(May 26, 2025)
Representatives from European countries, including France, Britain, Germany and Italy, joined envoys from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Morocco, the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Norway, Iceland, Ireland and Slovenia, who like Spain have already recognized a Palestinian state, also took part, alongside Brazil.
Speaking at a press conference following the informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Antalya on May 15, Fidan said there was cause for hope ahead of prospective talks between the two warring nations.
“If the parties‘ positions are harmonized and trust is established, a very important step towards peace will have been taken. We have enough reasons to be hopeful,” Fidan said.
But he also urged Russia and Ukraine to compromise for peace and stability in the region.
Your legacy is greatly enhanced by your brave actions. I am proud that the USA was able to help you arrive at this historic and heroic decision. While not even discussed, I am going to increase trade, substantially, with both of these great Nations. Additionally, I will work with you both to see if, after a “thousand years,” a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir. God Bless the leadership of India and Pakistan on a job well done!!!
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha announced in a post on X on Saturday that Ukraine and its allies „are ready for a full unconditional ceasefire“ with Russia „for at least 30 days“ beginning on Monday.
„Ukraine and all allies are ready for a full unconditional ceasefire on land, air, and at sea for at least 30 days starting already on Monday. If Russia agrees and effective monitoring is ensured, a durable ceasefire and confidence-building measures can pave the way to peace negotiations,“ the post said.
More than 20 leaders of the Coalition of the Willing took part in a call on Saturday morning, calling on Russia for a 30-day unconditional and complete ceasefire from May 12.
Ukraine and European leaders agreed on Saturday to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire from May 12 with the backing of U.S. President Donald Trump, threatening President Vladimir Putin with new „massive“ sanctions if he failed to comply.
The announcement was made by the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Ukraine after a meeting in Kyiv, during which they held a phone call with Trump.
(May 6, 2025)
While the White House has never confirmed that Israel would be part of his upcoming trip, there have been widespread rumors in diplomatic and national security circles that he would extend his trip to visit the U.S. ally.
רה“מ לשעבר אמר ל“מוריה וברקו“ כי צריך לעשות עסקה לשחרור החטופים גם במחיר של הפסקת המלחמה“. על נתניהו: „הכריז מלחמה על ישראל; קורא למרי אזרחי“. בליכוד תקפו: „לא נקבל הטפות מוסר ממי שעסוק בלקרוע את החברה הישראלית ונפגש למעלה מ-30 פעמים עם חברו הפדופיל ג׳פרי אפשטיין, גם אחרי שהורשע בשידול קטינה לזנות“
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has called for nationwide protests to remove Benjamin Netanyahu, telling Channel 13 the current leader has „declared war on Israel.“
Barak demanded Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara force Netanyahu‘s recusal, referencing a delayed High Court ruling from January that blocked legislation protecting the PM from removal.
The episode has left some senior White House officials questioning the need for a traditional National Security Council and content to leave Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom Trump on Thursday named as Waltz’s interim replacement, in a caretaker role for quite some time, a decision that will likely diminish an institution that has had a powerful role in shaping the foreign policy of modern presidencies. And it sidelines a key figure in the White House with a long track record of favoring military intervention, officials said.
Pakistan’s defense minister on Friday declared his country’s innocence in a terror attack that killed 26 people this week in disputed Kashmir territory controlled by India, and said that an international investigation into the attack was needed.
In an interview, the minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, said that the country was “ready to cooperate” with “any investigation which is conducted by international inspectors.”
(April 21, 2025)
Harvard filed a lawsuit Monday against the Trump administration, arguing its freeze on research funding is unconstitutional and “flatly unlawful” and calling on the court to restore more than $2.2 billion in research dollars.
The filing, in U.S. District Court in Boston, requests that the court vacate and set aside the funding freeze to allow previously approved funding to flow and halt administration efforts to freeze current or deny future funding without engaging in procedures contained in federal law.
Mr. Trump made his decision after months of internal debate over whether to pursue diplomacy or support Israel in seeking to set back Iran’s ability to build a bomb, at a time when Iran has been weakened militarily and economically.
The debate highlighted fault lines between historically hawkish American cabinet officials and other aides more skeptical that a military assault on Iran could destroy the country’s nuclear ambitions and avoid a larger war. It resulted in a rough consensus, for now, against military action, with Iran signaling a willingness to negotiate.
(today)
He‘s much better than the average Democrat on Palestine, too. And he‘s a fellow Swarthmore alum, like I am!
(February 6, 2025)
(April 13, 2025)
It was endorsed by over 150 organizations, and attended by diverse groups from across the country, said the organizers in a news release.
Organizers with the Palestinian Youth Movement are calling on party leaders to support an arms embargo with Israel and a permanent ceasefire in the ongoing conflict.
“All politicians who don’t endorse a two-way arms embargo will not get a single vote from any of our communities if you don’t endorse it,” said Shatha Mahmoud, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement.
(April 10, 2025)
Activists from Greenpeace UK poured blood-red dye into the pond at the US embassy in London.
The red dye highlights the death and devastation caused in Gaza as a direct result of the US’ continued sale of weapons, ammunition and military hardware to Israel.
Greenpeace UK is urging the US and UK governments to stop selling arms to Israel immediately.
(April 11, 2025)
“Today, I’m speaking to you from Kryvyi Rih. This city lives under almost constant air alerts – because of drones or Russian missiles … Our people, our children – are under attacks in many-many cities and villages. Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Nikopol, Poltava, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhia, Sumy, Kharkiv, Odesa, Chernihiv, and many others. They all need protection from Russian missiles. You know that Ukraine has a shortage of air defense systems. You know that Patriot systems can effectively protect against ballistic threats,” Zelenskyy said, speaking at the meeting.
To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!!
President Donald Trump threatened to impose „large scale“ sanctions against Russia after the country carried out a massive attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was „strongly considering“ sanctions and tariffs „until a ceasefire and final settlement agreement on peace is reached.“
Die Informationen der US-Geheimdienste sind für die Ukraine von entscheidender Bedeutung. Die bisherige Zusammenarbeit ermöglichte es der Ukraine, russische Militärziele zu identifizieren. Ohne diese Informationen könnte die Ukraine Schwierigkeiten haben, russische Militärbewegungen effektiv zu überwachen und entsprechend darauf zu reagieren.
Ukraine relied heavily on America’s own large fleet of spacecraft—hundreds of satellites for communication and surveillance—plus commercial space services paid for by the U.S. or other allies.
The satellites helped Ukrainian troops, drones and munitions navigate and communicate, spotted—via radar and camera—Russian forces on the move and traced Russian command networks by detecting their radios.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The Ukrainian leader said he was ready to release Russian prisoners of war, stop long-range drone and missile strikes aimed at Russian targets, and declare a truce at sea immediately — moves that he said would help establish a pathway to peace.
Only, however, “if Russia will do the same,” he added.
He explained that, in his opinion, the most important thing is not the public statements, such as President Zelenskyy saying he was committed to peace or apologizing to the president. He emphasized that what matters more is what the Ukrainians do to get meaningfully involved in what a peaceful settlement would look like. He stated that they need Ukrainians to come to them privately and say what they need, what they want, and how they will participate in the process of ending the conflict. He concluded that this lack of private participation is what concerns them the most.
Starmer said he had worked with France and Ukraine on a plan to end the war and that the group of leaders — mostly from Europe — had agreed on four things.
The steps toward peace would: keep aid flowing to Kyiv and maintain economic pressure on Russia to strengthen Ukraine’s hand; make sure Ukraine is at the bargaining table and any peace deal must ensure its sovereignty and security; and continue to arm Ukraine to deter future invasion.
Hamas will not hold a public ceremony for the handover of the bodies of four Israeli captives on Wednesday, a senior Hamas official told AFP.
The official confirmed that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is set to travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, likely on Thursday, to discuss Egypt’s plan for post-war Gaza governance. (…)
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that the Egyptian plan would not include Hamas or the PA. The report said it would involve a police force made up of PA policemen who remained in Gaza after 2007, when Hamas won legislative elections and took control of the enclave.
MEE reported in May that Hamas was prepared to show „flexibility“ about the future governance of Gaza, stating its condition was that Gaza’s fate was agreed upon by other Palestinian factions and not imposed by either the United States or Israel.
Kellogg specified that he is working on the American-Ukrainian-allied track, while the US President‘s Special Representative for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is working on the Russian track.
(11 hours ago)
The IDF has begun withdrawing troops from the western part of the Netzarim Corridor that bisects the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported early Monday morning, citing Palestinian reports.
Section 1. Purpose. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, an amendment essential to the success of our Republic, enshrines the right of the American people to speak freely in the public square without Government interference. Over the last 4 years, the previous administration trampled free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive pressure on third parties, such as social media companies, to moderate, deplatform, or otherwise suppress speech that the Federal Government did not approve. Under the guise of combatting “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and “malinformation,” the Federal Government infringed on the constitutionally protected speech rights of American citizens across the United States in a manner that advanced the Government’s preferred narrative about significant matters of public debate. Government censorship of speech is intolerable in a free society.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to: (a) secure the right of the American people to engage in constitutionally protected speech;
(b) ensure that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen;
(c) ensure that no taxpayer resources are used to engage in or facilitate any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen; and
(d) identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government related to censorship of protected speech.
Sec. 3. Ending Censorship of Protected Speech. (a) No Federal department, agency, entity, officer, employee, or agent may act or use any Federal resources in a manner contrary to section 2 of this order.
(b) The Attorney General, in consultation with the heads of executive departments and agencies, shall investigate the activities of the Federal Government over the last 4 years that are inconsistent with the purposes and policies of this order and prepare a report to be submitted to the President, through the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, with recommendations for appropriate remedial actions to be taken based on the findings of the report.
It’s not yet clear how the order could affect the work that several U.S. agencies do to track false claims that pose threats to election security, including the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA.
(…)
➟ Gleiche Besteuerung von Kapital und Arbeit durch die Abschaffung der Abgeltungsteuer, damit Zinsen und Kapitalerträge nicht geringer besteuert werden als Löhne und Gehälter. Dividenden werden damit, bei Menschen, die nicht den Spitzensteuersatz zahlen, deutlich geringer besteuert als heute, weil für sie wieder das Teileinkünfteverfahren gilt, was die Dividende teilweise steuerfrei stellt. Zinsen hingegen werden wieder höher besteuert.
Die AfD sprach von einem „Schlag ins Gesicht der deutschen Sparer“. „Meint Robert Habeck ernsthaft, dass er die soziale Sicherung retten kann, indem er die private Vorsorge der Menschen erschwert?“, fragte der stellvertretende Bundessprecher Peter Boehringer.
Weniger emotional, aber in der Sache ähnlich ablehnend äußerte sich Kanzler und Kanzlerkandidat Olaf Scholz: „Ein alter Hut, das hat noch nie funktioniert“, sagte der SPD-Politiker zum Grünen-Vorschlag.
Nawaf Salam, president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), was nominated as Lebanon’s prime minister on Monday.
The Artesh exercises tested the manned and unmanned aircraft as well as the following air defense systems, according to Iranian state media:[3]
– Rad missile. An Iranian-made, short-range, anti-tank missile designed for T-72 tanks, fired from a 125 millimeters (mm) caliber barrel, and with a target distance of four kilometers (km).[4]
– Majid missile. An Iranian-made, short-range, shoulder-fired, electro-optical-guided missile with a maximum target range of 15 km.[5]
– Talash missile. An Iranian-made, long-range, mobile surface-to-air air defense missile system, capable of hitting all altitude targets with a a maximum range of 200km.[6]
– Misagh-3 missile. An Iranian-made, short-range, shoulder-fired system with a laser fuse and a maximum range of five km and flight altitude of 3,500 meters (m).[7]
– Khordad-15 system. An Iranian-made, long-range air defense system with a detection range of 85 km and target range of 45 km.[8]
– Shahid Jalilvand radar system. An Iranian-made, medium-range, phased array radar system able to detect small flying targets with low cross-sections in three dimensions and a 24-hour operational continuity.[9]
– Samavat radar-controlled artillery system. A short-range Iranian version of the Swiss low-altitude Skyguard radar system with a range of 4 km and uses an anti-aircraft 35mm Oerlikon caliber barrel gun.[10]
– Seraj radar-controlled air defense artillery system. Iranian-made artillery system with a 35mm caliber barrel gun, radar, and a new optical system.[11]
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