Beware the Trumps and Musks who ‘win elections', or suffer straatmeid antics
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TimesLIVE
12 minutes ago
- TimesLIVE
South Sudan says no talks with Israel to resettle Palestinians from Gaza
South Sudan is not in talks with Israel to resettle Palestinians from war-torn Gaza, South Sudan's foreign ministry said on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Associated Press, citing six people with knowledge of the matter, reported that Israel was holding discussions with Juba to resettle Palestinians from Gaza in the East African nation. 'These claims are baseless and do not reflect the official position or policy of the government of South Sudan,' South Sudan's foreign affairs ministry said in a statement. Israel's military has pounded Gaza City in recent days before its planned takeover of the shattered enclave which is home to more than 2-million Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday reiterated a view — also enthusiastically floated by US President Donald Trump — that Palestinians should simply leave Gaza. Many world leaders are horrified at the idea of displacing the Gaza population, which Palestinians say would be like another 'Nakba' (catastrophe) when hundreds of thousands fled or were forced out during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948. In March, Somalia and its breakaway region of Somaliland also denied receiving any proposal from the US or Israel to resettle Palestinians from Gaza, with Mogadishu saying it categorically rejected any such move. South Sudan's foreign minister Monday Semaya Kumba visited Israel last month and met with Netanyahu, according to the foreign ministry in Juba. Last month South Sudan's government confirmed that eight migrants deported to the African nation by the Trump administration were in the care of the authorities in Juba after they lost a legal battle to halt their transfer. Since achieving independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan has spent nearly half its life at war and is in the grip of a political crisis, after President Salva Kiir's government ordered the arrest of vice-president Riek Machar in March.
eNCA
an hour ago
- eNCA
Trump orders space regulations eased in win for Musk
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday easing regulations for the private space industry, including eliminating some environmental reviews, in a move likely to please his erstwhile advisor Elon Musk. The executive order, which said it aimed to "substantially" increase the number of space launches in the United States, was described by an environmental group as "reckless." Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has talked up several space missions including sending humans to the Moon and Mars. The Moon and Mars missions are planned to get a ride on the massive Starship rocket of Musk's private firm SpaceX. However, Starship has had a series of setbacks, with its latest routine test ending in a fiery explosion in June. AFP/File | TIMOTHY A. CLARY SpaceX dominates the global launch market, with its various-sized rockets blasting off more than 130 times last year - and that number looks set to rise after Trump's executive order. "It is the policy of the United States to enhance American greatness in space by enabling a competitive launch marketplace and substantially increasing commercial space launch cadence" by 2030, the order read. The change could well benefit Musk, who has long advocated for deregulation of the space industry. The world's richest man was previously a close advisor to Trump before the pair had a dramatic, public falling out in July. The executive order also called on Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy - who was at the signing and is currently NASA's administrator - "to eliminate or expedite the Department of Transportation's environmental reviews" for launches. SpaceX has been repeatedly criticised over the environmental impact at the sites where Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket in history, blasts off. The US-based nonprofit Centre for Biological Diversity said Trump's new executive order "paves the way for the massive destruction of protected plants and animals." "This reckless order puts people and wildlife at risk from private companies launching giant rockets that often explode and wreak devastation on surrounding areas," the centre's Jared Margolis said in a statement. Musk's dreams of colonising Mars rely on the success of Starship, and SpaceX has been betting that its "fail fast, learn fast" ethos will eventually pay off. The Federal Aviation Administration approved an increase in annual Starship rocket launches from five to 25 in early May, stating that the increased frequency would not adversely affect the environment.
Daily Maverick
10 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Trump threatens ‘severe consequences' if Putin blocks Ukraine peace
Trump meets Putin on Friday to discuss war in Ukraine Trump praises call with Zelenskiy, European leaders Macron says no territorial swap schemes on table Europe and Kyiv feared decisions being made over their heads Russia says its war aims remain unchanged By Andrea Shalal, Thomas Escritt and Tom Balmforth Trump did not specify what the consequences could be, but he has warned of economic sanctions if a meeting between himself and President Putin in Alaska on Friday proved fruitless. The comments by Trump and the mood music after a virtual meeting of Trump, European leaders and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy could provide some hope for Kyiv after fears the Alaska meet could sell out Ukraine and carve up its territory. However, Russia is likely to resist Ukraine and Europe's demands strongly and previously said its stance had not changed since it was set out by Putin in June 2024. When asked if Russia would face any consequences if Putin does not agree to stop the war after Friday's meeting, Trump responded: 'Yes, they will.' Asked if those consequences would be sanctions or tariffs, Trump told reporters: 'I don't have to say, there will be very severe consequences.' But the president also described the aim of the meeting between the pair in Alaska as 'setting the table' for a quick follow-up that would include Zelenskiy. 'If the first one goes okay, we'll have a quick second one,' he said. 'I would like to do it almost immediately, and we'll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskiy and myself, if they'd like to have me there.' Trump did not provide a time frame for a second meeting. RED LINES European leaders and Zelenskiy had earlier spoken with Trump in a last-ditch call hosted by Germany to lay out red lines ahead of the Alaska meeting. 'We had a very good call. He was on the call. President Zelenskiy was on the call. I would rate it a 10, very friendly,' Trump said. French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump agreed that Ukraine must be involved in any discussions about ceding land while Zelenskiy said Trump had supported the idea of security guarantees in a post-war settlement. 'President Trump was very clear that the United States wanted to achieve a ceasefire at this meeting in Alaska,' Macron said. 'The second point on which things were very clear, as expressed by President Trump, is that territories belonging to Ukraine cannot be negotiated and will only be negotiated by the Ukrainian president.' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who hosted the virtual meeting, said the principle that borders could not be changed by force must continue to apply. 'If there is no movement on the Russian side in Alaska, then the United States and we Europeans should … increase the pressure,' he said. 'President Trump knows this position, he shares it very extensively and therefore I can say: We have had a really exceptionally constructive and good conversation with each other.' Trump and Putin are due to discuss how to end the three-and-a-half-year-old conflict, the biggest in Europe since World War Two. Trump has previously said both sides will have to swap land to end fighting that has cost tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions. RUSSIA MAKES SHARP ADVANCE INTO UKRAINE On a day of intense diplomacy, Zelenskiy flew into Berlin for virtual meetings with European leaders and then with Trump. He and the Europeans worry that a land swap could leave Russia with almost a fifth of Ukraine, rewarding it for almost 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian land, the last three in all-out war, and embolden Putin to expand further west in the future. Russian forces have made a sharp thrust into eastern Ukraine in recent days in what may be an attempt to increase the pressure on Kyiv to give up land. 'I told the U.S. president and all our European colleagues that Putin is bluffing (about his stated wish to end the war),' Zelenskiy said. 'He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine …' A source familiar with the matter said the call with Trump discussed possible cities that could host a three-way meeting, depending on the outcome of the talks in Alaska. Wary of angering Trump, European leaders have repeatedly said they welcome his efforts, while stressing that there should be no deal about Ukraine without Ukraine's participation. Trump's agreement last week to the summit was an abrupt shift after weeks of voicing frustration with Putin for resisting the U.S. peace initiative. Trump said his envoy had made 'great progress' at talks in Moscow. A Gallup poll released last week found that 69% of Ukrainians favour a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible. But polls also indicate Ukrainians do not want peace at any cost if that means crushing concessions. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexei Fadeev earlier said Moscow's stance had not changed since last year. As conditions for a ceasefire and the start of talks, the Kremlin leader had demanded that Ukraine withdraw its forces from four regions that Russia has claimed as its own but does not fully control, and formally renounce its plans to join NATO. Kyiv swiftly rejected the conditions as tantamount to surrender.
