King Abdullah II of Jordan met United States President Donald Trump at a critical moment. With Jordan hosting more than two million Palestinian refugees, Trump’s plan to “own” Gaza and relocate its population puts the kingdom in a tough spot. Abdullah calls displacement a red line – but how much can he push back?

For the first time since the 1930s, the far right is on the verge of a national electoral breakthrough in Germany. February’s snap parliamentary election is looming, with the opinion polls putting the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party second with about 18-20 percent. The AfD is anti-immigration, anti-European Union, often pro-Putin and is being monitored by German intelligence agencies. Could dissatisfaction with mainstream politics and economic stagnation thrust a German far-right party into real power for the first time since World War II? Most parties rule out power-sharing with the AfD. More than 100 MPs support a move to ban the AfD for "extremism". But how long will the party be ostracised if it continues to surge in nationwide popularity?

Gideon Levy, a columnist with the Israeli daily Haaretz, says the “unbelievable declaration of President Trump threatening the Palestinians” with “hell” is making the situation “very dangerous”. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Levy said Israel immediately used Trump’s remarks for its own objectives in Gaza. “This is very explosive,” he said, warning that the consequences this time could be “even more horrible than in the first 15 months” of the war. “So Trump put the seeds and Israel took advantage of the opportunity because Israel is not interested in ceasing the war – and we are facing now a very sensitive moment,” Levy added. “If the war will be renewed with the support of Donald Trump, I would even say with the push of Donald Trump, this means that Israel will this time have no restrictions,” he said, noting that the US president had now become the “spiritual and moral compass of Israel”

Mali struggles to turn around a security situation that has hampered development and social progress. Mali’s military government is trying to restore security in large areas of the country that have been controlled by armed groups. Since a coup in 2021, there has been a shift away from French influence towards China and Russia. The lack of security is holding back development in Mali, affecting its people, but there are small signs of improvement. We learn from victims' and traders' firsthand experience of the conflict while researchers and analysts speak to the causes of the instability. These narratives show Mali’s complex search for security, stability and lasting peace.

A prominent Gaza hospital director is being subjected to various forms of torture and inhumane treatment in an Israeli prison. That's according to a lawyer, who has visited Dr Hussam Abu Safiya in Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank for the first time. Israeli forces detained Abu Safiya during a raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza in December. His lawyer says the doctor has spent 47 days in “arbitrary detention”. He was refused access to legal counsel and to a doctor for treatment for his heart condition.

The United Nations says it could cost at least 53 billion dollars to rebuild the Gaza Strip and end what it's calling a “humanitarian catastrophe”. It says the figure is an estimate because it's difficult to fully assess the needs on the ground. Israel's 15-month bombardment has devastated Gaza, damaging or completely destroying 70% of its buildings. An earlier UN assessment suggested it would take a decade just to clear the 42 million tonnes of rubble.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to resume the war on Gaza, unless Israeli captives are released by Saturday. He says the military has been ordered to reinforce its positions in and around the Gaza Strip. On Monday Hamas announced it was indefinitely delaying the next planned release of captives -- accusing Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

Investigators in the Philippines have recommended filing criminal charges against Vice President Sara Duterte for inciting sedition. It's in connection with a speech she made in November - when Duterte said she'd ordered someone to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Junior, if she herself was assassinated for publicly criticising him. Duterte was impeached last week for corruption and violating the constitution. She has denied making threats and says the charges against her are politically motivated.

King Abdullah II remained calm during his visit with Trump but it’s obvious that Jordan, along with the rest of the Arab world, firmly opposes the US president’s plan to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza, an analyst says. “I think it’s pretty clear that the Jordanian leader does not want to have any sort of public feud with Donald Trump,” Giorgio Cafiero, a political analyst at Gulf State Analytics, told Al Jazeera. “When he was meeting with him earlier today in Washington, he was clearly uncomfortable but he was very diplomatic.”

Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East” is an “overblown dream that’s not going to come to fruition”, Harlan Ullman, a political and military analyst at the Atlantic Council, tells Al Jazeera. But the improbable plan might be used as a “bargaining chip” by the Trump administration, he added. “How do you move two million people? Where do you move them? How do you feed and house them? These are huge, huge logistical problems. And who’s going to pay for it?” Ullman asked.