Posted on Leave a comment

FIFA announces new peace prize to be awarded at World Cup draw in Washington

FIFA has announced the creation of a peace prize, which it plans to award at the draw for the World Cup on Dec 5 in Washington.

The award, called the FIFA Peace Prize, will “recognize exceptional actions for peace,” soccer’s governing body said Wednesday.

“In an increasingly unsettled and divided world, it’s fundamental to recognize the outstanding contribution of those who work hard to end conflicts and bring people together in a spirit of peace,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said.

FIFA said the award, which Infantino will present this year, will be bestowed annually “on behalf of fans from all around the world.”

President Donald Trump, who has a close relationship with Infantino, was passed over for the Nobel Peace Prize last month despite lobbying from fellow Republicans, various world leaders and himself. Infantino and Trump were both scheduled to speak at an unrelated event in Miami on Wednesday.

FIFA recently added another link to Trump by appointing his daughter Ivanka to the board of a $100 million education project part-funded by 2026 World Cup ticket sales. (JapanToday)

Posted on Leave a comment

Netanyahu nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize as the two meet at White House

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President Donald Trump he was nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize as the two hailed their recent joint strikes on Iran ‘s nuclear facilities as an unmitigated success.

The pair sat down with their top aides for a dinner in the White House on Monday night, to mark the Iran operation and discuss efforts to push forward with a 60-day ceasefire proposal to pause the 21-month conflict in Gaza.

“He’s forging peace as we speak, one country and one region after the other,” Netanyahu said as he presented Trump with a nominating letter he said he sent the Nobel committee.

The call for the peace prize comes after the Israeli leader for years had pressed Trump and his predecessors to take military action against Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump ordered US forces to drop “bunker-buster” bombs and fire a barrage of Tomahawk missiles on three key Iranian nuclear sites.

It also allowed Netanyahu to further ingratiate himself with Trump, who for years has made little secret of the fact that he covets a Nobel Peace Prize and sees himself as a capable peacemaker.

Netanyahu’s outwardly triumphant visit to the White House, his third this year, was dogged by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and questions over how hard Trump will push for an end to the conflict.

But in an exchange before reporters before the dinner got underway, both leaders expressed optimism that their success in Iran would mark a new era in the Middle East.

“I think things are going to be really settled down a lot in the Middle East,” Trump said. “And, they respect us and they respect Israel.”

Trump says Iran wants to restart talks, but Iran hasn’t confirmed that.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian in an interview published Monday said the U.S. airstrikes so badly damaged his country’s nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction.

The meeting between Trump and Netanyahu may also give new urgency to a US ceasefire proposal being discussed by Israel and Hamas. (ITV)