Hamas will have to honor its commitments “the easy way, or the hard way,” the US leader has warned Donald Trump has announced the launch of the second phase of his plan to settle the conflict in Gaza, despite both sides repeatedly accusing each other of breaching an earlier-agreed ceasefire. The next step is demilitarization and the establishment of a new technocratic government in the Palestinian enclave, according to the US president. Phase One of Trump’s 20-point roadmap, to which Israel and Hamas signed up in early October, included a ceasefire, return of hostages, and deliveries of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Over 450 people have been killed in the enclave since the truce took effect, according to the local health authorities. The US president wrote in a post on Truth Social on Thursday that Phase Two of the peace plan has “officially” started, confirming an earlier statement by his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff. Trump said that he is “backing” the newly-appointed National ...
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The US president maintains Russia or China would take over the Danish autonomous island unless it becomes American territory US President Donald Trump’s claims of a heavy Chinese and Russian military presence near Greenland are “an exaggeration,” Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson has said. Trump asserts that only US sovereignty can protect the Danish autonomous island from being taken over by Beijing or Moscow. Trump renewed his push this month to acquire the world’s largest island, and has not ruled out using military force. European NATO members have largely avoided publicly challenging his justification, though officials have privately dismissed the claims when speaking to the press anonymously. “If you state that Greenland is flooded with Russian and Chinese vessels, that’s an exaggeration according to the assessments that we do for the region,” Jonson told The Telegraph on Thursday in what the British newspaper called the first remark by a senior NATO figure to openly quest...
The British foreign secretary has dismissed calls from France and Italy to resume dialogue with Moscow Western Europe must increase support for Ukraine rather than restart direct talks with Russia, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told Politico on Thursday. French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have previously argued it is time to negotiate directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They are reportedly concerned EU interests will be sidelined in US-mediated Ukraine peace talks and are pushing to create a special diplomatic envoy role for the bloc to engage Russia. In the interview, Cooper said she sees no sign that “Putin actually wants peace” and urged more weapons for Ukraine and continued sanctions on Russia. Western Europe must “put increased pressure, economic pressure, and also through the military support to Ukraine, that military pressure on Russia as well,” she added. Russian officials have accused the UK of prolonging th...
This marks the first time a mission has returned ahead of schedule for medical reasons in the station’s 25-year history Four astronauts returned to Earth in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on Thursday after leaving the International Space Station (ISS) a month ahead of schedule due to a medical issue affecting one crew member. The four-person team had been conducting research aboard the ISS since August and was expected to remain until next month, following a handover period after the arrival of the Crew-12 mission. The Crew-11 members – Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, and Japan’s Kimiya Yui – landed safely in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego at 3:41am ET on Thursday, concluding a nearly 11-hour journey from the International Space Station. It remains unclear which crew member was affected, though NASA said the astronaut, who is in stable condition, is expected to be taken to the hospital. The agency has not disclosed the pe...
Vice President J.D. Vance cast the deciding vote to block a resolution that would have limited Trump’s war powers against Caracas US Vice President J.D. Vance cast a tie-breaking vote on Wednesday to defeat a War Powers Resolution that would have prohibited President Donald Trump from using military force “within or against” Venezuela. The decisive vote came after two Republican senators reversed their positions following direct pressure from the president. Senators Josh Hawley and Todd Young, who had supported the resolution a week earlier, voted against it. Hawley stated he changed his vote after receiving “personal assurances” from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that no US troops are in Venezuela and that the administration would seek separate congressional authorization for any future deployment. Trump previously called for GOP senators who supported the bill, including Hawley, Young, as well as Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Rand Paul, to “never be elected to o...
The meeting will take place in early February at the White House, Gustavo Petro has said Colombian President Gustavo Petro has said he will meet with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, at the White House on February 3, for talks he described as “decisive.” Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Petro said the date was agreed through diplomatic exchanges with the Trump administration, noting that the talks would address bilateral issues, including drug trafficking. “We will see the results of that meeting, which is decisive. My intention is that Colombians, wherever they are in the country, do not suffer and can feel at ease,” Petro said. The meeting will be the first face-to-face talks between the two leaders since Trump returned to office. Trump announced Petro’s visit to Washington following a phone call with the Colombian president last week, after previously accusing him of drug trafficking and threatening military action. “It was...