(October 11, 2024)
Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party accepts Abandon Harris endorsement for the 2024 presidential ticket
Archiv: Pressekonferenzen / press conferences
Secretary Antony J. Blinken And United Kingdom Foreign Secretary David Lammy Joint Press Availability
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Secretary, Mr. Foreign Secretary. Secretary Blinken, could I ask you about a couple of aspects on the Middle East? The Israel Defense Forces just a moment ago released an investigation, or released a preliminary – some preliminary findings to the death of an American citizen, Ms. Aysenur Eygi. Could you say – they said that she was killed most likely by Israeli fire, but unintentionally. Are you confident of that assessment? Does the United States want to see anything further? Are you confident with the assessment that this was unintentional, and what more do you want Israel to do? Could there be repercussions?
For both of you, could I ask you about the International Criminal Court? The – it seems that in the coming days there could be a formal decision on whether to seek an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Netanyahu, among others. Mr. Foreign Secretary, the Labor government, of course, has taken a slightly different stance from your predecessors, from the Conservatives, on this. Could you say what your position is, whether you support going ahead? And is there unity between the two allies on this? Thank you.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Shaun, thank you very much. With regard to the tragic killing of Aysenur, I think what we saw of this investigation is it seems to show what eyewitnesses have said and made clear: that her killing was both unprovoked and unjustified. No one – no one – should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have to put their life at risk just for freely expressing their views.
In our judgment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement. We’ve long seen reports of the security forces looking the other way when extremist settlers use violence against Palestinians. We’ve seen reports of excessive force by Israeli security forces against Palestinians. And now we have the second American citizen killed at the hands of Israeli security forces. It’s not acceptable. It has to change. And we’ll be making that clear to the senior-most members of the Israeli Government.
Now, we’re looking carefully at the results of this investigation, but even on an initial read and even accepting it at face value, it’s clear that there are serious issues that need to be dealt with. And we will insist that they be dealt with.
FOREIGN SECRETARY LAMMY: I think the important thing to stress in great democracies such as ours is our belief in the separation of powers. There is an important forum for lawyers and the judiciary and our courts, and then there is also an important forum for politicians and those who represent the people.
We’ve always been clear in the UK in our belief in the international rule of law, the rules-based order, and in IHL issues which are fundamentally important. And we took a decision last week in relation to arms exports that were quasi-legal on the basis of our law as they stand. We believe in international law, we believe in the Statute of Rome, but these must be decisions for the international courts to determine. I don’t want to comment on the assessment that they will reach. I’m qualified as a lawyer in part because of the great Harvard Law School. But I’m going to leave it to the lawyers to determine these very complex matters.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you.
FOREIGN SECRETARY LAMMY: Thanks a lot.
Amid protests after murder of hostages, Netanyahu to hold press conference
The press conference will take place amid public demonstrations against his government for not doing enough to secure a hostage deal in the wake of the murder of six hostages,..
Marwan Issa: Hamas and Israel silent on fate of commander announced dead by US
Hamas and Israel have remained silent on the fate of a senior military figure of the Palestinian group after his alleged death was unusually announced by the United States.
During a press conference on Monday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said: “Israel has made significant progress against Hamas… Hamas’ number three, Marwan Issa, was killed in an operation last week.”
(…)
Issa, 59, is the deputy to Mohammed al-Dief, the general commander of the al-Qassam Brigades, and his right-hand man.
‘Hair on fire’: Democratic worries grow over claims about Biden’s memory lapses
The spectacle — at times chaotic, at times emotional — echoed around the country among the networks of Democratic donors and strategists who have been struggling for weeks to contain their concern about the state and direction of Biden’s campaign.
The broad conclusion, both inside and outside Biden’s inner circle, is that a dangerous and misleading caricature of the president’s performance is at risk of setting in, pushed by the biting prose of a special prosecutor they suspected of seeking political revenge.
Biden verwechselt Kohl mit Merkel, Ägypten mit Mexiko
(09.02.2024)
Anfang der Woche hatte Biden bereits in einer Rede den französischen Präsidenten Emmanuel Macron mit seinem verstorbenen Vorgänger Francois Mitterrand verwechselt.
Biden’s attempt to defend his memory backfires as he confuses the leaders of Mexico and Egypt
(09.02.2024)
The president summoned reporters at the White House to insist that his memory was “fine” and emphasize he was insulted by the portrait of an “elderly man with a poor memory” painted by a former US attorney appointed by Donald Trump — his likely 2024 opponent — in an investigation into his handling of classified documents.
Yet a press conference that saw the president express righteous anger over the invoking of his son’s death and offer a comprehensive overlook at the conflict in the Middle East was undercut by another high-profile gaffe involving a foreign leader.
“We don’t have… I can’t give you today…” Puzzled Pentagon admits it doesn’t have evidence on Iran. So who to bomb…?
„Die teilweise heftigen Reaktionen auf meine Kandidatur haben mir gezeigt, die politischen Mitbewerber sind nervös, und dazu sollten sie auch allen Grund haben.“ @FabioDeMasi
„Ich werde im Wahlkampf (ich habe da noch so ein ganzes Notizbuch voll) mal so ein bisschen öffentlich machen, und darstellen, wer alles zum Beispiel Gelder bekommen hat. Also die @fdp hat teilweise Konten gehabt, bei der Wirecard Bank….“ @FabioDeMasi
Bundespressekonferenz zur Gründung der Partei „Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht“
Am 8. Januar 2024 (Montag) ist es so weit: Wir gründen in Berlin die neue Partei und werden am selben Tag in der Bundespressekonferenz unsere weiteren Pläne der Öffentlichkeit vorstellen.
Netanyahu‘s first question from any Israeli journalist in years goes to @YaaraShapira who asks if he will take responsibility for the disaster and whether he will commit to a National Commission of Inquiry. He deflects.
Gallant & Gantz have adopted the Netanyahu war style, all-black open necked button down shirts, and Gantz also cites Churchill.
Only 20 minutes late, Netanyahu meets live journalists. No one can remember the last time he did this. Years. He spouts clichés, slogans, pre-masticated lines. Uses Churchill‘s „sea, air, land.“ At one point the TelePrompter gets stuck and he stops cold and says „advance it.“
‘This is where we draw the line’: 10,000 more reservists to stop volunteering
Some 10,000 Israel Defense Forces reservists will suspend their volunteer reserve duty in protest of the government’s plans to overhaul the judicial system, a large protest group announced Saturday evening.
At a press conference in Herzliya, leaders of Brothers in Arms announced the move, the latest to send shockwaves through the Israel Defense Forces, which is struggling to stem a growing flood of reserve troops dropping out of volunteer duty to protest the overhaul, as defense officials warn the phenomenon could affect national preparedness.
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby
(23.06.2023)
Q Okay. And one more question on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. There’s a little bit of confusion. I think President Zelenskyy is saying — or was — said yesterday that Russia is plotting a terror attack on the nuclear power plant. President Putin today is urging the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure that Ukraine does not attack the power plant. What is the administration’s understanding on this? What’s your assessment? And are there anything that you’re doing in particular to that issue?
MR. KIRBY: We’re continuing to monitor it closely. We are able to monitor some radiation sensors that are around the plant. And thus far, we’ve detected no elevated levels of radioactivity.
Q Do you have any sense of who’s going to attack, if anyone is?
MR. KIRBY: Look, I’ve seen those reports. I’ve seen those comments. I just don’t have anything to confirm them or speak to the validity of them.
The only other thing I’d say, and we’ve said this before too, is that I think we should all be able to agree that a nuclear power plant is not a great site for military operations, one way or the other.
Washington refuses to back Kiev’s nuclear ‘terrorism’ claims
When asked to comment on Zelensky’s latest remarks during a press briefing in the White House on Friday, Kirby said at first that the US continued to “monitor some radiation sensors that are around the plant.” The official added that “thus far, we’ve detected no elevated levels of radioactivity.”
When pressed further by a reporter, the NSC spokesman clarified that while he had “seen those comments,” he did not “have anything to confirm them or speak to the validity of them.”
Commenting on Zelensky’s claim on Thursday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described it as “yet another lie.”
Blinken holds presser at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing
Streamed live 6 hours ago
Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a press conference at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.
Demain, mardi 28 mars, il y a une grande mobilisation intersyndicale. Nous avons besoin que la censure populaire s‘exprime encore avec force. Que soit bloqué tout ce qui peut l‘être. Dans des formes pacifiques. Nous avons montré que nous en sommes capables. #greve28mars
U.S. says Israeli minister‘s call to wipe out Palestinian town is „disgusting“
What to watch: Smotrich is expected to visit the U.S. the second week of March for a meeting of the Israel Bonds organization.
Israeli officials said he hasn‘t asked for any meetings with the Biden administration.
Two U.S. officials told Axios that even if he asked for meetings with Biden officials, he likely wouldn‘t get them.
US condemns Israel far right minister’s call for Palestinian town ‘to be erased’
Price issued a strong condemnation from the US State Department podium Wednesday, saying, “I want to be very clear about this. These comments were irresponsible. They were repugnant. They were disgusting.”
“And just as we condemn Palestinian incitement to violence, we condemn these provocative remarks that also amount to incitement to violence,” he said at a State Department briefing.
Price also called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “and other senior Israeli officials to publicly and clearly reject and disavow these comments.”
Inbox: J Street calls on the Biden admin to decline meetings with Israeli finance minister Smotrich on his visit to U.S. following his comments about wiping out the Palestinian village of Huwara. They suggest the remarks are also ground for re-examining the approval of his visa
LIVE NOW: J Street President @JeremyBenAmi and Chief of Staff Adina Vogel Ayalon discuss the crisis and escalation in Israel and the West Bank and reflect on what we saw on our latest Congressional Delegation to the region.
WATCH LIVE: State Department holds news briefing as demonstrators hold ‘Day of Disruption’ in Israel
Netanyahu and his government, made up of ultranationalists, have branded the protesters anarchists, while stopping short of condemning a West Bank settler mob that torched a Palestinian town earlier this week.
The legal overhaul has sparked an unprecedented uproar, with weeks of mass protests, criticism from legal experts and rare demonstrations by army reservists who have pledged to disobey orders under what they say will be a dictatorship after the overhaul passes.
Remarks by President Biden on the United States’ Response to Recent Aerial Objects
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. Last week, in the immediate aftermath of the incursion by China’s high-altitude balloon, our military, through the North American Aerospace Defense Command — so-called NOR- — NORAD — closely scrutinized the — our airspace, including enhancing our radar to pick up more slow-moving objects above our country and around the world.
In doing so, they tracked three unidentified objects: one in Alaska, Canada, and over Lake Huron in the Midwest.
They acted in accordance with established parameters for determining how to deal with unidentified aerial objects in U.S. airspace.
At their recommendation, I gave the order to take down these three objects due to hazards to civilian commercial air traffic and because we could not rule out the surveillance risk of sensitive facilities.
(…)
Now, we’ll also continue to engage with China, as we have throughout the past two weeks. As I’ve said since the beginning of my administration, we seek competition, not conflict, with China. We’re not looking for a new Cold War.
(…)
Now, look, the other thing I want to point is that we are going to keep our allies and the Congress contemporaneously informed of all we know and all we learn. And I expect to be speaking with President Xi, and I hope we have a — we are going to get to the bottom of this. But I make no apologies for taking down that balloon.
Russia-Ukraine latest news: Biden warns of ‘World War III’ if Nato directly confronts Russia
“Direct confrontation between Nato and Russia is World War III – something we must strive to prevent,“ Mr Biden added.
However, he vowed that Russia would pay a „severe price“ if it used chemical weapons in Ukraine.
It comes as Kyiv warned that Belarus could join Russia‘s invasion as early as this evening after Russian fighter jets fired at Belarus from Ukrainian air space in an apparent ‘false flag’ attack to involve Minsk in the conflict.
Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby Holds a Press Briefing, March 9, 2022
Q: Is there any concern that Russia‘s actually doing this because they‘re planning some sort of chem-biological attack?
MR. KIRBY: Yes, Court. I mean, again, not being perfectly inside the minds of the Russians. We have seen one of their playbooks is to accuse the other that which you are doing or what you plan to do. And to create a narrative that of victimhood and blaming somebody else for something that you‘re in fact going to do. I have no evidence of that. I‘m not suggesting that that‘s in the offing right now.
I have no intelligence and indicators that, that type of weaponry is in Ukraine and being planned to be used. So, I want to be clear, but it is a piece of the Russian playbook to blame others for that which you are about to do or you are considering doing. They‘ve done that plenty of times before.
Live: Biden gives speech on Russian invasion of Ukraine
President Joe Biden makes remarks on Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine and further sanctions the US and its allies will impose on Russia.
News conference following Russian-French talks
For our part, we will do our best to find compromises that suit everyone. There is not a single point that we consider unachievable in the proposals we sent to NATO and Washington.
There is also the ongoing issue related to the situation in Donbass. The President said that Russia is conducting exercises and has amassed a large group of forces. But has Ukraine not amassed them also? They have the same 100,000 or 125,000 troops concentrated in Donbass.
To reiterate, they have tried to resolve the Donbass issue through military means twice, and they did not conceal this as they used equipment and aviation. Who will give us guarantees that this will not happen? This is also a legitimate question on our part.
Pentagon says documents published by EL PAÍS show US is willing to negotiate with Russia
Kirby mentioned the documents in his opening remarks ahead of a news conference at the Department of Defense. “We did not make this document public, but now that it is, it confirms to the entire world what we’ve always been saying: there is no daylight between our public statements and our private discussions,” he said.
PM statement at Ukraine press conference: 1 February 2022
But we have to face a grim reality which is that as we stand here today Volodmyr, more than 100,000 Russian troops are gathering on your border in perhaps the biggest demonstration of hostility towards Ukraine in our lifetimes.
And the potential deployment dwarves the 30,000 troops Russia sent to invade Crimea in 2014. Since that time of course, as everybody knows, more than 13,000 Ukrainians have been killed and Ukraine has been plunged into nearly a decade of war.
It goes without saying that a further Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a political disaster, a humanitarian disaster, in my view would also be, for Russia, for the world, a military disaster as well. And the potential invasion completely flies in the face of President Putin’s claims to be acting in the interest of the Ukrainian people.
Transcript of Taliban’s first news conference in Kabul
“We have expelled the foreigners and I would like to congratulate the whole nation on this.
This is pride, not only for a limited number of people. This is a proud moment for the whole nation. This kind of pride is rare when it can be achieved. The whole nation, after the whole history of the nation and therefore, on the base of this I would like to congratulate the whole nation and I would like to welcome you.
Freedom and independence seeking is a legitimate right of every nation. The Afghans also use their legitimate right after 20 years of struggle for freedom and for emancipating the country from occupation, this was our right and we achieved this right.“
Machtübernahme in Afghanistan: Taliban verkünden Kriegsende und Amnestie
Frauen sollen arbeiten, sie seien Teil der Gesellschaft. Man werde allen verzeihen, „die gegen uns waren“, so die Taliban bei ihrem ersten offiziellen Auftritt. An den versöhnlichen Worten haben viele Menschen in Afghanistan Zweifel.
Reporters peppered Defense Department officials with questions at a briefing following President Joe Biden‘s address to the nation. „How do you determine where the responsibility lies for this failure?“
#Infektionsschutzgesetz – Die @fdpbt will gegen die automatischen und pauschalen #Ausgangssperren #Verfassungsbeschwerde in Karlsruhe einreichen. PK in der #BPK mit @MarcoBuschmann
@StephanThomae
@EUTheurer
German, Pakistani FMs discuss ties, Afghan situation
German and Pakistani foreign ministers discussed on Monday bilateral relations and international issues, including the situation in Afghanistan.
„Peace negotiations need to be continued and violence in the country has to come to an end after decades of conflict,“ Heiko Maas said during a press conference in Berlin with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Netanyahu Decries ‘Coup Attempt’ After First Witness Takes Stand in His Corruption Trial
(today)
“The entire proceeding against me was an abuse of the destructive power the prosecution holds,” Netanyahu said at a press conference. The prime minister referred to the hearing as a „charade,“ and went as far as accusing the state prosecution of an „attempted coup.“
„The prosecution opened this investigation against the law… and why did they do it? Because they‘re on the hunt,“ Netanyahu claimed.
LIVE from Wuhan : Media briefing on #COVID19 origin mission
Live: Kyriakides zu Impfstoff-Knappheit
In der EU herrscht Impfstoff-Knappheit. Verfolgen Sie die Pressekonferenz mit der EU-Gesundheitskommissarin Stella Kyriakides jetzt hier im Livestream.