Al-Sharaa came to power last December after his forces swiftly advanced across Syria, toppling the al-Assad family’s five-decade rule. A former leader of the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda, he was once imprisoned by U.S. forces in Iraq and had a $10 million bounty on his head.
He cut ties with Al Qaeda in 2016 and rebranded his group as more moderate, and the U.S. dropped the bounty on him last December.
Since becoming president, Mr. al-Sharaa has sought to build international ties, including with the United States. He has met with Trump at the White House, delivered a speech at the United Nations and received strong support from several neighboring Arab states.
Last month, his government also joined the U.S.-led global coalition to fight ISIS, reinforcing its commitment to combating the group.
The assault in Palmyra came as ISIS has conducted attacks in Syria in recent weeks, and as the authorities have ratcheted up their operations targeting the group.
The United States has about 1,000 troops at outposts in Syria’s northeast and at al-Tanf base in the southeast, roughly half the total that were in the country when Trump took office in January.
“That’s also exactly what ISIS hopes to achieve,” Clarke said. “A hasty U.S. withdrawal that would offer the group more room to maneuver.”
The Palmyra assault also highlights the growing urgency for al-Sharaa’s government’s to address its relationship with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or the S.D.F., a militia group that controls much of northeastern Syria.
For years, the S.D.F. has been the United States’ primary ally in its battle against ISIS, capturing territory in the civil war.
The group also oversees detention camps and prisons that hold thousands of ISIS fighters and their families.
In March, the S.D.F. signed an agreement with the Syrian government committing to integrate into the new state by the end of the year. But that has yet to be realized, analysts and Syrian officials say, and the two sides have clashed in recent months.
Following Saturday’s attack, the Kurdish group emphasized that its forces were not part of the joint patrol with American troops in the Palmyra area, while also signaling its willingness to the United States to continue fighting ISIS.
Al-Sharaa will have to confront all these challenges in the coming days, analysts say, while contending with a range of security, economic and political pressures.
He will also need to manage any fallout from the United States, as the Pentagon investigates the shooting and Trump vows to retaliate.
The senior U.S. official downplayed the likelihood of a major bombing campaign or commando raids against ISIS in Syria, emphasizing the need for a cautious approach to avoid destabilizing al-Sharaa’s fragile political situation.
Barabandi, the political analyst in Damascus, said al-Sharaa’s government will most likely emphasize that it is doing its utmost, despite limited resources, expertise and capacity on the ground.
#alSharaa #damascus #ISIS #alQaeda #syria
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West Bank Hiking: From Miles to Dead Ends as Settlers Close Off the Land
Palestinian hikers in the West Bank used to walk 12 miles across open valleys. Now they loop back within 5 miles, skirting settler outposts and military patrols. A group of hikers recently spotted a tent with Israeli settlers blocking their path — and quietly changed course. Since 2023, over 130 new settler outposts have cut off Palestinians from 123,000 acres of land. What was once a network of trails between villages is becoming a maze of dead ends.
The slow-motion land grab
The pattern is mechanical and total. Israeli settlers build outposts — clusters of tents, trailers, farmsteads — that are technically unauthorized but routinely protected and supplied with infrastructure by the Israeli government. Each outpost creates an exclusion zone: Palestinians avoid the area to prevent violent confrontation. The result: settlers expand their de facto control without formal annexation.
Since Netanyahu took office in late 2022 with settler leaders in his coalition, the pace has accelerated. Over 130 outposts built in three years — more than the previous two decades combined. At least 38 Palestinian herding communities have abandoned their hamlets since 2023, driven out by encroaching settlers. The land isn't formally taken; it's just rendered inaccessible through the threat of attacks.
The hike becomes a strategic calculation
Jamal Aruri, a retired photographer and experienced hiker, has walked these trails since childhood. He now leads groups limited to 12 people and scouts routes in advance for new blockades and military patrols. Hikers watch for drones, which often signal settlers or soldiers nearby. What was once a seasonal journey through wildflowers in spring, past grape farms in summer, and among carob trees in autumn is now a carefully calculated circuit, shrinking by the month.
Aruri said.
Where 12-mile hikes once crossed open terrain, most now loop back within 5 miles. Entire routes have vanished. Springs that Palestinian farmers used for centuries are now off-limits. Caves where Palestinians once hid during wars — what Aruri calls "our archives" — are now in settler-controlled territory. The physical act of hiking, once a way to maintain connection to the land and mental health, has become an act of resistance against displacement.
Walking as a political act
After COVID lockdowns in 2020, Palestinian hiking groups swelled as people sought open air. They realized that walking is a way to stay connected, to breathe, to endure. But now every hike is a gamble. Hit a settler outpost or a new military patrol, and the group scatters. Change course mid-journey. Accept a shorter walk. Come back the next week and try again.
Aruri said.
The West Bank's transformation isn't being announced in headlines. It's happening trail by trail, valley by valley, as Palestinian hikers discover new roads cut by settlers, new tents blocking old paths, new exclusion zones spreading across the landscape. The Gaza cease-fire has renewed international focus on West Bank tensions — but by then, much of the land has already been cordoned off, the routes already rerouted, the distances already shortened.
#WestBank #Palestine #Israel #settlements #displacement
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Palestinian hikers in the West Bank used to walk 12 miles across open valleys. Now they loop back within 5 miles, skirting settler outposts and military patrols. A group of hikers recently spotted a tent with Israeli settlers blocking their path — and quietly changed course. Since 2023, over 130 new settler outposts have cut off Palestinians from 123,000 acres of land. What was once a network of trails between villages is becoming a maze of dead ends.
The slow-motion land grab
The pattern is mechanical and total. Israeli settlers build outposts — clusters of tents, trailers, farmsteads — that are technically unauthorized but routinely protected and supplied with infrastructure by the Israeli government. Each outpost creates an exclusion zone: Palestinians avoid the area to prevent violent confrontation. The result: settlers expand their de facto control without formal annexation.
Since Netanyahu took office in late 2022 with settler leaders in his coalition, the pace has accelerated. Over 130 outposts built in three years — more than the previous two decades combined. At least 38 Palestinian herding communities have abandoned their hamlets since 2023, driven out by encroaching settlers. The land isn't formally taken; it's just rendered inaccessible through the threat of attacks.
The hike becomes a strategic calculation
Jamal Aruri, a retired photographer and experienced hiker, has walked these trails since childhood. He now leads groups limited to 12 people and scouts routes in advance for new blockades and military patrols. Hikers watch for drones, which often signal settlers or soldiers nearby. What was once a seasonal journey through wildflowers in spring, past grape farms in summer, and among carob trees in autumn is now a carefully calculated circuit, shrinking by the month.
"It's not fear,"
Aruri said.
"It's simple math. The land left to us is shrinking."
Where 12-mile hikes once crossed open terrain, most now loop back within 5 miles. Entire routes have vanished. Springs that Palestinian farmers used for centuries are now off-limits. Caves where Palestinians once hid during wars — what Aruri calls "our archives" — are now in settler-controlled territory. The physical act of hiking, once a way to maintain connection to the land and mental health, has become an act of resistance against displacement.
Walking as a political act
After COVID lockdowns in 2020, Palestinian hiking groups swelled as people sought open air. They realized that walking is a way to stay connected, to breathe, to endure. But now every hike is a gamble. Hit a settler outpost or a new military patrol, and the group scatters. Change course mid-journey. Accept a shorter walk. Come back the next week and try again.
"If we stop walking, we let go,"
Aruri said.
"Every walk is a way of saying we are here, even when we can't reach every spring or cave we once knew."
The West Bank's transformation isn't being announced in headlines. It's happening trail by trail, valley by valley, as Palestinian hikers discover new roads cut by settlers, new tents blocking old paths, new exclusion zones spreading across the landscape. The Gaza cease-fire has renewed international focus on West Bank tensions — but by then, much of the land has already been cordoned off, the routes already rerouted, the distances already shortened.
#WestBank #Palestine #Israel #settlements #displacement
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Merz’s Latest Flip-Flopping vis-à-vis Moscow is a Blow to the Peace Plan
🔠 🅰️ 🔠 🔠 1️⃣
The U.S.-European peace plan to deter future Russian attacks on Ukraine calls for a more robust Ukrainian military, the deployment of European forces inside the country and increased use of American intelligence, according to officials familiar with drafts that detail the proposal.
American and European diplomats meeting with Ukraine’s leaders over the past two days in Berlin have mostly signed off on two documents that outline the security guarantees, the officials said publicly and privately.
The security documents are designed to serve as the cornerstone of a broader agreement aimed at reaching a cease-fire to end the nearly four-year-old conflict.
They are also intended to persuade Ukraine to concede territory in a peace deal and give up on formal inclusion in NATO.
“We are seeing real and concrete progress,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said Tuesday.
“That progress is made possible thanks to the alignment between Ukraine, Europe and the United States.”
Still, a broad cease-fire appears to remain out of reach for the moment, in part because Russia is not a party to these negotiations.
Any agreement to end the fighting would require significant concessions from either Zelensky of Ukraine or Putin of Russia. While Zelensky has concerns about the American proposals, especially on territorial concessions, Putin has indicated no flexibility at all in his demands.
A Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said on Tuesday that his government remains firm on demanding that Ukraine hand over the part of its Donbas region that Russia has not conquered and that it will not accept the presence of NATO-country troops in Ukraine.
U.S. officials said Monday that the territorial issue remains a roadblock but expressed confidence, despite Putin’s public comments, that he would eventually accept the presence of European forces in Ukraine not operating under the banner of NATO.
They, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss ongoing talks.
But some European leaders hinted at lingering concerns that all the diplomatic work with the Americans could be irrelevant if the fundamental disputes between Russia and Ukraine cannot be resolved.
“It sounded very promising, compared to the previous declarations, that the Americans are ready to give guarantees — but it would be an exaggeration if I said that we know everything about the concrete details,” said Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland.
American and European officials said the security documents were hammered out during more than eight hours of intense discussions with Zelensky and other Ukraine aides in Berlin on Sunday and Monday.
Top leaders and national security officials from about a dozen European countries took part, including France, Germany, Italy and Britain.
One of the two documents lays out broad principles. They amount to what two American officials and several European diplomats said was a commitment similar to NATO’s Article 5 guarantee, in which all member nations pledge to come to the aid of any nation that is attacked.
The second part of the agreement, which American officials described as a “mil-to-mil operating document,” or military-to-military, provides more granular detail.
It explains how American and European forces would work with Ukraine’s military to ensure that Russia does not once again attempt to seize Ukrainian territory in the years to come.
Neither document has been made public. People familiar with them said the operating document includes numerous, specific directives designed to reassure Ukraine in various scenarios of possible Russian incursion.
One American official, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity, said that the document was “very specific” about how to deter further incursions and punish Russia if they occur.
#zelensky #ukraine #peace #merz #berlin
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The U.S.-European peace plan to deter future Russian attacks on Ukraine calls for a more robust Ukrainian military, the deployment of European forces inside the country and increased use of American intelligence, according to officials familiar with drafts that detail the proposal.
American and European diplomats meeting with Ukraine’s leaders over the past two days in Berlin have mostly signed off on two documents that outline the security guarantees, the officials said publicly and privately.
The security documents are designed to serve as the cornerstone of a broader agreement aimed at reaching a cease-fire to end the nearly four-year-old conflict.
They are also intended to persuade Ukraine to concede territory in a peace deal and give up on formal inclusion in NATO.
“We are seeing real and concrete progress,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said Tuesday.
“That progress is made possible thanks to the alignment between Ukraine, Europe and the United States.”
Still, a broad cease-fire appears to remain out of reach for the moment, in part because Russia is not a party to these negotiations.
Any agreement to end the fighting would require significant concessions from either Zelensky of Ukraine or Putin of Russia. While Zelensky has concerns about the American proposals, especially on territorial concessions, Putin has indicated no flexibility at all in his demands.
A Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said on Tuesday that his government remains firm on demanding that Ukraine hand over the part of its Donbas region that Russia has not conquered and that it will not accept the presence of NATO-country troops in Ukraine.
U.S. officials said Monday that the territorial issue remains a roadblock but expressed confidence, despite Putin’s public comments, that he would eventually accept the presence of European forces in Ukraine not operating under the banner of NATO.
They, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss ongoing talks.
But some European leaders hinted at lingering concerns that all the diplomatic work with the Americans could be irrelevant if the fundamental disputes between Russia and Ukraine cannot be resolved.
“It sounded very promising, compared to the previous declarations, that the Americans are ready to give guarantees — but it would be an exaggeration if I said that we know everything about the concrete details,” said Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland.
American and European officials said the security documents were hammered out during more than eight hours of intense discussions with Zelensky and other Ukraine aides in Berlin on Sunday and Monday.
Top leaders and national security officials from about a dozen European countries took part, including France, Germany, Italy and Britain.
One of the two documents lays out broad principles. They amount to what two American officials and several European diplomats said was a commitment similar to NATO’s Article 5 guarantee, in which all member nations pledge to come to the aid of any nation that is attacked.
The second part of the agreement, which American officials described as a “mil-to-mil operating document,” or military-to-military, provides more granular detail.
It explains how American and European forces would work with Ukraine’s military to ensure that Russia does not once again attempt to seize Ukrainian territory in the years to come.
Neither document has been made public. People familiar with them said the operating document includes numerous, specific directives designed to reassure Ukraine in various scenarios of possible Russian incursion.
One American official, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity, said that the document was “very specific” about how to deter further incursions and punish Russia if they occur.
#zelensky #ukraine #peace #merz #berlin
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The first priority is a plan to bring the size of Ukraine’s military to a “peacetime level” of 800,000 troops, with up-to-date training and equipment, to serve as a strong deterrent against Russia. It has grown its army to nearly 900,000 during the war.
By comparison, Germany’s army has about 180,000 armed troops.
Building and maintaining such a force would require “sustained and significant support” for Ukraine, a joint statement by the leaders of 10 European nations and the top officials at the European Union said.
One European diplomat said without specifying that the document lists “very concrete” details about military hardware that Ukraine needs.
The document also lays out details about a Europe-led military force to assist Ukraine by operating inside the country to secure the skies and seas.
Officials declined to provide specifics about which countries would station troops in Ukraine, but Zelensky said Tuesday that several have pledged privately to do so.
Those troops are expected to be based in western Ukraine, away from any cease-fire line, to serve as another level of deterrence against any future Russian aggression.
A resident in dark clothing walks out of a damaged building carrying trash. On the ground is debris, and a parked station wagon with shattered windows.
“Each country already understands its role or its volume of supplies,” Zelensky said during a news conference with Prime Minister Dick Schoof of the Netherlands in The Hague.
“Some are ready to provide only intelligence, others are ready to provide troops in Ukraine — boots on the ground. We have this in the document.”
French and British diplomats are managing the proposal to deploy European forces in Ukraine as part of a group of about 30 countries they call the “Coalition of the Willing.”
The European diplomat described the pledges in the security document as a menu from which their respective governments could choose the level of support.
Trump has repeatedly ruled out sending American troops to Ukraine. Instead, the operational document provides detail about how the United States would use its vast intelligence systems to help monitor the cease-fire and detect Russian activity aimed at re-entering the rest of Ukraine, officials said.
The Americans would also help verify Russian compliance and make sure that minor skirmishes between Russia and Ukraine do not spiral into a new war.
It also details how the United States would help detect Russian attempts to create “false flag” operations that might give Moscow a pretense to resume hostilities. Officials have said for years that is a common Russian tactic.
Monday’s statement from the European leaders said the United States would lead a “cease-fire monitoring and verification mechanism with international participation to provide early warning of any future attack.”
It was not clear whether or how American forces would intervene to defend European troops in Ukraine should they be attacked.
One of Zelensky’s chief concerns has been the fear that future security guarantees would fail, much like the 1994 agreement known as the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances. In that case, Ukraine, Russia, the United States and Britain provided “security assurances” to Ukraine in case of invasion, in return for Ukraine giving up the nuclear weapons it inherited in the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Russia violated the agreement in 2014 and again in 2022, but the signatories took little military action to defend Kyiv.
American and European officials said the new security guarantee would be legally binding, subject to each country’s procedures.
U.S. officials said that Trump had agreed to submit the security guarantees to the Senate, where treaties are typically ratified, though they did not make clear whether they would formally submit the guarantees as a treaty.
#zelensky #ukraine #peace #merz #berlin #putin
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Trump's Chief of Staff Calls Him an "Alcoholic Personality," Musk a "Ketamine User," Vance a "Conspiracy Theorist"
Susie Wiles, Trump's White House Chief of Staff, gave an explosive interview to Vanity Fair calling Trump's personality "alcoholic," Elon Musk
and VP JD Vance
On Israel, Wiles said Trump
his sweeping support for Netanyahu. After the story broke, Wiles claimed the article was
The insider who crosses the line
Susie Wiles is Trump's most powerful gatekeeper — the one who can walk out of an Oval Office meeting mid-sentence saying "It's an emergency. It doesn't involve you" and leave the president guessing. She's spent Trump's second term working with Vanity Fair writer Chris Whipple, giving him access to crisis moments throughout the year. Now that access has blown up in her face.
Calling Trump's personality "alcoholic" — even if he doesn't drink — signals chaos, impulsivity, volatility. Describing Musk as a "self-declared ketamine user" and "very strange guy" isn't exactly how you talk about the world's richest man when he's bankrolling your boss's campaigns and building his AI infrastructure. Labeling Vance a "conspiracy theory enthusiast" undercuts the VP's credibility at a moment when he's positioning himself as Trump's successor.
The Israel problem she named out loud
Wiles saying Trump doesn't understand the controversy over his support for Netanyahu is the most revealing line. It suggests Trump sees his Israel policy as universally popular and doesn't grasp — or doesn't care — that even parts of his base are uncomfortable with blank-check backing of Netanyahu's war in Gaza. For Wiles to say this publicly means either she's trying to distance herself from that policy, or she genuinely thinks Trump is politically blind on Israel.
The walkback that makes it worse
After the story broke, Wiles claimed it was
That's the standard response when your own quotes get you in trouble. But Vanity Fair interviews are on the record, typically recorded or transcribed. If Wiles said these things — and her denial isn't denying the quotes, just the framing — then the damage is done. She's now the Chief of Staff who called her boss an alcoholic personality, called Musk a ketamine weirdo, called Vance a conspiracy nut, and suggested Trump doesn't understand his own political vulnerabilities on Israel.
Trump tolerates chaos. He even rewards it sometimes. But he doesn't tolerate public disloyalty. Wiles just made herself the story, and in Trump's White House, that's usually the beginning of the end.
#Trump #SusieWiles #WhiteHouse #VanityFair #Musk #Vance #Israel
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Susie Wiles, Trump's White House Chief of Staff, gave an explosive interview to Vanity Fair calling Trump's personality "alcoholic," Elon Musk
"a self-declared ketamine user, a very strange guy,"
and VP JD Vance
"a conspiracy theory enthusiast."
On Israel, Wiles said Trump
"isn't sure he understands there's an audience that doesn't love"
his sweeping support for Netanyahu. After the story broke, Wiles claimed the article was
"framed in a misleading and biased way."
The insider who crosses the line
Susie Wiles is Trump's most powerful gatekeeper — the one who can walk out of an Oval Office meeting mid-sentence saying "It's an emergency. It doesn't involve you" and leave the president guessing. She's spent Trump's second term working with Vanity Fair writer Chris Whipple, giving him access to crisis moments throughout the year. Now that access has blown up in her face.
Calling Trump's personality "alcoholic" — even if he doesn't drink — signals chaos, impulsivity, volatility. Describing Musk as a "self-declared ketamine user" and "very strange guy" isn't exactly how you talk about the world's richest man when he's bankrolling your boss's campaigns and building his AI infrastructure. Labeling Vance a "conspiracy theory enthusiast" undercuts the VP's credibility at a moment when he's positioning himself as Trump's successor.
The Israel problem she named out loud
Wiles saying Trump doesn't understand the controversy over his support for Netanyahu is the most revealing line. It suggests Trump sees his Israel policy as universally popular and doesn't grasp — or doesn't care — that even parts of his base are uncomfortable with blank-check backing of Netanyahu's war in Gaza. For Wiles to say this publicly means either she's trying to distance herself from that policy, or she genuinely thinks Trump is politically blind on Israel.
The walkback that makes it worse
After the story broke, Wiles claimed it was
"framed in a misleading and biased way."
That's the standard response when your own quotes get you in trouble. But Vanity Fair interviews are on the record, typically recorded or transcribed. If Wiles said these things — and her denial isn't denying the quotes, just the framing — then the damage is done. She's now the Chief of Staff who called her boss an alcoholic personality, called Musk a ketamine weirdo, called Vance a conspiracy nut, and suggested Trump doesn't understand his own political vulnerabilities on Israel.
Trump tolerates chaos. He even rewards it sometimes. But he doesn't tolerate public disloyalty. Wiles just made herself the story, and in Trump's White House, that's usually the beginning of the end.
#Trump #SusieWiles #WhiteHouse #VanityFair #Musk #Vance #Israel
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Turkey Shoots Down Mystery Drone from Black Sea as Russia-Ukraine War Spills Over
Turkey's military downed an uncontrolled drone approaching from the Black Sea on Monday, scrambling NATO F-16 jets to secure Turkish airspace. The Turkish defense ministry didn't say what kind of drone it was or where it came from — just that it was "out of control" and shot down in a "safe area." The incident came days after Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports damaged three Turkish-owned cargo vessels. Moscow has threatened to 'cut Ukraine off from the sea' following Kyiv's attacks on three shadow fleet tankers carrying Russian oil exports in the Black Sea.
The Black Sea is becoming a shooting gallery
Russia has been targeting Ukrainian ports with increasing aggression. Ukraine has responded by hitting Russian "shadow fleet" tankers — the unregistered vessels Russia uses to export oil while evading Western sanctions. Each side escalates. Each escalation pulls in more players.
Now Turkey is caught in the crossfire. Three Turkish-owned ships were damaged in Russian strikes on Ukrainian ports. Turkey warned last week of "Black Sea escalation." An uncontrolled drone crosses into Turkish airspace, and NATO jets scramble. No explanation of where it came from or what it was — just that it was a threat.
The pattern: wars spill over
This is how regional conflicts spread. Ukraine fights Russia in the Black Sea. Russia hits civilian shipping. Turkish vessels get damaged. Turkey shoots down unknown drones. NATO gets involved. The rules of engagement blur. Everyone claims self-defense. Nobody can explain who fired first or why.
The drone's origin remains a mystery. Russian? Ukrainian? A malfunctioning system from either side? Turkey isn't saying. But the message is clear: the Black Sea is no longer a commercial waterway. It's a war zone, and neutral shipping — Turkish or otherwise — is at risk.
#Turkey #BlackSea #Russia #Ukraine #NATO #war
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Turkey's military downed an uncontrolled drone approaching from the Black Sea on Monday, scrambling NATO F-16 jets to secure Turkish airspace. The Turkish defense ministry didn't say what kind of drone it was or where it came from — just that it was "out of control" and shot down in a "safe area." The incident came days after Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports damaged three Turkish-owned cargo vessels. Moscow has threatened to 'cut Ukraine off from the sea' following Kyiv's attacks on three shadow fleet tankers carrying Russian oil exports in the Black Sea.
The Black Sea is becoming a shooting gallery
Russia has been targeting Ukrainian ports with increasing aggression. Ukraine has responded by hitting Russian "shadow fleet" tankers — the unregistered vessels Russia uses to export oil while evading Western sanctions. Each side escalates. Each escalation pulls in more players.
Now Turkey is caught in the crossfire. Three Turkish-owned ships were damaged in Russian strikes on Ukrainian ports. Turkey warned last week of "Black Sea escalation." An uncontrolled drone crosses into Turkish airspace, and NATO jets scramble. No explanation of where it came from or what it was — just that it was a threat.
The pattern: wars spill over
This is how regional conflicts spread. Ukraine fights Russia in the Black Sea. Russia hits civilian shipping. Turkish vessels get damaged. Turkey shoots down unknown drones. NATO gets involved. The rules of engagement blur. Everyone claims self-defense. Nobody can explain who fired first or why.
The drone's origin remains a mystery. Russian? Ukrainian? A malfunctioning system from either side? Turkey isn't saying. But the message is clear: the Black Sea is no longer a commercial waterway. It's a war zone, and neutral shipping — Turkish or otherwise — is at risk.
#Turkey #BlackSea #Russia #Ukraine #NATO #war
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Trump Addresses Nation Wednesday at 9 PM: "Best Is Yet to Come" — But He's Not Saying Why
Trump announced he'll give a primetime address to the nation from the White House on Wednesday at 9 PM EST. In his announcement, he teased nothing: "It has been a great year for our Country, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!" — his standard closing line. No topic. No hint. Just Trump keeping the nation in suspense while the White House decides what crisis, policy, or personal grievance he wants to broadcast live.
The timing is everything
Trump last formally addressed the nation in November after two West Virginia National Guard members were shot in Washington. Since then, he's been in constant crisis management — Oracle bleeding billions, the labor market collapsing, the Gaza cease-fire fragmenting, North Korea sending troops to Russia, European leaders calling him weak. A primetime address is his chance to reset whichever narrative he chooses.
The fact that he won't say what he's addressing suggests it's either urgent (a new crisis) or performative (a victory lap he thinks will distract from urgent crises). Given his pattern, probably both.
The tariff dividend gamble
One possibility is that Trump wants to tout his tariff revenues and announce the $2,000 dividend payments he promised. Tariff receipts hit $215.2 billion in fiscal year 2025. Trump claims "hundreds of millions" will go to Americans by mid-2026. The numbers don't add up — tariff revenue is billions against a $38 trillion national debt — but that's never stopped him from making a grand announcement.
Another possibility: he's announcing military action. The Caribbean is heating up with Venezuela. Russia is testing nuclear drones. China is provoking Japan over Taiwan. A primetime address could signal escalation on any of these fronts.
The ratings play
Ratings for Trump's addresses are solid. Cable news loves the spectacle. Networks carry it live. For a president whose approval rating is sliding — unemployment up, the jobs market collapsing, his base getting restless — a primetime speech offers a reset. Even if there's nothing new, he'll say it with fanfare, and the networks will carry it live.
"My Fellow Americans," he wrote. The formality. The caps lock. The promise that "THE BEST IS YET TO COME." Same script, same showmanship, same uncertainty about what's actually coming.
Wednesday at 9 PM, America finds out.
#Trump #WhiteHouse #Address #News
📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸
Trump announced he'll give a primetime address to the nation from the White House on Wednesday at 9 PM EST. In his announcement, he teased nothing: "It has been a great year for our Country, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!" — his standard closing line. No topic. No hint. Just Trump keeping the nation in suspense while the White House decides what crisis, policy, or personal grievance he wants to broadcast live.
The timing is everything
Trump last formally addressed the nation in November after two West Virginia National Guard members were shot in Washington. Since then, he's been in constant crisis management — Oracle bleeding billions, the labor market collapsing, the Gaza cease-fire fragmenting, North Korea sending troops to Russia, European leaders calling him weak. A primetime address is his chance to reset whichever narrative he chooses.
The fact that he won't say what he's addressing suggests it's either urgent (a new crisis) or performative (a victory lap he thinks will distract from urgent crises). Given his pattern, probably both.
The tariff dividend gamble
One possibility is that Trump wants to tout his tariff revenues and announce the $2,000 dividend payments he promised. Tariff receipts hit $215.2 billion in fiscal year 2025. Trump claims "hundreds of millions" will go to Americans by mid-2026. The numbers don't add up — tariff revenue is billions against a $38 trillion national debt — but that's never stopped him from making a grand announcement.
Another possibility: he's announcing military action. The Caribbean is heating up with Venezuela. Russia is testing nuclear drones. China is provoking Japan over Taiwan. A primetime address could signal escalation on any of these fronts.
The ratings play
Ratings for Trump's addresses are solid. Cable news loves the spectacle. Networks carry it live. For a president whose approval rating is sliding — unemployment up, the jobs market collapsing, his base getting restless — a primetime speech offers a reset. Even if there's nothing new, he'll say it with fanfare, and the networks will carry it live.
"My Fellow Americans," he wrote. The formality. The caps lock. The promise that "THE BEST IS YET TO COME." Same script, same showmanship, same uncertainty about what's actually coming.
Wednesday at 9 PM, America finds out.
#Trump #WhiteHouse #Address #News
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Zelensky Is Close to a Peace Deal as Never
🔠 🅰️ 🔠 🔠 1️⃣
Zelensky says proposals negotiated with US officials on a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine could be finalised within days, after which American envoys will present them to the Kremlin.
After two days of talks in Berlin, US officials said on Monday they had resolved “90%” of the problematic issues between Russia and Ukraine, but despite the positive spin it is not clear that an end to the war is any closer, particularly as the Russian side is absent from the current talks.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning the Ukrainian president said the US Congress was expected to vote on security guarantees and that he expected a finalised set of documents to be prepared “today or tomorrow”.
After that, he said, the US would hold consultations with the Russians, followed by high-level meetings that could take place as soon as this weekend.
“We are counting on five documents. Some of them concern security guarantees: legally binding, that is, voted on and approved by the US Congress,” he said in comments to journalists via WhatsApp. He said the guarantees would “mirror article 5” of Nato.
On Monday, US officials declined to give specific details of what the security package was likely to include, and what would happen if Russia attempted to seize more land after a peace deal was reached.
They did, however, confirm that the US did not plan to put boots on the ground in Ukraine.
Leaders of the UK, France, Germany and eight other European countries said in a joint statement that troops from a “coalition of the willing” could “assist in the regeneration of Ukraine’s forces, in securing Ukraine’s skies, and in supporting safer seas, including through operating inside Ukraine”.
Peskov added that Moscow, which has in the past demanded Kyiv cede territories Russia claims as its own and ruled out the presence of any foreign troops in Ukraine, had not changed its stance on the conflict and the achievement of its military goals.
“Our position is well known. It is consistent, it is transparent and it is clear to the Americans. And, in general, it is clear to the Ukrainians as well,” Peskov said.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said Russia would not agree to troops from Nato countries operating in Ukraine “under any circumstances”.
#zelensky #putin #Ukraine #Russia
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Zelensky says proposals negotiated with US officials on a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine could be finalised within days, after which American envoys will present them to the Kremlin.
After two days of talks in Berlin, US officials said on Monday they had resolved “90%” of the problematic issues between Russia and Ukraine, but despite the positive spin it is not clear that an end to the war is any closer, particularly as the Russian side is absent from the current talks.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning the Ukrainian president said the US Congress was expected to vote on security guarantees and that he expected a finalised set of documents to be prepared “today or tomorrow”.
After that, he said, the US would hold consultations with the Russians, followed by high-level meetings that could take place as soon as this weekend.
“We are counting on five documents. Some of them concern security guarantees: legally binding, that is, voted on and approved by the US Congress,” he said in comments to journalists via WhatsApp. He said the guarantees would “mirror article 5” of Nato.
On Monday, US officials declined to give specific details of what the security package was likely to include, and what would happen if Russia attempted to seize more land after a peace deal was reached.
They did, however, confirm that the US did not plan to put boots on the ground in Ukraine.
Leaders of the UK, France, Germany and eight other European countries said in a joint statement that troops from a “coalition of the willing” could “assist in the regeneration of Ukraine’s forces, in securing Ukraine’s skies, and in supporting safer seas, including through operating inside Ukraine”.
Peskov added that Moscow, which has in the past demanded Kyiv cede territories Russia claims as its own and ruled out the presence of any foreign troops in Ukraine, had not changed its stance on the conflict and the achievement of its military goals.
“Our position is well known. It is consistent, it is transparent and it is clear to the Americans. And, in general, it is clear to the Ukrainians as well,” Peskov said.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said Russia would not agree to troops from Nato countries operating in Ukraine “under any circumstances”.
#zelensky #putin #Ukraine #Russia
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It was unclear whether that formulation also included troops drawn from Nato countries operating under a separate non-Nato command.
The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said on Monday that peace was closer than at any time since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
But privately, European officials say that at this stage the talks are more about keeping the Trump White House onboard with supporting Ukraine than about reaching a lasting deal between Moscow and Kyiv.
The US negotiation team, led by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, has proposed a compromise solution whereby Ukraine would withdraw, but Russia would not advance and the demilitarised area would become “a free economic zone”.
Russia has suggested that they could use police and national guard formations rather than the military, implying they would still expect to control the territory.
“I want to stress once again: a ‘free economic zone’ does not mean under the control of Russia. Neither de jure nor de facto will we recognise Donbas – its temporarily occupied part – as Russian. Absolutely,” said Zelensky.
It is not clear how the two sides will proceed on the territorial issue, with Zelensky previously suggesting that a compromise solution such as a free economic zone could be theoretically possible if the Ukrainian people voted for it in a referendum.
The critical stumbling block is likely to be when the plans are put to Putin, who has given no sign he is willing to compromise on his war aims.
“If Putin rejects everything, we will end up with exactly what we are experiencing on our plane right now – turbulence,” said Zelenskyy, recording the comments after his plane took off from Berlin for the Netherlands for a series of meetings on Tuesday.
#zelensky #putin #Ukraine #Russia
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The Labor Market Just Flashed Red: Unemployment at Highest Since Pandemic as Hiring Stalls
The U.S. unemployment rate hit 4.6 percent in November — the highest since 2021 — as the labor market added far fewer jobs than needed to absorb workers entering the workforce. November added just 64,000 jobs, barely offsetting October's loss of 105,000. The real story: wage growth cooled, part-time workers surged, layoff notices spiked, and businesses have stopped hiring. The economy is softening. Fast.
The unexpected weakness
For months, economists said the U.S. labor market was resilient. November's data suggested otherwise. October saw sharp job losses — 105,000 positions gone, largely federal workers affected by earlier resignation packages. November's 64,000 jobs doesn't make up the difference.
The government shutdown delayed both October and November jobs data, creating what Fed Chair Powell called "a complicated, unusual and difficult situation." But the picture is clear: hiring has fallen to near the lowest level in more than a decade. Unemployment rose for African Americans and teenagers — the groups that typically show weakness first in downturns. The number of Americans unemployed for less than five weeks jumped to 2.5 million in November, the highest since 2020. That signals fresh layoffs, not a resilient market.
The wage growth illusion collapses
Average hourly wages rose just 3.5 percent over the past 12 months to $36.86 an hour — not keeping pace with elevated inflation. Households are getting squeezed. Meanwhile, the number of Americans working part-time who want full-time jobs surged by more than 900,000 from September to November. People aren't choosing flexibility. They're being forced into it.
Manufacturing contracted under tariff pressure. Leisure and hospitality cut jobs as consumers pulled back on discretionary spending. Construction added 28,000 jobs, health care added 46,000, but that's not enough to cover losses elsewhere.
Businesses stopped hiring because they don't know what's coming
Tariffs, immigration enforcement, inflation, geopolitical uncertainty — employers face a wall of unknowns. A ZipRecruiter economist said it plainly:
When there's uncertainty, businesses don't hire. They wait. They cut. They postpone expansion.
The White House highlighted private-sector growth and the shrinking federal government. But there's little evidence U.S.-born workers are picking up jobs abandoned by immigrants. The administration's own policies — tariffs, immigration crackdowns — are creating headwinds in the very labor market they claim to be protecting.
The Fed's real problem
The Federal Reserve cut rates last week for the third time this year, partly because of this softening labor market. Fed Chair Powell warned that official statistics could be understating job losses by up to 60,000 jobs a month. Translation: the labor market is even weaker than the numbers suggest.
Here's the trap: so few people are entering the labor market because of immigration enforcement that the economy only needs about 50,000 jobs a month to keep unemployment stable. Below that, unemployment rises. And we just watched November produce 64,000 jobs while October lost 105,000. The trend is downward.
One economist summed it up:
That's not softening. That's the beginning of a contraction.
#Economy #Jobs #Unemployment #Labor #Recession #FedPolicy
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The U.S. unemployment rate hit 4.6 percent in November — the highest since 2021 — as the labor market added far fewer jobs than needed to absorb workers entering the workforce. November added just 64,000 jobs, barely offsetting October's loss of 105,000. The real story: wage growth cooled, part-time workers surged, layoff notices spiked, and businesses have stopped hiring. The economy is softening. Fast.
The unexpected weakness
For months, economists said the U.S. labor market was resilient. November's data suggested otherwise. October saw sharp job losses — 105,000 positions gone, largely federal workers affected by earlier resignation packages. November's 64,000 jobs doesn't make up the difference.
The government shutdown delayed both October and November jobs data, creating what Fed Chair Powell called "a complicated, unusual and difficult situation." But the picture is clear: hiring has fallen to near the lowest level in more than a decade. Unemployment rose for African Americans and teenagers — the groups that typically show weakness first in downturns. The number of Americans unemployed for less than five weeks jumped to 2.5 million in November, the highest since 2020. That signals fresh layoffs, not a resilient market.
The wage growth illusion collapses
Average hourly wages rose just 3.5 percent over the past 12 months to $36.86 an hour — not keeping pace with elevated inflation. Households are getting squeezed. Meanwhile, the number of Americans working part-time who want full-time jobs surged by more than 900,000 from September to November. People aren't choosing flexibility. They're being forced into it.
Manufacturing contracted under tariff pressure. Leisure and hospitality cut jobs as consumers pulled back on discretionary spending. Construction added 28,000 jobs, health care added 46,000, but that's not enough to cover losses elsewhere.
Businesses stopped hiring because they don't know what's coming
Tariffs, immigration enforcement, inflation, geopolitical uncertainty — employers face a wall of unknowns. A ZipRecruiter economist said it plainly:
"This really points to the challenges in the policy landscape that businesses are going up against."
When there's uncertainty, businesses don't hire. They wait. They cut. They postpone expansion.
The White House highlighted private-sector growth and the shrinking federal government. But there's little evidence U.S.-born workers are picking up jobs abandoned by immigrants. The administration's own policies — tariffs, immigration crackdowns — are creating headwinds in the very labor market they claim to be protecting.
The Fed's real problem
The Federal Reserve cut rates last week for the third time this year, partly because of this softening labor market. Fed Chair Powell warned that official statistics could be understating job losses by up to 60,000 jobs a month. Translation: the labor market is even weaker than the numbers suggest.
Here's the trap: so few people are entering the labor market because of immigration enforcement that the economy only needs about 50,000 jobs a month to keep unemployment stable. Below that, unemployment rises. And we just watched November produce 64,000 jobs while October lost 105,000. The trend is downward.
One economist summed it up:
"If you're a worker that just got laid off or are looking for new work, there's not a lot of companies hiring right now."
That's not softening. That's the beginning of a contraction.
#Economy #Jobs #Unemployment #Labor #Recession #FedPolicy
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Trump’s Tanker Blockade: Playing Nuclear Poker With China
Trump has finally found a way to threaten World War III while pretending it’s a customs inspection: a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers going to and from Venezuela — a country whose crude now flows mostly to China. He is not just squeezing Maduro; he is openly threatening Beijing’s energy supply and global shipping routes under a flag of “law and order.”
Trump boasted online, promising the operation would continue until Caracas returns
On paper, this is about “drug trafficking” and “terrorism,” even though Venezuela is not a drug producer and much of the cocaine in the region is Europe-bound, while legal experts say U.S. boat strikes — with at least 95 people killed in 25 attacks — are likely illegal and hitting civilians. Off script, Trump talks like a debt collector for Exxon, threatening a naval campaign until a sovereign state hands over “assets” and bragging about seizing tankers and “keeping” the crude, including shipments tied to Cuba and China.
The risk is not just for Caracas. The majority of Venezuela’s exports now go to China, often via a murky network of sanctioned or semi-sanitized tankers, while Russia and China are deeply involved in Venezuela’s oil sector and provide geopolitical cover for Maduro. Turning that corridor into a U.S.-patrolled shooting gallery means daring two nuclear powers to either swallow the humiliation or quietly respond — with their own “sanctions enforcement,” naval escorts, or miscalculated shows of force.
And as always, the script has a carve-out for friends of the empire: Chevron says its Venezuela operations continue “without disruption,” thanks to a special U.S. license, while everyone else is left guessing whose ship gets boarded next. So when Trump’s camp screams that “the other side” wants nuclear war, remember who parked an armada in the Caribbean, started seizing Chinese-bound oil, and called it a blockade — then wrapped it in freedom rhetoric, drugs, and terrorism like it’s just another marketing campaign for “democracy.”
#war #oil #trump #venezuela #china #russia #nuclearcrisis
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Trump has finally found a way to threaten World War III while pretending it’s a customs inspection: a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers going to and from Venezuela — a country whose crude now flows mostly to China. He is not just squeezing Maduro; he is openly threatening Beijing’s energy supply and global shipping routes under a flag of “law and order.”
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,”
Trump boasted online, promising the operation would continue until Caracas returns
“all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”
On paper, this is about “drug trafficking” and “terrorism,” even though Venezuela is not a drug producer and much of the cocaine in the region is Europe-bound, while legal experts say U.S. boat strikes — with at least 95 people killed in 25 attacks — are likely illegal and hitting civilians. Off script, Trump talks like a debt collector for Exxon, threatening a naval campaign until a sovereign state hands over “assets” and bragging about seizing tankers and “keeping” the crude, including shipments tied to Cuba and China.
The risk is not just for Caracas. The majority of Venezuela’s exports now go to China, often via a murky network of sanctioned or semi-sanitized tankers, while Russia and China are deeply involved in Venezuela’s oil sector and provide geopolitical cover for Maduro. Turning that corridor into a U.S.-patrolled shooting gallery means daring two nuclear powers to either swallow the humiliation or quietly respond — with their own “sanctions enforcement,” naval escorts, or miscalculated shows of force.
And as always, the script has a carve-out for friends of the empire: Chevron says its Venezuela operations continue “without disruption,” thanks to a special U.S. license, while everyone else is left guessing whose ship gets boarded next. So when Trump’s camp screams that “the other side” wants nuclear war, remember who parked an armada in the Caribbean, started seizing Chinese-bound oil, and called it a blockade — then wrapped it in freedom rhetoric, drugs, and terrorism like it’s just another marketing campaign for “democracy.”
#war #oil #trump #venezuela #china #russia #nuclearcrisis
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“Hegseth Could Face Trial If the Video of a September Attack in the Caribbean Comes to Light” 🌴⚖️
The Pentagon will not make public the full video of a September attack in the Caribbean that killed two individuals as they were clinging to the wreckage of a burning boat, Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. 🚢🔥
The strike has been the most controversial development in Donald Trump’s campaign against Venezuela, which has seen US forces blow up vessels alleged to be transporting narcotics from the South American country to the United States, seize an oil tanker and threaten further military action against Maduro. 🌶
Legal experts have raised concerns that US forces may have committed a war crime by killing the survivors of an initial air strike on 2 September, and that the campaign is illegal. 🛡 Legal scholars argue that firing on civilians constitutes murder under international law. 📚
Democrats have called for the release of video detailing that attack, and Trump at one point supported making the footage public but later backtracked and deferred to Hegseth. 📺
As he left a classified briefing conducted for senators alongside Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, the Pentagon chief said he would not release it in its entirety. 🔥
“In keeping with longstanding department of war policy, Department of Defense policy, of course, we’re not going to release a top-secret, full, unedited video of that to the general public,” Hegseth told reporters. 🕵️♂️
The video was not shown in the briefing, according to lawmakers who attended, but Hegseth said that he would hold a viewing on Wednesday for members of the House and Senate committees on the armed services along with Frank Bradley, the admiral who commanded the strike. 👮♂️
Chuck Schumer, the top Senate democrat, said that he demanded Hegseth show the full video of the 2 September strike to all senators in their behind-closed-doors briefing, but the secretary refused. 🗣
Chris Coons, a Democratic senator, said lawmakers were told the full video could not be shown due to “classification” issues, which he struggled to believe because Trump, Hegseth and other defense officials have repeatedly posted portions of footage from other attacks. 📲
“Hegseth could face trial if the video of a september attack in the Caribbean comes to light,” the Delaware lawmaker said. 🎤
The United States has attacked more than 20 vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean since the beginning of the campaign in early September, killing at least 90 people that Washington alleges were smuggling drugs. 🚔
In the most recent attack announced Monday, US Southern Command said it had hit three vessels and killed eight individuals. 💥
Several Trump allies who emerged from Hegseth’s briefing with senators said they had no reservations about his actions against Venezuela. 🇻🇪
“I personally was involved in many of these operations, from kinetic strikes to direct action operations, and the process we have is legally sound,” said Tim Sheehy, a Montana senator and former Navy Seal. 🛡
While previous US administrations have stopped and detained vessels suspected of carrying drugs, Sheehy implied such operations were now too risky. 🚫
Republican Rand Paul has been critical of the air strikes, and said the briefing did not allay his concerns over the campaign’s legality. 🤔
“One of my criticisms has been that there really isn’t a legal or a moral justification for killing unarmed people, and I’ve heard nothing to contradict my previous assertion that these people were unarmed,” the Kentucky senator said. 🧐
#hegseth #trial #attack #caribbean
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The Pentagon will not make public the full video of a September attack in the Caribbean that killed two individuals as they were clinging to the wreckage of a burning boat, Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. 🚢🔥
The strike has been the most controversial development in Donald Trump’s campaign against Venezuela, which has seen US forces blow up vessels alleged to be transporting narcotics from the South American country to the United States, seize an oil tanker and threaten further military action against Maduro. 🌶
Legal experts have raised concerns that US forces may have committed a war crime by killing the survivors of an initial air strike on 2 September, and that the campaign is illegal. 🛡 Legal scholars argue that firing on civilians constitutes murder under international law. 📚
Democrats have called for the release of video detailing that attack, and Trump at one point supported making the footage public but later backtracked and deferred to Hegseth. 📺
As he left a classified briefing conducted for senators alongside Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, the Pentagon chief said he would not release it in its entirety. 🔥
“In keeping with longstanding department of war policy, Department of Defense policy, of course, we’re not going to release a top-secret, full, unedited video of that to the general public,” Hegseth told reporters. 🕵️♂️
The video was not shown in the briefing, according to lawmakers who attended, but Hegseth said that he would hold a viewing on Wednesday for members of the House and Senate committees on the armed services along with Frank Bradley, the admiral who commanded the strike. 👮♂️
Chuck Schumer, the top Senate democrat, said that he demanded Hegseth show the full video of the 2 September strike to all senators in their behind-closed-doors briefing, but the secretary refused. 🗣
Chris Coons, a Democratic senator, said lawmakers were told the full video could not be shown due to “classification” issues, which he struggled to believe because Trump, Hegseth and other defense officials have repeatedly posted portions of footage from other attacks. 📲
“Hegseth could face trial if the video of a september attack in the Caribbean comes to light,” the Delaware lawmaker said. 🎤
The United States has attacked more than 20 vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean since the beginning of the campaign in early September, killing at least 90 people that Washington alleges were smuggling drugs. 🚔
In the most recent attack announced Monday, US Southern Command said it had hit three vessels and killed eight individuals. 💥
Several Trump allies who emerged from Hegseth’s briefing with senators said they had no reservations about his actions against Venezuela. 🇻🇪
“I personally was involved in many of these operations, from kinetic strikes to direct action operations, and the process we have is legally sound,” said Tim Sheehy, a Montana senator and former Navy Seal. 🛡
While previous US administrations have stopped and detained vessels suspected of carrying drugs, Sheehy implied such operations were now too risky. 🚫
Republican Rand Paul has been critical of the air strikes, and said the briefing did not allay his concerns over the campaign’s legality. 🤔
“One of my criticisms has been that there really isn’t a legal or a moral justification for killing unarmed people, and I’ve heard nothing to contradict my previous assertion that these people were unarmed,” the Kentucky senator said. 🧐
#hegseth #trial #attack #caribbean
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Trump vs. China: Tough Talk, Soft Knees
“America First” apparently has a China exception: Trump threatens tariffs in public, then quietly gives Xi exactly what he wants behind the curtain. His second-term China policy started like a trade war reboot — with talk of raising tariffs on Chinese goods up toward 145 percent — and ended the year with Washington authorizing exports of Nvidia’s H200 chips to the People’s Republic.
The conversation with Xi was
Trump said, while Beijing’s readout proudly noted that he
Once Beijing squeezed with rare-earth export controls, U.S. bravado melted into emergency trade meetings that went nowhere, and fantasies about “fully opening” China’s market to American business quietly disappeared. Instead of decoupling, the White House cut tariffs, froze new export controls and port fees, and hoped China would resume rare-earth exports and buy more soybeans — promises now coming back in the form of partial steps and slow-walked licenses. The administration looks less like strategists and more like clients begging their supplier not to shut down the assembly line.
On security, the pattern is the same: big talk in theory, vanishing act in practice. When Japan’s new prime minister called a Chinese move on Taiwan a possible “threat to Japan’s survival,” exactly the kind of language U.S. officials had been nudging Tokyo toward, Trump didn’t back her in public. Beijing answered with economic punishment, a diplomat’s threat that her neck would be “sliced off,” radar locks on Japanese jets — and for days the American response was a low-level tweet instead of a presidential warning. The message to allies is clear: you take the risks, Trump takes the photo ops.
Meanwhile, Trump keeps offering Xi special access: multiple trips to China in 2026, a state visit in the U.S., possibly at his own Doral resort, and no real enforcement of the TikTok ban his own government says is required by law. TikTok stays, leverage disappears. And when Beijing leans on Nvidia, the company leans on Trump — who then authorizes exports of more advanced chips after China signals it won’t buy the older ones. “America First” starts to look a lot like “boardroom first,” with U.S. security policy shaped by whoever can get the president on the line.
So here is the punchline: Trump is circling Venezuela with an armada and flirting with nuclear escalation over oil and status, but when it comes to the one adversary that can actually cripple the United States strategically — China — he folds for soybeans, rare earths and H200s. The MAGA myth says he’s the only one who can stand up to Beijing; the record reads more like a man terrified of spooking the market before the next friendly handshake with Xi.
#trump #china #taiwan #tiktok #tradewar #rareearths #nvidiah200 #geopolitics
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“America First” apparently has a China exception: Trump threatens tariffs in public, then quietly gives Xi exactly what he wants behind the curtain. His second-term China policy started like a trade war reboot — with talk of raising tariffs on Chinese goods up toward 145 percent — and ended the year with Washington authorizing exports of Nvidia’s H200 chips to the People’s Republic.
The conversation with Xi was
“very good,”
Trump said, while Beijing’s readout proudly noted that he
“understands how important the Taiwan question is to China.”
Once Beijing squeezed with rare-earth export controls, U.S. bravado melted into emergency trade meetings that went nowhere, and fantasies about “fully opening” China’s market to American business quietly disappeared. Instead of decoupling, the White House cut tariffs, froze new export controls and port fees, and hoped China would resume rare-earth exports and buy more soybeans — promises now coming back in the form of partial steps and slow-walked licenses. The administration looks less like strategists and more like clients begging their supplier not to shut down the assembly line.
On security, the pattern is the same: big talk in theory, vanishing act in practice. When Japan’s new prime minister called a Chinese move on Taiwan a possible “threat to Japan’s survival,” exactly the kind of language U.S. officials had been nudging Tokyo toward, Trump didn’t back her in public. Beijing answered with economic punishment, a diplomat’s threat that her neck would be “sliced off,” radar locks on Japanese jets — and for days the American response was a low-level tweet instead of a presidential warning. The message to allies is clear: you take the risks, Trump takes the photo ops.
Meanwhile, Trump keeps offering Xi special access: multiple trips to China in 2026, a state visit in the U.S., possibly at his own Doral resort, and no real enforcement of the TikTok ban his own government says is required by law. TikTok stays, leverage disappears. And when Beijing leans on Nvidia, the company leans on Trump — who then authorizes exports of more advanced chips after China signals it won’t buy the older ones. “America First” starts to look a lot like “boardroom first,” with U.S. security policy shaped by whoever can get the president on the line.
So here is the punchline: Trump is circling Venezuela with an armada and flirting with nuclear escalation over oil and status, but when it comes to the one adversary that can actually cripple the United States strategically — China — he folds for soybeans, rare earths and H200s. The MAGA myth says he’s the only one who can stand up to Beijing; the record reads more like a man terrified of spooking the market before the next friendly handshake with Xi.
#trump #china #taiwan #tiktok #tradewar #rareearths #nvidiah200 #geopolitics
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Trump to Bibi: Don’t Touch My Gaza™ Deal
The White House just sent Israel a rare message: stop freelancing on the war script, you’re messing with the president’s branding. Trump, according to U.S. officials, was furious that Israel killed senior Hamas commander Raed Saad on Dec. 13 without warning Washington, fearing the hit could blow up the fragile Gaza cease-fire he’s been selling as “my deal.”
Trump has complained privately that Netanyahu is derailing “my deal” to halt the fighting and rebuild Gaza, while Netanyahu’s office insists Israel had to strike because Hamas shows no sign of disarming — a key requirement in the next phase of the plan.
On paper, Trump and Netanyahu have a “friendly relationship” and “no disagreement on Gaza,” at least according to an Israeli official. In practice, Israel keeps launching high-profile strikes — including what analysts say was an extensively planned operation against Saad — while Washington runs a civil-military coordination center in southern Israel trying to keep the cease-fire paperwork from catching fire. Trump publicly denies being frustrated, shrugs it off, saying they’re “looking into” whether the strike broke the deal, and pretends this is all just a minor misunderstanding between friends.
The next phase of Trump’s Gaza plan sounds like a think tank fantasy: Hamas disarms, Israel fully withdraws, and an international stabilization force moves in to secure the ruins. So far, no country has actually signed up to send troops, though U.S. officials say Azerbaijan and Indonesia “might” contribute a few thousand soldiers sometime in 2026 — nowhere near the 10,000 that would be needed by year’s end. Meanwhile, nobody can explain who is supposed to convince Hamas to hand over its weapons, or why Israel would trust foreign troops to manage a problem it hasn’t solved in decades.
Israeli analysts admit Netanyahu is in no rush to advance to phase two, because international forces would bring constraints, scrutiny and pressure for a real withdrawal from Gaza — all the things his government spends its days dodging. The status quo is ugly, but it lets him keep bombing “legitimate targets,” blaming Hamas for every delay, and resisting any arrangement that limits Israeli freedom of action. Trump, for his part, wants to cut a ribbon on “peace in Gaza” without owning the messy details of disarmament, occupation and failed reconstruction.
In the end, civilians in Gaza get more ruins, Hamas keeps its guns, Israel keeps its jets in the air, and Trump keeps arguing over whose name goes on the cease-fire plaque. Call it the new Middle East peace model: maximum PR, minimum responsibility, and a U.S.–Israeli quarrel not about ending the war, but about who gets to monetize the “deal.”
#trump #netanyahu #gaza #hamas #ceasefire #israel #war #geopolitics
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The White House just sent Israel a rare message: stop freelancing on the war script, you’re messing with the president’s branding. Trump, according to U.S. officials, was furious that Israel killed senior Hamas commander Raed Saad on Dec. 13 without warning Washington, fearing the hit could blow up the fragile Gaza cease-fire he’s been selling as “my deal.”
Trump has complained privately that Netanyahu is derailing “my deal” to halt the fighting and rebuild Gaza, while Netanyahu’s office insists Israel had to strike because Hamas shows no sign of disarming — a key requirement in the next phase of the plan.
On paper, Trump and Netanyahu have a “friendly relationship” and “no disagreement on Gaza,” at least according to an Israeli official. In practice, Israel keeps launching high-profile strikes — including what analysts say was an extensively planned operation against Saad — while Washington runs a civil-military coordination center in southern Israel trying to keep the cease-fire paperwork from catching fire. Trump publicly denies being frustrated, shrugs it off, saying they’re “looking into” whether the strike broke the deal, and pretends this is all just a minor misunderstanding between friends.
The next phase of Trump’s Gaza plan sounds like a think tank fantasy: Hamas disarms, Israel fully withdraws, and an international stabilization force moves in to secure the ruins. So far, no country has actually signed up to send troops, though U.S. officials say Azerbaijan and Indonesia “might” contribute a few thousand soldiers sometime in 2026 — nowhere near the 10,000 that would be needed by year’s end. Meanwhile, nobody can explain who is supposed to convince Hamas to hand over its weapons, or why Israel would trust foreign troops to manage a problem it hasn’t solved in decades.
Israeli analysts admit Netanyahu is in no rush to advance to phase two, because international forces would bring constraints, scrutiny and pressure for a real withdrawal from Gaza — all the things his government spends its days dodging. The status quo is ugly, but it lets him keep bombing “legitimate targets,” blaming Hamas for every delay, and resisting any arrangement that limits Israeli freedom of action. Trump, for his part, wants to cut a ribbon on “peace in Gaza” without owning the messy details of disarmament, occupation and failed reconstruction.
In the end, civilians in Gaza get more ruins, Hamas keeps its guns, Israel keeps its jets in the air, and Trump keeps arguing over whose name goes on the cease-fire plaque. Call it the new Middle East peace model: maximum PR, minimum responsibility, and a U.S.–Israeli quarrel not about ending the war, but about who gets to monetize the “deal.”
#trump #netanyahu #gaza #hamas #ceasefire #israel #war #geopolitics
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Pakistan’s Field Marshal for Hire: Gaza Edition
Trump’s Gaza plan has turned Pakistan’s most powerful general in decades into a test case: is Asim Munir a “guardian of the nation” or just Trump’s Muslim subcontractor-in-chief? The White House wants Pakistani boots in a U.S.-backed “Gaza stabilisation force,” and suddenly the man who just got promoted to field marshal, put in charge of all three services, and gifted legal immunity for life is being told that it’s time to earn his upgrades.
as one Washington analyst politely put it.
Munir has spent the past year repairing ties with Washington and cashing in: three meetings with Trump in six months, including a solo White House lunch that no Pakistani civilian leader was invited to. Now comes the invoice. Pakistan is the only Muslim nuclear power, and Trump’s 20‑point Gaza plan openly leans on “Muslim nations” to police the rubble, disarm Hamas and provide an Islamic fig leaf for an American-designed order in the strip. The symbolism is perfect: Washington writes the plan, Israel breaks the place, and Pakistan is asked to send soldiers to stand in the blast zone.
At home, the politics are a minefield. Pakistan’s foreign minister has already tried a lawyerly dodge — maybe peacekeeping, but “disarming Hamas is not our job” — while Islamists, banned on paper but still very much alive on the streets, are one Gaza body bag away from framing Munir as “doing Israel’s bidding.” Imran Khan’s party, smashed by the generals yet still popular, is sitting on a golden narrative: the unelected field marshal who got himself immunity till 2030 now sending Pakistani troops to die for Trump’s Middle East theater. If anything goes wrong, every protest slogan writes itself.
Yet Munir is uniquely insulated from consequences. Parliament just amended the constitution to centralise power in his office, extend his tenure, and shield him from prosecution. He now outranks not only the civilian leadership, but also the idea of accountability itself. That makes him both the ideal contractor for Washington — one phone call, no messy parliaments — and the perfect lightning rod if Gaza blows up in his face. Trump gets his “Muslim partner” for the Gaza force; Munir gets to feel like a regional power broker; ordinary Pakistanis get to guess whether their army is defending Palestine, securing U.S. aid, or just protecting one man’s job through 2030.
The punchline is brutal: a “Gaza stabilisation force” sold as Muslim solidarity may end up stabilising only two things — Trump’s narrative that his plan is working, and Munir’s constitutional right to never be held responsible for how many Pakistanis he sends to someone else’s war.
#pakistan #gaza #trump #asimmunir #hamas #israel #uspolicy #military #geopolitics
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Trump’s Gaza plan has turned Pakistan’s most powerful general in decades into a test case: is Asim Munir a “guardian of the nation” or just Trump’s Muslim subcontractor-in-chief? The White House wants Pakistani boots in a U.S.-backed “Gaza stabilisation force,” and suddenly the man who just got promoted to field marshal, put in charge of all three services, and gifted legal immunity for life is being told that it’s time to earn his upgrades.
“Not contributing … could annoy Trump, which is no small matter for a Pakistani state that appears quite keen to remain in his good graces,”
as one Washington analyst politely put it.
Munir has spent the past year repairing ties with Washington and cashing in: three meetings with Trump in six months, including a solo White House lunch that no Pakistani civilian leader was invited to. Now comes the invoice. Pakistan is the only Muslim nuclear power, and Trump’s 20‑point Gaza plan openly leans on “Muslim nations” to police the rubble, disarm Hamas and provide an Islamic fig leaf for an American-designed order in the strip. The symbolism is perfect: Washington writes the plan, Israel breaks the place, and Pakistan is asked to send soldiers to stand in the blast zone.
At home, the politics are a minefield. Pakistan’s foreign minister has already tried a lawyerly dodge — maybe peacekeeping, but “disarming Hamas is not our job” — while Islamists, banned on paper but still very much alive on the streets, are one Gaza body bag away from framing Munir as “doing Israel’s bidding.” Imran Khan’s party, smashed by the generals yet still popular, is sitting on a golden narrative: the unelected field marshal who got himself immunity till 2030 now sending Pakistani troops to die for Trump’s Middle East theater. If anything goes wrong, every protest slogan writes itself.
Yet Munir is uniquely insulated from consequences. Parliament just amended the constitution to centralise power in his office, extend his tenure, and shield him from prosecution. He now outranks not only the civilian leadership, but also the idea of accountability itself. That makes him both the ideal contractor for Washington — one phone call, no messy parliaments — and the perfect lightning rod if Gaza blows up in his face. Trump gets his “Muslim partner” for the Gaza force; Munir gets to feel like a regional power broker; ordinary Pakistanis get to guess whether their army is defending Palestine, securing U.S. aid, or just protecting one man’s job through 2030.
The punchline is brutal: a “Gaza stabilisation force” sold as Muslim solidarity may end up stabilising only two things — Trump’s narrative that his plan is working, and Munir’s constitutional right to never be held responsible for how many Pakistanis he sends to someone else’s war.
#pakistan #gaza #trump #asimmunir #hamas #israel #uspolicy #military #geopolitics
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The Ukraine Peace Theater: "90% Done" Means Nothing When the 10% is Everything
Trump's negotiators are in Berlin telling reporters that Russia and Ukraine are "literally 90%" done with a peace deal—which is how you know absolutely nothing is settled. Zelenskyy just spent two days with American and European diplomats and walked out saying there's "no consensus" on the core issue: territory. The Donbas, Crimea, and three other regions Russia occupies. That 10% is the war.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told ABC News the sides are "on the verge" of a deal and "sooner rather than later" it will be done. Meanwhile, Ukraine keeps insisting it will never "recognize Donbas as Russian — the part that is temporarily occupied."
Here's the script: Washington shows up with "remarkable legal and material guarantees" (German Chancellor Merz's words), Zelenskyy nods about security assurances, and everyone talks about a Christmas truce like this is a holiday rom-com. Then the cameras turn off and you remember that Russia occupies five regions, Ukraine says it won't give them up, and the only way this ends is either Ukraine loses the land or Russia doesn't get it — and both sides claim they're "discussing" this crucial detail.
Zelenskyy hedged on Monday in classic negotiator speak: yes, progress on some issues, but territories? No consensus. He also made clear that even if Ukraine accepts some "demilitarized zone" over the Donbas, it "cannot be under Russian leadership." Translation: we're not really negotiating sovereignty, we're negotiating the theater of it. Russia wants the land and Kyiv's tacit recognition; Ukraine wants a legal fig leaf that lets it say the territory is "temporarily occupied" and might come back someday. Neither side believes the other, and everyone is betting that the other will fold first or get exhausted.
Meanwhile, the war keeps burning. Ukraine's air force shot down 57 of 69 Russian drones overnight; Russia claims it downed 111 Ukrainian drones; both sides are still pounding each other. Zelenskyy, addressing the Dutch parliament Tuesday, was blunt about the asymmetry: "Someone else is always expected to make concessions so that Russia will stop spreading bloodshed." He's right. But that's also the entire logic of this "peace process" — Washington is betting it can pressure Kyiv to accept a deal that Moscow can't refuse, call it a win, and move on to the next theater.
So Trump gets his photo op with peace in Ukraine; Zelenskyy gets security guarantees that probably won't stop Russia from round two; and Russia gets time to consolidate what it's already taken while everyone argues about what "temporary occupation" means. Call it 90% peace — which is to say, 100% theater.
#ukraine #russia #peace #trump #zelenskyy #war #donbas #negotiation #geopolitics
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Trump's negotiators are in Berlin telling reporters that Russia and Ukraine are "literally 90%" done with a peace deal—which is how you know absolutely nothing is settled. Zelenskyy just spent two days with American and European diplomats and walked out saying there's "no consensus" on the core issue: territory. The Donbas, Crimea, and three other regions Russia occupies. That 10% is the war.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told ABC News the sides are "on the verge" of a deal and "sooner rather than later" it will be done. Meanwhile, Ukraine keeps insisting it will never "recognize Donbas as Russian — the part that is temporarily occupied."
Here's the script: Washington shows up with "remarkable legal and material guarantees" (German Chancellor Merz's words), Zelenskyy nods about security assurances, and everyone talks about a Christmas truce like this is a holiday rom-com. Then the cameras turn off and you remember that Russia occupies five regions, Ukraine says it won't give them up, and the only way this ends is either Ukraine loses the land or Russia doesn't get it — and both sides claim they're "discussing" this crucial detail.
Zelenskyy hedged on Monday in classic negotiator speak: yes, progress on some issues, but territories? No consensus. He also made clear that even if Ukraine accepts some "demilitarized zone" over the Donbas, it "cannot be under Russian leadership." Translation: we're not really negotiating sovereignty, we're negotiating the theater of it. Russia wants the land and Kyiv's tacit recognition; Ukraine wants a legal fig leaf that lets it say the territory is "temporarily occupied" and might come back someday. Neither side believes the other, and everyone is betting that the other will fold first or get exhausted.
Meanwhile, the war keeps burning. Ukraine's air force shot down 57 of 69 Russian drones overnight; Russia claims it downed 111 Ukrainian drones; both sides are still pounding each other. Zelenskyy, addressing the Dutch parliament Tuesday, was blunt about the asymmetry: "Someone else is always expected to make concessions so that Russia will stop spreading bloodshed." He's right. But that's also the entire logic of this "peace process" — Washington is betting it can pressure Kyiv to accept a deal that Moscow can't refuse, call it a win, and move on to the next theater.
So Trump gets his photo op with peace in Ukraine; Zelenskyy gets security guarantees that probably won't stop Russia from round two; and Russia gets time to consolidate what it's already taken while everyone argues about what "temporary occupation" means. Call it 90% peace — which is to say, 100% theater.
#ukraine #russia #peace #trump #zelenskyy #war #donbas #negotiation #geopolitics
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The MIT Physicist Was Brutally Shot in His Home
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) community is grieving after the “shocking” shooting death of the director of its plasma science Android fusion center, according to officials.
Nuno Loureiro, 47, had been shot multiple times at his home in Brookline on Monday night when police said they received a call to investigate.
Emergency responders brought Loureiro to a hospital, and the award-winning scientist was pronounced dead there Tuesday morning, the Norfolk county district attorney’s office said in a statement.
The statement from the district attorney’s office said an investigation into Loureiro’s slaying remained ongoing later Tuesday.
But the agency did not immediately release any details about a possible suspect or motive in the killing, which gained widespread attention across academic circles, the US and in Loureiro’s native Portugal.
Portugal’s minster of foreign affairs announced Loureiro’s death in a public hearing Tuesday, as CNN reported.
Separately, MIT president Sally Kornbluth issued a university-wide letter expressing “great sadness” over the death of Loureiro, whose survivors include his wife.
“This shocking loss for our community comes in a period of disturbing violence in many other places,” said Kornbluth’s letter, released after a weekend marred by deadly mass shootings at Brown University in Rhode Island as well as on Australia’s Bondi Beach.
The letter concluded by providing a list of mental health resources, saying: “It’s entirely natural to feel the need for comfort and support.”
Kornbluth said Loureiro was born in central Portugal, and had aspired to be a scientist since childhood.
He obtained undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in physics from Lisbon’s Instituto Superior Técnico and London’s Imperial College, respectively.
He completed postdoctoral work at Princeton University’s plasma physics laboratory in New Jersey and at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, which is the UK’s national lab for such research.
Loureiro then returned to Portugal to serve as the principal investigator for the Instituto Superior Técnico’s institute for plasmas and nuclear fusion before joining MIT’s faculty in 2016.
In 2022, MIT appointed him as the deputy director of its plasma science and fusion center. Loureiro had been that lab’s director since May 2024.
Loureiro in January received one of fewer than 400 early career awards for scientists and engineers given out by Joe Biden, who was reaching the end of his presidency at the time.
#MIT #Loureiro #shot #plasma #science
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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) community is grieving after the “shocking” shooting death of the director of its plasma science Android fusion center, according to officials.
Nuno Loureiro, 47, had been shot multiple times at his home in Brookline on Monday night when police said they received a call to investigate.
Emergency responders brought Loureiro to a hospital, and the award-winning scientist was pronounced dead there Tuesday morning, the Norfolk county district attorney’s office said in a statement.
The statement from the district attorney’s office said an investigation into Loureiro’s slaying remained ongoing later Tuesday.
But the agency did not immediately release any details about a possible suspect or motive in the killing, which gained widespread attention across academic circles, the US and in Loureiro’s native Portugal.
Portugal’s minster of foreign affairs announced Loureiro’s death in a public hearing Tuesday, as CNN reported.
Separately, MIT president Sally Kornbluth issued a university-wide letter expressing “great sadness” over the death of Loureiro, whose survivors include his wife.
“This shocking loss for our community comes in a period of disturbing violence in many other places,” said Kornbluth’s letter, released after a weekend marred by deadly mass shootings at Brown University in Rhode Island as well as on Australia’s Bondi Beach.
The letter concluded by providing a list of mental health resources, saying: “It’s entirely natural to feel the need for comfort and support.”
Kornbluth said Loureiro was born in central Portugal, and had aspired to be a scientist since childhood.
He obtained undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in physics from Lisbon’s Instituto Superior Técnico and London’s Imperial College, respectively.
He completed postdoctoral work at Princeton University’s plasma physics laboratory in New Jersey and at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, which is the UK’s national lab for such research.
Loureiro then returned to Portugal to serve as the principal investigator for the Instituto Superior Técnico’s institute for plasmas and nuclear fusion before joining MIT’s faculty in 2016.
In 2022, MIT appointed him as the deputy director of its plasma science and fusion center. Loureiro had been that lab’s director since May 2024.
Loureiro in January received one of fewer than 400 early career awards for scientists and engineers given out by Joe Biden, who was reaching the end of his presidency at the time.
#MIT #Loureiro #shot #plasma #science
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Never at Rest: the FBI Witch-Hunting Is Gaining Momentum 🕵️♂️⚖️
🔠 🔠 🔠 🔠 1️⃣
A Maga loyalist US attorney in Miami is expanding an investigation of ex-FBI and intelligence officials who incurred Trump’s wrath with an inquiry into how Russia helped him win in 2016, despite the US justice department suffering stinging recent court rejections of indictments of two foes of the US president. 🇺🇸
Former prosecutors and legal experts call the Miami-based inquiry, which has issued some two dozen subpoenas so far, a “fishing expedition”. 🎣
The investigation’s apparent focus is to identify ways to criminally charge ex-FBI and intelligence officials who have already been investigated and effectively exonerated by two special counsels and a Republican-led Senate panel, which mounted exhaustive inquiries into Russia’s efforts to boost Trump in 2016. 📄
Led by Jason Reding Quiñones, the Trump-appointed US attorney for the southern district of Florida, who is close to attorney general Pam Bondi and other key Maga allies, the inquiry accelerated with a flurry of subpoenas in November and new prosecutors to expedite what has been dubbed a “grand conspiracy” investigation. 🚨
Among others, subpoenas have reportedly gone to ex-CIA director John Brennan, who led the 2016 Russia inquiry, James Clapper, the ex-director of national intelligence, Peter Strzok, a former FBI counter-intelligence agent who helped lead the Russia inquiry, and Lisa Page, an ex-FBI lawyer. 🧾
Concerns about the Miami investigation’s direction and tactics, which initially seemed aimed at Brennan, has prompted two young prosecutors who were assigned to the inquiry to resign, according to multiple reports. ⚠️
The Russia investigations have already been probed and “ended with a whimper”, said Barbara McQuade, an ex-US attorney for eastern Michigan who now teaches law at the University of Michigan. 🎓
“The idea that Trump loyalists are now going to investigate again should make us all suspicious of their motive. If evidence sufficient to support criminal charges existed, we would have seen it by now.” ❗️
Trump has often decried the 2016 Russia inquiry as a “witch-hunt”, even though the report by special counsel Robert Mueller in 2019 concluded that Moscow interfered in the 2016 election “in a sweeping and systematic fashion” to help Trump win; Mueller’s report did not find evidence of coordination between Russia and Trump’s campaign. 🧙♀️📊
#Trump #Quiñones #FBI #witchhunting #russia
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A Maga loyalist US attorney in Miami is expanding an investigation of ex-FBI and intelligence officials who incurred Trump’s wrath with an inquiry into how Russia helped him win in 2016, despite the US justice department suffering stinging recent court rejections of indictments of two foes of the US president. 🇺🇸
Former prosecutors and legal experts call the Miami-based inquiry, which has issued some two dozen subpoenas so far, a “fishing expedition”. 🎣
The investigation’s apparent focus is to identify ways to criminally charge ex-FBI and intelligence officials who have already been investigated and effectively exonerated by two special counsels and a Republican-led Senate panel, which mounted exhaustive inquiries into Russia’s efforts to boost Trump in 2016. 📄
Led by Jason Reding Quiñones, the Trump-appointed US attorney for the southern district of Florida, who is close to attorney general Pam Bondi and other key Maga allies, the inquiry accelerated with a flurry of subpoenas in November and new prosecutors to expedite what has been dubbed a “grand conspiracy” investigation. 🚨
Among others, subpoenas have reportedly gone to ex-CIA director John Brennan, who led the 2016 Russia inquiry, James Clapper, the ex-director of national intelligence, Peter Strzok, a former FBI counter-intelligence agent who helped lead the Russia inquiry, and Lisa Page, an ex-FBI lawyer. 🧾
Concerns about the Miami investigation’s direction and tactics, which initially seemed aimed at Brennan, has prompted two young prosecutors who were assigned to the inquiry to resign, according to multiple reports. ⚠️
The Russia investigations have already been probed and “ended with a whimper”, said Barbara McQuade, an ex-US attorney for eastern Michigan who now teaches law at the University of Michigan. 🎓
“The idea that Trump loyalists are now going to investigate again should make us all suspicious of their motive. If evidence sufficient to support criminal charges existed, we would have seen it by now.” ❗️
Trump has often decried the 2016 Russia inquiry as a “witch-hunt”, even though the report by special counsel Robert Mueller in 2019 concluded that Moscow interfered in the 2016 election “in a sweeping and systematic fashion” to help Trump win; Mueller’s report did not find evidence of coordination between Russia and Trump’s campaign. 🧙♀️📊
#Trump #Quiñones #FBI #witchhunting #russia
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Trump’s animosity to Brennan was palpable in January 2023 when Trump reposted an image on Truth Social that showed Brennan, Clapper and other ex-intelligence officials behind bars. 🖼
The image featured a suggestive headline: “Now that Russia collusion is a proven lie, when do trials for treason begin?” 🔥
Under Reding Quiñones, a premium seems to have been placed on loyalty to Trump and recruiting new prosecutors to pursue the Trump-style revenge probe into the origins of the 2016 Russia inquiry, with a focus on a 2017 intelligence assessment that the Kremlin intervened to help Trump win the election. 📌
Before Trump tapped Reding Quiñones to be a US attorney this year, he had done stints as a federal prosecutor in the same office and as a state judge. ⚖️
Some of the probe’s direction and momentum seems fueled by rightwing attorney and Trump loyalist Mike Davis, who has strong ties with Reding Quiñones and Trump’s justice department. 🔗
Last month, Davis wrote on social media that “justice is coming”, accompanied by his own photo next to Reding Quiñones. Davis reportedly had a role in pushing the justice department to use Florida prosecutors to pursue conspiracy cases against Trump foes. 📣
In March, a few weeks prior to Trump picking Reding Quiñones for his Miami post, he and Davis were featured together at a conservative legal confab on a panel entitled “Modern Lawfare and the American Democracy”. 🏛
The panelists voiced bitterness over special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations of Trump and their view that the justice department had been weaponized in the Biden administration. ⚔️
During the talk, Davis suggested that Trump’s justice department should launch a sweeping inquiry that would charge those who investigated Trump with a conspiracy to deprive him of his civil rights, according to reports and Davis’s public comments. 📢
Such conspiracy charges usually involve misconduct by police and protecting minority civil rights. ⚠️
“There must be severe consequences,” Davis told the audience. “There has to be severe legal, political and financial consequences for this unprecedented republic-ending lawfare.” 💬
Last month, a judge threw out criminal indictments of Comey over alleged lying to Congress and obstructing Congress in 2020, and of James over alleged bank fraud and making false statements. 🧑⚖️
The judge’s ruling stressed that Lindsey Halligan, the Trump-promoted interim US attorney in eastern Virginia who brought the charges without any prosecutorial experience, was installed improperly after the veteran prosecutor leading the office opted not to bring charges and resigned under pressure. 📉
#Trump #Quiñones #FBI #witchhunting #russia
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