THE WORST HATE COMES FROM THE LEFTY LEFT.

 THE WORST HATE COMES FROM THE LEFTY LEFT.

INVENTION OF THE ATOMIC BOMB.

2 PETER 3:10-11
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements (NUKES) shall melt with fervent heat,(BLAST) the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.(BUT ITS NO END OF THE WORLD HOGWASH)
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,(BY NUKES INCLUDING 3 BILLION PEOPLE) what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

JESUS SHED HIS BLOOD FOR US THAT WE CAN BE SAVED FOREVER.AND DURING WW3 PEOPLES BLOOD WILL BE SHED AS A JUDGEMENT FOR HATING HIM AND ISRAEL.GOD IS NOT MOCKED.

ZEPHANIAH 1:2-3
2  I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
3  I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.

PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.

EZEKIEL 5:15-17
15  So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the (ARAB/MUSLIM) nations that are round about thee,(ISRAEL) when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.
16  When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
17  So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts,(WHEN RUSSIA/MUSLIMS GET DEFEATED THIER BODIES GET EATEN BY BIRDS,ANIMALS IN ISRAEL MIGRATION SEASON) and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee;(NUKES) and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.

REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)

ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire,(NUKES) and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity:(GOD/ISRAEL HATE AND BRAKING OF HIS COMMANDMENTS) the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die - 3 BILLION).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.

JOEL 2:3,30

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(ATOMIC BOMBS)(RUSSIA CHINA DESTROYED BY ISRAELS ATOMIC BOMBS)

REVELATION 16:12-16
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

JOEL 3:2 (YOU WANNA DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN HALF (HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION KILLED AS A RESULT)
02-I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)

REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.

MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

NAHUM 3:13
13 Behold, your troops are women in your midst. The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire has devoured your bars.

DR DOCTORION-ANGEL OF THE MIDEAST
"The angel showed me that the United Nations shall be broken in pieces because of the crisis in the Middle East. There shall be no more United Nations. The angel with the sickle shall reap the harvest.

FIRST ANGEL: ASIA
But the angel said: "Millions will die in China and in India. Nation will be against nation, brother against brother. Asians will fight each other. Nuclear weapons shall be used, killing millions."Twice I heard the words, "Catastrophic! Catastrophic!"Then the angel said, "Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world."I was trembling while the angel was speaking.
SECOND ANGEL: MIDDLE EAST
Then I saw that the second angel had a sickle in his hand, such as is used in harvesting.The second angel said: "Harvest time has come in Israel and the countries all the way to Iran."I saw those countries in a few split seconds."All of Turkey and those [inaudible] countries that have refused me and refused my message of love shall hate each other and kill one another."I saw the angel raise the sickle and come down on all the Middle East countries. I saw Iran, Persia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, all of Georgia - Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, all of Asia Minor - full of blood. I saw blood all over these countries. And I saw fire; Nuclear weapons used in many of those countries. Smoke rising from everywhere. Sudden destruction – men destroying one another. I heard these words:"Israel, Oh Israel, the great judgment has come."

Support for Israel strongest in Kenya and Nigeria, survey of 24 countries finds-Pew Research Center shows that some areas have seen a significant swing against Israel in recent years, Netanyahu’s favorability is low across the board-By Luke Tress Today, 10:50 pm-JUN 5,25

International views of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are largely negative, especially on the political left and with the young, according to a survey released on Tuesday.The Pew Research Center surveyed adults in 24 countries about their views of Israel and Netanyahu, and reported on how those views have changed over time.In 20 of the countries, at least half of the respondents had a negative view of Israel, led by Turkey, with 93%, followed by Indonesia, 80%, Japan, 79%, the Netherlands, 78%, and Spain and Sweden, both at 75%.The outliers were Kenya and Nigeria. In Kenya, 50% had a favorable view of Israel and 42% unfavorable, and in Nigeria, 59% were favorable and 32% unfavorable. Those countries, like Israel, have grappled with Islamic terrorism in recent years. The only other African country surveyed was South Africa, where 54% had a negative view.In India, views were mixed, with 34% of respondents reporting a favorable view of Israel and 29% unfavorable.In the US, 53% of respondents were opposed to Israel and 45% in favor.The median for all countries surveyed was 62% unfavorable and 29% favorable. Some respondents did not know or refused to answer.Younger people were more against Israel, especially in high-income countries such as the US, Australia, Canada, France and South Korea.Some countries have seen a significant swing against Israel in recent years. In the US, Israel’s unfavourability jumped 11 percentage points since the spring of 2022. In the UK, it went up 17 points since 2013. France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Indonesia and Turkey also saw an increase in hostility against Israel.Turkey was the only Middle Eastern country surveyed, besides Israel. In Israel, 81% of respondents had a favorable view of the country.Respondents on the political left were more hostile to Israel, particularly in Europe and Australia. In Spain, 91% of those on the left had a negative view of Israel, in Australia and the Netherlands it was 90%, and in Greece, 89%.In the US, 74% of those on the left had an unfavorable view of Israel, compared to 30% on the right.The results are in line with other surveys that have found that young and left-leaning Americans are increasingly hostile to Israel.Netanyahu’s approval ratings were low across the board, except for in Kenya and Nigeria. The countries most against the prime minister were Turkey, Spain, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and France.The survey also asked Israelis about how they think Israel is viewed around the world. The majority — 58% — said Israel is not respected globally. Israelis on the right were more likely to say Israel was respected abroad. Israeli Arabs and Jews had roughly the same opinion.The margin of error ranged from 2.5% to 4.7%, depending on the country. The survey was carried out between January and April, and polled at least 1,000 residents in each foreign country.

Official: Shin Bet proposed initiative after PM nixed PA involvement-Arab envoy: Netanyahu’s arming of Gaza gang shows ‘he’s learned little since Oct. 7’Ambassador laments Israeli PM’s unabated effort to weaken PA, warning that latest effort to divide Palestinians ‘increases chances of Somalia-like scenario’ in the Strip-By Jacob Magid-Today, 11:32 pm-JUN 5,25

An Arab ambassador said Thursday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to arm one of Gaza’s most notorious criminal gangs as a foil to Hamas demonstrates that “he has learned little since October 7.”“Netanyahu worked to weaken the [Palestinian Authority] by bolstering Hamas in Gaza before October 7, and now he is doing it by bolstering this gang of criminals,” the ambassador told The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity, likening the Gaza financial aid that Netanyahu solicited from Qatar for Hamas to the transfer of weapons that the premier authorized to the Abu Shabab clan, which is widely known for its looting of humanitarian aid in Gaza.Netanyahu has denied bolstering Hamas through the Qatari aid, insisting that it was meant to stave off a humanitarian crisis in the blockaded Strip. However, critics have argued that the hundreds of millions of dollars that came in from Qatar allowed Hamas to focus on expanding its military arsenal in the years leading up to its October 7, 2023, attack when some 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel and another 251 were taken hostage.“Netanyahu didn’t want to work with the PA then because it would have meant advancing a broader diplomatic resolution to the conflict, and he is taking the same approach now,” the senior Arab diplomat said.“Arming clans in Gaza only further divides the Palestinians and increases the chances of a Somalia-like scenario in Gaza,” the ambassador said, expressing concern that the Strip will become a failed state characterized by lawlessness and rival militia groups.Netanyahu’s decision to arm the Abu Shabab clan was kept secret from his far-right coalition partners, who would have likely come out against the move. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have long spoken out against Israel’s decision to arm the PA as part of the Oslo Accords. But Israel’s security establishment has backed the paradigm, arguing that the PA has played a critical role in stabilizing the West Bank.In confirming his decision to arm the Abu Shabab clan earlier today, Netanyahu made a point of stressing that the initiative was advanced “in consultation with security officials.”“We made use of clans in Gaza that are opposed to Hamas… What’s wrong with that?” he asked. “It’s only good. It saves the lives of IDF soldiers.”But an Israeli official told The Times of Israel that such schemes were only proposed by the Shin Bet because Netanyahu has barred the security establishment from advancing Gaza security initiatives that involve the PA.Granting a foothold in Gaza to the Palestinian Authority — which backs a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — would likely have risked collapsing Netanyahu’s government, given Ben Gvir and Smotrich’s strong disregard for the PA.Allowing the PA to play a role in Gaza would unlock the support of roughly half a dozen Arab countries who have expressed willingness to play a role in the post-war rehabilitation of Gaza if invited by Ramallah.But that initiative has never gotten off the ground due to opposition from Netanyahu, who has likened the PA to Hamas, while rejecting the notion of entrusting Israel’s security to foreign actors.The Israeli stance is widely understood to be an extension of Netanyahu’s efforts to thwart a two-state solution, which would be advanced by having a single governing authority in both Gaza and the West Bank, where the PA is currently based.

Reporter's notebook-A city of booby traps, tunnels: ToI in Khan Younis hours after bodies of 2 hostages retrieved-Troops advance slowly in southern Gaza city, day after bodies of slain hostages Gadi Haggai and Judih Weinstein were recovered and brought home for burial-By Stav Levaton-Today, 9:09 pm-JUN 5,25

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — After recovering the bodies of slain hostages Gadi Haggai and Judih Weinstein in Khan Younis on Wednesday night, Israeli forces continued to push deeper into the city in the southern Gaza Strip, intensifying operations aimed at reaching its center.Now entering its 20th month, the war has left Khan Younis in ruins — a shattered landscape almost unrecognizable from what it once was. The Israel Defense Forces last operated deep in Khan Younis with ground troops in April 2024.The devastation served as a stark reminder of the toll exacted by Israel’s offensive in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas’s brutal October 7, 2023, invasion, during which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.Despite the widespread destruction already inflicted across the Strip, military officials told reporters during a Thursday tour of Khan Younis that there is still a long road ahead to reach full operational success.Commander of the Kfir Brigade’s Shimshon Battalion, Lt. Col. Yud — identified only by his first Hebrew initial due to security concerns — reaffirmed the war’s primary goals: the return of the hostages and the dismantling of Hamas. These objectives, he said, are what justify the IDF’s continued presence in Gaza.“That’s all that interests us,” he said.The Kfir Brigade has been operating in southern Khan Younis for the past three weeks, working in close coordination with the Israeli Air Force, combat engineers from the elite Yahalom unit, and other forces. Their mission: to reach the city’s center and establish operational control.Progress, however, has been slow and grueling. The city is laced with terror infrastructure, including a sprawling tunnel network and buildings rigged with explosives, military officials said. Every step forward requires methodical clearing, turning each advance into a battle not only against Hamas gunmen, but against the terrain itself.In one case, military officials spoke of a residential building flagged by troops as suspicious in recent days due to a surveillance camera at the entrance, a bolted door, and telltale signs of guerrilla tactics — including a hole in the wall designed to allow a gunman to fire from within.Upon inspection, the structure was found to be booby-trapped and was subsequently demolished by Israeli forces.Traces of terror activity remain scattered among the ruins. In the rubble of one demolished home, several unused rockets lay in a heap — a grim monument to the arsenal hidden in plain sight and the constant threat posed to Israeli communities just across the border.Despite the intensity of the fighting, Yud said morale among his troops remains high.“We can see the kibbutzim across the border — we know well why we’re here,” he said, referring to nearby communities like Nir Yitzhak and Sufa, where some residents have already returned after being evacuated in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 attack.Also, just across the border lies Nir Oz, the kibbutz from which Haggai and Weinstein were abducted that fateful morning.Yud said the recovery of their bodies the night before added “more drive to keep on fighting,” amid his unit’s third week of operations in the Strip.The extended deployments in Gaza are not without strain. Troops typically serve two weeks inside Gaza, followed by four days out — a rotation that offers brief relief but continues to weigh heavily on soldiers and their families.In most standing army units, including the Shimshon Battalion, phones are not allowed inside the Strip, limiting communication to a single weekly call, typically on Fridays before Shabbat. To maintain a semblance of connection, certain commanders run shared WhatsApp groups with families, offering sparse but critical updates — a digital lifeline for those waiting anxiously for their loved ones at home.The duration of the IDF’s presence in Gaza remains uncertain. Last Sunday, the military announced plans to establish control over 75% of the territory within two months — a move that signals the intention to maintain a long-term presence aimed at dismantling Hamas’s capabilities.“I know that there are still hostages, I know well what [Hamas] did on October 7 — therefore we don’t know how much longer we’ll stay [in Gaza],” Yud added.

IDF says it hit Islamic Jihad site near Gaza hospital-GHF resumes Gaza aid distribution after temporarily closing sites to boost security-New distribution point opens in Tel Sultan area of Rafah after over 24 hours of closures; videos, eyewitnesses said to bolster claims IDF behind recent deadly fire near aid centers By Emanuel Fabian,Lazar Berman,Nurit Yohanan and ToI Staff Today, 8:40 pm-JUN 5,25

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation resumed operations near Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood on Thursday afternoon, a spokesman for the organization said, after it shut down aid distribution for over 24 hours to work out security issues, prompted by three straight days of mass casualty incidents.After Wednesday’s shutdown stretched unexpectedly into Thursday morning, an Arabic-language message was published in the early afternoon, informing Gazans that a new aid distribution site had opened in the Saudi neighborhood of Tel Sultan.The center is located in one of the large school complexes in the center of the neighborhood, a GHF spokesperson told The Times of Israel.The new site is intended to replace another location in the so-called Swedish Village area on Gaza’s far southern coast, which was permanently shuttered on Thursday, after just a few days of operations.Images shared by GHF showed Gazans picking up food from the Swedish Village distribution site ahead of its closure.The scenes near the unfinished Kuwaiti hospital along the Egyptian border showed some disorder as civilians opened boxes and filled bags to carry, but the area appeared to be relatively uncrowded.A video clip shared by the group showed a staffer with a camera photographing about a dozen smiling and waving Gazans.GHF said 18,240 boxes of food were delivered at the Tel Sultan “Swedish Village” site, and 6,720 were picked up at the new site in the nearby Saudi neighborhood.The foundation says that food in all of those boxes amounts to roughly 1.5 million meals. The products are largely dry foods, though, which require cooking equipment or community kitchens in order to prepare.The new location in the Tel Sultan area was opened after a brief shutdown of all GHF aid centers, implemented to give time for the US and Israel-backed organization to carry out logistical work needed to accommodate larger crowds.The closure was also intended to give the IDF time to prepare safer access routes to the sites, a GHF spokesperson said, following days of mass-casualty incidents across the various GHF locations.The initial mass casualty event came on Sunday as hundreds of Gazans made their way to an Israeli and US-backed aid distribution compound in Rafah — the only one open that day, amid the partial easing of a more than two-month blockade on aid into the Strip.Hamas-controlled health authorities in the war-torn enclave reported that 31 people had been killed and nearly 200 had been wounded in the pre-dawn shooting near the distribution center in Rafah, for which the IDF largely denied responsibility.The death toll could not be verified, nor were the subsequent Hamas-issued tolls of three killed on Monday and 27 killed on Tuesday in similar incidents.Claims of IDF responsibility for deadly fire-The IDF has acknowledged firing warning shots at Palestinians headed to the distribution site before it was open or who approached it from outside the designated safe route. The military said that its fire hit an unspecified number of people, but did not acknowledge killing anybody.At the same time, it said that Hamas’s claims of dozens killed and wounded were “exaggerated.” In an international press briefing, a government spokesman claimed that reports of IDF troops firing at civilians near aid sites were “based on Hamas propaganda.”Eyewitness accounts, video testimony, and expert analysis cited by separate US and Israeli news outlets on Thursday bolstered claims that Israeli forces had indeed shot at Gazan civilians seeking aid near Rafah.According to the analyses published Thursday, the IDF was potentially firing in an apparent attempt at crowd control, which experts said was a recipe for disaster given the masses of people involved. However, some eyewitnesses quoted in the reports claimed the military was intentionally shooting to kill.A CNN investigation cited more than a dozen eyewitnesses, including some who were wounded amid the incident, who said Israeli troops “shot at crowds in volleys of gunfire that occurred sporadically through the early hours of Sunday morning.”The report noted that GHF had said Israeli forces were operating in the same area during the same period.The shooting took place around half a mile from the aid distribution site in Rafah’s Tel al-Sultan neighborhood, the report said. The shooting’s location, where hundreds of Palestinians had gathered, was confirmed via CNN’s geolocation of videos from the scene.None of the videos definitively showed who fired the shots.However, the CNN report cited weapons experts who said the rate of gunfire, as well as photos of retrieved bullets, were consistent with tank-mounted machine guns used by the IDF, and inconsistent with weapons used by Hamas. Multiple people also told CNN they saw gunfire coming from Israeli tanks in the area.A separate report by Haaretz also cited eyewitness accounts and video pointing to Israel having carried out the shooting. The outlet quoted an unnamed military official as saying that senior officers sought to lay down fire as a way to direct Gazans away from the military position and toward the aid site.“The intention was to direct the population via fire,” the officer was quoted as saying. “The army treated this like a regular situation of suspects entering a combat zone, but it’s impossible to direct a population at scales this large with fire if you want them to feel safe getting to areas you have opened.”The military initially denied any role in Sunday’s shooting, although military sources were said to have acknowledged it in private. On Tuesday, however, the IDF confirmed that Israeli troops had indeed fired shots in the area, and said that they were warning shots intended for suspects about a kilometer away.The IDF did not respond to the CNN report on Thursday, nor did it respond to the Haaretz report.Although the number of dead and wounded in the incident could not be verified, the International Committee of the Red Cross reported that its field hospital was overwhelmed on Sunday as a result of the shooting, calling it the “highest number of weapon-wounded in a single incident” since it opened the field hospital a year ago.Doctors at nearby Nasser Hospital, which also absorbed some of the wounded, shared with CNN photos of the bullets taken from the bodies of patients killed in the incident. They were consistent with the type of ammunition used by Israeli weapons, including the FN MAG.Dr. Ahmad Abou-Sweid, an Australian working at Nasser, told CNN, “There was a heavy proportion of head-targeted injuries from bullet wounds.”Meanwhile, Gazans who spoke to Haaretz rejected the claim that there were armed Palestinians in the area who may have been responsible for the shooting, rather than the IDF.One local, identified only by the Hebrew initial Aleph, called the claim “baseless.”“There were no gunmen. There were planes, artillery and drones. The people who were there were innocent civilians who came to receive a share of the aid,” Aleph said.“What I saw there is hard to digest — fire for long minutes, in all directions,” they continued. “There was a machine gun on a crane and I saw it firing as if it were a robot, and that’s in addition to the drones.”“The shooting came from all sides, as though the people who came to the compound were planning an invasion, and not hungry people who wanted food.”Another eyewitness dismissed suggestions that the first was a failed attempt at crowd control, telling CNN that he had witnessed the deliberate targeting of civilians.“I have seen a lot of soldiers in this war. When they want to clear an area or warn you, they shoot around you. But yesterday, they were shooting to kill us,” said Mohammad Abu Rezeq, who was shot in the stomach.While the IDF has not directly responded to the allegations laid out by CNN and Haaretz, it appeared to try and rebuff them in an indirect manner.On Thursday afternoon, the military published an audio recording that it said was of a conversation between a Gazan man and an officer from the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, in which he claimed that Hamas is the one who opened fire on Palestinians near the Rafah aid distribution site.“The people who fired were Hamas terrorists,” the Gazan man says, according to a translation provided by the IDF.“They don’t want the people to receive aid, they want to foil the plan so that the aid will go to them, allowing them to steal it. They’ve gone completely bankrupt,” the man said.Aid delivery difficulties continue-Even with the reopened distribution centers, problems continued to plague aid delivery efforts on Thursday, after a labor union representing Gazan truck drivers said it was going on strike, halting aid deliveries within the Strip.The Private Transport Association said it was calling the strike in response to an incident on Wednesday in which a convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid was attacked by gunmen in central Gaza.The union said gunmen had shot and killed several drivers in the Deir al-Balah area, and had wounded and abducted several others.Israel has said that hundreds of trucks packed with food, medicine and other assistance were awaiting transport from the Kerem Shalom crossing to warehouses run by the UN and other humanitarian groups throughout Gaza.The union’s ties to Hamas are also hazy, as before the war, most unions in Gaza were affiliated with the terror group.Strike targets Gaza City hospital-The IDF’s military offensive continued across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, with operations including an airstrike at a hospital in Gaza City.The military said that the strike at the Al-Ma’amadani Hospital targeted a Palestinian Islamic Jihad command center in the medical center’s courtyard.The Hamas-run health ministry claimed, however, that the strike had hit a press compound and killed three people.Reports named one victim as Ismail Badr, a cameraman for the Islamic Jihad-affiliated Palestine Today channel. A second journalist, Suleiman Hajaj, was also killed, according to reports.The IDF said the compound was being used by Islamic Jihad operatives to plan and carry out attacks on troops and Israeli civilians.As always, it said it took steps to minimize civilian harm, including by using a precision munition, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.Elsewhere in the Strip, Nasser Hospital said it had received the bodies of 10 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis overnight.

PMO says Israel will 'defeat Hamas through various means'Israel providing guns to Gaza jihadist gang to bolster opposition to Hamas-Security cabinet wasn’t informed of plan to start arming the group, which was created in Rafah last year and has its roots in looting aid trucks-By Emanuel Fabian,Nurit Yohanan,Nava Freiberg and ToI Staff Today, 5:32 pm-JUN 5,25

Israel has been arming a criminal gang of jihadists in the Gaza Strip as part of an effort to strengthen opposition to Hamas in the enclave, defense sources confirmed on Thursday following remarks on the matter by former defense minister Avigdor Liberman.Liberman, who heads the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party, told the Kan public broadcaster on Thursday morning that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had unilaterally approved the transfer of weapons to the Abu Shabab clan, an armed gang or militia that is opposed to Hamas’s rule in the Gaza Strip.“The Israeli government is giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons, identified with Islamic State, at the direction of the prime minister,” Liberman charged. “To my knowledge, this did not go through approval by the cabinet.”He claimed that Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was aware of the decision to arm the group, “but I don’t know how much the IDF chief of staff was in on it.”The group in question, which is sometimes described as a militia and sometimes as a criminal gang, is led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a member of a large clan in southern Gaza.His gang has been documented in recent days operating in an area near the Kerem Shalom border crossing under Israeli military control.In the footage, which was published online by Abu Shabab, members of the group can be seen wearing military-style uniforms with the Palestinian flag and the words “Counter-Terrorism Mechanism” emblazoned on them.The Prime Minister’s Office, in response to Liberman’s comments, did not deny the allegations but said instead that Israel was “working to defeat Hamas through various means, based on the recommendations of all the heads of the security establishment.”Liberman’s accusation was later confirmed by defense officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, and the details were cleared for publication by the Israeli military censor.The sources confirmed that Israel has been arming the gang with Kalashnikov rifles, including some that were seized from Hamas during the ongoing war.The decision to start arming the group was made without the approval of Israel’s security cabinet, forgoing normal procedure. It was instead led by Israeli security bodies, with Netanyahu’s approval, the defense sources said.The militia has been operating in Rafah, in an area under Israeli military control. Abu Shabab has claimed to be securing the humanitarian aid convoys entering Israel through the southern border crossings, although others have accused his gang of looting them.Targeted by Hamas-The clan has caught Hamas’s attention. On May 30, Hamas published an official video on May 30 showing a group of armed, masked men operating outside a building before being blown up.The terror group claimed the group in the video was working with the IDF to inspect buildings before Israeli troops moved in, without specifying whether they were Israeli or Palestinian. However, online comparisons to previous images of Abu Shabab’s gang suggested it was the same group.In a conversation with Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper earlier this week, anonymous Hamas sources shared more information about the group, which they admitted has been a thorn in their side.According to the sources, the militia comprises some 300 people, of whom Abu Shabab personally recruited around 50. They alleged that the remaining 250 members were recruited through the Palestinian Authority’s intelligence service.The Hamas sources did not offer proof of Abu Shabab’s alleged ties to the Ramallah-based PA, and Al-Akhbar did not verify any of the terror group’s claims.The group emerged in Rafah in May 2024, following the IDF invasion of the Strip’s southernmost city, the Hamas sources said. They told Al-Akhbar that the Al-Qassam Brigades have “already started carrying out direct assassinations” against members of Abu Shabab’s gang, and that its continued existence has fast become a “central issue” for the terror group.According to the sources, some members of the group belong to an extremist Salafi faction that had run-ins with Hamas prior to the war as well.This is not the first time that Netanyahu has been involved in or accused of propping up burgeoning militias and terror groups to undermine a common enemy.Various reports over the years have indicated that Israel’s policy under Netanyahu was to treat Hamas as an asset that could be used to weaken the Palestinian Authority.The premier reportedly told a Likud faction meeting back in 2019 that anyone who opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state should support sending funds to Hamas, the enemy of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made a similar claim in an interview in 2015.Amid the outrage generated by Liberman’s revelation on Thursday, the left-wing The Democrats leader Yair Golan pointed out the pattern of behavior.“Netanyahu, who transferred billions to Hamas in suitcases full of cash, based on the incorrect belief that Hamas is an ‘asset,’ is now promoting a new dangerous concept: Arming a Gazan militia with ties to ISIS,” the politician wrote on X.“Netanyahu is dangerous to Israel’s security,” he charged. “This is not a mistake. This is systematic. Netanyahu is selling Israel’s security for another day in office.”

Boulder firebomber is Egyptian national, but Egypt not on list-Trump bans citizens of 12 countries from entering US, ties move to attack on Colorado rally-US president blacklists Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen; citizens of 7 more nations partially restricted By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 12:21 pm-JUN 5,25

US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday banning the citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States, saying the move was needed to protect against “foreign terrorists” and other security threats, specifically tying the move to the firebomb attack on a Colorado rally for the hostages held in Gaza despite the attacker not coming from a listed nation.The directive is part of an immigration crackdown Trump launched this year at the start of his second term, which has also included the deportation to El Salvador of hundreds of Venezuelans suspected of being gang members, as well as efforts to deny enrollments of some foreign students and deport others.The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.The entry of people from seven other countries — Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela — will be partially restricted.“We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm,” Trump said in a video posted on X. He said the list could be revised and new countries could be added.Notably, Syria is not on the list despite having been named in a previous Trump ban in 2017, during his first term. The latest decision comes amid a US-Syria rapprochement, weeks after the US president met Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia, later praising the former jihadist as a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past.”The proclamation is effective on June 9, 2025, at 12:01 am EDT (0401 GMT). Visas issued before that date will not be revoked, the order said.Trump said the new travel ban is tied to an attack on a rally in Colorado, in which a man tossed Molotov cocktails into a crowd of demonstrators on behalf of hostages held in Gaza, as an example of why the new restrictions are needed.“The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted,” Trump said in a video message.An Egyptian national, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, has been charged in the attack. Federal officials said Soliman had overstayed his tourist visa and had an expired work permit — although Egypt is not on the list of countries facing travel limits-During his first term in office, Trump announced a ban on travelers from several Muslim-majority nations, a policy that went through several iterations before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.Former US president Joe Biden, a Democrat who succeeded Trump, repealed that ban — which applied to nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen —  in 2021, calling it “a stain on our national conscience.”Trump said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbor a “large-scale presence of terrorists,” fail to cooperate on visa security and have an inability to verify travelers’ identities, inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories and high rates of visa overstays in the United States.“We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States,” Trump said.Haiti, which avoided the travel ban during Trump’s first term, was also included for high overstay rates and large numbers who came to the US illegally. Haitians continue to flee poverty, hunger and political instability while police and a UN-backed mission fight a surge in gang violence, with armed men controlling at least 85 percent of its capital, Port-au-Prince.“Haiti lacks a central authority with sufficient availability and dissemination of law enforcement information necessary to ensure its nationals do not undermine the national security of the United States,” Trump wrote.International aid groups and refugee resettlement organizations roundly condemned the new ban. “This policy is not about national security — it is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States,” said Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America.Being in the US a ‘big risk’The Iranian government offered no immediate reaction to being included. The Trump administration called it a “state sponsor of terrorism,” barring visitors except for those already holding visas or coming into the US on special visas America issues for minorities facing persecution.Somalia immediately pledged to work with the US to address security issues.“Somalia values its longstanding relationship with the United States and stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised,” Dahir Hassan Abdi, the Somali ambassador to the United States, said in a statement.Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, a close ally of President Nicolas Maduro, responded on Wednesday evening by describing the US government as fascist and warning Venezuelans of being in the US.“The truth is being in the United States is a big risk for anybody, not just for Venezuelans… They persecute our countrymen, our people for no reason.”A spokesperson for the Taliban-led Afghan foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pakistan’s foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment on how it would handle the thousands of Afghans waiting in Islamabad who had been in the pipeline for US resettlement.Calls early on Thursday to the spokesperson of Myanmar’s military government were not answered.Trump’s presidential campaign focused on a tough border strategy, and he previewed his plan in an October 2023 speech, pledging to restrict people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and “anywhere else that threatens our security.”Trump issued an executive order on January 20 requiring intensified security vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the US to detect national security threats.

IAEA chief: Syria to give inspectors immediate access to suspected former nuclear sites-UN watchdog’s head Rafael Grossi says officials will look at 4 locations, including Deir Ezzor facility Israel bombed in 2007; says open to Damascus pursuing non-weapon program-By AP and ToI Staff Today, 1:27 pm-JUN 5,25

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s new government has agreed to give inspectors from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog access to suspected former nuclear sites immediately, the agency’s head told The Associated Press on Wednesday.The International Atomic Energy Agency’s director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, spoke in an exclusive interview in Damascus, where he met with President Ahmed al-Sharaa and other officials.He also said Sharaa expressed an interest in pursuing nuclear energy for Syria in the future, adding, “Why not?”The agency’s aim is “to bring total clarity over certain activities that took place in the past that were, in the judgment of the agency, probably related to nuclear weapons,” Grossi said. He described the new government as “committed to opening up to the world, to international cooperation” and said he is hopeful of finishing the inspection process within months.An IAEA team in 2024 visited some sites of interest while former president Bashar al-Assad was still in power. Since the fall of Assad in December, the IAEA has been seeking to restore access to sites associated with Syria’s nuclear program.Syria under Assad is believed to have operated an extensive clandestine nuclear program, which included an undeclared nuclear reactor built by North Korea in eastern Deir Ezzor province.The IAEA described the reactor as being “not configured to produce electricity” — raising the concern that Damascus sought a nuclear weapon there by producing weapons-grade plutonium.The reactor site only became public knowledge after Israel launched airstrikes in 2007 destroying the facility. Syria later leveled the site and never responded fully to the IAEA’s questions.Israel only formally confirmed that it had been behind the 2007 bombing of the Deir Ezzor facility in 2018.In the immediate aftermath of the strike, known to much of the world as Operation Orchard, the view that prevailed in Israel at the time was that keeping news of what had been done as quiet as possible would help Assad save face and prevent him from feeling he had to retaliate, which could have led to all-out war.Grossi said inspectors plan to return to the reactor in Deir Ezzor as well as to three other related sites. Other sites under IAEA safeguards include a miniature neutron source reactor in Damascus and a facility in Homs that can process yellow-cake uranium.“We are trying to narrow down the focus, to those or that one that could be of a real interest,” he said.While there are no indications that there have been releases of radiation from the sites, he said, the watchdog is concerned that “enriched uranium can be lying somewhere and could be reused, could be smuggled, could be trafficked.”He said Sharaa — who has courted Western governments since taking power — had shown a “very positive disposition to talk to us and to allow us to carry out the activities we need to.”Apart from resuming inspections, Grossi said the IAEA is prepared to transfer equipment for nuclear medicine and to help rebuild the radiotherapy, nuclear medicine and oncology infrastructure in a health system severely weakened by nearly 14 years of civil war.“And the president has expressed to me he’s interested in exploring, in the future, nuclear energy as well,” Grossi said.A number of other countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan, are pursuing nuclear energy in some form. Grossi said Syria would most likely be looking into small modular reactors, which are cheaper and easier to deploy than traditional large ones.Talks on Iran-Regarding the ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran for a deal over Tehran’s nuclear program, Grossi said he has been in “constant contact” with the parties.“They are negotiating, it’s not us, but it is obvious that the IAEA will have to be the guarantor of whichever agreement they come to,” he said.While there continue to be major areas of contention between the two sides — particularly over uranium enrichment — Grossi said he is encouraged that they are negotiating, and he believes both sides are serious about reaching a deal.“I think they both want an agreement, which doesn’t mean that it’s easy to get, but, simple and obvious as this may sound, having two sides that want an agreement is an enormous advantage,” he said. “In my long diplomatic career, I have participated in negotiations where it was not necessarily the case that the sides wanted an agreement.”Iran, which avowedly seeks Israel’s destruction, has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it has been enriching uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and has expanded its ballistic missile capabilities, and its officials have increasingly warned that they could pursue the bomb.Israel, which sees a nuclear-equipped Iran as an existential threat, has said it is prepared to strike its nuclear facilities to prevent Tehran from obtaining a weapon.

Trump orders inquiry into ‘conspiracy’ to hide Biden’s congitive decline-US president signs order saying that predecessor’s aides used autopen for signatures to conceal his mental health condition; Biden retorts that the claim is ‘ridiculous and false’By Agencies Today, 4:28 pm-JUN 5,25

WASHINGTON, United States  — US President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered an investigation into what Republicans claim was a “conspiracy” to cover up Joe Biden’s declining cognitive health during his time in the White House.The move, which was slammed by Biden, is the latest in a long-running campaign by Trump — with the backing of Republican Party politicians and their cheerleaders in the conservative media — to discredit his predecessor.But it also comes as a growing chorus of Democrats begins to acknowledge the former president appeared to have been slipping in recent years.Those concerns were thrown into stark relief by a disastrous debate performance against Trump during last year’s presidential campaign, in which the then-81-year-old stumbled over his words and repeatedly lost his train of thought.“In recent months, it has become increasingly apparent that former President Biden’s aides abused the power of Presidential signatures through the use of an autopen to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline,” a presidential memorandum issued Wednesday reads.“This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history.”“The American public was purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded the executive power, all while Biden’s signature was deployed across thousands of documents to effect radical policy shifts.”Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House counsel David Warrington to handle the investigation.‘Ridiculous and false’Biden vehemently denied the allegations.“Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations,” he said in a statement shared with AFP.“Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false,” he said, slamming the ordered probe as “nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans who are working to push disastrous legislation.”Republicans have long claimed that Biden was suffering from intellectual decline even as the White House pressed ahead with major legislation and presidential decrees during his term.They cite his infrequent public appearances, as well as his apparent unwillingness to sit for interviews, as evidence of what they say was a man incapable of doing the demanding job of commander-in-chief of the United States.They insist that those around him covered up his physical and cognitive decline, making decisions on his behalf and using a device that could reproduce his signature to allow them to continue to run the country in his name.‘Autopen’“The Counsel to the President, in consultation with the Attorney General and the head of any other relevant executive department or agency… shall investigate… whether certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden’s mental state and unconstitutionally exercise the authorities and responsibilities of the President,” the document says.The probe will also look at “the circumstances surrounding Biden’s supposed execution of numerous executive actions during his final years in office (including) the policy documents for which the autopen was used (and) who directed that the President’s signature be affixed.”The Justice Department under Democratic and Republican administrations has recognized the use of an autopen to sign legislation and issue pardons for decades, Trump presented no evidence that Biden was unaware of the actions taken in his name, and the president’s absolute pardon power is enshrined in the US Constitution.Meanwhile, House Oversight Chairman James Comer of Kentucky, a Republican, requested transcribed interviews with five Biden aides, alleging they had participated in a “cover-up” that amounted to “one of the greatest scandals in our nation’s history.”Interviews were requested with White House senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn, former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, former deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed and Steve Ricchetti, a former counselor to the president.The Democratic Party is increasingly riven by squabbles about whether Biden could have been forced to step down earlier to give the party a chance to find a more popular presidential candidate.Biden’s former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday criticized the infighting by the Democrats, calling it a “betrayal” of Biden and announcing her departure from the party as a result.Biden’s calamitous debate performance ultimately sank his bid for reelection, with key Democratic Party figures soon calling for him to drop out of the race.But it was only several weeks later, after unsuccessful attempts to quieten his critics, that he withdrew, anointing his vice president Kamala Harris, who eventually lost to Trump.Trump’s claims of a cover-up were also boosted by news that Biden is suffering from an “aggressive” prostate cancer, with some voices on the right insisting — without evidence — the diagnosis must have been known some time ago to those close to the former president.

Some of the worst hate comes from the left; there's a sense of betrayal'Boulder’s ‘shocked and traumatized’ Jewish community takes stock of losses and strengths-After an antisemitic firebombing attack on Sunday injured 15 people including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor, local Jews are finding some measure of support from outside allies-By Grace Gilson Today, 1:54 pm-JUN 5,25

JTA — Three days after six of his congregants were burned by a man who yelled “Free Palestine” as he threw Molotov cocktails, Rabbi Marc Soloway said his Jewish community remained “very shocked and very traumatized.”Soloway, who helms Congregation Bonai Shalom in Boulder, Colorado, rushed to the hospital after learning about the attack.He often attended the Run for Their Lives, a weekly rally in downtown Boulder to call attention to the Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, but had skipped it on Sunday to prepare for the Shavuot holiday that began at sundown and lasted until Tuesday night.Celebrations planned for the holiday gave way to comforting the injured, consoling the traumatized and becoming a voice and face for a community in crisis.“It’s been brutal, agonizing, just shocking, unbelievable, just so many emotions, a lot of grief and pain and sadness, and also quite significant amounts of anger and just trauma,” Soloway said in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Wednesday afternoon.He said that the fact such an attack could take place in 2025 in Boulder is “incomprehensible.”This was someone who was literally setting fire to Jewish bodies. It’s just the most horrific thing to imagine-Fifteen people between the ages of 25 and 88, as well as one dog, were injured during the attack Sunday, officials said on Wednesday after learning about more people who had been hurt but not hospitalized.“This was someone who was literally setting fire to Jewish bodies. It’s just the most horrific thing to imagine,” Soloway said. “There were literally Jewish bodies lying on the ground in flames, and it was a pure hate attack, pure act of terrorism, pure antisemitic attack.”On Wednesday evening, a crowd filled the Boulder Jewish Community Center for a community gathering that included testimonials from people who participated in Sunday’s march and witnessed or were injured in the attack, songs and poems, and a prayer for the healing of those injured.“We know that resilience, strength and pride is who we are as Coloradans, as Boulder County residents and as Jews,” said Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who is a member of Boulder’s Jewish community. Earlier on Wednesday, Polis had hosted an interfaith gathering at the site of the attack on the Pearl Street Mall.Several local rabbis appeared at both events, many noting that the community had shown remarkable strength in the wake of the attack. “There’s been an outpouring of love and support from within the Jewish community, but there’s also been a tremendous outpouring of love from outside the Jewish community,” Soloway said on stage.He also led the crowd in reciting a maxim of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, the founder Renewal Judaism who spent the last two decades of his life in Boulder. “The only way to get it together is…” he said, pausing to allow attendees to end the sentence in unison: “Together!”Ahead of the event, Soloway said the attack had compounded feelings of isolation that many in Boulder’s Jewish community have felt over the last year and a half, during the Israel-Hamas war. City Council meetings in the largely progressive city have been so swamped by pro-Palestinian activists seeking to speak and demand a ceasefire resolution that the council adopted new rules and moved many meetings online.“Most of us in the Jewish community here in Boulder have been very progressive and aligned and partnered with a lot of progressive people. And now some of the worst hateful rhetoric is coming from the far left, not the far right,” said Soloway. “It’s very confusing and hurtful. There’s a sense of betrayal.”On Monday night, the City of Boulder issued a statement acknowledging that the firebombing was a “targeted, antisemitic attack.”One City Council member, Taishya Adams, refused to sign the acknowledgement, telling the Boulder Reporting Lab that she wanted the attack to be characterized as “anti-Zionist” instead.Soloway said Adams’s decision not to sign the letter felt “incredibly painful” to him and others in the community.“This isn’t the time to sort of be analytical about the difference between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. We just need to name it for what it is,” Soloway said. “It was a very deliberate targeted attack, someone who wanted to kill Jews and he wanted, literally, to burn them to death with these homemade incendiary devices that were just primitive and awful.”Barbara Steinmetz’s story-Among Soloway’s congregants injured in the attack was Barbara Steinmetz, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor who has become one of the most poignant symbols of the attack.In an interview with NBC News Tuesday, Steinmetz said she “wants people to be nice and decent to each other, kind, respectful, encompassing” after being asked what she wants Americans to know following the attack.“We’re Americans,” she continued. “We are better than this. That’s what I want them to know. That they be kind and decent human beings.”Steinmetz was born in Gyor, Hungary, on November 26, 1936, as the second of two children in an Orthodox Jewish family. Her family operated a hotel on the island Lussinpiccolo off the coast of Croatia which at the time belonged to Italy, according to a talk Steinmetz gave to CU Boulder students for Holocaust Remembrance Week in 2019.Her family remained in Italy until 1939, when the Italian Racial Laws barred Jews from certain jobs and ordered Jewish property and businesses to be confiscated.Steinmetz’s family fled in 1940 to southern France, and eventually made their way to Lisbon, Portugal, where they obtained visas for the Dominican Republic — one of the few countries at the time that accepted Jewish refugees.In 1941, when Steinmetz was 4 years old, her family left mainland Europe and settled in the Dominican Republic before eventually securing visas for the United States with the help of relatives in 1945, according to another talk Steinmetz gave at CU Boulder in March.Steinmetz shared her family’s story with the USC Shoah Foundation in an interview in 1998. In Boulder, she has spoken at synagogues and schools about the Holocaust and her family’s escape, her friend Chany Scheiner told the Denver television station 9News.“She is an amazing person. Not because she is hurt. She always is an amazing person,” Scheiner said. She added, “She is passionate about standing up for good things, and she is an extremely exceptional person. Always a smile on her face. Her life wasn’t easy, but she is just a bright light.”Steinmetz told NBC News that the attack “has nothing to do with the Holocaust, it has to do with a human being that wants to burn other people.”“It’s about what the hell is going on in our country,” Steinmetz said. “What the hell is going on?”Soloway declined to speak about Steinmetz to JTA. He told NBC News that Steinmetz had suffered minor burns in the attack but was “going to be OK” physically. He said that although her injuries would heal, the psychological toll of the attack on her remains to be seen.“Can you imagine the trauma that that reactivates?” Soloway said to NBC News. “It’s just horrendous.”Hopeful for something positive-The suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, currently faces a federal charge of a hate crime and state charges of attempted murder in the first degree and related charges.Soloway noted that this Sunday, one week after the attack, is the Boulder Jewish Festival, which locals believe is the longest-running Jewish festival in the country, and that the community plans to do another Run for Their Lives walk. This time, marchers from Denver will be making the 30-mile trek to join them.“We’re hopeful that something positive will emerge, and that we’ll be a stronger community, in a way; as much as we’re reeling from the horrors of this attack, we’ll grow,” Soloway said.

'Aces up the sleeve': Ukraine drone attacks in Russia shake up conflict-By Mathieu RABECHAULT.

Paris (AFP) June 3, 2025-Ukraine managed to not only humiliate the Kremlin by boasting of taking out more than a third of all Russian missile carriers in a spectacular drone attack but also to rewrite the rules of modern warfare, analysts say.Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, Kyiv used inexpensive drones at the weekend to destroy Russian nuclear-capable bombers worth billions of dollars in an operation carried out after months of planning."Spider's Web" dealt a blow to Russia more than three years after its invasion of Ukraine, and the operation will now be studied closely by militaries around the world as a new strategy in asymmetric warfare.Ukraine said it destroyed $7 billion worth of Russian aircraft parked at airbases thousands of kilometres across the border, mainly Tu-95 and Tu-22 long-range strategic bombers.While the attacks at Belaya deep in Siberia and Olenya on the Kola Peninsula in the Arctic circle are unlikely to change to course of the war, they will limit Moscow's ability to launch long-range missile strikes against Ukraine.Yohann Michel, a researcher at the French university Lyon-3, said the loss of the aircraft was "a serious blow to Russian offensive capabilities"."The main impact could be felt in several weeks' time with a reduction in the number of sorties by the rest of the fleet" due to difficulties in finding spare parts for the Soviet-era planes, which are no longer in production, he told AFP.Maxim Starchak, a fellow at the Centre for International and Defence Policy at Queen's University in Canada, said it would take Russia a long time to replace the lost aircraft."Russia is extremely slow and inefficient in developing new aircraft for its nuclear forces," he told AFP.- New way of waging war -The drones, launched from trucks in the immediate vicinity of air bases deep inside Russia, destroyed or damaged aircraft parked in the open.Congratulating Ukraine's security service chief Vasyl Malyuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said it had taken 18 months of preparation for the 117 drones to be concealed inside trucks close to the airbases, and that all the Ukrainian agents had safely left Russia.Michael Shurkin, a former CIA officer, said Ukraine's operation was likely to have struck fear into militaries across the world, adding that potential targets for such drone attacks could include refineries, ballistic missile silos or military bases."This technology is akin to stealth technology: The threat is difficult to detect both because it emerges near the target and is too small and too low to be picked up by sensors designed to catch aircraft or missiles," said Shurkin, director of global programs for the consultancy 14 North Strategies.Ukrainian military analyst Oleksii Kopytko said anyone delivering a pizza or driving a horse-drawn cart could present a danger. "The organisers and main perpetrators are essentially untraceable," he said.A French arms manufacturing executive said Ukraine could even have trained AI algorithms to recognise aircraft or guide the drones in case of jamming."New tools are forcing us to completely rethink defence systems and how they are produced," said the executive, who asked not to be named."It opens up possibilities that we hadn't even imagined."Zelensky "just proved that he and Ukraine are more than able to pull aces out of their combat fatigue sleeves," said Timothy Ash, an emerging market economist focused on Russia.- 'Did not help' -The attacks exposed Russia's air base vulnerabilities, in a massive morale boost for Kyiv after months on the backfoot in the conflict."The protection of military air bases does not meet security requirements," said Starchak. "The dispersal of military aircraft across different airfields did not help either."Russia's vast size is also a disadvantage here."Usually, the vastness of Russia's territory is an advantage; you can hide your bombers thousands of kilometres away where they would be safe," said Michel"The problem is that this means you have to monitor thousands of square kilometres, which is simply impossible."The attacks dealt a blow to Moscow's nuclear triad of ground, sea and air-launched missiles, said Starchak.If it was possible to target an airbase it is also possible to hit bases hosting nuclear submarines, Starchak said."An attack on long-range aircraft bases is a potential threat to the entire nuclear triad, which can be easily hit, thereby weakening it to the point that it cannot respond with a nuclear strike."John Herbst, senior director of the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, said that Ukraine's operation gave US President Donald Trump leverage against Russia's Vladimir Putin in search of a settlement."It is a strong counter to the dubious 'common wisdom' that the war is moving inevitably in Moscow's favour," wrote the former US ambassador to Ukraine

Ukraine officer tells US that Russia plots big advances-by AFP Staff Writers.

Washington (AFP) June 5, 2025-A Ukrainian military officer told the United States on Wednesday that Russian forces are preparing major advances into next year, including aiming to cut off Black Sea access, as Kyiv pushes for stronger pressure against Moscow.A senior Ukrainian delegation was visiting Washington just as President Donald Trump said that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin warned him by telephone of major retaliation over a daring Ukraine drone strike deep into Russia.Colonel Pavlo Palisa, who served on the frontlines until President Volodymyr Zelensky in November named him as deputy head of the president's office, presented what he said were findings from Ukrainian military intelligence.Speaking to reporters after briefing US lawmakers and officials, Palisa said that Russia has set a goal of seizing by the end of September the entirety of Donetsk and Lugansk -- two of the four regions that Russia has claimed to have annexed, and which feature in a Russian proposal that Ukraine terms an ultimatum.By the end of the year, Russia wants to establish a buffer zone along the Ukraine-Russia border, Palisa said."It's interesting, but they have plans even for 2026. The plan for next year is to occupy the whole part of Ukraine which is situated on the left bank of the Dnipro River," he said.The goal is to "occupy Odessa region and Mykolaiv region, to cut Ukraine's access to the Black Sea," he said.He did not specify the sources of his assertions.The Black Sea is militarily and economically critical for Ukraine and a major route for shipments of grain to the developing world.The vast Dnipro runs through the capital Kyiv and flows to the Black Sea, bisecting Ukraine, whose historical legitimacy has been questioned by Putin.Palisa said the purported intelligence findings on Russia showed "what they think in reality.""Unfortunately, they are not speaking about peace. They are preparing for war," he said.Top Zelensky aide Andriy Yermak, who led the delegation to Washington, encouraged US lawmakers to move forward on a new sanctions bill to "increase the pressure on Russia.""It's necessary to create the right atmosphere that Russia will go to negotiation -- but go not to make a show, but concrete and real negotiation," Yermak said.Yermak met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has repeatedly warned that Trump -- who took office vowing quickly to end the war and who briefly cut off support to Ukraine -- is losing patience with Putin.

Zelensky tells backers Russia must be 'forced into diplomacy' as Lukashenko says China, Belarus facing Western 'pressure'balloon-by AFP Staff Writers.

Brussels, Belgium (AFP) June 4, 2025-Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Kyiv's military backers Wednesday to ramp up support in a bid to pressure Russia towards peace."We must not allow Russia to blur reality or mislead the world. Moscow must be forced into diplomacy," Zelensky said in a video address to defence ministers meeting in Brussels.The call for action comes as Kyiv's main backer the United States has stepped back from its support for Ukraine under President Donald Trump and pushed for a quick end to the fighting unleashed by Russian leader Vladimir Putin.In a sign of Washington's disengagement, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth missed the gathering in Brussels, despite being due to fly in for a NATO meeting on Thursday.In his address, Zelensky urged allies to step up deliveries of air defences to ward off Russia's missile and drone attacks, and to bolster Ukraine's own defence industry."The stronger our air defence is, the less value Putin sees in attacking our cities and villages. So please, let's continue strengthening our air shield," the Ukrainian leader said.Britain's Defence Secretary John Healey said Russia was "routinely firing over 300 drones a day into Ukraine"."This is a significant shift, and this is a rate of fire that could be sustained throughout 2025," he said."Three and a half years into this war, President Putin continues to prove he's not for peace."Healey's German counterpart Boris Pistorius insisted Russian forces "are making hardly any progress" on the front line and suffering devastating losses.He said Russia would eventually fail in its push to control Ukraine as Kyiv's backers were providing it "with everything it needs and for as long as it needs"."We will continue to expand this support, and we will maintain it for the long term," he said.Despite the soaring rhetoric, there were few public pledges of concrete new weapon deliveries for Kyiv at the meeting.Britain said it would step up supplies of drones to Kyiv "tenfold" and the Netherlands announced naval support worth 400 million euros ($450 million).

Lukashenko says China, Belarus facing Western 'pressure'.

Beijing (AFP) June 4, 2025 - President Alexander Lukashenko said Belarus and China are both facing a pressure campaign from the West, as he met with Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday.Lukashenko told his Chinese counterpart that their nations are up against "unprecedented pressure" from the West, according to the Belarusian state news agency Belta."China will not allow the world order to be broken," Lukashenko added. "Many, many nations are convinced of this."The Belarusian leader, who in January won a seventh consecutive term after a widely criticised election, has ruled ex-Soviet Belarus for more than 30 years.He is in China for a three-day state visit this week after last visiting in December 2023.According to state broadcaster CCTV, Xi told Lukashenko that China has "always viewed and developed its relations with Belarus from a strategic and long-term perspective".Xi added that China is "willing to work with Belarus to promote stable and far-reaching bilateral relations and mutually beneficial cooperation", CCTV said.

Greenpeace steals Macron wax figure for anti-Moscow protest-by AFP Staff Writers.

Paris (AFP) June 2, 2025-Greenpeace activists on Monday stole a wax figure of President Emmanuel Macron from a Paris museum and placed it in front of the Russian embassy as part of a protest against French economic ties with Moscow in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.According to a police source, two women and a man entered the Grevin Museum posing as tourists and, once inside, changed their clothes to pass for workers.The activists slipped out through an emergency exit with the wax work, estimated to be worth 40,000 euros, which they had covered up.The museum said that the activists had called to promise that the statue would be returned "unharmed"."They had clearly done their research very thoroughly," a museum spokeswoman told AFP.According to the spokeswoman, the activists distracted a security guard by asking a question about a disabled access lift, while some of them donned maintenance coats.After making away with the Macron wax figure, the Greenpeace activists placed it in front of the Russian embassy in a protest against the economic ties between France and Russia in the gas, chemical fertilizer and nuclear sectors.The action in front of the embassy lasted only a few minutes.The activists unfurled a Russian flag behind the Macron statue, while one man held up a yellow placard reading "Business is business".The activists also threw fake banknotes around."For us, France is playing a double game," said Jean-Francois Julliard, head of Greenpeace France."Emmanuel Macron embodies this double discourse: he supports Ukraine but encourages French companies to continue trading with Russia," Julliard said.Julliard said Greenpeace targeted Macron because he had a particular responsibility, adding that the French president "should be the first" among European leaders to end trade contracts with Russia.France has been one of the most vocal supporters of Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.Macron has taken the lead in seeking to forge a coordinated European response to defend Ukraine, after US President Donald Trump shocked the world by directly negotiating with Russia.The wax figure of Jacques Chirac was stolen from the Grevin Museum in 1983, when he was mayor of Paris. The statue was found a few days later at the Vincennes Zoo.The statue of Valery Giscard d'Estaing was stolen by angry motorcyclists during his term at the Elysee Palace between 1974 and 1981.mca-sm-abe-as/sjw/djt

Iran's Khamenei says US nuclear proposal against national interest-By Payam Doost Mohamadi.

Tehran (AFP) June 4, 2025-Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday a US proposal for a nuclear agreement was against the national interest, amid sharp differences over whether Tehran can continue to enrich uranium.The longtime foes have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new accord to replace the deal with major powers that US President Donald Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.On Saturday, Iran said it had received "elements" of the US proposal through Omani mediators, the details of which have not been publicly disclosed."The proposal presented by the Americans is 100 percent against" notions of independence and self-reliance, Khamenei said in a televised speech, invoking ideals of the 1979 Islamic revolution."Independence means not waiting for the green light from America and the likes of America."Iran's enrichment of uranium has emerged as a major point of contention.Trump said on Monday his administration would not allow "any" enrichment, despite Tehran's insistence it is its right under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty-Khamenei said enrichment is "key" to Iran's nuclear programme and that the United States "cannot have a say" on the issue."If we have 100 nuclear power plants but don't have enrichment, they will be of no use to us," because "nuclear power plants need fuel" to operate, he said."If we cannot produce this fuel domestically, we have to reach out to the United States, which may have dozens of conditions."The New York Times reported Tuesday that the US proposal includes "an arrangement that would allow Iran to continue enriching uranium at low levels" as the US and other countries "work out a more detailed plan intended to block Iran's path to a nuclear weapon".It said the proposal would see the United States facilitating "the building of nuclear power plants for Iran and negotiate the construction of enrichment facilities managed by a consortium of regional countries".Iran has previously said it is open to temporary limits on its enrichment of uranium, and is willing to consider the establishment of a regional nuclear fuel consortium.But it has stressed that such a consortium is "in no way intended to replace Iran's own uranium enrichment programme".Iran's chief negotiator, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said in a Wednesday post on X: No enrichment, no deal. No nuclear weapons, we have a deal."- 'Less than satisfactory' -On Monday, Araghchi held talks in Cairo with Rafael Grossi, head of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.In its latest quarterly report last week, the IAEA said Iran had further stepped up its production of highly enriched uranium.In a separate report, it also criticised "less than satisfactory" cooperation from Tehran, particularly in explaining past cases of nuclear material found at undeclared sites.Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal but still short of the 90 percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead.The reports came ahead of a planned IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna later this month which will review Iran's nuclear activities.Washington and other Western governments have continued to accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapons capability. Iran insists its programme is for peaceful purposes only.The 2015 deal provided Iran with relief from international sanctions in return for UN-monitored restrictions on its nuclear activities.Trump reimposed US sanctions when he quit the agreement in 2018 and has since tightened them with secondary sanctions against third parties who violate them.Britain, France and Germany, the three European countries who were party to the 2015 deal, are currently weighing whether to trigger the sanctions "snapback" mechanism in the accord.The mechanism would reinstate UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance -- an option that expires in October.Iran has criticised the IAEA report as unbalanced, saying it relied on "forged documents" provided by its arch foe Israel.

Trump says Iran 'slowwalking' as Khamenei opposes nuclear proposal-by AFP Staff Writers.

Washington (AFP) June 4, 2025-US President Donald Trump accused Tehran on Wednesday of "slowwalking" on a nuclear deal, after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the latest proposal from Washington was against the national interest.The longtime foes have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new accord to replace the deal with major powers that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018, but sharp differences remain over whether Tehran can continue to enrich uranium.On Saturday, Iran said it had received "elements" of the US proposal through Omani mediators, the details of which have not been publicly disclosed."The proposal presented by the Americans is 100 percent against" notions of independence and self-reliance, Khamenei said in a televised speech, invoking ideals of the 1979 Islamic revolution."Independence means not waiting for the green light from America and the likes of America."Iran's enrichment of uranium has emerged as a major point of contention.Trump said on Monday his administration would not allow "any" enrichment, despite Tehran's insistence it is its right under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin who "suggested that he will participate in the discussions with Iran"."It is my opinion that Iran has been slowwalking their decision on this very important matter, and we will need a definitive answer in a very short period of time!" Trump said.- Low-level enrichment -Khamenei said enrichment is "key" to Iran's nuclear programme and that the United States "cannot have a say" on the issue."If we have 100 nuclear power plants but don't have enrichment, they will be of no use to us," because "nuclear power plants need fuel" to operate, he said.The New York Times reported Tuesday that the US proposal includes "an arrangement that would allow Iran to continue enriching uranium at low levels" as the US and other countries "work out a more detailed plan intended to block Iran's path to a nuclear weapon".It said the proposal would see the United States facilitating "the building of nuclear power plants for Iran and negotiate the construction of enrichment facilities managed by a consortium of regional countries".Iran has previously said it is open to temporary limits on its enrichment of uranium, and is willing to consider the establishment of a regional nuclear fuel consortium.But it has stressed that such a consortium is "in no way intended to replace Iran's own uranium enrichment programme".Iran's chief negotiator, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said in a Wednesday post on X: No enrichment, no deal. No nuclear weapons, we have a deal."Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal but still short of the 90 percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead.- 'Less than satisfactory' -The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in its latest quarterly report last week that Iran had further stepped up its production of highly enriched uranium.In a separate report, it also criticised "less than satisfactory" cooperation from Tehran, particularly in explaining past cases of nuclear material found at undeclared sites.The reports came ahead of a planned IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna later this month which will review Iran's nuclear activities.Washington and other Western governments have continued to accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapons capability. Iran insists its programme is for peaceful purposes only.The 2015 deal provided Iran with relief from international sanctions in return for UN-monitored restrictions on its nuclear activities.Trump reimposed US sanctions when he quit the agreement in 2018 and has since tightened them with secondary sanctions against third parties who violate them.Britain, France and Germany, the three European countries who were party to the 2015 deal, are currently weighing whether to trigger the sanctions "snapback" mechanism in the accord.The mechanism would reinstate UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance -- an option that expires in October.Iran has criticised the IAEA report as unbalanced, saying it relied on "forged documents" provided by its arch foe Israel.pdm-mz/kir/ami/ysm-THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 

Putin ready to 'help resolve' Iran nuclear stand-off: Kremlin.

Moscow, June 5 (AFP) Jun 05, 2025-Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to "help resolve" the standoff between Iran and the United States over Tehran's nuclear programme, the Kremlin said Thursday."We have a close partnership with Tehran. And President Putin said that he was ready to use this partnership to help resolve the Iranian nuclear issue," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.After a call between the leaders on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said Putin had offered to "participate" in talks on Tehran's nuclear programme, as Trump accused Iran of "slow-walking" its response to Washington's offer of a deal.Washington and Tehran have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new accord to replace the nuclear deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.Trump said Monday that his administration would not allow "any" enrichment of uranium, despite Tehran's insistence that it has the right under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said earlier Wednesday that Washington's proposal was against Tehran's national interest.Russia and Iran have deepened their military ties amid Moscow's military offensive on Ukraine.The Kremlin said earlier this week that Tehran had the "right" to a run a peaceful nuclear energy programme.

Lebanon PM says army has dismantled 500 Hezbollah sites-IDF strikes underground Hezbollah drone factories in Beirut after evacuation warning-Military slams ‘blatant violation’ of November ceasefire, accuses terror group of preparing for future war; 2nd evacuation warning issued for two sites in southern town of Ain Qana-By Emanuel Fabian-Today, 11:46 pm-JUN 5,25

The Israel Defense Forces carried out a series of strikes on several buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday evening that it said were used by Hezbollah to manufacture drones, and in a separate instance, also issued evacuation warnings for two areas in a southern Lebanon town.Ahead of the strikes, which began shortly after 10 p.m., the military said it had “identified that Hezbollah’s aerial unit (127) is working to produce many thousands of UAVs, under the guidance and funding of Iranian terror officials.”This was happening, the military said, “despite the understandings between Israel and Lebanon” as laid out in a November ceasefire agreement that halted more than a year of fighting along Israel’s northern border.It said that Hezbollah was working to expand its drone manufacturing process to prepare for a future war with Israel.“This activity is a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon. The Hezbollah terror organization creates challenges for the Lebanese state and thus impairs the implementation of the understandings,” the IDF asserted.As it generally does before strikes in Beirut, the military issued an evacuation warning for civilians in the vicinity of the targeted buildings.“You are located near facilities belonging to the terrorist organization Hezbollah,” the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, said on X.“For your safety and the safety of your families, you are required to evacuate these buildings immediately and move away from them at a distance of no less than 300 meters,” said Adraee.The post was accompanied by maps showing the locations of the soon-to-be targeted buildings.A video circulating on social media following the evacuation warning showed heavy traffic in Dahiyeh, Beirut, as thousands of people tried to hurriedly leave the area.AFP photographers reported massive numbers of people trying to flee the area, and Lebanese media reported that it was nearly emptied of inhabitants and had been sealed off.Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed ahead of the strikes that, along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he had “instructed the IDF this evening to strike and destroy buildings used by the terrorist organization Hezbollah to manufacture and store drones in the heart of the Dahiyeh district of Beirut.”“We will continue to enforce the terms of the ceasefire without any compromises, and we will not allow any party to make threats against the northern communities and all citizens of Israel,” said Katz.He stressed that Israel holds the Lebanese government “directly responsible for preventing violations of the ceasefire and all terrorist activity against the State of Israel.”Following the strikes in Beirut, the IDF issued a new evacuation warning for two areas in the southern Lebanese town of Ain Qana, and warned that it would soon strike Hezbollah assets in the vicinity.Adraee again published maps showing the locations of several buildings that the military intended to target.“You are located near facilities belonging to Hezbollah,” he said, calling on civilians to evacuate at least 500 meters from the areas for their safety.Lebanese media reported a series of strikes in Ain Qana following the warning.Israel has continued to carry out targeted strikes on Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure since it signed a ceasefire with Lebanon in late November, alleging violations of the truce agreement.According to the IDF, over 180 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in that time.The ceasefire agreement brought to an end more than a year of fighting with the Iran-backed Hezbollah, including two months of open war in southern Lebanon late last year.Hezbollah began attacking military outposts and communities in northern Israel unprovoked on October 8, 2023, in a show of support for fellow Iranian proxy Hamas in Gaza after its assault on southern Israel a day earlier.Under the terms of the ceasefire,  Hezbollah was required to withdraw its fighters north of the Litani and dismantle all military infrastructure in southern Lebanon.Since then, the Lebanese state has been working methodically to dismantle the terror group’s infrastructure in the south of the country, and is estimated to have seized the majority of the terror group’s weapons stockpile in the same area.Earlier on Thursday, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said that the Lebanese Armed Forces had dismantled “more than 500 military positions and arms depots” belonging to Hezbollah in the south of the country.”In a televised address marking 100 days in office, Salam said his government was pressing ahead with reforms demanded by the international community.“The state continues its action… to restore its authority over the entire national territory… and to have a monopoly on arms,” he said.“The Lebanese army is continuing its deployment and has so far dismantled more than 500 military positions and arms depots south of the Litani River” about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the Israeli border, Salam said.The Lebanese premier also criticized Israel for maintaining troops at five locations within southern Lebanon, rather than fully withdrawing as the ceasefire had demanded.“There can be no security or stability while Israel’s daily violations persist, parts of our land remain occupied and our prisoners are not freed,” he said.Times of Israel staff and Agencies contributed to this report.

Czechs sign nuclear deal with S.Korea firm KHNP: PM.

Prague, June 4 (AFP) Jun 04, 2025-A Czech state-run company signed Wednesday a deal with South Korea's KHNP to build two nuclear reactors in the EU country after a court dismissed a bid by France's EDF to block the deal.A Czech court had blocked the multi-billion-dollar deal in May after French energy group EDF filed a complaint, questioning the transparency of the tender which it lost.But a higher court threw out the ruling on Wednesday over procedural flaws, enabling the government of Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala to ink the deal."A while ago we signed an agreement on the supply of two units for the Dukovany nuclear plant," Fiala told reporters."We did our best to make sure the deal can be signed the instant the legal obstacles are removed," he said.He hailed the signature as a "fundamental step on the way to higher energy security and self-sufficiency".KHNP is due to build the two units at the southern Czech nuclear plant of Dukovany run by the state-run CEZ group.The Czech Republic, an EU member of 10.9 million people, relies on nuclear power -- produced by Dukovany and the Temelin plant also in the south -- for 40 percent of its electricity consumption.With the two new units and small modular reactors due to be built by 2050, the share of nuclear energy is expected to rise to 50 percent as the country shifts away from burning fossil fuels.Fiala said earlier KHNP won the tender as its bid was "better in all criteria assessed" than EDF's offer.On Wednesday, he said KHNP has vowed to hand 60 percent of the contract to Czech suppliers.KHNP has offered to build the two new units for around 200 billion Czech koruna ($9 billion) each.Prague expected to finalise the deal with KHNP by March this year, but complaints by EDF delayed the process.CEZ expects construction to begin in 2029 and the first new reactor launched in trial operation in 2036.frj/lth

US military announces detention of Islamic State leader-by AFP Staff Writers.

Washington (AFP) June 5, 2025-US military officials announced Wednesday the detention of an Islamic State group (IS) leader during international coalition operations in Iraq and Syria which also killed two other operatives.US Central Command wrote on X that the operations, conducted from May 21 to 27, "served to disrupt and degrade" IS's ability to "reconstitute, plan, organize and conduct attacks against civilians and US and partner forces in the region."In the course of supporting six operations in the ongoing campaign, five in Iraq and one in Syria, the US military reported two IS operatives were killed, two were detained -- including an IS leader -- and multiple weapons were recovered."Operations like these underscore the commitment of USCENTCOM, along with our allies and partners, to the enduring defeat of ISIS in the region," USCENTCOM Commander Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement.The operations in Iraq were carried out by Iraqi forces in the north, where IS cells have remained active and carry out sporadic attacks against Iraq's army and police.IS in 2014 declared a "caliphate" after capturing large parts of Iraq and Syria, beginning a rule marked by atrocities.Iraqi forces backed by the international coalition defeated IS in late 2017. The group lost its last territory in Syria two years later.The group has, however, maintained a presence in Syria's northeast where it notably targets Kurdish-led forces, and in Iraq it largely carries out attacks in rural areas.About 2,500 American troops are deployed in Iraq, which now considers its security forces capable of confronting the jihadists.The US and Iraq announced in late September that the international coalition would end its decade-long military mission in federal Iraq within a year, and by September 2026 in the autonomous Kurdistan region.During his recent Gulf tour, US President Donald Trump met with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia and announced lifting sanctions on Syria.

US to eventually reduce military bases in Syria to one: US envoy.

Istanbul (AFP) June 3, 2025 - The United States has begun reducing its military presence in Syria with a view to eventually closing all but one of its bases there, the US envoy for the country has said in an interview.Six months after the ouster of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, the United States is steadily drawing down its presence as part of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), a military task force launched in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group (IS)."The reduction of our OIR engagement on a military basis is happening," the US envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, said in an interview with Turkey's NTV late on Monday."We've gone from eight bases to five to three. We'll eventually go to one."But he admitted Syria still faced major security challenges under interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose Islamist-led coalition toppled Assad in December.Assad's ouster brought an end to Syria's bloody 14-year civil war, but the new authorities have struggled to contain recent bouts of sectarian violence.Barrack, who is also the US ambassador to Turkey, called for the "integration" of the country's ethnic and religious groups."It's very tribal still. It's very difficult to bring it together," he said.But "I think that will happen," he added.The Pentagon announced in April that the United States would halve its troops in Syria to less than 1,000 in the coming months, saying the IS presence had been reduced to "remnants".

South Korea's new leader vows to 'heal wounds' with nuclear-armed North.

Seoul, June 4 (AFP) Jun 04, 2025-South Korea's President Lee Jae-myung vowed to reach out to the nuclear-armed North and "heal wounds" as he took office Wednesday, after winning a snap election triggered by his predecessor's disastrous martial law declaration.South Korea's new centre-left leader also warned that "rising protectionism and supply chain restructuring" pose an existential threat to Asia's export-dependent fourth-largest economy, which has been buffeted by the global trade chaos sparked by US President Donald Trump.Lee scored a thumping victory over conservative Kim Moon-soo of the disgraced ex-president's former party. His term began immediately after the vote tally was certified Wednesday.Lee secured 49.4 percent of the vote, ahead of the 41.2 percent for Kim -- who conceded, having been hampered by party infighting and a third-party candidate splitting the right-wing vote.Lee spoke to South Korea's top military commander and formally assumed operational control of the country's armed forces Wednesday, urging them to maintain "readiness" in case of Pyongyang's provocations -- but said in his first comments that he was ready to talk."We will heal the wounds of division and war and establish a future of peace and prosperity," he said."No matter how costly, peace is better than war."He said Seoul would "deter North Korean nuclear and military provocations while opening communication channels and pursuing dialogue and cooperation to build peace on the Korean Peninsula".Lee took office just hours before US tariffs on steel and aluminium were due to take effect, with the 50 percent levy hitting crucial South Korean exports."The rapid changes in the global order such as rising protectionism and supply chain restructuring pose a threat to our very survival," Lee said.Markets reacted favourably to the election, with the benchmark KOSPI and the won rising Wednesday.- 'Significant departure' -Lee's comments on North Korea are a "significant departure" from those of his hawkish predecessor as he did not immediately attach preconditions to dialogue, said Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.It signals "his desire to resolve disagreements through talks", Hong told AFP.Lee held a modest inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly -- where Yoon deployed armed troops on the night he attempted to suspend civilian rule.Lee also announced a number of top appointments, including long-time adviser Kim Min-seok as prime minister and former unification minister Lee Jong-seok as spy chief.Lee's day is expected to end with a flurry of congratulatory phone calls from world leaders, with Trump likely to be the first on the line.Trump's top diplomat, Marco Rubio, was swift to offer his own congratulations and voice hope for working with Lee, who previously sought greater distance from the United States.Washington's alliance with Seoul was "ironclad", the US secretary of state said, citing "shared values and deep economic ties".In a statement, the White House described the election as "free and fair".But it added: "The United States remains concerned and opposed to Chinese interference and influence in democracies around the world".Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Lee, while emphasising the "great importance to the development of China-South Korea relations"."The Chinese side is willing to work with the South Korean side to ... firmly maintain the direction of good-neighbourly friendship, adhere to the goal of mutual benefit and win-win," Xi said, according to state media CCTV.Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba also said he wanted to "energise cooperation" between Seoul and Tokyo, South Korea's former colonial ruler.And India's Narendra Modi said on X he wanted to "strengthen" ties with Seoul as he congratulated Lee.- 'Positive direction' -Lee comes to power with his party already holding a parliamentary majority -- secure for the next three years -- meaning he is likely to be able to get his legislative agenda done.On the streets of Seoul, South Koreans said they welcomed Lee's overtures to the North."Since our economy and many other aspects of society are closely linked to the state of inter-Korean relations, I hope we can take a long-term perspective and move in a more positive direction," Choi Ki-ho, 55, told AFP.Lee Ju-yeon, a 42-year-old quasi-public sector employee, said they hoped Lee "will devote himself to uniting our divided nation".kjk-hs-oho-cdl/lb

UK nuclear site could leak until 2050s, MPs warn.

London, June 4 (AFP) Jun 04, 2025-Britain's most hazardous building threatens to leak radioactive water until the 2050s unless the clean-up of a former nuclear power plant is quickened, UK lawmakers warned on Wednesday.The waste has been leaking into the ground from a storage silo at the Sellafield facility in Cumbria, in northwest England, since 2018 -- enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool every three years.Sellafield, which began operations in the 1940s, generated nuclear power between 1956 and 2003.In a report published Wednesday, a group of British MPs criticised the pace of the decommissioning work, citing examples of "failure, cost overruns and continuing safety concerns".It said the risks were highlighted by the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS), described by Sellafield owner the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) as "the most hazardous building in the UK".The report by the Public Accounts Committee found that most of the annual targets for retrieving waste from buildings at the site, including the MSSS, had been "missed".It said the storage silo is likely to continue leaking until the oldest section of the building has been emptied in the late 2050s, instead of 2040 as previously expected."Every day at Sellafield is a race against time to complete works before buildings reach the end of their life," said the committee's chair, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown."Our report contains too many signs that this is a race that Sellafield risks losing," he added, saying the site presented "intolerable risks".The radioactive leak is contained and does not pose a risk to the public, the report noted.A spokeswoman for the NDA said fixing it was the group's "highest priority".Britain's National Audit Office forecast last October that the cost of decommissioning and cleaning up the entire Sellafield site over the next century had soared to pound136 billion ($177 billion).This was up almost 19 percent on the previous official estimate made in 2019.It noted that "full site remediation" was not expected until 2125.


IAEA head in Damascus to discuss nuclear power.

Damascus, June 4 (AFP) Jun 04, 2025-UN nuclear watchdog head Rafael Grossi said Wednesday his agency and Syrian authorities would begin "exploring the possibility of nuclear power", on his first visit to Damascus since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly been at loggerheads with Syria in the past over what it says are "unresolved issues" regarding suspected nuclear activities.On his visit, the IAEA chief met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani."Honoured to meet Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus. I recognise his courage in cooperating with full transparency to close a chapter of Syria's past that diverted resources necessary for development," Grossi said in a post on X.He said the two sides "will also begin exploring the possibility of nuclear power in Syria"."Our cooperation is key to closing outstanding issues and focusing on the much needed help IAEA can provide Syria in health and agriculture," he added.The IAEA has urged Syria repeatedly to cooperate fully with the agency in connection to a suspected nuclear reactor at the Deir Ezzor desert site.Israel in 2018 admitted carrying out a top-secret air raid in 2007 against what it said was a nuclear reactor under construction at the site in eastern Syria.Syria had denied it was building a nuclear reactor.Grossi visited Damascus in March last year, meeting then president Assad who was overthrown in December after nearly 14 years of civil war.Grossi told an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in March this year that he had requested Syria's cooperation to "fulfil our obligation to verify nuclear material and facilities" and to "address unresolved issues"."Clarifying these issues remains essential to Syria demonstrating its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and international peace and security," he said at the time.

China lead mine plan weighs heavily on Myanmar tribe.

Pekon, Myanmar, June 5 (AFP) Jun 05, 2025-Hundreds of protesting Myanmar tribespeople march up a hillside to a cavernous facility where a Chinese joint venture's giant milling machines stand ready to grind up the rocks of their ancestral homeland for lead ore.Demand for the heavy metal is forecast to rise, driven by its use in the batteries needed for the global energy transition.But its extraction can pollute the environment and the Pradawng tribespeople carry banners reading: "No transparency, no responsibility"."We don't have any plan to exchange this inheritance from our ancestors for money or riches," said 24-year-old protest leader Khun Khine Min Naing."This land is the dignity of our tribe."Since a 2021 coup, Myanmar has been riven by civil war and shattered into a patchwork of loosely governed territories ripe for exploitation by unregulated miners.And neighbouring China is keen to scoop up the minerals and metals Myanmar can supply.The Pradawng -- a little-known subtribe of the Kayan ethnic group -- claim around 3,000 members and a 381-year lineage in Shan state, in Myanmar's east.They say Myanmar firm Four Star Company and a Chinese partner have planned a mega-project mining lead upriver from their village, Thi Kyeik, in Pekon township.Heavy machinery began to be installed in February, but the tribe say they were not consulted on the scheme and fear it will taint the area with hazardous chemicals.Locals have blockaded roads to turn back vehicles, and threatened to seize mining equipment, defying possible violent backlash in a country where the right to assemble often depends on the whims of armed guards."We are only asking for Indigenous rights that we should own," Khun Khine Min Naing told AFP, demanding mine plans are rolled back until the war is over and they can be scrutinised by a civilian government.- Natural resources -Lead is a toxic metal, most commonly mined for use in lead-acid batteries.Extracting it can pollute local soil and water supplies, with children particularly vulnerable to exposure, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)."We don't want to leave this land environmentally damaged for the next generation," said Khun Khine Min Naing. "We don't want to be regarded as historical criminals."The Pradawng say Four Star Company has been active locally for two decades and is linked to the local ruling Kayan New Land Party, whose armed wing maintains a ceasefire with Myanmar's military.The firm could not be reached for comment.Their Chinese partner company is harder to identify, and locals say its involvement was only revealed when its representatives attended a joint event with Four Star Company intended to address community backlash.China shares a 2,100-kilometre (1,300-mile) border with Myanmar and has long been a lucrative market for the country's natural resources, including jade, gemstones, teak logs and metal ores.It accounts for nearly 98 percent of Myanmar's lead ore and concentrate exports, according to 2023 World Bank data.The figures say 49,000 tonnes worth $20 million were exported to China that year, but that is likely far short of the true amount.The lack of a central authority means tracking the real scale of mining operations across Myanmar is difficult.But satellite imagery analysis of one hotspot on the Myanmar-China border by the Britain-based Centre for Information Resilience showed the expanse of mining operations there nearly doubled in size between 2018 and 2024.- 'Only stones for our children' -Rechargeable lead-acid batteries are widely used in vehicles, including EVs where they provide auxiliary power, as well as for storing power generated by renewable technologies such as wind and solar.The metal -- identified by the WHO as "one of 10 chemicals of major public health concern" -- sells for around $2,000 per refined tonne on the global market.But the Pradawng people suspect they will see none of the profits.Along with health risks, locals fear environmental damage, with villagers saying increased mining in recent years has led to more flooding and mudslides that carried off entire homes.Mu Ju July, 19, ekes out a living picking through mine slag heaps for scraps of lead to sell.A flurry of prospecting could be a windfall for her, but she worries it will squander the livelihoods and homes of future generations."If we allow them, we will be okay for only one or two years," she said."It will leave only stones when the time comes for our children."

NATO looks to thrash out spending deal under US pressure.

Brussels, Belgium, June 5 (AFP) Jun 05, 2025-US defence chief Pete Hegseth will seek on Thursday to drive home a deal on ramping up NATO defence spending that can satisfy President Donald Trump at a summit later this month.The volatile US leader has demanded that alliance members agree to boost defence spending to five percent of their GDP at the June 24-25 meeting in The Netherlands.NATO chief Mark Rutte has put forward a compromise agreement for 3.5 percent of GDP on core military spending by 2032, and 1.5 percent on broader security-related areas such as infrastructure.Multiple diplomats say that Rutte looks on track to secure the deal for the summit in The Hague -- but that some allies are still hesitant about committing to such spending."I'm really, absolutely, positively convinced that at the summit with the 32, we will come to an agreement when it comes to this really big increase in defence spending," the NATO chief said on Wednesday.Most vocal in its reluctance is Spain, which is only set to reach NATO's current target of two percent of GDP by the end of this year.Diplomats say that other countries are also haggling over making the timeline longer and dropping a demand for core defence spending to increase by 0.2 percentage points each year.But the deal appears an acceptable compromise to most that will allow Trump to claim that he has achieved his headline demand, while in reality setting the bar lower for struggling European allies.Hegseth looks set to use a meeting with his NATO counterparts in Brussels to pressure them into signing up to the agreement.The United States has backed Rutte's plan -- but its ambassador to NATO insisted on Wednesday that Washington wants to see "plans, budgets, timelines, deliverables" to meet the target.In a connected move, NATO ministers will sign off at their meeting in Brussels on new capability targets for the weaponry needed to face the threat from Russia.NATO officials have estimated that, on average, meeting the new targets would cost countries between 3.5 and 3.7 percent of GDP.Hegseth, a former TV presenter, rocked NATO on his last visit in February with a fiery warning that Washington could look to scale back its forces in Europe to focus on China.Since then there has been no concrete announcement from the United States on troop withdrawals but NATO allies remain on tenterhooks.- Ukraine question -With NATO appearing headed for the defence spending deal, another thorny issue now threatens to overshadow the summit in three weeks time: what to do about Ukraine?Trump's return to the White House ripped up Washington's support for Ukraine and upended the West's approach to Russia's three-year-long war.Hegseth underlined US disengagement with Kyiv by skipping a meeting of Ukraine's backers in Brussels on Wednesday.Kyiv's European allies are pressing strongly to overcome US reluctance and invite Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky to The Hague as a sign of support.So far, NATO has only said that Ukraine will be represented at the gathering -- but has not confirmed that Zelensky will be in attendance. 

Chinese researchers charged with smuggling fungus into .

Washington, June 4 (AFP) Jun 04, 2025-Two Chinese scientists have been charged with allegedly smuggling a toxic fungus into the United States that they planned to research at an American university, the Justice Department said Tuesday.Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, false statements, and visa fraud, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said in a statement.Jian is in US custody while Liu's whereabouts are unknown.The Justice Department said the pair conspired to smuggle a fungus called Fusarium graminearum into the United States that causes "head blight," a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice.The fungus is classified in scientific literature as a "potential agroterrorism weapon," it said, and causes billions of dollars in losses each year.It causes vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in humans and livestock, it said.According to the complaint, Jian and Liu, her boyfriend, had both previously conducted work on the fungus in China."(Liu) first lied but then admitted to smuggling Fusarium graminearum into America... so that he could conduct research on it at the laboratory at the University of Michigan where his girlfriend, Jian, worked," the Justice Department said.US Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr described the smuggling of the fungus into the United States as a "national security" concern and emphasized Jian's membership in the Chinese Communist Party."These two aliens have been charged with smuggling a fungus that has been described as a 'potential agroterrorism weapon' into the heartland of America, where they apparently intended to use a University of Michigan laboratory to further their scheme," Gorgon said.Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said he was not aware of the case when asked for comment at a regular news briefing on Wednesday."The Chinese government has always required Chinese citizens overseas to strictly abide by local laws and regulations, and at the same time safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens overseas in accordance with the law," he said.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed last week to "aggressively revoke visas" for Chinese students, a move condemned by Beijing as "unreasonable" and "discriminatory."Kseniia Petrova, a scientist from Russia at Harvard, is facing potential deportation after she failed to declare biological samples in her luggage upon returning from a trip to Paris.

Israel arms exports hit all time high in 2024; As Spain cancels anti-tank missiles from Israel-by AFP Staff Writers.

Jerusalem (AFP) June 4, 2025-Israel's defence ministry said Wednesday that its arms exports hit an all-time high of more than $14.7 billion in 2024, with a sharp rise in deals with Arab Gulf states, despite international criticism of Israel's ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza."Israel again reached an all-time peak in defence exports in 2024, marking the fourth consecutive record-breaking year in the scope of defence agreements," the ministry, which oversees and approves the exports of Israel's defence industries, said in a statement.A majority -- 56.8 percent -- of the deals signed were "mega-deals" valued at at least $100 million each, the ministry said, adding that "operational achievements" in the Gaza war had driven the demand.Since the outbreak of the war, sparked by militant group Hamas's attack on October 7, 2023, the ministry said it had been operating on "emergency mode, mobilising for the war effort with round-the-clock IDF production while maintaining foreign client manufacturing.""The war's operational achievements and the proven battlefield performance of Israeli systems have driven strong international demand for Israeli defense technology, concluding 2024 on a remarkably high note with record-breaking export deals," it said.The ministry said that demand for its missiles, rockets, and air defence systems had "reached a new significant milestone" and accounted for some 48 percent of the total number of exports, up from 36 percent in 2023.Additionally, "satellite and space systems exports saw substantial growth, representing 8 percent of deals in 2024 compared to 2 percent in 2023," the ministry said.A breakdown of the regions to which the arms were exported showed that European countries made up more than half.Sales to countries considered part of the Abraham Accords -- the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco who signed groundbreaking normalisation agreements with Israel in 2020 -- appeared to have sharply risen from 3 percent in 2023 to 12 percent."Precisely during a difficult and complex year of war, Israel has broken an all-time record in defence exports," Defence Minister Israel Katz said in the statement."The world sees Israeli strength and seeks to be a partner in it," he added.

Spain cancels purchase of Israeli anti-tank missiles: reports.

Madrid (AFP) June 4, 2025 - Spain, which has strongly criticised Israel's offensive in Gaza, has cancelled a contract to buy 168 firing posts and 1,680 anti-tank missiles from Israeli defence company Rafael, Spanish media reported Wednesday.The deal was worth 287.5 million euros ($327 million), according to top-selling daily Spanish newspaper El Pa�s, which cited unnamed government sources.The equipment was to be manufactured in Spain under licence from Rafael.Spanish defence ministry sources told AFP that the government "has begun a process to revoke licences of Israeli origin" and was working to redirect its procurement programmes "with the goal of achieving greater technological independence and autonomy".Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's criticisms of the offensive in Gaza infuriated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government last year by recognising a Palestinian state.In late April, Spain cancelled a contract to buy bullets from another Israeli company, IMI Systems, following pressure from the Socialist-led government's far-left coalition partner Sumar -- a move swiftly condemned by Israel.Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz, the founder of Sumar, said at the time that Spain could not engage in "business with a genocidal government... that is massacring the Palestinian people".Sanchez's government said it halted weapons transactions with Israel after the start of the war following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.But according to Centre Delas, a Barcelona-based think tank specialising in security and defence, the government has granted 46 contracts worth more than 1 billion euros to Israeli companies based on data published on a public tenders platform.

US says Columbia University discriminated against Jews, should lose accreditation-Trump’s Education Secretary Linda McMahon says New York school violated civil rights law through ‘deliberate indifference’ to harassment of Jewish students during Gaza war protestsBy Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 10:34 am-JUN 5,25

The US Department of Education said Wednesday it has notified a university accreditation body that it believes Columbia University has violated federal anti-discrimination laws through a failure to protect Jewish students on its campus.Columbia was an epicenter of widespread anti-Israel and in some cases antisemitic protests on campuses across the US last year that saw frequent expressions of support for the Hamas terror group and its October 7, 2023, attack, on southern Israel, as well as violations of school rules and local law, and is one of a number of schools whose funding US President Donald Trump has threatened.“Columbia University looked the other way as Jewish students faced harassment,” US Education Secretary Linda McMahon said on X.She accused the Ivy League school of “breaking Title VI protections,” referring to a national law that prohibits recipients of federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin.“After Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, Columbia University’s leadership acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students on its campus,” McMahon said in a statement.“This is not only immoral, but also unlawful,” she added.In the statement, the US Education Department said its civil rights office had contacted Columbia’s accreditor about the alleged violation.It said it had notified the Middle States Commission on Higher Education that “its member institution, Columbia University, is in violation of federal antidiscrimination laws and therefore fails to meet the standards for accreditation set by the Commission.”It is not clear how the Middle States Commission, which, like other accrediting agencies, is independent, will respond to the notification.Withdrawing Columbia’s accreditation would see it lose access to all federal funds.Students attending the university would also not be able to receive federal grants and loans toward tuition.Critics accuse the Trump administration of using allegations of antisemitism to target educational elites and bring universities to their knees.The Trump administration has already put $400 million of Columbia’s funding under review, prompting the university in March to announce a package of concessions to the government relating to defining antisemitism, policing protests and conducting oversight for specific academic departments.Washington has also sought to deport several prominent campus activists at Columbia, citing the secretary of state’s authority to revoke the visas of immigrants who have endorsed terror groups or whom he otherwise deems a national security threat.Following Wednesday’s announcement, a Columbia spokesperson said the university is “aware of the concerns” raised by the government with its accreditor.“We have addressed those concerns directly with Middle States,” the spokesperson said, adding that “Columbia is deeply committed to combating anti-Semitism on our campus.”“We take this issue seriously and are continuing to work with the federal government to address it.”Columbia found itself at the center of a firestorm last year over claims of antisemitism triggered by campus protests over the ongoing war in Gaza that included harassment of Jewish students, an unauthorized protest encampment, building takeovers, clashes with police and property damage.Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the major student coalition organizing the protests, has called for the “eradication of western civilization,” distributed Hamas material on campus, backed calls for violence against “Zionists” and said that “violence is the only path.”Columbia’s former president Minouche Shafik resigned last August weeks before the start of the new school year, citing scrutiny she faced over her handling of the demonstrations.

University slams 'illegal retaliatory step'Trump moves to bar US entry to foreign students planning to study at Harvard-US president says it would jeopardize national security to let university keep hosting international students; tries new legal method after judge blocked earlier effort-By AP Today, 9:44 am-JUN 5,25

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump on Wednesday moved to block nearly all foreign students from entering the US to attend Harvard University, amid the ongoing row between his administration and the university over issues that include its handling of anti-Israel protests that have often included open support for terror groups.In an executive order, Trump declared that it would jeopardize national security to allow Harvard to continue hosting foreign students on its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.“I have determined that the entry of the class of foreign nationals described above is detrimental to the interests of the United States because, in my judgment, Harvard’s conduct has rendered it an unsuitable destination for foreign students and researchers,” Trump wrote in the order.It’s a further escalation in the White House’s fight with the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university. A federal court in Boston blocked the Department of Homeland Security from barring international students at Harvard last week. Trump’s order invokes a different legal authority.Trump invoked a broad federal law that gives the president authority to block foreigners whose entry would be “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”On Wednesday, he cited the same authority when announcing that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from visiting the US and those from seven others would face restrictions. Trump connected the policy to the recent violent attack in Colorado against rally-goers calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.Trump’s Harvard order cites several other laws, too, including one barring foreigners associated with terrorist organizations.In a statement Wednesday night, Harvard said it will “continue to protect its international students.”“This is yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the Administration in violation of Harvard’s First Amendment rights,” university officials said.It stems from Harvard’s refusal to submit to a series of demands made by the federal government. It has escalated recently after the US Department of Homeland Security said Harvard refused to provide records related to misconduct by foreign students.Harvard says it has complied with the request, but the government said the school’s response was insufficient.The dispute has been building for months after the Trump administration demanded a series of policy and governance changes at Harvard, calling it a hotbed of liberalism and accusing it of tolerating anti-Jewish harassment. Harvard defied the demands, saying they encroached on the university’s autonomy and represented a threat to the freedom of all US universities.The administration’s effort comes in the wake of widespread anti-Israel and in some cases antisemitic protests on campuses across the US last year that saw frequent expressions of support for the Hamas terror group and its October 7, 2023, attack, as well as violations of school rules and local law. It also echoes decades of criticism by conservatives citing a lack of “viewpoint diversity” and controversial speech at colleges and universities.Trump officials have repeatedly raised the stakes and sought new fronts to pressure Harvard, cutting more than $2.6 billion in research grants and moving to end all federal contracts with the university. The latest threat has targeted Harvard’s roughly 7,000 international students, who account for half the enrollment at some Harvard graduate schools.“Admission to the United States to study at an ‘elite’ American university is a privilege, not a right,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X. “This Department of Justice will vigorously defend the President’s proclamation suspending the entry of new foreign students at Harvard University based on national security concerns.”US Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington state, called the measure ridiculous and said it has nothing to do with national security.“It’s a thinly veiled revenge ploy in Trump’s personal feud with Harvard, and continued authoritarian overreach against free speech,” Jayapal said on the social media site X.The order applies to all students attempting to enter the United States to attend Harvard after the date of the executive order. It provides a carve-out to allow students whose entry would “benefit the national interest,” as determined by federal officials.Trump’s order alleges that Harvard provided data on misconduct by only three students in response to the Homeland Security request, and it lacked the detail to gauge if federal action was needed. Trump concluded that Harvard is either “not fully reporting its disciplinary records for foreign students or is not seriously policing its foreign students.”“These actions and failures directly undermine the Federal Government’s ability to ensure that foreign nationals admitted on student or exchange visitor visas remain in compliance with Federal law,” the order said.For foreign students already at Harvard, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will determine if visas should be revoked, Trump wrote.The order is scheduled to last six months. Within 90 days, the administration will determine if it should be renewed, the order said.A State Department cable sent last week to US embassies and consulates said federal officials will begin reviewing the social media accounts of visa applicants who plan to attend, work at or visit Harvard University for any signs of antisemitism.In a court filing last week, Harvard officials said the Trump administration’s efforts to stop Harvard from enrolling international students have created an environment of “profound fear, concern, and confusion.” Countless international students have asked about transferring from the university, Harvard immigration services director Maureen Martin said in the filing.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report. 

PLANES

ISAIAH 31:5
5 As birds flying,(PLANES) so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem;(WITH PLANES) defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.(NUKE OR BOMB ISRAELS ENEMIES)

AUTOMOBILES

NAHUM 2:3-4
3 The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots(AUTOMOBILES) shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation,(LIGHTS) and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.
4 The chariots shall rage in the streets,(DRIVE FAST) they shall justle(ACCIDENTS) one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.(LIGHTS AND FAST)

srael says El Al to begin direct Buenos Aires flights-Axel Wahnish predicts formal announcement from national carrier will be made next week, sees long-haul flight as result of improved relations between two countries-By Juan Melamed Today, 3:01 pm-JUN 5,25

JTA — A canceled flight on his way to assume his new job might well have added urgency around one of Rabbi Axel Wahnish’s first big breakthroughs as Argentina’s ambassador to Israel: direct flights between Tel Aviv and Buenos Aires.Wahnish, the personal rabbi of Argentine President Javier Milei, was originally scheduled to depart from Buenos Aires on August 14, 2024, to begin his tenure in Israel. But his Air Europa flight — which included a connection in Europe — was canceled due to a surge in tensions between Iran and Israel.As most commercial airlines scrapped their Tel Aviv routes amid the turmoil, only El Al, Israel’s national carrier, and its subsidiaries reliably stayed in the air. Now, Wahnish has announced that El Al will begin flying between Argentina and Israel, in both a powerful symbol of the countries’ alliance and a practical boon for travelers like him.El Al has not yet confirmed the flight, which Wahnish said on X would be formally announced next week, when Milei, a noted philosemite and Zionist, visits Israel for the second time.“It’s a question similar to the debate about which came first, the chicken or the egg,” he said. “As an ambassador, I plan to work on both fronts — collaborating with airlines to make the route, while also fostering commercial, cultural, artistic, sporting and educational exchanges.”Milei’s three-day state visit is set to start on June 9 and to include meetings with President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a speech before the Knesset, the acceptance ceremony for the Genesis Prize, a visit to the Western Wall and a meeting with relatives of the hostages taken during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Milei is the first non-Jew to be awarded the Genesis Prize.As part of the trip, Milei and Netanyahu will sign a “Memorandum of Freedom and Democracy Against Terrorism, Antisemitism, and Discrimination.”The memorandum formalizes a major shift in Argentina’s foreign policy following the election of Milei, a self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist,” in 2023 after years of left-wing leadership. In 2013, Argentina signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran, and for much of the past two decades, the country maintained close ties with Iran and frequently criticized Israeli military actions.Under Milei, Argentina has pivoted toward a stronger alliance with Israel, openly supporting its right to self-defense and its war in Gaza. At times, Argentina has stood nearly alone among nations in supporting Israel, and Milei has not joined in as other allies of Israel, including those with right-leaning leaders, have urged Netanyahu to end the war.“It is a deep honor and a historic privilege to express our strong alliance against terror, standing close to the Israeli democracy that is defending itself from terrorists,” Wahnish said in the August interview.Wahnish told JTA that his rabbinic background is a bonus in his work as the ambassador — but not his main qualification.“First and foremost, I’m an Argentine citizen, a human being. If someone has expertise in a particular area, whether as a physicist, engineer or any other skill, can that be a disadvantage?… No,” he said. “The same applies to being a rabbi. I think it is a plus. I have an ethical and moral background, a philosophical knowledge, it is like an extra skill.”But he added, “The strong alliance between our country and Israel is not rooted in religion. It’s based on values of democracy and freedom.”At the time, he declined to say when Milei planned to fulfill his stated intention to relocate the Argentine embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move the United States made during President Donald Trump’s first term in 2018.The embassy move has not been formalized, with conventional wisdom in Argentina being that Milei may be waiting until after midterm elections in October to follow through on his promise.But Wahnish appears to have succeeded in pressing forward on the direct flights, which he said on X in February were a “dream of my administration.” At the time, he said he had advocated for the flights in a direct conversation with Netanyahu, in which they also discussed Milei’s visit, the memorandum and the Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, who include Argentine dual citizens.A direct flight between the two countries was previously announced in 2017, but it was never implemented.If the new El Al route becomes a reality, there is only one precedent — and it hardly offered a model of strong diplomatic relations.On May 19, 1960, a special Israeli delegation arrived in Buenos Aires on an El Al flight to attend the 150th anniversary of Argentine independence.Their visit had a secondary purpose: The following day, the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, whom Mossad agents had apprehended in Argentina, was disguised as a crew member and returned to Israel on the same plane. The aircraft stopped to refuel in Dakar, Senegal, and landed in Israel on May 22, where Eichmann was arrested. He was later convicted of crimes against humanity and hanged in 1962.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Op-ed-For now, victory is still within reach: 10 truths about the Gaza war, 20 months in-Israeli troops are again maneuvering inside Gaza, hoping this will be the knockout blow; but Hamas is still fighting and doesn’t seem desperate for a deal By Lazar Berman-Today, 4:12 pm-JUN 5,25

More than 600 days after the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, Israeli soldiers are once again ramping up an operation that, the country’s leaders say, is the key to finally winning the war.In the meantime, hostages remain in Gaza, it is still unclear what exactly will lead to Hamas’s defeat, and Israel’s standing in the world continues to slip.We don’t know what will happen next — whether more hostages will be released, when the war will come to an end, what the promised total victory will constitute, and what Israel’s relationships abroad will look like in the aftermath.Still, there are core insights into the war and its wider context that can help understand where the campaign stands now, and where it should head in the future.1. Israel’s war against Hezbollah has been a runaway success…Before Hamas’s October 7, 2023, invasion and slaughter in southern Israel, the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon was far more dangerous and capable than Hamas, and Israel behaved accordingly over the last decade. A state of mutual deterrence persisted across Israel’s northern border, as Israel drew up war plans and Hezbollah did the same, expanding its capabilities as the years went by.Were conflict to break out with Hezbollah, the IDF predicted, 2,000 rockets a day would rain down on Israel, taking a ghastly toll while paralyzing the country.The campaign played out very differently. Hezbollah entered the war on October 8, 2023, and months of back-and-forth rocket attacks and airstrikes ensued. Then, after deciding to escalate in the late summer of 2024, Israel carried out a series of high-profile operations, detonating booby-trapped beepers and assassinating the terror group’s Hassan Nasrallah and the leadership of the elite Radwan force.Demoralized and overwhelmed, Hezbollah couldn’t do anything to stop Israel’s limited ground invasion, and accepted a humiliating ceasefire. Israel still has troops in Lebanon and carries out strikes on Hezbollah targets, with no response from the once-feared organization.A new president representing the anti-Hezbollah faction is now in power in Beirut, with firm US and French backing, and the Lebanese Army has reportedly dismantled most of Hezbollah’s posts and weapons stockpiles in the country’s south, with the help of Israeli intelligence.And as a nice bonus, shortly after Hezbollah threw in the towel, the Bashar Assad regime collapsed in Syria, replaced by a weak new government that has no interest in conflict with Israel.2. …whereas the Gaza campaign has been a halting muddle-At the tactical level, the IDF has performed impressively in Gaza. It can reach anywhere it wants in the Strip, easily rolled up Hamas defenses early in the war, and has adapted to the complex challenges presented on a battlefield prepared by Hamas for 17 years.It has also killed all of Hamas’s top leadership in Gaza, and the vast majority of its battlefield commanders.Yet Hamas fights on. And it remains the only force in the Strip able to assert control over the population: Nearly 20 months after it perpetrated the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, Hamas is still not defeated.Israel has not been clear about how exactly tactical success leads to the strategic goal of defeating Hamas. Is it through taking territory? Israel seemed to think so early in the war, boasting about the areas it had captured — Gaza City, the Netzarim Corridor, the Philadelphi Corridor, the Rafah Border Crossing.But there is no one particular piece of territory that Hamas needs to hold onto in order to outlast Israel. Almost anywhere will do.Perhaps the killing of Hamas fighters is the key to victory?“Another battalion dismantled, another commander killed, another infrastructure destroyed, this is the way to eventually pressure for the release of the hostages,” said then-IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi in April 2024.Israel has certainly taken tens of thousands of Hamas gunmen off the battlefield, severely eroding Hamas’s effectiveness. Yet there are still thousands left, more than enough to reassert control and start rebuilding if Israel withdraws.Another theory of victory sees Hamas’s leadership as its center of gravity. The IDF has killed Yahya and Mohammed Sinwar, Mohamed Deif, Marwan Issa, and almost all brigade and battalion commanders. But the group has not given up or splintered into rival factions.Israel hasn’t managed to get the population to overthrow Hamas either. There have been occasional protests, which are either put down by Hamas or dissipate. Israel plays up these demonstrations, but it hasn’t provide an incentive for Gazans to turn against Hamas with the promise of a rapid improvement in conditions. It has tried to get the population to turn against Hamas by limiting humanitarian aid — but that has failed, and eroded support for the war among Israel’s allies.It seems to be quietly arming Gazan criminal clans as well.Now Israel is pursuing the idea that offering humanitarian aid is the key to victory — provide it, but keep it out of Hamas hands, and the terrorists lose their funding and control of the population. The newGaza Humanitarian Fund is designed to test that proposition. Its rollout has been bloody and chaotic, but Hamas’s opposition to it is a good sign.It will have to be expanded, made safer, and supported by other countries and aid organizations in order to permanently weaken Hamas’s hold over Gazans.3. Israel needs a ‘day after’ vision-For a number of reasons, but primarily coalition politics, the government refuses to elucidate a clear vision of what Gaza would look like after Israel’s “total victory.”Hamas is not immune to military defeat, like so many observers argue. That defeat becomes much harder to achieve, however, without a plan for alternative governance. It would give more purpose to military operations, and would impose an overarching logic on IDF actions.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is treating Trump’s “Gaz-a-Lago” idea to resettle Palestinians as his vision for the future of Gaza, which is a convenient way to dodge having to actually come up with one.A postwar plan would also increase international support for Israel’s military campaign. Legitimacy to continue operations that impose harsh costs on Gaza’s population is easier to maintain when allies believe that the suffering is leading to a better future. Without that vision, it’s hard for even Israel’s closest friends to understand why they should support more death and hunger.4. Operation Gideon’s Chariots is, so far, no drastic change-On May 5, a senior Israeli defense official said the IDF would launch its major offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots,” if no hostage deal was reached with the terror group by the end of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region the next week.Trump came and went. No deal was reached.The “Gideon’s Chariots” objective, according to defense officials, is nothing less than the defeat of Hamas in Gaza and the release of all hostages.According to one official, “a central component of the plan is the extensive evacuation of the entire Gazan population from combat zones, including from northern Gaza, to areas in southern Gaza, while creating separation between them and Hamas terrorists, in order to allow the IDF operational freedom of action.”“Unlike in the past, the IDF will remain in every area that is conquered, to prevent the return of terror, and will handle every cleared area according to the Rafah model, where all threats were leveled and it became part of the security zone,” he said.Though all the IDF’s active ground brigades are in Gaza, the operation is not a rapid, aggressive one.Instead, it boasts incremental gains. Military officials say that the IDF is aiming to take 75% of the Strip within two months, and that the army is shifting its focus away from trying to eliminate as many terrorists as possible to instead capture territory and destroy Hamas’s infrastructure.A map shared Tuesday by the IDF showed five divisions moving further into Gaza.If, for whatever reason — external pressure, troop shortages — Israeli forces end up leaving these areas, then the much-vaunted intensified campaign will essentially be a replay of what the IDF has been doing at the height of its military operations over the past year and a half.The difference is that the IDF says it intends to hold onto the captured territory until Hamas gives in. Could that make the difference? Potentially. But if Hamas’s goal is to simply survive, it’s not clear why it wouldn’t hunker down along with the rest of the Gazan population until something changes — US pressure on Israel or another temporary ceasefire deal.Even as the IDF slowly retakes territory in Gaza, it’s clear that Israel is still focused primarily for now on pushing Hamas to accept a hostage deal, not on definitively defeating Hamas militarily.5. Israel thinks it has all the time in the world…Since October 7, Israel has operated as if it has no time limits in its Gaza war.Its initial ground campaign was designed to be slow and deliberate, not to bring the war to a rapid decision as Israel’s classic military doctrine holds.With inadequate intelligence on Hamas and the Gaza Strip, and a lack of confidence in its ability to dust off its ground maneuver capabilities, the IDF moved slowly in its major ground offensive in late 2023 and early 2024. It used massive firepower to protect its forces, which advanced only as fast as its bulldozers could clear routes.And Israel didn’t attack in multiple sectors simultaneously, as military doctrine would anticipate. It started with Gaza City, then shifted to Khan Younis in December, and — faced with threats from the US Biden administration — only began its Rafah operation in May 2024.A long war only raises the costs for Israel: more strain on reservists, more harm to the economy, and more erosion of Israel’s diplomatic standing.There were some understandable reasons for a slower pace: Israel doesn’t want to risk striking areas where hostages may be held, and two hostage deals brought temporary ceasefires.Nevertheless, no rush has been seen to win the war and move on to building a new future in Gaza and the region.That is a risky approach. The Trump administration has given Netanyahu plenty of room to do what he wants with Gaza, but the longer it remains a problem with no obvious movement toward a resolution the greater the risk of Trump getting sick of backing the campaign.Europe and pro-Western Arab states are ramping up their efforts to end the war, and are sure to bring this goal up in their meetings with Trump. Eventually, it might work.6. …and has made victory harder to achieve through a lack of military and political discipline-Israel’s international legitimacy in the war was always going to start seeping away, from the moment the IDF’s guns opened fire.In the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attack, Israel seemed to think that, given the scale of the atrocities, no one was going to get in the way of its military campaign. It did not prioritize limiting civilian casualties, and has played politics with the provision of humanitarian aid throughout the war.Both of these mistakes have increasingly pushed allies to call for an end to the war, without conditioning it on the return of hostages or the defeat of Hamas.The IDF brass didn’t help either. Active and reserve soldiers began uploading videos from the battlefield to their social media accounts for the world to see. Some of it was juvenile tomfoolery; much was inappropriate partisan opinion; and there was even footage depicting war crimes.Instead of swiftly cracking down on the perpetrators, whose videos were collected by anti-Israel groups and by international courts, the IDF failed to get a handle on the trend. Strategic and irreversible damage was done to the IDF’s image, and to the war effort.Government ministers and MKs have caused similar harm in front of microphones.Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter said the war was “Gaza’s Nakba.”“Erase Gaza from the face of the earth,” said Likud lawmaker Galit Distel-Atbaryan. “Let the Gazan monsters rush to the southern border and flee into Egypt, or die. And let them die badly. Gaza should be wiped off the map.”Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich predicted that the Strip would be “totally destroyed.”Such statements from ministers and lawmakers are a pillar of the International Court of Justice’s genocide case against Israel.Netanyahu offered tepid suggestions to his government to take more care with their utterances, but has not cracked the whip on ministers who harm Israel’s campaign for their own political gain.It should be noted that the countries criticizing Israel have adopted a hypocritical stance since the beginning of the war. They purport to care deeply for the lives of Gazans, but didn’t demand escape routes for civilians, as they did for Syrians and Ukrainians. They point to fears of Israel not letting Palestinians return to Gaza — but shouldn’t it be the personal choice of individual Gazans whether to protect their physical well-being or risk the dangers of war in order to hold onto Palestinian land?7. Hamas is playing to survive-Israel believes time is on its side. Hamas reads the situation differently. It is convinced that eventually, domestic or international pressure will force Israel to end the war, which would mean victory for Hamas.Its entire goal at this stage is to survive the war with a core of fighters and commanders in Gaza.If it manages that, it will remain the most powerful force in the Strip. At some point, it will find the opportunity to slowly rearm, and possibly reassert full control.This, of course, is the major sticking point in talks with Hamas. The terror organization insists that any further release guarantee an end to the war. Israel refuses to grant Hamas victory, and a deal remains out of reach.8. This government has been very successful in getting hostages released-Though it faces international opprobrium and angry protests over the issue — including over its refusal to accept a deal that would bring home all the hostages in exchange for an end to the war — the Netanyahu government has managed to free the majority of hostages. Out of 251 taken on October 7, 148 have made it home alive, mostly through deals with Hamas, but several through military operations and sporadic releases by Hamas.Israel has brought home another 51 bodies.Finding a way to free 199 hostages from a ruthless terrorist organization that revels in the killing of Jews is no small feat. Though the government may not be formally prioritizing the freeing of the hostages over the defeat of Hamas, to the ire of much of the country, it certainly has harmed its own military campaign in order to avoid endangering hostages and to conduct hostage release deals.It continues to delay full implementation of the much-ballyhooed ground campaign in order to keep the door open for another hostage release by Hamas in exchange for an extended ceasefire.9. Israelis must ask clearly: How much to give up for 20 hostages? Families of hostages and their supporters call clearly and loudly for a deal that brings all the hostages home, at the price of ending the war if necessary.They make a number of arguments.One is that once Israel brings all of the hostages home, it can restart the war the minute Hamas violates the terms of the ceasefire , which it is sure to do.That is simply not realistic. Hamas is brutal, bloodthirsty, and ruthless, but isn’t stupid. Before giving up the hostages, its most valuable asset, it would make sure it had every rock-solid guarantee in place that Israel couldn’t just resume the fight.The most reliable guarantee is a UN Security Council resolution imposing a range of harsh sanctions on Israel if it goes back to war. Hamas can’t initiate such a resolution. But if that’s what stands between an end to the war and more bloodshed in Gaza, it is absolutely conceivable that the US, Britain, and France would support it.There is no way to get all the hostages home if Hamas believes there is any chance Israel will go back into Gaza-To put it starkly, there is no way to get all the hostages home if Hamas believes there is any chance Israel will go back into Gaza.A second, moral argument is that there is an ethical imperative to bring back the hostages while they are still alive, and this trumps the goal of destroying Hamas.This approach has guided Israeli decision-making in its repeated hostage release deals over the years. It has time and again brought home a small number of hostages while releasing hardened terrorists, some of whom have gotten right back to work killing Israelis.According to former Mossad chief Meir Dagan, 231 Israelis were killed by the terrorists released in the 2004 deal that freed Elhanan Tannenbaum and brought home the bodies of 3 IDF soldiers.Famously, Yahya Sinwar — the Hamas leader who masterminded October 7 — was one of the 1,027 security prisoners released in the 2011 deal that freed one IDF soldier, Gilad Shalit.There is a difference this time, however. The previous deals were pure swaps, and did not force Israel to prematurely end a military campaign.This time, it would.The decision, then, should be laid out clearly. It’s a choice between winning a war against a terrorist organization, and saving the lives of about 20 people — the number of hostages assumed to be alive in Gaza. Or, as the Hostage and Missing Families Forum says: “Save the hostages. End the war.”Choosing the lives of the hostages over victory would not be unprecedented, but would be extremely rare in the history of war. Russia agreed to halt military operations in Chechnya and engage in talks after Chechen terrorists took almost 2,000 civilians hostage in Budyonnovsk in 1995.In 1360, after King John II was captured by the English, France agreed to cede significant territories to secure the release of its monarch in the Treaty of Brétigny.But the few obscure historical examples fly in the face of the logic of war. If the goal was to avoid the deaths of a small number of citizens, no country would go to war at all, as wars are fought with the knowledge that soldiers will be sacrificed for political aims.If Israel’s war to defeat Hamas isn’t worth the lives of 20 citizens, then why would it be worth the lives of the 425 soldiers that have fallen in the 20 months of fighting?One could argue, however, that, given the failure of the security services to protect the country on October 7, this case is unique. Civilians were snatched from their homes, off-duty and conscript soldiers found themselves in sudden and desperate fights, and the military for hours failed to take actions that could have prevented many of the hostages from being taken. There is a moral obligation owed to these Israelis, the argument goes, and if it is not fulfilled, the covenant between the state, the military and the public will be irrevocably shattered.10: A new language and moral equation has emerged in the current hostage crisis-The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, and the hostage movement as a whole, has demanded that Israel’s absolute priority be bringing every hostage home. #Untilthelasthostage, says the slogan printed on their posters.The straightforward goal of bringing every hostage home, one would hope, is accepted by all without question.But the call in this case is more specific. It is an insistence that the government make whatever concessions are necessary to get every last captive, living and dead, back from Gaza.It’s a morally reasonable position.It was absent, however, for the decade before October 7, during which the bodies of two IDF soldiers and two living civilians were held by Hamas in Gaza. By the standards established since the Hamas invasion, there should have been mass protests for years demanding the government free prisoners and grant other concessions to Hamas in order to get every last hostage home.When the family of Hadar Goldin led a march in 2022 to mark eight years since his body was taken by Hamas, while calling for the release of the body of Oron Shaul and of living civilians Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, they were joined by only hundreds of Israelis, not tens of thousandsSuccessive Netanyahu governments, along with the Naftali Bennett-Yair Lapid government, did not treat the issue as a priority, and the public followed suit.The current crisis has also seen captives slain in Gaza being referred to as hostages. The reasoning is clear — to stress the value of bringing bodies home for proper burial in Israel, even if it means paying a painful price.But that’s not the terminology that was used before October 7. Hostages referred to the living. News outlets, including this one, spoke of Hamas holding “two hostages” until October 7, in addition to the bodies of the two IDF soldiers.Now Israeli leaders and journalists speak about 56 hostages, of whom 20 are still living.It may be that the October 7 attacks were so unprecedented that it has changed the way Israelis think about hostages, living or dead.There is also an undeniably political aspect to the protests. Some percentage of the demonstrators — it is impossible to say how large — is firmly in favor of a full hostage deal that ends the war because it has been anti-Netanyahu since long before the war.At the same time, the language being used risks obscuring a difficult conversation that must be had: How much should Israel give up for the return of bodies? Calling them hostages indicates that the price should be nearly identical to living hostages. That is the choice Israel made in the Tannenbaum deal.Is it what Israel should be doing now? That question has pressing real-world consequences, and obscuring the urgent need for an answer is ultimately not in the country’s best interest.***Israel is facing a barbaric enemy, which had the better part of two decades to prepare for a war in which it put its own people in harm’s way by design. Israel’s war aims are just and reasonable.But 20 months after October 7, Israel has achieved none of its goals. It has performed countless impressive feats on the battlefield and even on the diplomatic front. Without the right leader and strategy, however, those successes don’t add up to victory.Victory is still attainable. The longer Israel continues to avoid being decisive, the more likely it is that victory will slip out of reach.

In an Israeli first, researchers snap pix of 3 generations of dolphins off Tel Aviv coast-‘It’s rare’ to document dolphin families together, says University of Haifa researcher; 396 documented bottlenose dolphins live along Israeli coastline-By Diana Bletter-Today, 2:19 pm-JUN 5,25

For the first time in Israel, researchers captured images of three generations of bottlenose dolphins swimming together off the coast of Tel Aviv on Sunday.The “grandmother” dolphin, known as Hooks, was photographed with her daughter and her daughter’s calf.Meytal Markovich, a volunteer of the environmental nonprofit Delphis Association and a University of Haifa student, took the photographs of the three dolphins. She then showed the pictures to Kim Kobo, 32, a researcher at the Maurice Kahn Marine Research Station at the Czerny School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa.Kobo said she was “very excited” when she recognized Hooks and her daughter from the scars on their dorsal fins.“We know that female dolphins help one another with their calves, but it is very rare to see the generations all together,” Kobo told The Times of Israel.The population of bottlenose dolphins inhabits the entire coastline of Israel, and they are mainly observed between bottom depths of 30-60 meters (100-200 ft).Dr. Aviad Sheinin, director of the Delphis Dolphin and Sea Center and head of the Apex Marine Predator Lab at the University of Haifa’s marine research center, has led a long-term study to monitor dolphin populations off the coast of Israel for the past 25 years.The team of researchers has been collecting data on dolphins since 2005. Researchers have documented 396 dolphins in a long-range study.Photographs of the dolphins, with their nicknames, appear on the research station’s website.Local dolphins are relatively small, and their diet is mainly composed of fish. They are not considered to be in danger of extinction.Many of the marine surveys are done with researchers from the university in conjunction with Delphis volunteers who have undergone special training as marine surveyors.