Smoke, flirt, and fire: Trump, Erdoğan, Macron, and Meloni turn Gaza Summit into a diplomatic soap opera

What was supposed to be the Gaza International Peace Summit, a high-stakes gathering to end a war, ended up looking more like a Mediterranean episode of Love Island: Leaders Edition in Sharm El Sheikh. While aides drafted ceasefire clauses, the real drama unfolded in the margins: Erdoğan tried to save a smoker’s soul, Trump rediscovered chivalry, and Meloni chain-smiled her way through the chaos. Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, never one to resist moralising, spotted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni with a cigarette and pounced faster than a tax inspector on a new entrepreneur. “You look great. But I have to make you stop smoking,” he declared, as if issuing a fatwa on Marlboro Lights. Before Meloni could exhale, Emmanuel Macron,...