitution, which precludes Italy from joining organisations unless there are “conditions of equality with other states”. The charter fails to meet constitutional requirements as it names US President Donald Trump as chairman with veto power over some of the body’s decisions. Tajani said Italy is “always available to discuss initiatives concerning peace”, and is ready to play a constructive role in Gaza, including training its police force. – Bernama SHOOTING SUSPECT HELD IN DUBAI MOSCOW: Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said yesterday that the man

BR I E F S

for eyeballs with social media, and as internet revenue pales in comparison to what print advertising once commanded. However, national papers like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have managed to weather the storm and come out financially solid – something the Post , even with a billionaire backer, has failed to do. In Lewis’s note to staff, shared on X by White House bureau chief Matt Viser, Lewis said “difficult decisions have been taken” during his tenure “in order to ensure the sustainable future of The Post so it can for many years ahead publish high-quality nonpartisan news”. – AFP countries joined him in signing its founding charter. Alongside the Board of Peace, Trump also created a Gaza Executive Board, an advisory panel to the Palestinian technocratic committee, comprising international figures including US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Meshal urged the board to adopt a “balanced approach” that would allow for Gaza’s reconstruction and the flow of aid to its roughly 2.2 million residents, while warning that Hamas would “not accept foreign rule” over Palestinian territory. “We adhere to our national principles and reject the logic of guardianship, external intervention, or the return of a mandate in any form,” Meshal said. “Palestinians are to govern Palestinians. Gaza belongs to the people of Gaza and to Palestine. “We will not accept foreign rule.” – AFP

o Hamas leader rejects disarmament

governance in the battered Gaza Strip, but it remains unclear whether, or how, it will address the issue of demilitarisation. The committee operates under the so-called “Board of Peace”, an initiative launched by US President Donald Trump. Originally conceived to oversee the Gaza truce and post-war reconstruction, the board’s mandate has since expanded, prompting concerns

Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos last month, where leaders and officials from nearly two dozen

among critics that it could evolve into a rival to the United Nations. T r u m p unveiled the board at the

W o r l d Economic

Washington Post CEO steps down

CEO of social media platform Tumblr who had joined the Post as chief financial officer last year, the paper announced. In an email to staff shared on social media by one of the newspaper’s reporters, Lewis said it was “the right time for me to step aside”. A statement from the Post said only that D’Onofrio was succeeding Lewis “effective immediately”. Hundreds of Post journalists – including most of its overseas, local and sports staff – were let go in the sweeping cuts announced on Wednesday. The Post did not disclose the

number of jobs being eliminated, but The New York Times reported approximately 300 of its 800 journalists were laid off. The paper’s entire Middle East roster was let go as was its Kyiv-based Ukraine correspondent as the war with Russia grinds on. Sports, graphics and local news departments were sharply scaled back and the paper’s daily podcast, Post Reports , was suspended. Hundreds turned out on Thursday at a protest in front of the paper’s headquarters in Washington. Newspapers across the country have cratered under falling revenues and subscriptions as they compete

Union members and supporters at a ‘Save the Post’ rally on Thursday. – REUTERSPIC