Putin taunts Trump with biggest wave of drone strikes on Ukraine
The leaders will hold a telephone call on Monday in which Trump is expected to press for an end to the fighting, warning that Washington will not tolerate further Russian brinkmanship and delays to peace negotiations.
The talks between Trump and Putin, their first since March, come after Putin refused to meet President Zelensky in Istanbul at the end of last week. Trump will also speak to Zelensky, who has already backed a ceasefire, as well as European leaders on Monday.
Despite the pressure from Washington, Putin
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Telegraph
38 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Ireland's anti-Israel posturing could cost it dearly
In 1996, the foreign editor of the Irish Times, Paul Gillespie, leafed through Ireland's first military white paper. The document was notably vague on the country's role in global affairs. 'Precisely the absence of strategic interests,' he warned, 'can tempt small states into a moralistic response to international political issues.' How prescient that now seems. After October 7, the Irish government wasted no time clambering onto a soap box to issue proclamations about the most complex urban war in living memory, from the comfort of an island on the edge of Western Europe. Free from threats, and with the RAF guarding its skies, the solutions to a conflict 3,500 miles away seem irritatingly obvious to Dublin. Hamas tunnel networks dwarfing the London Underground, booby-trapped homes, hospitals repurposed as terror bunkers, were mere details repeatedly brushed aside with calls for 'de-escalation' and, more fatuously, a 'two-state solution.' This may have had a cathartic effect – for both politicians and constituents, who are joined by much of the world in their dismay at the destruction in Gaza. But wars are not won with platitudes, nor with hollow gestures dressed up as policy. To the extent this basic truth has dawned on Dublin – and the odd glimmer of self-awareness suggests it might have – it hasn't dampened its appetite to intervene. This week, Ireland raced to become the first European country to ban imports from Israel's occupied territories. 'There isn't another country in the European Union,' boasted the foreign minister, Simon Harris, 'that you can visit today and ask a government minister about their bill to ban trade… because they don't have one.' The braggadocio didn't end there. Ireland stood, in his estimation, as a lone beacon for humanity, 'speaking up and speaking out against the genocidal activity in Gaza.' All very well. But what exactly does that entail? On Wednesday, the cabinet approved the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill. The Bill is a curious artefact – not least because its acronym, PIGS, invites unfortunate interpretations, particularly given the Irish government's increasing animosity toward Israel. If passed, it will ban imports from the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, and Gaza – a wide net. Camp David is firmly in the rear-view mirror The connection between the first three regions and the war in Gaza is tenuous at best. When someone raises the issue of the settlements in this context, it's often a sign they view the current conflict through the lens of an earlier, more sanguine era. Camp David is firmly in the rear-view mirror. Today, the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, loathes Hamas and shares Israel's desire to see them expunged. There remains no party with which to negotiate the stewardship of the territories now commonly referred to as 'Palestinian' – each captured, incidentally, by Israel in wars it did not initiate. Such nuances vanish under the telescopic moralism through which Dublin views the conflict in the Middle East. No one is glued to that telescope more firmly than Simon Harris, the former taoiseach whose tenure saw the re-opening of an embassy in Tehran and the closure of Israel's embassy in Dublin, shortly before its foreign minister branded Harris 'antisemitic.' That accusation may be too simplistic. There's no reason to suspect Mr Harris is prejudiced against Jews, as such, but the Jewish State is another matter. Last year, upon becoming the leader of Fine Gael, Mr Harris disinvited the Israeli ambassador from his first party conference. Her Iranian counterpart, meanwhile, was free to attend. Mr Harris is determined to, as he puts it, 'pull every lever' at his disposal to pressure Israel to end the conflict. Needless to say, depriving the Israeli economy of €200,000 worth of mostly dates and avocados won't exactly blow a hole in its war chest. With the addition of East Jerusalem, the bill would, however, make it illegal for Irish tourists to bring home souvenirs from the Old City. The sight of customs officers quizzing arrivals on where in the Jewish State they bought their Madonna sculpture could prove an unpleasant novelty that the 'land of a thousand welcomes' may come to regret. 'Ireland... is on a hateful, antisemitic path' The repercussions may be further reaching than that. On Wednesday, senator Jim Risch, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, lambasted the decision. 'Ireland, while often a valuable US partner, is on a hateful, antisemitic path that will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering,' he warned. This is not idle talk. More than 30 US states have enacted anti-boycott laws which sanction companies boycotting Israel. Donald Trump has already indicated he would do the same. With the US as its largest trading partner, Ireland has effectively assembled a financial landmine and publicly declared its intention to step on it. One would have thought Mr Harris has more pressing matters to attend to than inflicting economic harm on his countrymen for a gesture that is, by the government's admission, purely 'symbolic.' The US has already threatened to reshore its pharmaceutical industry, on which Ireland's economy depends. Only this week, Japan expressed concerns to the taoiseach over the security of subsea cables off the Irish coast – vital arteries for data and energy between Europe and America – which are increasingly stalked by Russian submarines. Of course, from Dublin's point of view, this is someone else's problem – namely the Anglo-American defence umbrella which has allowed it to get by with negligible defence spending while its European colleagues scrabble for funds. How else would Ireland find the time, and the resources, to arbitrate Israeli settlements? Small countries that believe in their own exceptionalism often develop the peculiar neurosis of needing to, as it were, punch above their weight. With limited material power, this tendency is usually expressed by grandstanding on the international stage. Sweden once styled itself a 'moral superpower,' until its rhetoric collided with reality, helping turn it into the bomb and grenade attack capital of the developed world. Ireland, increasingly, appears determined to trace the same path.
Daily Mail
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Huge spike in 'Trumpugees' fleeing America... but they'll quickly regret it
As President Donald Trump 's agenda quickly accelerates to the right, many liberal Americans are looking for an exit strategy. And with its progressive culture and affordability, the Netherlands is looking increasingly attractive for so-called 'Trumpugees'. GTFO Tours, an organization founded by Bethany Quinn and Jana Sanchez to help Americans relocate to the Netherlands says it has seen a 200 percent uptick in inquiries in recent months. 'I think a lot of Americans have sort of been waiting to see how things are going, but they just keep getting worse,' Quinn told Newsweek. The organization pointed to Trump's hardline immigration policies and anti-transgender rights stance as the driving force behind the increase. However, those looking to flee to the European country may be in for a rude awakening upon arrival. The country's new Prime Minister, Dick Schoof, is preparing to usher in a wave of conservativism. Schoof was elected in June as the country has pivoted hard to conservatism. Quinn said that Americans have been bracing for setbacks in social progress since Trump took office in January. She argued that Trump's slew of executive orders on his first day in office, 'reversed 60+ years of progress.' 'A lot of Americans are just looking to have a peaceful life. They just wanna live their lives and they don't want to worry about their safety. They don't wanna worry about their government collapsing,' Quinn continued. The Netherlands may seem like an obvious choice to escape the American grind, but the country's government has had its fair share of turmoil. The government's four-party coalition collapsed in June when Geert Wilders, the leader of the far-right Party for Freedom, withdrew after the other three parties declined to back his immigration plan. Then in July, the Dutch parliament passed a slew of anti-immigration reforms targeted at asylum seekers. The Netherlands is also pumping the brakes on reforms for transgender citizens. A bill introduced in 2021 to make it easier for trans individuals to change their gender registration on official documents was recently withdrawn. 'This cabinet is letting transgender people down in an unprecedented way,' chair Remke Verdegem said of the decision. The wave of conservative policies mirrors the harsh immigration and anti-trans policies of the Trump administration. Grover Wehman-Brown, an American looking to move to the Netherlands, recently told Newsweek, that as a trans individual, they felt increasing fear living in the US. Wehman-Brown said that they experienced a 'constant threat and vigilance' growing up trans in rural Ohio, and was now starting to see those tensions again. 'I had gone to the Netherlands once 15 years ago, and I really liked the short amount of time I spent there, so I was like, "this is really a lovely place where everybody seems busy and purposeful, but cooperating well together and things are running smoothly,'" they added. Wehman-Brown isn't the only one, with a survey by the Immigration Advice Authority citing that one in four Americans were weighing emigration after Trump's 2024 win. Canada has also emerged as a leading destination for fed-up Americans to relocate. However, any refuge could be short lived if the president makes good on his threats to turn the country into America's 51st state. Almost 500 fleeing US citizens have tried to claim asylum in Canada since the billionaire's re-election. But liberals seeking refuge from Trump's America have been dealt a crushing blow after their favorite sanctuary issued a brutal crackdown. The Canadian government is bringing in emergency powers to make it easier to block applications and its border agency says the proposed overhaul is to 'protect the system.' Other popular destinations for American progressives include Portugal and Spain. Interracial lesbian couple Doris Davis and Susie Bartlett living in NYC told Reuters in May they are considering the move. 'We love this country, but we don't love what it has become. When your identity is being attacked, there is a personal sense of... anger (and) frustration,' Davis said.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Hamas says it is ready for ceasefire talks with Israel 'immediately' - which could see a 60-day truce and 10 hostages released from Gaza
Hamas has said it is ready to start ceasefire talks with Israel 'immediately' in a move that could see a 60-day truce and 10 hostages released from Gaza. Security officials in Tel-Aviv reportedly met tonight to discuss their next steps before Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington for talks on Monday with US President Donald Trump. And it is believed that the Israeli cabinet have decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible deal, according to Israel's Channel 12 whose report cited a senior official. It was unclear whether the delegation will fly to Qatar on Saturday or Sunday. The move comes after Trump launched a renewed push to end nearly 21 months of war in Gaza - where the civil defence agency said a further 35 people were killed in Israeli military operations today. 'No decision has been made yet on that issue,' an Israeli government official said when asked about Hamas' s seemingly positive response to the latest ceasefire proposal. The militant group said yesterday it was 'ready to engage immediately and seriously in a cycle of negotiations on the mechanism to put in place' a US-backed truce proposal. Two Palestinian sources close to the discussions told the AFP news agency that the proposals included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel. They said the group was also demanding certain conditions for Israel's withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system. Hamas ally Islamic Jihad said it supported ceasefire talks but demanded guarantees that Israel 'will not resume its aggression' once hostages held in Gaza are freed. When asked about Hamas's response aboard Air Force One, Trump said: 'That's good. They haven't briefed me on it. We have to get it over with. We have to do something about Gaza.' The war began with Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked an Israeli offensive in the territory that aimed to destroy Hamas and bring home all the hostages seized by Palestinian militants. Previous ceasefires mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States secured temporary halts in fighting and the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. The Egyptian foreign ministry said today that top diplomat Badr Abdelatty held a phone call with Washington's enjoy to th Mid, Steve Witkoff, to discuss recent developments 'and preparations for holding indirect meetings between the two parties concerned to reach an agreement'. The Egyptian foreign ministry said today that top diplomat Badr Abdelatty held a phone call with Washington's enjoy to th, Steve Witkoff, to discuss recent developments 'and preparations for holding indirect meetings between the two parties concerned to reach an agreement'. Pictures of the remaining Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip are displayed on a table by a beach outside the US embassy branch office in Tel Aviv on July 4, 2025 The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has also renewed calls for a negotiated agreement to bring the hostages home. 'This is the hour to bring about a comprehensive deal that will guarantee the return of the last hostage,' they said. Recent efforts to broker a new truce have repeatedly failed, with the main point of contention said to be Israel's rejection of Hamas's demand for guarantees of a lasting ceasefire. The war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has recently expanded its military operations. US and Israel-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, took the lead in food distribution in the territory in late May after Israel partially lifted a more than two-month blockade on aid deliveries. The group said two of its US staff members were wounded 'in a targeted terrorist attack' at one of its aid centres in southern Gaza's Khan Yunis on Saturday, adding that reports indicated a pair of assailants 'threw two grenades at the Americans'. The Israeli military said it had evacuated the injured. UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives. Its operations have been marred by near-daily reports of Israeli fire on people waiting to collect rations. UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said yesterday that more than 500 people have been killed waiting to access food from GHF distribution points. GHF chairman Johnnie Moore, a Christian evangelical leader allied to Trump, on Wednesday rejected calls for the lead role in Gaza aid distributions to revert to UN agencies, saying: 'We will not be shut down.' Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said Israeli military operations killed 35 people across Gaza on Saturday. The Hamas attack of October 2023 resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 people, who were mostly civilians. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,338 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers these figures reliable.
