Europe’s top human rights court delivered damning judgments on Wednesday against Russia in four cases brought by Kyiv and the Netherlands, including finding Moscow shot down flight MH17, killing all passengers, including 38 Australians.
Judges at the European court of human rights ruled that Russia was responsible for widespread violations of international law in backing anti-Kyiv separatists in eastern Ukraine from 2014, in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 that year and in invading Ukraine in 2022.
Reading the decisions in a packed courtroom in Strasbourg, the court’s president, Mattias Guyomar, said Russian forces engaged in “manifestly unlawful” conduct in the July 2014 attack on the flight.
“The court agreed that the evidence suggested that the missile had been intentionally fired at flight MH17 most likely in the mistaken belief that it had been a military aircraft,” the court said in a statement.
Landmark ruling finds Russia shot down MH17 with 38 Australians on board
Trump administration reportedly planning to fire 2,145 Nasa employees
The Trump administration is reportedly planning to cut at least 2,145 high-ranking Nasa employees with specialized skills or management responsibilities.
According to documents obtained by Politico, most employees leaving are in senior-level government ranks, depriving the agency of decades of experience as part of a push to slash the size of the federal government through early retirement, buyouts and deferred resignations.
The documents indicate that 1,818 of the staff currently serve in core mission areas, like science or human space flight, while the others work in mission support roles including information technology, or IT.
Asked about the proposed cuts, agency spokesperson Bethany Stevens told Reuters: “NASA remains committed to our mission as we work within a more prioritized budget.”
Trump praises English of the leader of Liberia – where English is the official language
Donald Trump was basking in the praise of a group of African leaders on Wednesday, when the Liberian president took the microphone.
“Liberia is a longtime friend of the United States and we believe in your policy of making America great again,” President Joseph Boakai said in English at a White House meeting before advocating for US investment in his country. “We just want to thank you so much for this opportunity.”
Trump, clearly impressed, inquired where Boakai got his language skills.
“Such good English, such beautiful …” Trump said. “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Where were you educated?”
Boakai seemed to chuckle. English is the official language of Liberia.
TVNL Comment: How embarrassing to have a moron president.
Democrats gloat as MAGA World explodes over Epstein files
Democrats are experiencing a devilish glee as MAGA World clashes over the Trump administration’s push to defuse conspiracy theories surrounding the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
In cable news interviews, social media posts and formal calls to release more Epstein files, Democrats are highlighting the administration’s handling of the case in hopes of exacerbating the unusual tensions betwon my 8-year-old and his friends on the short hoops at school,” Democratic strategist Eddie Vale told The Hill. “They set themselves up for it with their MAGA base, and now the pedo chickens are coming home to roost.”een President Trump and a conservative base that’s stood firmly behind the president on virtually every issue he tackles.
And they are not veiling their sense of schadenfreude.
“This is like me dunking on my 8-year-old and his friends on the short hoops at school,” Democratic strategist Eddie Vale told The Hill. “They set themselves up for it with their MAGA base, and now the pedo chickens are coming home to roost.”
Chris Hedges: The Persecution of Francesca Albanese
Albanese, who regularly receives death threats and endures well-orchestrated smear campaigns directed by Israel and its allies, valiantly seeks to hold those who support and sustain the genocide accountable. She lambasts what she calls “the moral and political corruption of the world” that allows the genocide to continue. Her office has issued detailed reports documenting war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, one of which, called “Genocide as colonial erasure,” I have reprinted as an appendix in my latest book, “A Genocide Foretold."
Trump Sets 50% U.S. Tariffs On Copper, Brazilian Imports Starting In August
U.S. President Donald Trump launched his global tariff assault into overdrive on Wednesday, announcing a new 50% tariff on U.S. copper imports and a 50% duty on goods from Brazil, both to start on August 1.
“I am announcing a 50% TARIFF on Copper, effective August 1, 2025, after receiving a robust NATIONAL SECURITY ASSESSMENT,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social media platform, a reference to a “Section 232″ national security trade investigation into the red metal that has been underway.
The announcement came hours after he also informed Brazil that its “reciprocal” tariff on August 1 would rise to 50% from 10%, a shockingly high level for a country with a balanced U.S. trade relationship.
Trump first broached the copper tariff during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, setting off a scramble by companies to import as much copper as soon as possible from Chile and other major suppliers.
He blamed the decline of the U.S. copper industry on past administrations, saying copper was needed for semiconductors, aircraft, electric vehicle batteries and military hardware.
Supreme Court won't let Florida enforce controversial immigration law
Florida can't enforce a controversial new law targeting undocumented immigrants entering Florida, the Supreme Court said on July 9 in rejecting an emergency appeal from the state.
The decision leaves in place a lower court's pause on the law while it's being challenged.
The law, which made it a felony for certain immigrants to enter Florida, was passed to help carry out President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier told the Supreme Court the law is needed to protect residents from "the deluge of illegal immigration."
"If a State's police powers are powers at all, they allow a State to criminalize harms destructive to the community," he wrote in the appeal.
Seventeen states told the Supreme Court they're backing Florida's position as did the Trump administration.
Trump caught off guard by Pentagon’s abrupt move to pause Ukraine weapons deliveries, AP sources say
The Pentagon, which announced last week that it would hold back some air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons pledged to Ukraine because of what U.S. officials said were concerns that American stockpiles were in short supply. Trump said Monday that the U.S. will have to send more weapons to Ukraine, effectively reversing the move.
Two of the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the sensitive internal discussions, said there was some internal opposition among Pentagon brass to the pause — coordinated by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby — before it was announced.
A boy with a brain injury fights for his life in Gaza’s decimated health system
It’s as if the whole weight of Israel’s war in Gaza has fallen on Amr al-Hams. The 3-year-old has shrapnel in his brain from an Israeli strike on his family’s tent. His pregnant mother was killed. His father is paralyzed by grief over the death of his longtime sweetheart.
Now the boy is lying in a hospital bed, unable to speak, unable to move, losing weight, while doctors don’t have the supplies to treat his brain damage or help in his rehabilitation after a weekslong blockade and constant bombardment.
Recently out of intensive care, Amr’s frail body twists in visible pain. His wide eyes dart around the room. His aunt is convinced he’s looking for his mother. He can’t speak, but she believes he is trying to say “mom.”
“I am trying as much as I can. It is difficult,” said his aunt Nour al-Hams, his main caregiver, sitting next to him on the bed in Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. “What he is living through is not easy.”
To reassure him, his aunt sometimes says his mother will be back soon. Other times, she tries to distract him, handing him a small ball.Recently out of intensive care, Amr’s frail body twists in visible pain. His wide eyes dart around the room. His aunt is convinced he’s looking for his mother. He can’t speak, but she believes he is trying to say “mom.”
“I am trying as much as I can. It is difficult,” said his aunt Nour al-Hams, his main caregiver, sitting next to him on the bed in Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. “What he is living through is not easy.”
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- Palestinians fear razing of villages in West Bank, as settlers circle their homes
- Pentagon provided $2.4tn to private arms firms to ‘fund war and weapons’, report finds
- Supreme Court Clears The Way For Trump 's Plans To Downsize The Federal Work Force
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