TV News LIES

The top United Nations official on Thursday said the United States has a “legal obligation” to keep paying its dues that fund U.N. agencies after the White House announced that it is withdrawing support from more than 30 initiatives operated by the world body.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he regretted President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from 31 U.N.-related agencies, including the U.N.’s population agency and the U.N. treaty that establishes international climate negotiations. The U.S. will also depart from dozens of other global organizations or initiatives not affiliated with the U.N.

“As we have consistently underscored, assessed contributions to the United Nations regular budget and peacekeeping budget, as approved by the General Assembly, are a legal obligation under the UN Charter for all Member States, including the United States,” Stephane Dujarric, a spokesperson for Guterres, said in a statement.

He added that despite the announcement, the U.N. entities targeted will keep doing their work: “The United Nations has a responsibility to deliver for those who depend on us.”

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Israel has cleared the final hurdle before starting construction on a contentious settlement project near Jerusalem that would effectively cut the West Bank in two, according to a government tender.

The tender, which seeks bids from developers, would clear the way to begin construction of the E1 project.

The anti-settlement monitoring group Peace Now first reported the tender. Yoni Mizrahi, who runs the group’s settlement watch division, said initial work could begin within the month.

Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to U.S. pressure during previous administrations.

The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.

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President Donald Trump has lashed out at Nato after the alliance made several critical comments about US military ambitions in recent days.

The US leader said that if it weren’t for his involvement “Russia would have all of Ukraine right now”, adding that Russia had “zero fear of Nato” without the support of the US.

"Without my involvement, Russia would have ALL OF UKRAINE right now,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday.

“Russia and China have zero fear of Nato without the United States, and I doubt Nato would be there for us if we really needed them.”

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The president of the Beersheba District Court Judge Benny Sagi, who was the judge of Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption case, was killed on Sunday after a vehicle crashed into his motorcycle while he was traveling on Route 6.

According to police, a vehicle that was driving off-road came up onto the highway and hit Sagi’s motorbike, TImes of Israel said. 

Magen David Adom said medics and paramedics who arrived at the scene described the accident as “shocking.”

The president of the Beersheba District Court Judge Benny Sagi was killed on Sunday after a vehicle crashed into his motorcycle while he was traveling on Route 6.

According to police, a vehicle that was driving off-road came up onto the highway and hit Sagi’s motorbike.

Magen David Adom said medics and paramedics who arrived at the scene described the accident as “shocking.”

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The Trump administration will withdraw from dozens of international organizations, including the UN’s population agency and the UN treaty that establishes international climate negotiations, as the US further retreats from global cooperation.

Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order suspending US support for 66 organizations, agencies and commissions following his instructions for his administration to review participation in and funding for all international organizations, including those affiliated with the UN, according to a White House statement on social media.

Most of the targets are UN-related agencies, commissions and advisory panels that focus on climate, labor and other issues that the Trump administration has categorized as catering to diversity and “woke” initiatives.

“The Trump administration has found these institutions to be redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity,” the state department said in a statement.

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The United States seized two sanctioned oil tankers linked to Venezuela in back-to-back actions in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea, officials said Wednesday, and is removing sanctions to enable the shipping and sale of oil from the South American country to markets worldwide.

U.S. European Command announced the seizure of the merchant vessel Bella 1 for “violations of U.S. sanctions” in a social media post. The U.S. had been pursuing the tanker since last month after it tried to evade a U.S. blockade on sanctioned oil vessels around Venezuela.

Then, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem revealed that U.S. forces also took control of the tanker Sophia in the Caribbean. Noem said in a social media post both ships were “either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it.”

Noem said that both ships are part of a large “ghost fleet” of sanctioned vessels that carry oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela in defiance of Western sanctions, mostly to customers in Asia.

The Trump administration is “selectively” removing sanctions to enable the shipping and sale of Venezuelan oil to global markets, according to an outline of the policies published Wednesday by the Energy Department.

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