(May 27, 2025)
The Sumar, Podemos, Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), Basque EH Bildu and the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) parties submitted a petition to the Congressional Bureau demanding the urgent procession of the bill, said the El Mundo newspaper, News.Az reports.
The request, also supported by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist Party, was approved, halving the timeline and accelerating the process.
The controversial U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), whose operations got off to a chaotic start this week in the war-torn Palestinian territory, says it is winding down its Swiss operation after three months. The move comes as Swiss authorities said GHF was breaching rules for foundations registered in that country. GHF told CBS News that moving forward, its only operations would be based out of the United States.
“Defendants appear to sanction unlimited Executive power, free from checks and balances, but the Constitution prohibits unilateral control over ‘official appointments’ by ‘dividing the power to appoint the principal federal offices … between the Executive and Legislative Branches,‘” Chutkan added.
The judge further dispatched the defendants’ argument that a court cannot review the president’s actions in this case.
“The fact that President Trump purports to create a position and assign it powers by Executive Order does not preclude review under the Appointments Clause,” she wrote.
“No branch may aggrandize its own appointment power at the expense of another and no branch may abdicate its Appointments Clause duties,” Chutkan added. “And the Judiciary has a duty to maintain ‘the constitutional plan of separation of powers.’ Consequently, the court will reject Defendants’ perverse reading of the Appointments Clause.”
A federal judge in D.C. Tuesday greenlit lawsuits challenging Elon Musk’s position in the federal government and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as unconstitutional.
Judge Tanya Chutkan, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, said 14 states and a group of advocacy organizations plausibly argued that Musk and DOGE’s efforts to slash the government violate the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.
Driving the news: U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan denied a motion to dismiss the case.
She wrote in a 42-page order: „The Constitution does not permit the Executive to commandeer the entire appointments power by unilaterally creating a federal agency pursuant to Executive Order and insulating its principal officer from the Constitution as an ‚advisor‘ in name only,“ the judge wrote. „This is precisely what Plaintiffs claim the Executive has done.“
A Boston federal judge said at a hearing May 29 that she planned to issue a preliminary injunction that blocks the Department of Homeland Security from revoking Harvard‘s ability to enroll foreign exchange students.
The comments from U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs came as the Trump administration attempted to walk back its May 22 directive that immediately revoked Harvard‘s participation in a federal exchange student program.
In an opinion on Wednesday, the three-judge panel struck down Trump‘s global tariffs as „contrary to law.“
The judges found that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — which Trump used to enact his tariffs — does not give him the „unlimited“ power to levy tariffs like the president has in recent months.
(May 20, 2025)
The UK, along with Canada, is determined to take the step at the conference organized by France in June at the United Nations. The intensification of Israeli attacks and the blockade of food aid to Gaza have overtaken the British government‘s reluctance.
“He’s killing a lot of people, and I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,” Mr. Trump said. “I’ve known him a long time. Always gotten along with him. But he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all.”
He added, “We’re in the middle of talking, and he’s shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities.”
Mr. Trump continued criticizing Mr. Putin hours later, writing on social media that his Russian counterpart “has gone absolutely CRAZY” and was shooting missiles and drones into Ukraine’s cities, “for no reason whatsoever.”
Trial International has filed two complaints with the Swiss authorities about a controversial NGO, which was set up to distribute aid in the Gaza Strip. (…)
The international crime-fighting organisation wants to know whether GHF, which has had a subsidiary registered in Geneva since February, complies with Swiss law and international humanitarian law.
It is particularly concerned about the foundation’s links with the United States, where its headquarters are located, and with Israel.
“I am joining The Democrats today because it is a party with a backbone and public courage. The party that is leading the most determined struggle against the government and offers a path and real hope for Israel,” Sheffer said in a video announcement.
“Yesterday I heard the prime minister — a corrupt, failed man, who brought upon Israel the worst disaster in its history — declare that he does not accept the High Court of Justice ruling,” he said, referring to the decision that found Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s firing of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to have been “unlawful” and that barred the premier from involvement in selecting Bar’s successor.
(May 22, 20255:20 PM GMT+2Updated 39 min ago)
Flour and other aid started reaching some of Gaza‘s most vulnerable areas on Thursday after Israel let some trucks through, but nowhere near enough to make up for shortages caused by an 11-week blockade, Palestinian officials said.
Many other trucks were still at the border, and people were still waiting to receive food, amid fears that desperate crowds would try to loot the vehicles when they arrived, the Palestinian Red Crescent warned.
Palestinians in Gaza received long-awaited aid trucks into the enclave, but UN officials say the amount allowed through by Israel is far from enough.
Published May 22, 2025
GAZA – A handful of bakeries in south and central Gaza, supported by the World Food Programme (WFP), have resumed bread production after dozens of trucks were finally able to collect cargo from the Kerem Shalom border crossing and deliver it overnight.
These bakeries are now operational distributing bread via hot meal kitchens. However, after nearly 80 days of a total blockade of humanitarian assistance, families still face a high risk of famine and far more aid is needed across all of Gaza.
According to the sources, allowing Hamas to „retain a degree of political power would make it more likely to accept disarming,“ and the objective of the talks is to transform Hamas into a „purely political entity that can still play some role in future Palestinian governance.“
Reports have also indicated that there have been growing strains between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron over France‘s attempts to get more countries to recognize a Palestinian state.
Sources involved in the discussions told Bloomberg that according to the plan, Hamas would still maintain some political power in Gaza.
According to the report, the Saudis have presented the proposal to Hamas, although its unclear if French officials have contacted the group.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) yesterday welcomed a delegation from the British government at its headquarters in Al-Bireh. The visit aimed to assess PRCS’s humanitarian response in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The delegation was led by the UK Minister for Development, Baroness Jenny Chapman, accompanied by her aide and the British Consul General in Jerusalem, Ms. Helen Winterton.
“We want to mobilize EU voices but also those outside the EU, in Arab and Islamic countries,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said in an interview Tuesday. “We all want the same thing: To end this war, avoid Gaza turning into a massive graveyard, and break the Israeli blockade to humanitarian aid.”
The United Kingdom paused trade negotiations with Israel and sanctioned West Bank settlers, as Britain’s top diplomat slammed Israel’s operation in Gaza as “morally unjustifiable” and “wholly disproportionate.”
Meanwhile, the European Union announced that it would review its relationship with Israel, with the EU’s foreign policy chief calling the situation on the ground in Gaza “catastrophic.”
Nine member states — Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden — had publicly backed the Netherlands‘ proposal ahead of Tuesday‘s gathering of foreign ministers.
Denmark, Estonia, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia also backed the review on Tuesday, according to diplomatic sources. Austria, a staunch supporter of Israel, did not take the floor to voice any opposition, another diplomat said.
Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Lithuania were said to be against, while Latvia was „neutral“, the sources also said.
The Netherlands is set to try to rally support from other European Union countries to increase pressure on Israel on Tuesday by calling for a review of relations, as western nations increasingly criticise the expansion of Israeli military operations in Gaza.
The Dutch move has garnered strong support from human rights groups but will be no easy task due to the rejection of a review by Germany and deep divisions within the bloc over the Israel-Palestine conflict.
„I have decided to send our delegation to Istanbul now, but not everyone … The delegation will be headed by the Minister of Defense,“ Zelenskyy said at a press conference in Ankara on Thursday.
Laut den am Donnerstag veröffentlichten Ergebnissen der National Barometer Survey (NBS) erhielt Lee 49 Prozent Zustimmung. Kim Moon-soo, Kandidat der Partei Macht des Volks (PPP), kam auf 27 Prozent, Lee Jun-seok von der Neuen Reformpartei auf sieben Prozent.
(May 13, 2025)
Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party has taken a clear lead over his rivals in the first public opinion poll released since the start of official campaigning for South Korea’s 21st presidential election, with results showing him ahead by a margin beyond the error range.
War Refusenik Ella Keidar Greenberg has been finally released from military service after two months in jail. “I received an exemption from the army. My incarceration was difficult. For most of it, I was locked alone in a cell for 21 hours a day, almost fully isolated from the other prisoners,” she said.
According to Keidar, “Under international law, solitary confinement is considered torture and prohibited, but we all know how much the army cares about international law. My imprisonment wasn’t easy, but I passed it thanks to the support of my family, my friends, the lawyers who aided me, the Mesarvot Network, my comrades in the Communist Young League, and everyone who wrote me a letter from the outside.” “Now, I am free and I will continue, and we will continue to struggle against apartheid, the genocide in Gaza, and for a safe and free future for us all.”
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.
In a statement issued today by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Egypt expressed hope that this agreement would positively impact freedomn of navigation in the Red Sea.
In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry praised the diplomatic efforts of the brotherly Sultanate of Oman, which played a key role in mediating the agreement. The ministry emphasised that the deal marks a significant move toward de-escalating conflict in the region
His Excellency Jassim Mohammed Al-Budaiwi, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), said that the efforts made by the Sultanate of Oman in mediating between the United States and the relevant authorities in the Republic of Yemen, which led to a ceasefire agreement between the two sides, embody the constructive and effective role played by Oman in supporting regional security and stability.
(May 6, 2025)
Under this agreement, neither party will target the other, including American vessels, in the Red Sea and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, thereby safeguarding freedom of navigation and ensuring the unimpeded flow of international commercial shipping.
The Sultanate of Oman extends its appreciation to both parties for their constructive approach, which has yielded this positive outcome.
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.
“Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results,” Zelenskyy added.
Zelenskyy’s spokesman Sergii Nykyforov said the meeting took place in St. Peter’s Basilica and lasted about 15 minutes.https://www.politico.eu/article/volodymyr-zelenskyy-donald-trump-speak-rome-first-meeting-since-oval-office-bust-up-ukraine-russia-putin-war/
The database, which is operated by the Department of Homeland Security, tracks the immigration status of international students and is used by universities to maintain information about the students’ enrollment.
The SEVIS revocations occurred alongside visa cancellations for many students, putting them ultimately at risk for deportation, multiple attorneys representing students have said in court documents. The DOJ continues to claim that SEVIS changes did not cause visa terminations.
The Trump administration began to cancel visas and launched deportation proceedings in March, which initially targeted students who participated in protests against the Israel-Hamas war on college campuses last year.
(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.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal will visit Washington during the week starting April 21, 2025, to meet with Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury Scott Bessent and provide high-level support for the completion of technical discussions on the terms of the agreement on the creation of a Reconstruction Investment Fund.
Van Hollen has been extremely vocal in advocating for his release, promising Monday to travel to El Salvador to “check on” his condition and “discuss his release” after Bukele rebuffed attempts to set up a meeting during his visit to Washington.
It is unfortunate, then, that your letter disregards Harvard’s efforts and instead presents demands that, in contravention of the First Amendment, invade university freedoms long recognized by the Supreme Court.
(…)
The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government.