
Israel PM says planes from Italy, Croatia arriving soon to help fight fires
by Naharnet Newsdesk 30 April 2025, 18:06
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that three aircraft from Italy and Croatia were due to arrive in Israel soon to help fight fires near Jerusalem.
"It has so far been agreed that three 'Canadair' aircraft from Italy and Croatia will arrive in Israel as soon as possible," a statement from the premier's office said, following a situational assessment to advance international assistance.

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Army returns to building in Hadath with bulldozer
by Naharnet Newsdesk 11 June 2025, 15:27 Army forces returned Wednesday with a bulldozer to a building they searched Tuesday at the request of the five-member committee supervising the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire. The building in the densely populated Sainte-Therese street in Hadath in Beirut's southern suburbs had been targeted by an Israeli strike during the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war. A Lebanese military official said Tuesday that the army was looking for weapons. On Friday, Israel warned that it would keep up its strikes on Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, after it struck four locations in Dahieh on the eve of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. The Lebanese army condemned the airstrikes, warning that such attacks are weakening the role of Lebanon's armed forces that might eventually suspend cooperation with the committee monitoring the truce that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war. It said it had tried to convince Israel not to carry out the strikes and to instead let Lebanese officials go in to search the area under the mechanism laid out in the ceasefire agreement, but that the Israeli army refused, so Lebanese soldiers moved away from the locations after they were sent.


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Pope Leo XIV names first Chinese bishop
by Naharnet Newsdesk 11 June 2025, 16:26 Pope Leo XIV made his first appointment of a Chinese bishop under the Vatican's 2018 agreement with Beijing, signalling he is continuing one of Pope Francis' most controversial foreign policy decisions. The Vatican expressed satisfaction that Leo's June 5 nomination of Bishop Joseph Lin Yuntuan as auxiliary bishop of Fuzhou was recognized Wednesday by Chinese authorities. The Vatican said in a statement that Lin taking possession of the diocese and the civic recognition of his appointment "constitutes a further fruit of the dialogue between the Holy See and the Chinese authorities and is a significant step in the diocese's communal journey." Francis had riled conservatives when he approved a deal in 2018 over bishop nominations, which had been the most divisive issue in Vatican-China relations since diplomatic ties were severed when the Communists came to power. China had insisted on an exclusive right to name bishops as a matter of national sovereignty, while the Vatican asserted the pope's exclusive right to name the successors of the original Apostles. China's estimated 12 million Catholics have been divided between an official, state-controlled church that didn't recognize papal authority and an underground church that remained loyal to Rome through decades of persecution. The Vatican tried for decades to unify the flock and the 2018 deal was aimed at healing that division, regularizing the status of seven bishops who weren't recognized by Rome and thawing decades of estrangement between China and the Vatican. The details of the 2018 deal were never released, but it affords the state-controlled church a say in its church leaders, though Francis insisted he retained veto power over the ultimate choice. The deal has been criticized by some, especially on the Catholic right, for having caved to Beijing's demands and sold out the underground faithful in China. The Vatican has said it was the best deal it could get and has been renewed periodically since then. One of the big foreign policy questions facing Leo, history's first American pope, was whether he would continue renewing the accord or heed conservative demands and make some changes. There have been apparent violations on the Beijing side with some unilateral appointments that occurred without papal consent. The issue came to a head just before the conclave that elected Leo pope, when the Chinese church proceeded with the preliminary election of two bishops, a step that comes before official consecration.


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What's targeted in Trump's request for $9.4 billion in budget cuts from Congress
by Naharnet Newsdesk 11 June 2025, 16:06 President Donald Trump is looking to cancel $9.4 billion in spending already approved by Congress. That's just a sliver of the $1.7 trillion that lawmakers OK'd for the budget year ending Sept. 30. The package of 21 budget rescissions will have to be approved by both chambers of Congress for the cuts to take place, beginning with a House vote expected Thursday. Otherwise, the spending remains in place. The White House is betting that cutting federal investments in public media and some foreign aid programs will prove politically popular. Republicans say if this first effort is successful, they hope more rescission packages will follow as they look to continue work by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency once run by billionaire Elon Musk. Democrats describe the cuts as inhumane and say they would rip life-saving support from hungry and sick people across the globe. Republicans are describing the cuts as "modest" and say the U.S. will continue to play a critical role in helping the world's most vulnerable people. Here's a look at some of the spending the White House is trying to claw back: Public media on the chopping block The Republican president has asked lawmakers to rescind nearly $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which represents the full amount it's slated to receive during the next two budget years. Congress has traditionally provided public media with advanced funds to reduce political pressures. The corporation distributes the money mostly to public television and radio stations around the country, with some assigned to National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System to support national programming. The White House says the public media system is politically biased and an unnecessary expense. Much of the conservatives' ire is focused on NPR and PBS. "We believe that you all can hate us on your own dime," said Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, during a hearing in March. But about two-thirds of the money goes to more than 1,500 locally owned public radio and television stations. Nearly half of those stations serve rural areas of the country. "They want to punish the national guys, that's fine," said Rep. Mark Amodei, a Republican who said he was undecided going into this week's vote. "But I'm trying to get a handle on what it means for my stations in Nevada, because the ability to fundraise at the national level ain't the same as the ability to fundraise in Reno." The association representing local public television stations warns that many of them would be forced to close if the GOP bill passes. Those stations provide emergency alerts, free educational programming and high school sports coverage and highlight hometown heroes. Meanwhile, local radio stations say their share of the allocation provides funding for 386 stations employing nearly 10,000 people. Dozens of stations rely on the public grants for more than half of their budget. Many others for nearly half. Some Republicans say they worry about what the cuts would mean for local public stations but tough decisions are necessary. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., said South Dakota Public Broadcasting does a "really good job of covering the state Legislature" and other public affairs. "So these rescissions are not going to be comfortable for South Dakota to deal with," Johnson said. "That being said, we're $37 trillion in debt." Funding to combat diseases Trump's administration is looking to claw back about $900 million from $10 billion that Congress has approved for global health programs. That includes canceling $500 million for activities related to infectious diseases and child and maternal health and another $400 million to address the global HIV epidemic. The administration says the $500 million rescission for infectious diseases would not reduce treatment but would "eliminate programs that are antithetical to American interests and worsen the lives of women and children, like 'family planning' and 'reproductive health,' LGBTQI+ activities, and equity programs." It makes a similar assurance on the HIV funding, saying it would eliminate "only those programs that neither provide life-saving treatment nor support American interests." Scores of humanitarian aid groups have asked lawmakers to oppose the proposed cuts. Catholic Relief Services called on donors to contact their members of Congress to urge them to vote against the bill. Without the U.S. assistance, "countless lives are at risk, and the needs will continue to rise," said the plea to supporters. The importance of the United States' contribution to the global HIV response cannot be overstated, according to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS. It says the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, has saved more than 26 million lives and averted almost 5 million new HIV infections since it was launched in 2003 under President George W. Bush, a Republican. "Instead of facing a death sentence, people supported by PEPFAR are raising families, building their communities, and helping their communities grow and develop," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. Refugee assistance The Trump administration is looking to cancel $800 million, or a quarter of the amount Congress approved, for a program that provides emergency shelter, water and sanitation, and family reunification for those forced to flee their own country. The program also helps vetted refugees who come to the U.S. get started in their new country. The White House says "these funds support activities that could be more fairly shared with non-U.S. Government donors, providing savings to the U.S. taxpayer." Refugees International urged Congress to reject what it described as a reckless proposal. Promoting stability About 45% of the savings sought by the White House would come from two programs designed to boost the economies, democratic institutions and civil societies in developing countries. The administration wants to claw back $2.5 billion of the $3.9 billion approved for the Development Assistance program at the U.S. Agency for International Development and about $1.7 billion, or nearly half of the funds, dedicated to the State Department's Economic Support Fund. The administration says in its request to Congress that the Development Assistance account is supposed to fund programs that work to end extreme poverty and promote resilient democratic societies, but in practice many of the programs "conflict with American values" and bankroll corrupt leaders' evasion of responsibilities to their citizens while providing "no clear benefit to Americans." U.S. leaders have often argued over the years that helping to eradicate conditions that lead to political upheaval abroad is not just the right thing to do but also the smart thing. "By helping stem pandemics and war and helping countries become healthy, free-market democracies, we are actually helping our own country," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. Republicans are rejecting the dire warnings. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., said " waste, fraud and abuse is what this is all about."