US President Donald Trump’s government has asked countries to pay $1 billion for a permanent spot on his “Board of Peace” aimed at resolving conflicts, according to its charter, seen by AFP.

The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza, but the charter does not appear to limit its role to the occupied Palestinian territory.

What will it do? 

The Board of Peace will be chaired by Trump, according to its founding charter.

It is “an international organisation that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict”, reads the preamble of the charter sent to countries invited to participate.

It will “undertake such peace-building functions in accordance with international law”, it adds.

Who will run it? 

Trump will be chairman but also “separately serve as inaugural representative” of the US.

“The chairman shall have exclusive authority to create, modify, or dissolve subsidiary entities as necessary or appropriate to fulfil the Board of Peace’s mission,” the document states.

He will pick members of an executive board to be “leaders of global stature” to “serve two-year terms, subject to removal by the chairman”.

He may also, “acting on behalf of the Board of Peace”, “adopt resolutions or other directives”.

The chairman can be replaced only in case of “voluntary resignation or as a result of incapacity”.

Who can be a member? 

Member states must be invited by the US president, and will be represented by their head of state or government.

Each member “shall serve a term of no more than three years”, the charter says.

But “the three-year membership term shall not apply to member states that contribute more than $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the charter’s entry into force”, it adds.

The board will “convene voting meetings at least annually”, and “each member state shall have one vote”.

But while all decisions require “a majority of member states present and voting”, they will also be “subject to the approval of the chairman, who may also cast a vote in his capacity as chairman in the event of a tie”.

Who’s on the executive board? 

The executive board will “operationalise” the organisation’s mission, according to the White House, which said it would be chaired by Trump and include seven members:

• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
• Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special negotiator
• Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law
• Tony Blair, former UK prime minister
• Marc Rowan, billionaire US financier
• Ajay Banga, World Bank president
• Robert Gabriel, loyal Trump aide on the National Security Council

Which countries are invited? 

Dozens of countries and leaders have said they have received an invitation.

They include China, India, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Argentina’s President Javier Milei have also confirmed an invite.

Other countries to confirm invites include Jordan, Brazil, Paraguay, Pakistan and a host of nations from Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.

Who will join?

Countries from Albania to Vietnam have indicated a willingness to join the board.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Trump’s most ardent supporter in the European Union, is also in.

Canada said it would take part, but explicitly ruled out paying the $1 billion fee for permanent membership.

It is unclear whether others who have responded positively — Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Vietnam among them — would be willing to pay the $1 billion.

Who won’t be involved?

Long-time US ally France has indicated it will not join. The response sparked an immediate threat from Trump to slap sky-high tariffs on French wine.

Zelensky said it would be “very hard” to be a member of a council alongside Russia, and diplomats were “working on it”.

When does it start?

The charter says it enters into force “upon expression of consent to be bound by three States”.

MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chose a little-known legislator from India’s poorest state as the party’s youngest president on Tuesday, a generational shift in the effort to retain young voters.

Nitin Nabin, 45, takes over from outgoing president JP Nadda, 65, months before key state elections, one of them in the eastern state of West Bengal, which the BJP has never won and is strongly focused on.

A five-time lawmaker from the eastern state of Bihar, Nabin was elected unopposed as the party’s 12th president after Modi and other leaders proposed him.

Hundreds of workers watched at party headquarters in New Delhi as Nabin, his forehead smeared with a vermillion mark and his shoulders wrapped in a scarf with the party symbol, took the oath of office before Modi and four past presidents.

“When it comes to the party, I am a worker and he is my boss,” Modi, 75, said in his remarks, pointing to Nabin, who will serve a three-year term.

In his speech, Nabin repeatedly praised Modi as a generational leader and urged young people to take an active part in politics.

More than 40% of India’s one billion voters are aged between 18 and 39, the Election Commission and analysts estimate.

The BJP suffered a shock setback in the 2024 general election as Modi lost his majority after 10 years in power and had to rely on regional allies to form a government.

But it has since regained ground, winning critical state and civic body elections. The party and its allies govern 19 of India’s 28 states.

• Five Chinese nationals among injured in restaurant blast.
• China demands Kabul to spare no effort to treat the injured.
• Kabul police say restaurant mostly served Chinese Muslims.

Beijing demanded on Tuesday that Afghanistan protect Chinese citizens after a bombing at a restaurant in Kabul killed at least seven people, including a Chinese man.

China, which shares a rugged 76-kilometre (47-mile) border with Afghanistan, has close ties with the Taliban government.

“China has made urgent representations with the Afghan side, demanding that the Afghan side spare no effort to treat the injured, further take effective measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news conference.

Six Afghans were also killed in Monday’s explosion at the Chinese Noodle restaurant in central Kabul, city police spokesman Khalid Zadran said.

The blast was claimed by the regional branch of the Daesh group, the SITE Intelligence Group reported, saying it was a suicide attack targeting Chinese nationals.

The Kabul police spokesman said the restaurant in the Shahr-e-Naw area mostly served Chinese Muslims.

Five Chinese nationals were also among the wounded, Beijing said, warning its citizens against travelling to Afghanistan.

“Chinese citizens and enterprises already in Afghanistan should enhance their awareness of prevention, strengthen security measures and evacuate high-risk areas as soon as possible,” Guo said.

Taliban officials have vowed to restore security to the country and are courting foreign investors to secure crucial revenue streams as foreign aid funding dries up.

Chinese business visitors have flocked to Afghanistan since the Taliban government took power in 2021 for the second time.