A Gaza deal is “on the brink”, President Joe Biden has said in his final foreign policy address.

The outgoing US president said it would include a hostage release deal and a “surge” of aid to Palestinians.

“So many innocent people have been killed, so many communities have been destroyed. Palestinian people deserve
peace,” he said.

“The deal would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel, and allow us to significantly surge
humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started.”

The US president also hailed Washington’s support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024.

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“All told, Iran is weaker than it’s been in decades,” he said.

Mr Biden was delivering his final foreign policy address before he leaves office next week.

Monday’s address will be the penultimate time he speaks to the country before the end of his presidency. He is due to give a farewell address on Wednesday.

US and Arab mediators made significant progress overnight toward brokering a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and the release of scores of hostages held in the Gaza Strip – but a deal has not been reached yet, officials said.

A round of ceasefire talks will be held in Doha on Tuesday to finalise remaining details related to a ceasefire deal in Gaza – including over the release of up to 33 hostages – officials added.

Mr Biden went on to claim America’s adversaries were weaker than when he took office four years ago and that the US was “winning the worldwide competition”.

“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are
weaker.

“We have not gone to war to make these things happen.”

The launch of a huge, partially reusable rocket, built by Jeff Bezos’s company, has been called off this morning after hours of delays.

The 98-metre rocket, called New Glenn, is around as tall as Big Ben. It was set to carry up to 45 tonnes of tech to low Earth orbit.

However, the team at Blue Origin, Amazon founder Mr Bezos’s space technology company, confirmed this morning that the launch was called off.

The decision came following a series of delays due to unspecified issues.

As it happened: See our coverage from the launch

The team said they would work out a new date for lift-off, adding: “We can’t wait to get right back here for our next launch attempt.”

The team said earlier this morning that they were “working through anomalies”.

Speaking in an interview before the launch, Mr Bezos said “the thing we’re most nervous about is the booster landing”.

“Clearly on a first flight you could have an anomaly at any mission phase, so anything could happen,” he said.

New Glenn’s builders hope it will challenge SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which has become the go-to workhorse to get heavy cargo into space.

However, it has taken Blue Origin years to get to this point.

They started developing the orbital rocket almost a decade ago, but setbacks and delays pushed back its maiden voyage.

Ahead of the launch, SpaceX founder and X owner Elon Musk, shared his support, writing “good luck” in a response to a post by Blue Origin on his platform.

Reusable first stage

The rocket – named New Glenn in honour of NASA astronaut John Glenn, has two stages, one of which is reusable.

The first, reusable stage will use seven engines to blast the rocket off the launch pad into higher, thinner air and then drop back to Earth to land on a sea platform called Jacklyn.

That first stage is built to fly at least 25 times, making it more cost-effective and sustainable than building new rockets for every flight.

The second, disposable stage is where cargo and items needed for missions will be stored.

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The two restartable engines on board will kick in once the first stage has used up all its fuel.

They’ll take the rest of the spacecraft out to orbit.

New Glenn could be a gamechanger

Tom Clarke

Science and technology editor

@t0mclark3

The New Glenn rocket is one to watch in the world of space.

Partially reusable and capable of lifting heavy payloads into Earth orbit or even the Moon or Mars, it promises to be a serious rival to Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9.

With his first big rocket only scheduled for launch now, you’d be forgiven for thinking Amazon boss Jeff Bezos was a latecomer to the billionaire boys club sending shiny machines into space.

In fact, Bezos founded his space venture Blue Origin 25 years ago, before Elon Musk created SpaceX and Richard Branson launched Virgin Galactic.

His rocket business kept a low profile until 2015 when it launched its sub-orbital space tourism vehicle New Shepherd 100km above the Earth.

While New Shephard can be dismissed as a billionaire’s plaything for millionaire passengers, New Glenn could be a game changer.

It’s a key tool to deliver Bezos’s Project Kuiper satellite broadband network – a direct challenge to Musk’s Starlink system.

Blue Origin is also working on a lunar lander and, its thought, crew capsules so it can offer its services ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station or be part of NASA’s plans to return humans to the Moon.

New Glenn is set to carry Blue Ring, an experimental “space tug” and satellite support platform, but for Jeff Bezos, there’s a lot more riding on this rocket than that.

Cargo

Rockets like this are designed to take things into orbit or out to space, so they need to be able to carry cargo.

When Mr Musk launched SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket in 2018, he popped his old red Tesla Roadster on board.

Mr Bezos hasn’t done anything as showy as that. Instead, he loaded a prototype cargo carrier onto New Glenn, called the Blue Ring Pathfinder.

In the future, the Pathfinder will be able to carry 3,000kg of scientific gear into space and deliver it to different locations in orbit.

During this test flight, the team back on the ground will make sure they can establish communications with the Pathfinder once it is in orbit.

The Duchess of Sussex has delayed the release of her new Netflix series due to the devastation caused by the wildfires in LA, the streaming platform has announced.

Meghan’s eight-part series, With Love, will premiere on 4 March instead of 15 January.

“I’m thankful to my partners at Netflix for supporting me in delaying the launch, as we focus on the needs of those impacted by the wildfires in my home state of California,” Meghan said in a statement to Tudum, the official companion site to Netflix.

Harry and Meghan comforted volunteers and handed out food to evacuees during a visit to Pasadena on Friday, where they met with the city’s mayor Victor Gordo and emergency workers tackling the Eaton Fire.

Footage showed the duchess, wearing a blue “LA” baseball cap, and the prince hugging and consoling people who had fled to the Pasadena Convention Center.

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They were also seen speaking Doug Goodwin, whose home was destroyed in the wildfires, and also to Jose Andres, founder of World Central Kitchen (WCK) which has been helping feed the public and emergency crews.

A description of the Netflix series on Tudum’s website said: “Produced by Meghan, ‘With Love, Meghan’ blends practical how-to’s and candid conversation with friends, new and old.

“Meghan shares personal tips and tricks, embracing playfulness over perfection, and highlights how easy it can be to create beauty, even in the unexpected.

“She and her guests roll up their sleeves in the kitchen, the garden, and beyond, and invite you to do the same.”

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The royals live in Montecito, near Santa Barbara, around 90 miles from Los Angeles.

They are understood to have donated supplies, including clothing and children’s items, to people affected by the disaster.

They released a statement on Thursday urging people to help those affected by the wildfires and to open their homes to those evacuated.