03 World
Hamas warming to new Gaza ceasefire after Qatari pressure – The Jerusalem Post
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Elon Musk’s escalating feud with President Donald Trump has put SpaceX’s massive $22 billion in government contracts on the line, raising concerns about the future of America’s space program. SpaceX, a key player in NASA and Pentagon missions, faces potential funding cuts amid political tensions, threatening crucial projects like lunar exploration and national security launches. This conflict highlights the risks of heavy reliance on a single private company for space access. After Elon Musk tweeted regarding the decommissioning of SpaceX within a few hours, Musk re-tweeted by saying “Ok. Good Advice…”. However, according to Bloomberg, it remains unclear. But if the dispute unfolds, the US space industry may face delays, higher costs, and increased geopolitical vulnerability, putting America’s leadership in space at stake.
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Beijing has also launched an anti-dumping investigation into Canadian canola that is set to conclude in September.
Canola, also known as rapeseed, was one of Canada’s top exports to China, the world’s number 1 agricultural importer, prior to Beijing’s investigation.
“The two governments should listen to and respond to the people’s calls and do more to deepen the friendly cooperation and enhance mutual understanding and trust,” Li told Carney.
China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner, trailing far behind the US. Canada exported US$47 billion worth of goods to the world’s second-largest economy in 2024, according to Chinese customs data.
Beijing is also willing to work with Canada to safeguard multilateralism and free trade, Li added.
Beijing’s olive branch to Ottawa also comes ahead of a Group of Seven summit of leaders in Canada in mid-June.
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Most Russians no longer consider the United States their country’s main enemy, according to a Levada Center survey released Thursday, as Donald Trump’s return to the White House fuels hopes of a diplomatic thaw between Moscow and Washington.
The share of respondents who named the U.S. as the most hostile country toward Russia has nearly halved to 40% this year, down from 76% in 2024.
“The U.S. dropped from first to fourth on this list for the first time in 20 years of measurements,” the independent pollster said.
Germany (55%), the United Kingdom (49%) and Ukraine (43%) now rank as the top three most hostile countries in the eyes of Russian respondents.
The shift in perception follows Trump’s inauguration in January after a campaign pledge to swiftly end the war in Ukraine. In March, Russian favorability toward the U.S. doubled, Levada said.
Russian state media has in recent months portrayed Trump as a pragmatic leader open to dialogue with Moscow. At the same time, Russian attitudes toward the U.S. have historically fluctuated in response to global events.
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The SpaceX CEO said he would decommission the only US spacecraft certified to fly American astronauts, before changing his mind hours later
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has claimed that his company “will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,” after President Donald Trump threatened to terminate all US government subsidies and contracts with Musk’s firms.
Trump and Musk engaged in a dramatic exchange on social media on Thursday over the US president’s “Big and Beautiful” federal tax and spending bill, which the former White House government efficiency czar had blasted as a “pork-filled, disgusting abomination” that would push the US into “debt slavery.”
“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” Trump stated on Truth Social, arguing that the only reason the Tesla CEO “went CRAZY” about the legislation was because it would cut tax credits for purchasers of his electric vehicles.
“In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,” Musk responded in a post on X just minutes later.
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As Keir Starmer approaches his first anniversary in Downing Street, there will be several things he wishes he had done differently. But before he can contemplate that July milestone, he faces a busy month strewn with political bear traps.
June has proven a difficult time for successive prime ministers: Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak all had to contend with deeply unhappy parliamentary parties reeling from heavy local and European election losses.
While the mood among Labour MPs is nowhere near as mutinous, they too are bruised from a difficult set of local election results in England in May and the surge of Reform UK. “There is more than the usual amount of grumbling and discontent,” a government source said.
One unexpected ray of light was the result of the Holyrood byelection in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse on Friday. Labour secured a surprise victory, knocking the Scottish National party into second place and restoring some hope in Labour’s fortunes ahead of next year’s Holyrood elections. One MP said the result was “humiliating” for the SNP.
It is certainly a welcome win for Downing Street as Labour MPs brace for more bad news and a series of contentious debates this month. “They know that the spending review is going to be really hard,” a government source said.
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Ottawa is reviewing its defence spending plans “from top to bottom,” Defence Minister David McGuinty said Thursday, as Canada comes under pressure from allies to ramp up spending to levels not seen since the height of the Cold War.
McGuinty said the federal government will have more to say “very soon” about its alliance spending commitments and will be “making announcements in this regard.”
“Canada is revisiting all of its expenditures presently, from top to bottom,” he told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
“Just recently, our prime minister announced a $6 billion new effort to secure our Arctic, Canada’s Arctic. So we’re working very hard now with colleagues to implement a series of changes. We’ll have much more to say about that financially in very short order.”
McGuinty is in Belgium taking part in the NATO defence ministers’ meeting, the last major NATO meeting ahead of the leaders’ summit later this month — where members are expected to agree to increase their defence spending targets.
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Full restoration of the North Korean navy destroyer is expected before a major communist party meeting later this month.
North Korea has raised a capsized warship and moored it at a port in the country’s northeast for repair, after the vessel was damaged during a failed inaugural launch in May, the country’s state news media reports.
KCNA reported that “after restoring the balance of the destroyer early in June, the team moored it at the pier” in the city of Chongjin on Thursday.
The report on Friday aligns with South Korea’s military assessments and recent commercial satellite images, which indicated that the 5,000-tonne destroyer has been restored to an upright position following the “serious accident” on May 21, when it suffered damage to its hull after a transport cradle detached prematurely during a launch ceremony.
The failed side-launch of the ship, which was witnessed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, also left the vessel partially capsized in a port.
Kim described the incident as a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness”. As part of a probe into the accident, four officials were arrested and accused of tarnishing North Korea’s national dignity, according to KCNA.
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RUSSIA’S ambassador to the UK has blamed Britain for Ukraine’s “historic” drone attack – and chillingly warned of World War Three.
Moscow diplomat Andrei Kelin said that Ukrainian attacks “are bringing the conflict to a different level of escalation”.
Over the weekend, Volodymyr Zelensky hailed Ukraine’s daring drone blitz on Russian airbases as one for the “history books”.
It marked Kyiv’s longest range operation of the conflict so far with at least 40 aircraft being attacked as part of the expert operation codenamed “Spiderweb”.
In an embarrassing result for a raging Vladimir Putin 34 per cent of his cruise missile carriers at the targeted airfields were blasted, Zelensky said.
A £260million AWACS aircraft and bombers capable of dropping nuclear weapons were also struck.
Ukraine said the sneak attack was worth $7bn (£5.2bn) in damage to Russia.
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Everyone at NATO knows about battles.
Sometimes you come out on top and sometimes you have to know when you’re beaten. And here, it’s the Americans who are wearing the biggest smiles.
It has long been a mantra of President Trump that European nations should spend a lot more money on defence.
During his first term in office, when he seemed to be deriding NATO on a regular basis, he amplified a debate that had long rumbled; now it feels like it’s coming to a resolution.
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Referring to the attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine‘s interior minister Ihor Klymenko said three emergency workers had been killed during the barrage.
Posting on X, he said: “This night, missiles and drones targeted civilian and critical infrastructure. Emergency services – the State Emergency Service and the police – responded to every call for help.
“Unfortunately, we have losses in the Ministry of Internal Affairs family again. In Kyiv, three State Emergency Service rescuers were killed while eliminating the consequences of enemy strikes. They worked under fire to help people.
“Another 9 emergency workers were injured. Some are serious, doctors are fighting for their lives. Also, 5 rescuers were injured while extinguishing a fire in the Ternopil region. All are receiving medical care. A low bow to our fallen heroes without weapons. Courageous, faithful to the Oath, dedicated to the cause of rescue. Speedy recovery to the wounded.”
Putting the death toll at one fewer than Mayor Vitali Klitschko, he added: “In total, 3 people died in Ukraine this night as a result of the Russian attack, about 40 more were inju