03 World

Insurgency Intensifies in Southwest Myanmar • Stimson Center– www.stimson.org

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Since launching its sweeping offensive in November 2023, the Arakan Army (AA) has positioned itself to seize its home state, Rakhine, from the Myanmar military. On the eastern fringe of the Bay of Bengal, Rakhine has made international headlines as the site of the 2017 Rohingya genocide and the host to major Indian and Chinese infrastructure projects. The impact of Rakhine’s fall for those issues has been well-explored elsewhere. Less examined is how AA allies in southwest Myanmar have mobilized to support their patron, the AA, and how the group could shape the wider conflict. Although the AA is an avowedly ethnonationalist rebel group primarily interested in self-determination for Rakhine, it has expressed solidarity with the broader anti-junta movement and built up an extensive network of allies within it.

The axis that has emerged as a result has enabled the AA to expand its influence close to India in Chin State, threaten the military’s industrial base in Magway and Bago regions, and endanger the junta’s grip on the rice bowl of Ayeyarwady Region. As of early 2025, the AA is now the premier benefactor of insurgent activity in the southwest, with at least 17 groups and likely far more that have fought alongside and in parallel to the AA in Rakhine, Chin, Bago, Magway, and Ayeyarwady. This has greatly threatened the junta, complicated the AA’s relationship with the National Unity Government (NUG), and further entrenched its place in Chin state. Through these alliances, the AA has the power to greatly impact the trajectory of Myanmar’s civil war.

 

Giants and the Myth of America’s New Defense Consolidation – War on the Rocks– warontherocks.com

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America’s defense industrial base is in the throes of major change. For the first time in 40 years, major power war is a real possibility. Conflicts in Ukraine and Israel are providing a harrowing glimpse of what that war might look like. Technology is evolving at a dizzying pace. Instead of peacetime efficiency, governments are prioritizing wartime surge capacity. The “China shock” and COVID-19 have destabilized global supply chains.

Amid these daunting realities, a new generation of defense technology companies has emerged. Anduril Industries — which was founded in 2017 and which I joined in 2020 — is one of them. Of course, defense technology companies aim to make money. But these companies also aim to disrupt and transform American defense by changing culture, attracting new and better talent, harnessing commercial technologies, championing software, bolstering competition, reforming acquisition practices, and more. Only time will tell if they are successful. But perhaps not as much time as one might think. As more defense technology companies scale to compete with traditional defense primes, the contours of a new defense industrial base are emerging.

Changes to this scope, speed, and scale naturally lead to questions, anxieties, and fears. To wit, these pages recently carried a warning about an impending “new era of defense giants.” According to this view, defense technology companies are engaging in corporate acquisitions that mirror the defense industry consolidation carried out by the traditional defense primes after the end of the Cold War. This new consolidation is hurting small businesses and making America’s defense industrial base less diverse, resilient, and innovative.

Trump’s embrace of dystopian Palantir spying tool sends stock soaring– thegrayzone.com

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The Trump administration has charged the surveillance firm Palantir with agglomerating the US population’s personal data across government agencies, raising alarm about a centralized spying tool targeting hundreds of millions without oversight. Wall Street responded to the news by sending Palantir’s stock price to unprecedented heights.

During an end-of-year investor call this February, Palantir co-founder and militant Zionist Alex Karp bragged that his company was making a financial killing by enabling mass murder.

“Palantir is here to disrupt and make the institutions we partner with the very best in the world and, when it’s necessary, to scare enemies,” he stated, adding: “And on occasion, kill them.”  

Reclaimed Words and a Meta Oversight Board Decision Reveal Problems with Policing Online Hate Speech | American Enterprise Institute– www.aei.org

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To appreciate the complexities of policing online hate speech that underlie an April summary decision by Meta’s Oversight Board, let’s start with a musical detour through a 2017 US Supreme Court opinion called Matal v. Tam. The Court faced the First Amendment question in Matal of whether the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) could lawfully deny a band’s request to register its name––The Slants––as a trademark. The PTO claimed denial was okay because “slants” disparages Asians.

The wrinkle was that the band’s members are Asian and their frontman, Simon Tam, wanted “to ‘reclaim’ and ‘take ownership’ of stereotypes about people of Asian ethnicity.” As Tam explained:

We grew up and the notion of having slanted eyes was always considered a negative thing. Kids would pull their eyes back in a slant-eyed gesture to make fun of us . . .  I wanted to change it to something that was powerful, something that was considered beautiful or a point of pride instead.

Via Shutterstock.

This relates to “reappropriation by self-labeling” or “reclamation.” It involves marginalized groups seeking “to redefine the negative connotations” of a label and reclaiming “social power, as they become in charge of the word’s meaning.”

The Supreme Court sided with Tam, reasoning that the PTO’s denial of registration for The Slants because it disparages Asians “offends a bedrock First Amendment principle: Speech may not be banned on the ground that it expresses ideas that offend.” Rejecting the stance that speech isn’t constitutionally protected simply because it’s hateful, the Court asserted that:

Speech that demeans on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, or any other similar ground is hateful; but the proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express “the thought that we hate.”

Senior Trump Official Reportedly Claims Fungus Smuggled by Chinese Researcher Was ‘Attack on the American Food Supply’– www.westernjournal.com

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Two Chinese researchers were allegedly involved in what could have developed into an attack on America’s food supply.

Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, were charged with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the United States, false statements, and visa fraud, according to a Department of Justice news release.

The release said they are accused of “smuggling into America a fungus called Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon.”

According to the release, China’s communist government funded Jian’s research in China. The complaint said that when law enforcement scanned her electronic devices, they found documentation of her membership in and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. Liu, who has claimed he was Jian’s boyfriend, also conducted research on the same pathogen.

Liu has admitted to authorities that he smuggled Fusarium graminearum into America to conduct research with Jian.

Chinese researchers’ alleged plot to smuggle crop-killing fungus into US is an ‘attack on US food supply’: feds– nypost.com

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National security authorities and members of Congress are raising alarm over the alleged plot by two romantically involved Chinese researchers to smuggle samples of a dangerous crop-killing fungus into the US.

Yunquing Jian, 33, a Communist Party loyalist and lab researcher at the University of Michigan who received Chinese government funding for her work, plotted the illicit transport of the pathogen with her boyfriend, Zunyong Liu, 34, the FBI alleged.

Liu was was caught at Detroit Metropolitan Airport last July after allegedly attempting to sneak packages of Fusarium graminearum into the country, the feds said.

“This is an attack on the American food supply,” one senior Trump administration official told The Post.

Yunqing Jian (pictured) initially denied that she was aware of her boyfriend’s intent to smuggle the pathogen. University of Michigan

China deploys rare earths as economic weapon– www.americanthinker.com

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As U.S. tariffs tighten the screws on China’s export machine, Beijing is striking back with strategic precision. Export restrictions on rare earths are now Beijing’s latest move to break down European trade barriers and push back against escalating pressure from Washington.

In today’s global trade standoff, the gloves are off. The U.S. is wielding its market clout — 25% of global consumption originates from the American domestic market. Anyone in the export business must deal with the United States. China, meanwhile, holds an current monopoly on rare earths — and is making it clear it will not hesitate to weaponize that dominance. The stakes are rising, and national interests now override globalist courtesies.

Europe is learning the hard way: in geopolitics, there are no friends, only temporary alliances. China’s tightened export controls on rare earth elements risk plunging Germany’s industrial sector into a severe resource crisis. With nearly 85% of global rare earth refining under its control, Beijing is the chief supplier of key metals like dysprosium, terbium, and yttrium — critical for electric motors, medical tech, and defense systems.

Since April 2025, access to these raw materials has been restricted to licensed exporters only — a de facto embargo. The fallout is immediate: several German manufacturers have already been forced to scale back operations. Others face complete shutdowns. Industrial metal prices continue climbing, and the fragility of global supply chains is now exposed in brutal detail. Europe’s resource dependency is becoming a major liability — and a strategic weakness in the coming trade war negotiations.

DOJ Reveals Muslim Man Planned to ‘Even the Score’ and Use Guns After Threatening Jewish Preschoolers– conservativeroof.com

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A 37-year-old Muslim man from Michigan who planned to “even the score” and use guns for “God’s wrath” after threatening Jewish preschoolers pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Hassan Chokr, of Dearborn, Michigan, “aggressively targeted Jewish parents and their preschool children at a local synagogue in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. After unleashing a menacing antisemitic tirade against them, he lied and attempted to buy several firearms at a Dearborn gun store,” the Department of Justice stated.

“In December 2022, Chokr, 37, drove through the parking lot of a Jewish synagogue as parents walked their preschoolers into the building, yelling profanities and attacking their support for Israel,” the DOJ noted.

The DOJ’s statement continues:

“After being asked to leave, Chokr drove to a gun store in Dearborn. While there, he possessed a Landor Arms, 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun; a Del-ton, 5.56mm rifle; and a Glock, 9mm semi-automatic pistol. He held each firearm, and at times pointed it and pulled the trigger.”

Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration From Deporting Terror Suspect’s Family– townhall.com

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A federal judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration from deporting the family of Mohamad Soliman, the individual suspected of firebombing a gathering of Israel supporters in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday.

Judge Gordon P. Gallagher’s ruling stated that the administration cannot remove Soliman’s wife and five children from the District of Colorado or the United States pending a ruling from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. “[T]he Court finds that deportation without process could work irreparable harm and an order must issue without notice due to the urgency this situation presents,” the judge wrote.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested the family earlier this week and was preparing to deport them before the judge’s ruling, The Hill reported.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is preparing to deport the family of Boulder, Colo., attacker Mohamed Soliman’s wife and five children.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday that the family had been detained in connection with the investigation, saying they would face questioning over whether they had any knowledge of the attack.

But according to a DHS statement Wednesday, ICE was said to be “processing them for removal.”

The statement sheds new light on a White House social media post Tuesday that said the family “could be deported by tonight.”

“Six One-Way Tickets for Mohamed’s Wife and Five Kids. Final Boarding Call Coming Soon,” the White House’s post said, along with an emoji of an airplane.

Chinese Students React to U.S. Visa Restrictions With Disappointment and Dismay– chinadigitaltimes.net

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Over the past couple weeks, the U.S. government has unleashed a barrage of policies that would restrict the ability of Chinese students to study in the United States. These measures strike at a key pillar of U.S.-China relations, and they have generated intense anxiety among current and prospective Chinese exchange students. According to data from the Institute of International Education, between 2023 and 2024, there were 277,398 Chinese students studying in the U.S., generating over $14.2 billion for the American economy.

A cable signed last Tuesday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered American embassies around the world to stop scheduling new appointments for student visas and announced an expansion of social-media vetting of student applicants. The week prior, the Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard’s ability to enroll international students, who currently make up 27 percent of Harvard’s total enrollment. Last Wednesday, the State Department announced it would “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,” and “enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong.” (On Thursday, a U.S. federal judge extended an order blocking the government measures related to Harvard.)

Chinese researchers charged with smuggling fungus into US– www.channelnewsasia.com

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WASHINGTON: 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 on Tuesday (Jun 4).

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 US that causes “head blight”, a disease of wheat, barley, maize and rice.

Hong Kong Again Stifles Commemoration of Tiananmen Massacre– chinadigitaltimes.net

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This Wednesday, June 4 marks the 36th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre. Hongkongers had for decades commemorated the date with a large-scale vigil at Victoria Park, until the 2020 National Security Law made such public demonstrations subject to harsh judicial punishment. In the lead-up to this year’s anniversary, much like last year, Hong Kong authorities continued to restrict opportunities for publicly observing the date.

On Tuesday, reporters asked Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee whether on June 4 residents could legally light candles or even show up to Causeway Bay, the area in which Victoria Park is located. Lee made no direct comment but stated, “Any activities held on any date must comply with the law.” Local media reported that people who were stopped outside Victoria Park on June 4 last year were called by the city’s police ahead of this year’s anniversary and asked about their plans. On Tuesday, performance artist Chan Mei-tung was stopped and searched by planclothes police in Causeway Bay while standing in front of a store chewing gum, and was later released. On that same date in 2022 and 2023, she was arrested outside the same store while peeling potatoes. Between 2020 and 2024, 82 people in Hong Kong were arrested for commemorating the Tiananmen Massacre around its anniversary, and among them 43 people were convicted and sentenced to a total of over 20 years in prison, according to a tally by Brian Kern.

From Tariffs to Taiwan: Trump Implements Deterrence Strategy in the Face of China’s Rise | The Gateway Pundit– www.thegatewaypundit.com

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President Trump’s renewed tariff war with China is escalating tensions far beyond trade policy. Despite a brief truce in May, Trump recently admitted that negotiating with Xi Jinping is “extremely hard,” and both sides have since accused each other of violating the agreement. As economic diplomacy unravels, the broader U.S.–China relationship grows more volatile, raising the risk that Beijing may abandon any remaining hopes for peaceful coexistence.

A conflict between the United States and China is becoming increasingly plausible, and perhaps even inevitable. Tensions in the Taiwan Strait have reached dangerous new heights, fueled by Beijing’s military modernization, its sharpened rhetoric, and its belief that Taiwan and the United States are edging closer to crossing red lines. While China still claims to prefer peaceful reunification, its rapid expansion of capabilities, including amphibious assault craft, cable-cutting tools, and joint-force interoperability, signals preparation for a military solution.

China’s greyzone operations around Taiwan, such as unannounced drills, airspace violations, and undersea cable sabotage, have become routine. This normalization of pressure steadily erodes the status quo and raises the risk of miscalculation or deliberate escalation. The shifting political climate in Taiwan under President Lai Ching-te, who has taken a hard stance against Chinese influence, and a more assertive posture from Washington have further narrowed the space for de-escalation.

Under Trump’s second term, the United States is gradually abandoning its long-held policy of strategic ambiguity. His administration has sharply increased arms sales to Taiwan, removed diplomatic language opposing Taiwanese independence, sent U.S. troops to train Taiwanese forces, and reaffirmed ties through legislation and senior-level visits. While aimed at strengthening deterrence, these steps may convince Beijing that time is running out to forcibly achieve unification before U.S. commitments harden into irreversible guarantees.

Trump Welcomes Germany’s New Leader to Oval Office– www.breitbart.com

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Merz arrives at White House for high-stakes Oval Office talk with President Donald Trump in the same format as recent clashes with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa.

Update 11:59 ET — Joke at Germany’s expense 

President Trump says he’s happy about Germany spending more on defence, but jokingly citing the Second World War says that while he wants Germany to re-arm, he doesn’t want it to re-arm too much. This gets a smile out of Merz.

Germany’s military spending, which has been rock-bottom for many years, has long been a matter of contention with President Trump, who wants Europe to take on more responsibility for its own defence. As Trump himself has expressed, the contradiction between Germany’s historically low military spending and its position of Europe’s greatest economy had been too much to bear.

Germany has launched an emergency spending package to boost its armed forces but this tranche of funding is only due to run to 2027.

Trump Pushes to Restrict Harvard’s International Students From Entering U.S. – The New York Times– news.google.com

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  1. Trump Pushes to Restrict Harvard’s International Students From Entering U.S.  The New York Times
  2. Trump signs proclamation to suspend visas for new Harvard international students  CNN
  3. ENHANCING NATIONAL SECURITY BY ADDRESSING RISKS AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY  The White House (.gov)
  4. Trump Halts New Foreign Student Enrollment at Harvard  WSJ
  5. Trump banning foreigners from entering U.S. to study at Harvard  NBC Boston

Mexican Supreme Court remake: Ruling-party loyalists dominate the new bench– www.latimes.com

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MEXICO CITY — Judicial candidates closely linked to Mexico’s ruling party have swept every position on the nation’s newly transformed Supreme Court, according to final results released Wednesday from the controversial judicial vote.

The nine incoming justices on the high court have strong ties to the dominant Morena bloc headed by President Claudia Sheinbaum, and their election signals a radical shift in Mexico’s balance of power.

Among them is a new chief justice, Hugo Aguilar, who would become the country’s first top jurist of Indigenous origin since the legendary Benito Juárez, who also served as president, more than a century and a half ago.

Electoral regulators still must validate the vote, though that is viewed as a formality. The Supreme Court justices, along with almost 900 other newly elected federal jurists, are scheduled to take office Sept. 1.

Trump Warns Putin Plans to Retaliate Against Ukraine– time.com

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President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Vladimir Putin intends to retaliate “very strongly” against Ukraine for a surprise drone strike on Russian airfields over the weekend, a declaration that provoked alarm in Washington and abroad even as Trump touted his efforts to bring peace to the region.

The revelation came in a social media post shortly after Trump spoke with the Russian President for more than an hour by phone—a call he described as “a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace.” In his statement, Trump appeared to accept Putin’s warning at face value and offered no indication that he had urged restraint.

“President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to Ukraine’s surprise drone strike that targeted five Russian airbases and damaged or destroyed at least 41 military aircraft, including strategic bombers. The Ukrainian operation, which spanned five time zones and caused an estimated $7 billion in damage, marked one of Kyiv’s boldest assaults deep inside Russian territory since the war began more than three years ago.

Mass shooting in Toronto: At least one dead, 5 hospitalised; probe on– timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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At least one person died and five others were injured on Tuesday night following a shooting in Lawrence Heights, Toronto.Toronto police and paramedics responded to reports of gunfire just after 8.30 pm (local time) near Flemington and Zachary Roads, in the area of Ranee Avenue and Allen Road. Police said one man was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other five were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds. Their injuries are unknown at the time.A command post has been set up in the Ranee Avenue and Flemington Road area as the investigation continues. Police have not released any information about possible suspects.Toronto mayor Olivia Chow said she is “disturbed” by the incident and confirmed her office is in contact with police. “I want to thank the first responders—Toronto police, fire, and paramedic services—for your work on a very busy and challenging scene,” she said.The area remains under a heavy police presence as officers work to gather more information.

South Korea’s new president vows to restart talks with North – National– globalnews.ca

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South Korea’s new President Lee Jae-myung vowed Wednesday to restart dormant talks with North Korea and bolster a trilateral partnership with the U.S. and Japan, as he laid out key policy goals for his single, five-year term.

Lee, who rose from childhood poverty to become South Korea’s leading liberal politician vowing to fight inequality and corruption, began his term earlier Wednesday, hours after winning a snap election that was triggered in April by the removal of then-President Yoon Suk Yeol over his ill-fated imposition of martial law late last year.

In his inaugural address at the National Assembly, Lee said that his government will deal with North Korean nuclear threats and its potential military aggressions with “strong deterrence” based on the South Korea-U.S. military alliance. But he said he would “open a communication channel with North Korea and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula through talks and cooperation.”

He said he’ll pursue pragmatic diplomacy with neighbouring countries and boost trilateral Seoul-Washington-Tokyo cooperation.

“Through pragmatic diplomacy based on national interests, we will turn the crisis posed by the major shift in global economic and security landscapes into an opportunity to maximize our national interests,” Lee said.

Pro-Palestine protesters in UK call for Israel arms embargo, sanctions | Israel-Palestine conflict News– www.aljazeera.com

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Rally is held as British PM Keir Starmer calls Israel’s actions ‘intolerable’, addressing lawmakers in Parliament.

Pro-Palestine campaigners have rallied against Israel’s punishing war on Gaza, gathering outside the British Parliament in London and demanding a full arms embargo and that hard-hitting sanctions be imposed on the Israeli government.

Wednesday’s march, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), came as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer took weekly questions from parliamentarians.

Thousands of protesters created a “Red Line for Palestine”, wearing red while encircling the building.

Starmer told Parliament that Israel’s actions in the besieged and bombarded enclave are “appalling” and “intolerable”.

“It is right to describe these days as dark,” Starmer said. “We have strongly opposed the expansion of Israeli military operations, and settler violence, and the blocking of humanitarian aid.”

Greta Thunberg joins Freedom Flotilla to Gaza as Israel monitors mission– www.foxnews.com

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Israel said that it will “act accordingly” to stop the Freedom Flotilla Coalition carrying climate activist Greta Thunberg, who is en route to the Gaza Strip.

Thunberg, 22, a Swedish eco-warrior, set sail this week aboard the Madleen hoisting a Palestinian flag with 11 other activists. It will try to reach the shores of the Gaza Strip to bring in some aid and raise awareness over the humanitarian crisis there.

“We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying,” Thunberg said.

Greta Thunberg, with other activists from a human rights organization, meets with journalists in Catania, Italy. on Sunday ahead of their departure for the Mideast. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed Wednesday that it was monitoring the flotilla.

“For this case as well, we are prepared,” IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told the Times of London. “We have gained experience in recent years, and we will act accordingly.”

 

Sir Keir Starmer blasts ‘appalling’ Gaza strikes and warns Netanyahu over deaths near food centres– www.thesun.co.uk

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SIR Keir Starmer said Israel’s recent military action in Gaza was appalling — as he again called for a ceasefire.

The PM said Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach was counterproductive, as he hinted more sanctions would be imposed.

It came after at least 27 Palestinians were killed in shootings near Gaza’s food distribution centres.

Britain has already suspended talks with Israel over a free trade deal.

Three MPs raised the situation at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday.

Sir Keir said one MP was “absolutely right to describe these as dark days”.

And he went on: “Israel’s recent action is appalling and, in my view, counterproductive and intolerable.”

NATO summit to avoid Ukraine membership issue – AFP — RT World News– www.rt.com

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The bloc’s members are concerned that the topic could lead to a public rift between the EU and US, the agency’s sources have said

NATO leaders convening for a key summit this month will deliberately avoid discussing membership for Ukraine, AFP reported on Wednesday, citing sources. The bloc’s members are reportedly wary of raising the issue due to fears it could exacerbate tensions between the EU and US.

Members of the US-led military bloc are highly likely to “steer clear of its previous strong statements that Ukraine is on course to join the alliance” when the summit takes place in The Hague in late June, the agency said.

One diplomatic source told AFP that the final declaration is expected to omit any mention of Ukrainian membership to maintain unity among member states. “There will be nothing on that,” a NATO diplomat said. “My expectation is we will be absolutely silent.”

US President Donald Trump has expressed firm opposition to Ukraine’s bid to join NATO. In February, he suggested that Ukraine “can forget about NATO,” adding that Kiev’s bid was “probably the reason the whole thing started,” referring to the conflict with Russia.

Syria says Israeli attack on Deraa causes ‘significant’ losses | Syria’s War News– www.aljazeera.com

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Israeli military says it shelled targets in Syria in response to a pair of projectile launches.

Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned an Israeli strike on the Syrian province of Deraa, saying that it caused “significant human and material losses”, the state news agency SANA reports.

The strike came after the Israeli military said that two projectiles had crossed from Syria towards Israel on Tuesday, and fell in open areas in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights, though the Syrian Foreign Ministry said these were “reports that have not been verified yet”.

The ministry reiterated that Syria has not and would not pose a threat to any party in the region.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the projectiles.