Category: Western Media

US Strikes Two Sites Used by Iranian Forces in Syria: Pentagon

  The US military struck two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday. “The precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17,” he…

Sam Bankman-Fried to testify in his own defence in crypto fraud trial Thursday

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried plans to testify at his fraud trial, his lawyer told a federal judge Wednesday, ending speculation over whether a man who embraced the spotlight during his years atop the cryptocurrency world could remain silent after prosecutors portrayed him as a greedy entrepreneur who stole billions of dollars from customers. Attorney Mark Cohen told Judge Lewis A….

Biden says support for Israel, Ukraine vital for U.S. security; will ask Congress for billions

U.S. President Joe Biden declared it is “vital for America’s national security” for Israel and Ukraine to succeed in their wars, making the case Thursday night for deepening U.S. involvement in two unpredictable foreign conflicts as he prepared to ask for billions of dollars in military assistance for both countries. If international aggression is allowed to continue, Biden said in…

Canada removes 41 diplomats from India after New Delhi threatens to revoke their immunity

Canada’s foreign minister said Thursday that 41 of the country’s diplomats have been removed from India after the Indian government said it would revoke their diplomatic immunity. The moves comes after Canadian accusations that India may have been involved in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in suburban Vancouver. The Associated Press previously reported that India had told Canada…

More than 300 arrested in Capitol Hill protest urging cease-fire in Israel-Hamas war

More than 300 people were arrested for illegally demonstrating and three people were charged with assaulting police after protesters descended on Capitol Hill to call for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Hundreds of demonstrators from Jewish advocacy groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now, poured into a congressional office building on Wednesday. They wore shirts that…

U.S. journalist detained in Russia after visiting for family emergency

Russia has detained an editor at U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) for failing to register as a foreign agent while visiting for a family emergency, the broadcaster said. Russia has tightened its control over information and the media since the start of the nearly 20-month-long Ukraine war, forcing the closure of the last significant independent news outlets and designating many…

Drones target U.S. troops in Iraq

U.S. military forces in Iraq were targeted on Wednesday in two separate drone attacks, with one causing minor injuries to a small number of troops even though the U.S. military managed to intercept the armed drone, a U.S. official said. The official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, did not say who was suspected of the attacks on…

US Broadly Eases Venezuela Oil Sanctions After Election Deal

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Wednesday broadly eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector in response to a deal reached between the government and opposition parties for the 2024 election – the most extensive rollback of Trump-era restrictions on Caracas. A new general license issued by the U.S. Treasury Department authorized OPEC member Venezuela, which had been under crushing sanctions…

Israel suspends defense sales to Colombia

SANTIAGO, Chile — The Israeli government has suspended all sales and supplies of defense and security hardware and related services to Colombia. The move followed a heated exchange on X, formerly known as Twitter, between Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Israeli Ambassador in Bogota Gali Dagan about the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip. Petro had refused to condemn the…

What Google’s antitrust trial means for search

If government regulators prevail against Google in the biggest U.S. antitrust trial in a quarter century, it’s likely to unleash drastic changes that will undermine the dominance of a search engine that defines the internet for billions of people. As the 10-week trial probing Google’s business practices nears its midway point, it’s still too early to tell if U.S. District…

Palestinians in Gaza struggle to follow Israeli evacuation order and face dire water shortage

Palestinians struggled Saturday to flee from areas of Gaza targeted by the Israeli military while grappling with a growing water and medical supply shortage ahead of an expected land offensive a week after Hamas’ bloody, wide-ranging attack into Israel. Israel renewed calls on social media and in leaflets dropped from the air for Gaza residents to move south, while Hamas…

Jewish Communities Ramp Up Security

Jewish communities in North America are ramping up security in the face of rising emotions over the massacre of Jews in Israel and the imminent invasion of Gaza, with pro- and anti-Israel rallies being held daily in cities across the United States. Eric Fingerhut, CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, told VOA that the communities are prepared and…

French police use teargas on banned pro-Palestinian rally as Macron calls for calm

French police used teargas and water cannon to break up a banned rally in support of the Palestinian people in Paris on Thursday, as President Emmanuel Macron urged the French to remain united and refrain from bringing the Israel-Hamas conflict home. Macron’s interior minister had earlier banned pro-Palestinian protests, saying they were “likely to generate disturbances to public order”. France…

US Rushes ‘Smart’ Bombs to Israel as Hamas Holds Dozens Hostage

Boeing has begun delivering smart munitions to Israel as the country intensifies retaliation in the wake of Hamas’ large-scale surprise attack. An Israeli Air Force transport aircraft recently flew with the 250-pound (113 kilogram) Small Diameter Bombs from the US to Israel, Bloomberg revealed citing a US official. Israel bought 1,000 GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) in 2021 for $735…

Germany to send Ukraine $1B in air defense tech, plus more tanks

  PARIS — Germany will send about €1 billion (U.S. $1.1 billion) worth of air defense systems to Ukraine as part of a second “winter package” for the embattled country, the German Defence Ministry said in a statement Tuesday. The support will include a Patriot air defense system and two IRIS-T surface-to-air systems, as well as 10 more Leopard 1…

Cyberattacks Slam Israel After Hamas Surprise Assault

Israel has incurred several cyberattacks following the large-scale surprise attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas. Among the recorded incidents was an attack on the country’s services and government information website, resulting in the portal’s connectivity failure. It was claimed by hacktivists called Killnet, a pro-Russian cyber group that gained notoriety after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. “Israeli government, you are…