Author: Robert Jones
Top Trump administration officials are set to meet with senior Russian officials to begin talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, according to multiple sources. National security adviser Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are expected to travel to Saudi Arabia for the meeting with senior Russian officials, two sources familiar with the plans tell CNN. One of the sources said the meeting will take place in the coming days. The sources declined to say which Russian officials would be in attendance, but CNN has previously reported the Kremlin is assembling a…
Top Trump administration officials are set to meet with senior Russian officials to begin talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, according to multiple sources. National security adviser Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are expected to travel to Saudi Arabia for the meeting with senior Russian officials, two sources familiar with the plans tell CNN. One of the sources said the meeting will take place in the coming days. The sources declined to say which Russian officials would be in attendance, but CNN has previously reported the Kremlin is assembling a…
The protest comes after Hamas handed over three male Israeli captives as part of the ceasefire agreementThousands of pro-Palestine demonstrators have marched through central London to protest Donald Trump’s proposal for the US to “take over” the Gaza Strip. Waving Palestinian flags and brandishing placards saying “hands off Gaza”, several thousand people walked from Whitehall, in Westminster, to the US embassy in Nine Elms, in southwest London on Saturday. Protesters also held banners that read “Stand up to Trump” and “Mr Trump, Canada is not your 51st state. Gaza is not your 52nd”. A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator carries placards during a…
Russian drone strikes have damaged a thermal power plant in Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine overnight, leaving 46,000 consumers without heating as temperatures plunge below freezing, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said. “This was done deliberately to leave people without heat in sub-zero temperatures and create a humanitarian catastrophe,” Shmyhal said on the Telegram messenger app. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack had a much higher impact, leaving 100,000 in the city without heat. “An ordinary Ukrainian city. Ordinary civilian infrastructure. It has nothing to do with hostilities or the frontline situation,” he said in a post on X. “This…
President Donald Trump’s moves to fire thousands of federal government workers have coincided with a surge in jobless claims in Washington, D.C., that could get worse as the efforts intensify.Since Trump has taken office, nearly 4,000 workers in the city have filed for unemployment insurance as part of a surge that began at the start of the new year, according to Labor Department figures not adjusted for seasonal factors.In all, just shy of 7,000 claims have been filed in the six weeks of the new year, or about 55% more than in the prior six-week period. Filings rose to 1,780 for the…
CNN — A federal appeals court on Saturday allowed the head of a government ethics watchdog agency, whom President Donald Trump fired last week, to stay on the job. It’s a decision that will likely tee up the fight over similar dismissals for the Supreme Court. The appeals court decision let stand a restraining order that permits Hampton Dellinger to temporarily remain in his post as special counsel. Dellinger, who was serving a five-year term, was appointed by President Joe Biden. The Office of Special Counsel — which is distinct from the special counsels appointed to oversee politically sensitive Justice…
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Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, is playing a central role in the Trump administration’s approach to securing peace in both Gaza and Ukraine. Here’s what he said today on each front: Gaza ceasefire: Witkoff expressed confidence that phase two of the uneasy ceasefire and hostage exchange deal between Israel and Hamas would take place. “Phase two is absolutely going to begin,” he said during an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” noting that he spoke by phone today with leaders in Israel, Qatar and Egypt. Phase two of the ceasefire would…
Letters went out to dozens of probationary employees in at least one section of the Department of Transportation that said part of the reason they were being fired was for poor performance, according to a copy of the letter obtained by NBC News.But as a source familiar and a secondary document viewed by NBC News laid out, most of those employees were rated as being “exceptional” performers by their supervisors.We’re looking to hear from federal government workers. If you’re willing to talk with us, please email us at tips@nbcuni.com or contact us through one of these methods.“Employee has demonstrated exceptional performance and has no…
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has fully endorsed Israel’s war aims in the Gaza Strip, saying Hamas “must be eradicated” and throwing the future of the shaky ceasefire into further doubt. Rubio met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in West Jerusalem on Sunday at the start of a regional tour, where he is likely to face pushback from Arab leaders over US President Donald Trump’s proposal to displace the Palestinian population from the Gaza Strip and redevelop it under United States ownership, a plan that human rights organisations have called ethnic cleansing. “The president has also been very…