Gaza peace talks enter 3rd day as expanded meeting held in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh

A plenary session attended by all delegations except Hamas was held on Wednesday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump's 20-point Gaza peace plan.

The expanded session followed bilateral and multilateral meetings in which Hamas had participated through indirect negotiations, Egypt's Al-Qahera News TV reported.

The indirect negotiations entered their third day on Wednesday, with participants including Egypt's intelligence chief, the Qatari prime minister and foreign minister, the head of Türkiye's National Intelligence Organization, an Israeli delegation, and a U.S. delegation led by Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and joined by U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

In a statement, Hamas welcomed the participation of the senior officials, stating it would provide strong momentum for achieving positive outcomes regarding the cessation of hostilities and a prisoner exchange.

Delegations from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) are scheduled to arrive in Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday evening and join the talks at Hamas's request.

Gaza peace talks enter 3rd day as expanded meeting held in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh

Japan's economy shrank an annualized real 2.3 percent in the third quarter of 2025, revised government data showed on Monday, compared with an initially reported 1.8 percent drop.

The revised figure for gross domestic product (GDP) from the Cabinet Office marked the fastest contraction since the third quarter of 2023.

In the three months through September, real GDP, adjusted for inflation, contracted 0.6 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis, compared with the preliminary reading of a 0.4 percent decline, data showed.

Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of the economy, inched up a revised 0.2 percent in July-September, compared with the initial estimate of 0.1 percent.

Among other key components, the capital expenditure, a barometer of private demand, fell 0.2 percent, lowered from the initial estimate of a 1.0 percent gain.

External demand, or exports minus imports, subtracted 0.2 percentage points from the GDP, unchanged from the preliminary reading.

Japan revises Q3 GDP contraction to 2.3 pct