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Aug 30, 2025 - World

President Donald Trump privately pitched a controversial idea for Ukraine following the end of the Russo-Ukraine War, a proposal fiercely opposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to four insiders that spoke with the Financial Times.According to the Financial Times’ report, four “people briefed on discussions” told the outlet that Trump had asked Chinese officials to provide “peacekeepers” to patrol and monitor a hypothetical “neutral zone” in Ukraine along its current front line in a postwar scenario. Trump made the suggestion last week during his meeting with Zelenskyy and European leaders, according to the insiders.The White House, however, has outright denied the claims.“This is false,” said a senior Trump official, speaking with the Financial Times under the condition of anonymity, who went on to declare there had been “no discussion of Chinese peacekeepers.”The idea of deploying Chinese peacekeepers to Ukraine following the end of hostilities was first raised by Russia early on into its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, when brief peace talks were being held between the country and Istanbul.Zelenskyy, however, has fiercely shot down the proposal, and condemned China for its support of Russia amid the ongoing conflict.“First, China did not help us stop this war from the beginning; second, China helped Russia by opening the drone market,” Zelenskyy said earlier this month. “They did nothing when Crimea was occupied. That is why we do not need guarantors who do not help Ukraine and did not help Ukraine at a time when we really needed it after [Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine].”Tensions between Ukraine and China have flared throughout the Russo-Ukraine War, with Zelenskyy accusing China of allowing the use of more than 150 Chinese nationals to fight on behalf of Russia, as well as helping Russia with arms production.

Aug 30, 2025 - World

The former director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease raised a “red flag” on Saturday morning, accusing Health and Human Services head Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promoting eugenics.Appearing on MSNBC’s “The Weekend,” Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned in protest over the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez, hammered at RFK Jr’s purge of scientists at the CDC, which has plunged the department into chaos.Toward the end of the segment, co-host Jackie Alemany noted something that Daskalakis wrote in his resignation letter that was made public.“There was a line in your resignation letter that really stood out to me,” she prompted her guest by reading, “’Eugenics plays prominently in the rhetoric being generated and is derivative of a legacy that good medicine and science should continue to shun.’. Can you spell out for our viewers what exactly you mean by that?”“I’ll start by saying this is sort of in my in my sort of personal experience,” he began. “You know, my grandfather was in Greece; he died because he stood up against sort of fascist regimes in his country. And when I see the secretary [RFK Jr] go on television and, you know, talk about the first time I was like, ‘Oh, no,’ when he was talking about the H5N1bird flu and chickens, and he said in an interview, all of the chickens should get bird flu. and the ones that survive are genetically superior and they should reproduce and they should reestablish the flock. ““So fast forward to West Texas and measles, where he says, you know, getting the infection is fine, really, because only the strong will survive. You know, like it makes your immune system stronger, which is false,” he added. “It actually makes your immune system weaker.”“So I really hear the echoes of the words ‘superior genetics,’” he elaborated. “He referred to very high members of this administration and their improving health status and said, well, that person has superior genetics. That is eugenics. Wake up, that is a red flag.”You can watch below or at the link. - YouTube youtu.be

Aug 30, 2025 - World

Amid the stalled peace talks kicked off by President Donald Trump to end the Russo-Ukraine War, a number of Trump officials are now casting blame elsewhere in a move that has left some of America’s allies “puzzled,” Axios reported Saturday."The Europeans don't get to prolong this war and backdoor unreasonable expectations, while also expecting America to bear the cost," said a top Trump official, speaking with Axios on the condition of anonymity. "If Europe wants to escalate this war, that will be up to them. But they will be hopelessly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory."The stalled progress on ending the war comes after Trump’s high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this month in Alaska, which was followed shortly thereafter with his meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. A third meeting was announced by Trump – set to be between Putin and Zelenskyy – but ultimately never materialized, with tensions rising among the two nations as the war wages on.Now, Trump officials appear to be trying to get ahead of the peace talks’ failures by shifting blame to European nations, with some going as far as to alleged European leaders want the war to continue."Getting to a deal is an art of the possible," the Trump official said. "But some of the Europeans continue to operate in a fairy-tale land that ignores the fact it takes two to tango."Progress toward ending the war has been so unsuccessful that one insider, described by Axios as a “senior White House official,” said that Trump is heavily weighing the idea of stepping back from peace talks all together, at least until either Russia or Ukraine show an openness to making major concessions.“We are going to sit back and watch,” the senior White House official told Axios. “Let them fight it out for a while and see what happens.”Having been waged since 2014, and escalated in 2022 with Russia’s invasion, the Russo-Ukraine War has seen more than one million casualties as of June.

Aug 30, 2025 - World

President Donald Trump’s so-called “America First Priorities” are in some cases being welcomed with open arms by Chinese officials, who have said that the United States’ growing isolation and provocative trade policy is helping China “increase its global influence.”“China may suffer economically because of the tariffs, but politically, China is gaining more sympathy and more support from other countries, and not just in the Global South,” said Xinbo Wu, who leads the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University and Shanghai as its dean, speaking with the Wall Street Journal Friday. “We now certainly face less diplomatic pressure than we did under the Biden administration.”Under Trump’s second administration, he levied high tariffs on China, which Wu said were elevating China’s position on the world stage. The Trump administration has also slapped a 50% tariff rate on India, long a key ally to the United States used to combat China’s influence in the region.Trump’s 50% tariff on India, among the highest of any country and imposed for it continuing to purchase Russian oil, is now appearing to backfire. India halted a weapons purchase from the United States, and now, its prime minister is set to appear at a Chinese summit, the first such instance since 2018 that has some experts worried of the two countries developing stronger ties.“The United States under Trump is launching a revolution after revolution; the Chinese know well about revolutions, and we know that you better know what the consequences will be if you launch a revolution,” said Victor Gao, a former Chinese diplomat who served as an interpreter to former Chinese Paramount Leader Deng Xiaoping, speaking to the Wall Street Journal.“I don’t think Trump is fully aware of the consequences of all these tremendous forces he’s unleashing around the world.”Set to commence on Sunday, the annual Chinese summit was initially created to boost ties with Russia and Central Asian nations, though has grown recently to include India and other countries the United States labels as advisories, including Iran. And Trump’s continued ‘America First’ policies, according to Indrani Bagchi, chief executive of the think tank Ananta Centre in New Delhi, are only strengthening those ties.“India doesn’t see the U.S. as an adversary, but Trump appears to be viewing India as an adversary,” Bagchi said, speaking with the Wall Street Journal. “And, if you’re getting hit by Trump, it makes sense to smoke a peace pipe with the Chinese for a little while.”

Aug 29, 2025 - World

The Trump administration said Friday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio "is denying and revoking visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority" ahead of next month's United Nations General Assembly in New York.The US State Department said Friday that "the Trump administration has been clear: It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace.""Before the PLO and PA can be considered partners for peace, they must consistently repudiate terrorism—including the October 7 massacre—and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by US law and as promised by the PLO," the statement continues.No US administration in modern times has ever demanded that Israel repudiate its generations-long illegal occupation and settler colonization of Palestine, its ongoing genocide in Gaza, or any other violation of international law or human rights."The PA must also end its attempts to bypass negotiations through international lawfare campaigns, including appeals to the [International Criminal Court] and [International Court of Justice], and efforts to secure the unilateral recognition of a conjectural Palestinian state," the State Department added. "Both steps materially contributed to Hamas' refusal to release its hostages, and to the breakdown of the Gaza ceasefire talks."The ICC last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including murder and the forced starvation of Palestinians, which is driving a famine that has killed at least hundreds of Palestinians and is starving hundreds of thousands more. The ICJ is currently weighing a genocide case against Israel filed by South Africa, not the PA.As for ceasefire talks, Matthew Miller, who served as a State Department spokesperson during the Biden administration, recently admitted that Israel habitually torpedoed ceasefire agreements each time they were nearing a conclusion in what he called a sustained effort to "try and sabotage" a deal. Miller repeatedly stood at his podium and told reporters that Hamas was to blame for thwarting a truce.Miller added that Netanyahu openly admitted to US officials that he wanted to continue the Gaza war for "decades."It is not clear which Palestinian officials will have their visas denied or revoked. The office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement responding to the US announcement that "this decision stands in clear contradiction to international law and the UN Headquarters Agreement—which effectively shields UN member-state officials from US immigration policies—particularly since the state of Palestine is an observer member of the United Nations."Palestinian Presidency statement on US denial of visas for Palestinian officials: pic.twitter.com/cKfRuilBPy— State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) August 29, 2025 This isn't the first time the US has blocked Palestinian officials from attending a General Assembly. In 1998, the Regan administration denied then-PLO Chair Yasser Arafat a visa and the General Assembly was convened in Geneva instead of New York. There have already been numerous calls to relocate this year's General Assembly to the Swiss city following the US move.The US announcement comes as more and more countries formally recognize Palestinian statehood or move to do so amid Israel's genocidal assault, siege, and famine in Gaza, which, combined, have left more than 230,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing and the strip in ruins.Approximately 150 of the UN's 193 member states have officially recognized Palestine. Since October 2023, countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, and Spain have either recognized Palestine or announced their intent to do so.