
Trump must see that a victory for Putin would be a blow to the whole free world
One of his failures, however, is becoming ever more glaring: the war in Ukraine. The President emphasised in his speech that the US military is the most powerful in the world, yet Vladimir Putin pays no attention (' Putin launches record attack on Kyiv after Trump phone call ', telegraph.co.uk, July 4).
Mr Trump needs to take action, in the name of freedom and democracy.
Camilla Coats-Carr
Teddington, Middlesex
SIR – If, as has been reported (July 3), America has paused weapons shipments to Ukraine as the Russian offensive intensifies, this is utterly shameful.
Donald Trump will surely go down in history as one of the worst allies a country could hope for. The Pentagon's claim that America is short of weapons is not convincing.
Ukraine needs to be given the ability to go on the attack, targeting Russian troop concentrations, munition dumps and arms-manufacturing sites. Only then will Vladimir Putin realise the error of his ways.
B J Colby
Bristol

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The Independent
13 minutes ago
- The Independent
Israel heads to Qatar for Gaza talks despite calling Hamas demands ‘unacceptable'
Israel will send a delegation to Qatar on Sunday for proximity talks with Hamas over the latest Gaza ceasefire and hostage release proposal. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to the talks despite calling Hamas 's proposed changes to the mediator-backed plan 'unacceptable', his office said. The prime minister's security cabinet held a meeting late on Saturday after Hamas said it had delivered a 'positive response' to the proposal for a 60-day ceasefire and was 'fully prepared and serious' about immediately entering a new round of negotiations. 'The changes that Hamas is seeking to make in the Qatari proposal were conveyed to us last night and are unacceptable to Israel,' Mr Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Sunday. However, it added: 'In light of an assessment of the situation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed that the invitation to proximity talks be accepted and that the contacts for the return of our hostages - on the basis of the Qatari proposal that Israel has agreed to - be continued. The negotiating team will leave tomorrow.' The US-led ceasefire talks have appeared to gain momentum ahead of Mr Netanyahu's visit to Washington. The Israeli prime minister is set to leave on Sunday to meet the US president Donald Trump, who has been pushing for a ceasefire. It remains unclear what specific changes Hamas has requested to the US-led ceasefire proposal. According to Al Jazeera, Hamas has made three core demands for amending the current ceasefire proposal: a long-term resolution to end the war after the 60-day pause, the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza without the involvement of the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory. The US plan envisages the staggered release of 10 living Israeli hostages held by Hamas, as well as the return of the bodies of 18 others, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and a halt to the bombing of Gaza. Mr Trump, who announced the 'final proposal' for a 60-day ceasefire, said that Israel had accepted the 'necessary conditions' to end the hostilities. He posted on Truth Social that he wanted to be 'very firm' with Mr Netanyahu during their talks and planned to issue a warning to Hamas. 'I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,' Mr Trump wrote. However, Mr Netanyahu is likely to face opposition within his own government, with some right-wing members demanding the complete destruction of Hamas. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, wrote on X on Saturday night that the Israeli military must reconquer the entire enclave, halt all humanitarian aid, and encourage the people of Gaza to emigrate. 'The only way to achieve victory and securely return our hostages is through the complete conquest of the Strip, a total cessation of 'humanitarian' aid, and the encouragement to emigration,' he said. 'I call on the prime minister to abandon the path of surrender and return to the path of victory.' Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, the families and supporters of Israeli hostages held a massive anti-government rally to demand the release of their loved ones. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum demanded a comprehensive deal to end the war and the release of the remaining hostages. Some 50 of the 200 people taken captive during the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023 remain in Gaza. Israel believes some 27 of them are dead. In Gaza, weary Palestinians expressed cautious hope after Hamas gave a 'positive' response late on Friday. 'We are tired. Enough starvation, enough closure of crossing points. We want to sleep in calm where we don't hear warplanes or drones or shelling,' said Jamalat Wadi, one of Gaza's hundreds of thousands of displaced people, speaking in Deir al-Balah. Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas demands for guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war's end, while Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly pledged a 'total victory' over Hamas and has refused to withdraw from Gaza. 'Send a delegation with a full mandate to bring a comprehensive agreement to end the war and bring everyone back. No one must be left behind,' Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, told the weekly rally by relatives and supporters in Tel Aviv. Over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to Gaza's health ministry, which is led by medical professionals employed by the Hamas government.


Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Elon Musk faces glaring hurdle as he forms new America Party after Trump feud
Elon Musk could be facing a major challenge as he works to launch his new 'America Party'. The former 'First Buddy' announced the foundation of the new party on his X social media platform on Saturday. However, there currently exists a bureaucratic obstacle to Musk getting the new movement off the ground: the Federal Elections Commission. The FEC states that 'new party organizations must register with the FEC when they raise or spend money over certain thresholds in connection with a federal election.' So far, it appears no such registration has been made by Musk, as The New York Times reported the Tesla CEO's game plan to this point has been 'more conceptual than pragmatic.' Even if he had, however, there may be no potential approval coming from the FEC in the near future by design. The agency is meant to be run by six commissioners, appointed by the sitting president. Right now, there are three empty seats on the FEC, not enough to form what's known as a quorum necessary for governing. Three commissioners have stepped down since the president began his second term in January, leaving it essentially defunct until Trump makes those appointments. Trump has yet to name any potential nominees and the White House has yet to address Musk's intention to form a new party. has approached the White House for comment. Democrat Ann Ravel, who served on the FEC from 2013 to 2017, believes Trump may already want to leave it in shutdown mode for his own motivations. 'Clearly, there is no doubt that President Trump wants to purposely leave the FEC without a quorum,' she claimed to Open Secrets. The America Party's founding came after Musk created an online poll on July 4 asking his followers whether to establish the new party. The results came back 65.4 percent in favor, leading Musk to make the announcement. 'By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!' Musk wrote. 'When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. 'Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.' Musk had been elevated to a prestigious role within the White House acting as a special advisor to the president and overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency. But in recent months a rift has emerged and the two former friends have been embroiled in embarrassing public spats played out over social media. Many had predicted that Trump and Musk's rosy bromance wouldn't last long and some pointed to betting markets on when they would turn on each other. Betters heavily favored a fallout before July 1, 2025, less than six months after Musk joined Trump's administration as a special advisor. In just a matter of months Musk went from spending $288 million for Trump's election campaign, to slinging insults about him online. The bust up occurred after Musk stepped down from DOGE over Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' which ends tax breaks for electric vehicles, which are Tesla CEO Musk's passion project. Musk also argued that the bill undercut DOGE's cost-cutting efforts by increasing the deficit. The rift deepened after the president rescinded his nomination offer to Musk-ally Jared Isaacman for NASA administrator over donations he made to the Democrats. Since then Trump and Musk have engaged in public mudslinging against each other. Musk accused the president of ingratitude and claimed he would have lost the election without him, while Trump branded him 'crazy '. Since their public break-up, Musk has threatened to start a new, third political party and buttress the reelection campaign of Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, one of the no votes on Trump's big bill. Trump recently outed himself as the person who leaked details about Musk's alleged drug use, according to author Michael Wolff, who penned the eye-popping book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. The New York Times reported that during the 2024 presidential campaign, the billionaire used so much ketamine he was having bladder problems and also used Ecstasy, psychedelic mushrooms and what appeared to be Adderall.


The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Even over the Fourth of July weekend, ICE officials didn't stop their raids in LA: ‘Troubling reminder of federal overreach'
Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained several people in the Los Angeles area on Independence Day. The agency has detained more than 1,600 people in the region in recent months, according to the Los Angeles Times. Among those arrested on the Fourth of July were two car wash workers who had been employed there for decades and a beloved food vendor who runs a birria stand, the outlet reports. A man whose father was detained, who asked to remain anonymous, told NBC 4 LA that he was unsure what prompted the raids. 'He's not a criminal,' he said. 'He wasn't doing anything he wasn't supposed to. He came in to work on the Fourth of July.' West Hollywood officials were also critical. 'On a day meant to honor the ideals of liberty, democracy, and freedom from oppression, we instead confront a deeply troubling reminder of federal overreach. Independence Day should be a time for reflection and reverence, not fear and persecution,'' they said in a statement on the city website. Anti-ICE protests also continued on the holiday. The Los Angeles Police Department arrested five people in connection with downtown demonstrations, the Los Angeles Times reports. Fans of the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team walked out of the stadium on Friday in protest against the owners' lack of public support for immigrants. Fans also held up a banner that read: 'Fight Ignorance, Not Immigrants.' Earlier in the week, ICE raided three Los Angeles-area Home Depots and arrested a total of 37 people, KTLA reports. President Donald Trump also signed his sweeping spending and tax bill into law on Independence Day while attending a picnic for military families. That bill will provide ICE with roughly $45 billion over the next four years to spend on detaining undocumented immigrants. This comes as part of Trump's promise to carry out the 'largest deportation program in American history.' The new funds make ICE the 'single largest federal law enforcement agency in the history of the nation,' Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council told Democracy Now!. 'We're talking nearly 20 years' worth of detention funding to be spent only in a four-year period, and an increase to ICE's enforcement budget beyond anything we've ever seen before, allowing the agency to expand mass deportations over the next four years to every community nationwide,' he said. Trump has also praised a new ICE detention center in Florida, dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz.' The president visited the site on Tuesday, saying it will soon house 'some of the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet.'