Wednesday, Sep 17th
Last update06:51:08 AM GMT
The cofounder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and six other people have been arrested after disrupting a United States Senate hearing to protest Washington’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
The arrests on Wednesday came as US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr was giving testimony to lawmakers on his shake-up of federal health agencies.
“Congress kills poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs and pays for it by kicking kids off Medicaid in the US,” Cohen said as he was escorted away by police.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin needed to see "certain dynamics" on the battlefield before agreeing to an extended ceasefire, insisting arms deliveries from Ukraine's allies must stop before there can be a pause in hostilities.
"Otherwise, it will be advantage for Ukraine. Ukraine will continue their total mobilization, bringing new troops to front line. Ukraine will use this period to train new military personnel and to give a rest to their existing ones," Peskov told ABC News' Chief Global Affairs Correspondent and "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz. "So why should we grant such an advantage to Ukraine?"
Peskov also asserted that Ukraine is "not ready for immediate negotiations," denying that Putin was the one dragging his feet.
"President Putin is doing whatever is possible to solve the problem, to achieve a settlement through peaceful and diplomatic means. But having no peaceful and democratic means at hand, we have to continue military operation," he said.
The United States will begin admitting the first group of White South African refugees next week, whom President Trump’s administration has argued have been victims of “racial discrimination.”
“The refugee program is not intended as a solution for global poverty. And historically it has been used that way…this is an example of the president returning the refugee program to what it’s intended to be used as,” White House’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said Friday.
“What’s happening in South Africa fits the textbook definition of why the refugee program was created…race based persecution,” Miller, Trump’s chief immigration policy architect, told reporters.
Israel's ongoing blockade of humanitarian assistance for Gaza forced a leading aid group to shut its community soup kitchens Thursday as it faced empty warehouses and no replenishment of supplies in the war-battered enclave.
U.S.-based World Central Kitchen, which was serving 133,000 meals per day, said there is almost no food left in Gaza with which to cook.
The ongoing hunger is threatening Gaza's population, already battered by 19 months of war. In April, the World Food Program said its food stocks in Gaza had run out under Israel's blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory.
Three people were killed and seven others, including two children, were missing after a small boat capsized in choppy waters off the coast of San Diego, California, on Monday.
The fatal disaster appeared to be an apparent migrant smuggling attempt, officials said. Four other people were rescued after the “panga”-style open fishing vessel washed ashore near Torrey Pines state beach were transported to hospital, according to US Coast Guard officials.
A search was ongoing for the seven people who remained unaccounted for, said a Coast Guard spokesperson, chief petty officer Levi Read. He said two children were believed to be among the missing. Of the four rescued from the panga capsizing, one was listed in critical condition when rescued, according to a statement from the city of Encinitas.
Activists who were planning to sail a ship to Gaza say it was struck by drones in international waters off the coast of Malta - appearing to accuse Israel of being behind the attack.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said its ship The Conscience was targeted at 00:23 local time on Friday and issued an SOS signal right after the attack.
The BBC was sent a recording of the distress call from the flotilla ship, recorded by a crew member on a nearby oil tanker. The captain of the flotilla ship can clearly be heard reporting drone strikes and a fire onboard.
The Maltese government said everyone aboard the ship was "confirmed safe" and that a fire onboard the ship was "brought under control overnight".
Israel's war in Gaza grinds on, but opposition is growing.In recent weeks, thousands of Israeli reservists – from all branches of the military – have signed letters demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government stop the fighting and concentrate instead on reaching a deal to bring back the remaining 59 hostages being held by Hamas.
Eighteen months ago, few Israelis doubted the war's logic: to defeat Hamas and return the hostages.
For many, the January ceasefire and subsequent return of more than 30 hostages raised hopes that the war might soon end.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced again Saturday that Israel has “no choice” but to continue fighting in Gaza and will not end the war before destroying Hamas, freeing the hostages and ensuring that the territory won’t present a threat to Israel.
The prime minister also repeated his vow to make sure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.
Netanyahu is under growing pressure at home not only from families of hostages and their supporters but also from reservist and retired Israeli soldiers who question the continuation of the war after Israel shattered a ceasefire last month. In his statement, he claimed that Hamas has rejected Israel’s latest proposal to free half the hostages for a continued ceasefire.
Shortly before 1 a.m. on Saturday, the Supreme Court issued an emergency order halting the Trump administration’s reported efforts to fly Venezuelan migrants to an El Salvador prison before they could challenge their deportation. The court’s late-night intervention is an extraordinary and highly unusual rebuke to the government, one that may well mark a turning point in the majority’s approach to this administration.
For months, SCOTUS has given the government every benefit of the doubt, accepting the Justice Department’s dubious assertions and awarding Trump immense deference. On Saturday, however, a majority of justices signaled that they no longer trust the administration to comply with the law, including the court’s own rulings. If that is indeed the case, we are likely careening toward a head-on conflict between the president and the court, with foundational principles of constitutional democracy hanging in the balance.
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