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President Donald Trump on Thursday inaugurated his Board of Peace to lead efforts at maintaining a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas, insisting that “everyone wants to be a part” of the body that could eventually rival the United Nations despite many U.S. allies opting not to participate.In a speech at the World Economic Forum, Trump sought to create momentum for a project to map out a future of the war-torn Gaza Strip that has been overshadowed this week, first by his threats to seize Greenland, then by a dramatic retreat from that push.“This isn’t the United States, this is for the world,” he said, adding, “I think we can spread it out to other things as we succeed in Gaza.”The event featured Ali Shaath, the head of a new, future technocratic government in Gaza, announcing that the Rafah border crossing will open in both directions next week. That’s after Israel said in early December it would open the crossing, which runs between Gaza and Egypt, but has yet to do so.Shaath, an engineer and former Palestinian Authority official from Gaza, is overseeing the Palestinian committee set to govern the territory under U.S. supervision.The new peace board was initially envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing the ceasefire, but it has morphed into something far more ambitious and skepticism about its membership and mandate has led some countries usually closest to Washington to take a pass.Trump tried not to let those not participating ruin his unveiling party, saying 59 countries had signed onto the board even though heads of state, top diplomats and other officials from only 19 countries plus the U.S. actually attended. He told the group, ranging from Azerbaijan to Paraguay to Hungary, “You’re the most powerful people in the world.”Trump has spoken about the board replacing some U.N. functions and perhaps even making that entire body obsolete one day. But he was more conciliatory in his remarks on the sidelines of the forum in the Swiss alps.“We’ll do it in conjunction with the United Nations,” Trump said, even as he denigrated the U.N. for doing what he said wasn’t enough to calm some conflicts around the globe.Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that some countries’ leaders have indicated they plan to join but still require approval from their parliaments, and the Trump administration says it has also gotten queries about membership from countries that hadn’t been invited to participate yet. Why some countries aren’t participating Big questions remain, however, about what the eventual board will look like.Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country is still consulting with Moscow’s “strategic partners” before deciding to commit. The Russian president on Thursday is due to host Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for talks in Moscow.Others are asking why Putin and other authoritarian leaders had even been invited to join. Britain’s foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, said her country wasn’t signing on “because this is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues.”“And we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace, when we have still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine,” she told the BBC.Norway and Sweden have indicated they won’t participate, after France also said no. French officials stressed that while they support the Gaza peace plan, they were concerned the board could seek to replace the U.N. as the main venue for resolving conflicts.Canada, Ukraine, China and the executive arm of the European Union also haven’t committed. Trump calling off the steep tariffs he threatened over Greenland could ease some allies’ reluctance, but the issue is still far from settled.The Kremlin said Thursday that Putin plans to discuss his proposal to send $1 billion to the Board of Peace and use it for humanitarian purposes during his talks with Abbas. But it noted that the use of those assets will require the U.S. action to unblock them. Board grew out of ceasefire proposal The idea for the Board of Peace was first laid out in Trump’s 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan and even was endorsed by the U.N. Security Council.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he’s agreed to join, after his office has earlier criticized the makeup of the board’s committee tasked with overseeing Gaza.Months into the ceasefire, Gaza’s more than 2 million Palestinians continue to suffer the humanitarian crisis unleashed by more than two years of war. And violence in Gaza, while not at the same level as before the October ceasefire and hostage deal was agreed on, continues.Key to the truce continuing to hold is the disarming of Hamas, something that the militant group that has controlled the Palestinian territory since 2007 has refused to do and that Israel sees as non-negotiable. Trump on Thursday repeated his frequently mentioned warnings that the group will have to do so or face dire consequences.He also said the war in Gaza “is really coming to an end” while conceding, “We have little fires that we’ll put out. But they’re little,” and they had been “giant, giant, massive fires.” Iran protests loom in the background Trump’s push for peace also comes after he threatened military action this month against Iran as it carried out a violent crackdown against some of the largest street protests in years, killing thousands of people.Trump, for the time being, has signaled he won’t carry out any new strikes on Iran after he said he received assurances that the Islamic government would not carry out the planned hangings of more than 800 protesters.But Trump also made the case that his tough approach to Tehran including strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June last year was critical to the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal coalescing. Iran was Hamas’ most important patron, providing the group hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid, weapons, training and financial support over the years. Zelenskyy meeting Trump also spoke behind closed doors for about an hour with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who arrived Thursday in Davos. Trump called the discussion “very good” but announced no major breakthroughs and said the pair didn’t discuss many European nations shunning the Board of Peace.Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected in Moscow for talks. Still, the Republican president has for months struggled to get Zelenskyy and Putin to agree to terms to end their nearly 4-year-old war, and he continues to express frustration about it.“We hope it’s going to end,” Trump told reporters after his meeting with Zelenskyy. Josh Boak, Aamer Madhani and Will Weissert, Associated Press
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Towering high above Taiwan’s capital city at 1,667 feet (508 meters), Taipei 101 dominates the skyline.The earthquake-proof skyscraper of steel and glass has captured the imagination of professional rock climber Alex Honnold for more than a decade. On Saturday morning, he will climb it in his signature free solo style without ropes or protective equipment. And Netflix will broadcast it live.The event’s announcement has drawn both excitement and trepidation, as well as some concerns over the ethical implications of attempting such a high-risk endeavor on live broadcast. Many have questioned Honnold’s desire to continues his free-solo climbs now that he’s a married father of two young girls.Known for his legendary ropeless ascent up Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan, documented in “Free Solo,” Honnold is intent on pushing the limits of climbing around the world.“When you look at climbing objectives, you look for things that are singular,” Honnold told The Associated Press late last year. “Something like El Capitan where it’s way bigger and way prouder than all the things around it.”Something like Taipei 101. How to free solo a skyscraper Honnold won’t be the first climber to ascend the skyscraper, but he will be the first to do so without a rope. French rock climber Alain Robert scaled the building on Christmas Day in 2004, as part of the grand opening of what was then the world’s tallest building. He took nearly four hours to finish, almost twice as long as what he anticipated, all while nursing an injured elbow and battered by wind and rain.Honnold, who has been training for months, doesn’t think his climb will be hard. He’s practiced the moves on the building and spoke with Robert on his climbing podcast.“I don’t think it’ll be that extreme,” Honnold said. “We’ll see. I think it’s the perfect sweet spot where it’s hard enough to be engaging for me and obviously an interesting climb.”The building has 101 floors, with the hardest part being the 64 floors comprising the middle section the “bamboo boxes” that give the building its signature look. Divided into eight, each segment will have eight floors of steep, overhanging climbing followed by a balcony that Honnold would be able to rest on.The “Skyscraper Live” broadcast will be on a 10-second delay and begin Friday evening for viewers in the U.S.James Smith, an executive with event producer Plimsoll Productions, said he consulted safety advisers almost immediately after he first spoke with Honnold about attempting the climb. Smith works with a risk management group for film and TV called Secret Compass, which has supported productions in filming penguins in Antarctica and helping Chris Hemsworth walk across a crane projecting from an Australian skyscraper’s roof, alike.Smith and Honnold will be able to communicate throughout the event. They’ll have cameramen positioned inside the building, various hatches and places to bail during the climb and four high-angle camera operators suspended on ropes.“These people all know Alex. They trust Alex. They’re going to be close to him throughout the whole climb,” Smith said. “They’re going to get us kind of amazing shots, but they’re also there just to keep an eye on him, and if there’s any problems, they can kind of help.”The production has also commissioned professional weather forecasters to provide updates leading up to climb day. There’s currently a small chance of light rain in the morning, Smith said. Ultimately, if conditions are bad, Honnold won’t climb.At his local gym, Taiwanese rock climber Chin Tzu-hsiang said he’s grown up always looking up at the Taipei 101 and wondering if he could climb it. Honnold is a household name among rock climbers even in Taiwan, and Chin said he has students who have only been climbing for a year or two who are excited to watch. Based on watching Honnold in his other climbs, Chin said he trusts him to prepare for the challenge and not to recklessly take risks.“For Alex Honnold to finish the climb, it’s like he’s helping us fulfill our dream,” Chin said. Ethical considerations and responsibility The novelty and risk involved in the climb are almost built for television.“This will be the highest, the biggest urban free solo ever,” Smith said. “So we’re kind of writing history and those events, I think, have to be broadcast and watched live.”Those same factors are crucial when discussing the ethics of the climb, according to Subbu Vincent, director of media and journalism ethics at Santa Clara University.It’s important that Honnold has a “back-off clause” and the production aspect of the event doesn’t increase the risk he’s already taking, Vincent said. One action that Vincent believes is crucial is using a delay in the live broadcast so it can be stopped immediately if something goes wrong.“I don’t think it’s ethical to proceed to livestream anything after,” Vincent said.Taipei 101 officials declined to comment and Secret Compass did not respond to interview requests.Another consideration is the influence Honnold may have on impressionable youth who may feel more emboldened to take risks after watching him climb, a debate that has existed since Evel Knievel’s televised daredevil stunts.Many climbers have died from free-soloing, including an 18-year-old rock climber from Texas who fell last June in Yosemite. A trend called “roof-topping” where people gain access to the tops of skyscrapers, often illegally, to take photos of themselves dangling from the edge has also led to several deaths.Jeff Smoot, who authored the book “All and Nothing: Inside Free Soloing,” shares those concerns. But what the general public might not understand is that embracing risk has always been a significant part of climbing culture, he said.Smoot began climbing in the 1970s watching legendary climbers like John Long and John Bachar free-solo regularly.“From the public’s perspective, this is thrill-seeking. From the climber’s perspective, it’s a meditative art form,” Smoot said.When he first heard Honnold would be ascending Taipei 101 without ropes, Smoot had questions why do it at all, why do it without ropes, why film it live?But, he concluded, “If it wasn’t dangerous, would people want to watch?” Associated Press journalist Simina Mistreanu contributed reporting. Jaimie Ding and Taijing Wu Associated Press
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Buc-ees, the popular Texas-based mega gas station chain, will be opening its first-ever locations in: Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin, according to multiple local news reports. Founded in 1982, Buc-ees, which has a cult-like following, is known for its large-scale gas stations and convenience stores, which include, as Fast Company previously reported, numerous gas pumps (more than 100 in some locations), award-winning bathrooms, and a fan-favorite BBQ brisket sandwich. Its merch is even sold at Walmart. In recent years, the chain has expanded across the southeastern U.S. from its home base in Texas, spanning west to east from Kentucky to South Carolina. Buc-ees, which currently lists some 69 locations (including car washes) nationwide, is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The company holds the record for the world’s largest convenience store, which is in Luling, Texas, at 75,593 square feet. The chain plans to open a fourth store in Florida, which upon opening, will then be the chain’s largest one to date with 76,245 square feet, including: 120 gas pumps, 18 charging states, and more than 700 parking locations, according to AL.com (Alabama.com). Buc-ee’s, a privately held company, was one of Fast Companys Most Innovative Companies in the dining category in 2024. When reached by Fast Company for confirmation of the new locations, the chain had “no comment.” List of Buc-ees locations and opening dates in 8 new states Here is a list of Buc-ees locations opening in new states, and their tentative opening dates, as reported by local news outlets: Arizona: Goodyear, southeast corner of Bullard Avenue and Interstate 10 (June 2026) Arkansas: Benton, just off I-30 (September 2026) Kansas: Kansas City, 110th Street and Village West Parkway (2027) Louisiana: Ruston, near Interstate 20 (2027) Nebraska: Gretna, Nebraska Crossing Good Life District near Interstate 80 and Highway 31 North Carolina: Mebane, 1425 Trollingwood-Hawfields Road (2027) Ohio: Huber Heights, intersection of state Route 235 and Interstate 70 (April 6, 2026) Wisconsin: Oak Creek, near I-94 and Elm Road (2027)
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