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Taurus missiles ready to take action Friedrich Merz who won the legislative elections in Germany at the end of February, has expressed openness to continue military aid to Kiev. "I have always said I would only do it in agreement with European partners," he stated. "It must be coordinated and if it's coordinated, then Germany should participate." According to Merz, "the Ukrainian army needs to get out of its defensive position. It's merely reacting". Turning point in the War in Ukraine: Germany steps in

New research published in the New England Journal of Medicine analysed nearly 74,000 people in the US and 16 European countries who were between 50 and 85 years old in 2010, and tracked their survival through 2022. Across all groups, the US death rate was 6.5 per 1,000 during the study period. That compares with rates of 2.9 in northern and western Europe, 4.9 in southern Europe, and 5.8 in eastern Europe. Wealthy Americans had lower survival rates than rich people in southern Europe – as well as everyone in northern and western Europe, regardless of how wealthy they were, the study found; the survival rate for wealthy Americans was on par with the poorest people in northern and western Europe, and with eastern Europeans overall. Why do wealthy Americans only live as long as poor people in western Europe?

Egypt and Qatar, acting as mediators in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas regarding a ceasefire and a deal on hostages, have made a new proposal to the parties. This proposal includes, among other things, a long-term ceasefire, according to the BBC. Representatives from Cairo and Doha proposed to Israel and Hamas a ceasefire agreement lasting 5 to 7 years, with the official end of the war, complete withdrawal of Israeli forces (IDF) from the Gaza Strip, and the release of "all Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails." This proposal was shared with a British publication by a senior Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations. Ceasefire for 5-7 years - Egypt and Qatar offered Israel and Hamas new agreement

MSNBC's Steve Benen cited a recent Wall Street Journal report about Trump cabinet secretaries going to extraordinary lengths to subvert trade advisor Peter Navarro in order to convince Trump to pause his tariffs and allow the stock markets to rebound. Benen also cited the division between DOGE chief Elon Musk and Nav, Musk called the trade adviser a “moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks" and the apparent anti-Navarro alliance between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Benen concluded, "Trump appears content to play the role of President Bystander, watching these divisions get even worse." 'Not supposed to work this way': Analyst claims in-fighting is tearing White House apart

NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. multinational companies are extending their currency hedges to longer periods to shield their cash flows from potential exchange rate volatility triggered by the Trump administration's tariff policies. "Over the past week, we've seen a group of clients push their hedges out to the maximum available tenor as they look to lock in protection and ride out near-term instability," said Eric Huttman, CEO of MillTechFX. Instead of hedging short-term risks, Garth Appelt, head of FX & emerging markets derivatives at Mizuho Americas, said his clients are now hedging two to five years out as dollar weakness has become one of the biggest fallouts of the tariff-related market turmoil. Analysis-US multinationals extend currency hedges to counter Trump's tariff volatility

(Reuters) -European equity funds drew massive inflows in the week ended April 16, while U.S. funds faced hefty outflows, as investors continued to shift capital on concerns over U.S. trade tariffs and mounting worries over the strength of the U.S. economy. According to LSEG Lipper data, investors bought a net $11.13 billion in European equity funds and $3.64 billion in Asian equity funds. However, U.S. equity funds witnessed an outflow of $10.62 billion. European stocks tumbled earlier this month after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed hefty tariffs on its trading partners, but have since recovered slightly following his announcement of a 90-day pause on the reciprocal measures. Investors pour into European equity funds, flee U.S. on tariff woes

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) celebrated following the death of Pope Francis on Monday. "Today there were major shifts in global leaderships," Greene wrote on X just hours after the pontiff died. "Evil is being defeated by the hand of God." Greene's remarks came after Rep. Nancy Mace's (R-SC) bizarrely insisted that a visit by U.S. Vice President JD Vance did not lead to the pope's death. 'Evil is being defeated by God': Marjorie Taylor Greene celebrates after Pope's death

Two globetrotting German teenagers had their travel plans upended when they were denied entry to the U.S. and detained by border officers who called their trip “suspicious,” according to a report. Charlotte Pohl, 19, and Maria Lepère, 18. were interrogated in Honolulu International Airport for hours and allegedly subjected to body scans and strip searches before, finally, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents denied them entry to the country and said they would be deported, according to the outlet. ”They found it suspicious that we hadn't fully booked our accommodations for the entire five weeks in Hawaii,” Pohl said. “We wanted to travel spontaneously. Just like we had done in Thailand and New Zealand.'' Teenage German tourists handcuffed and deported from Hawaii over ‘suspicious’ hotel booking Forget the USA folks until there's a change of government and the authorities can learn to control their paranoia.

Despair in Gaza as Israeli aid blockade creates crisis ‘unmatched in severity’ Many people the Observer spoke to said they are now more afraid of famine than airstrikes. “Many times, I have had to give up my share of food for my son because of the severe shortages. It is the hunger that will kill me – a slow death,” said Hikmat al-Masri, a 44-year-old university lecturer from Beit Lahia in north Gaza.

The Israeli military continued to conduct dozens of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip over the Jewish weekend from Friday evening to Saturday evening. The air force carried out around 150 attacks on "terrorists and terror infrastructure" over the period, the military said on Saturday. Over the past seven days, 300 targets have been attacked in the fight against the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, and since the resumption of hostilities on March 18, more than 1,400 targets have been hit from the air, the military said further. The Israeli military typically does not provide information on the number of civilian casualties resulting from its operations. Israel intensifies operations in Gaza Strip with dozens of airstrikes

'Complete meltdown': Top Pentagon staffers fired as 'chaos' engulfs Hegseth’s inner circle Politico reported Friday that three senior Pentagon officials have now been fired as part of the leak investigation: Hegseth senior advisor Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll — who was Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg's chief of staff — have all been officially terminated. Additional firings may be announced soon. According to CBS senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs, "at least one uniformed Pentagon official" was also fired in addition to Hegseth's top aides.

The Trump administration on Thursday announced new fees on Chinese-built and Chinese-owned ships docking at U.S. ports. The fees are part of a broader effort to weaken China's dominance in shipbuilding and maritime transport, after U.S. trade officials concluded that China’s shipbuilding sector benefited from unfair competitive advantages. Chinese-run ships will face charges of $50 per net ton on each trip to the United States beginning in mid-October. That will increase to $140 in three years. Additionally, even non-Chinese carriers using ships built by that country face fees of $18 initially, and that, too, will rise. "Because Chinese ships make up a large and growing share of the global fleet, carriers will invariably pass on the costs to customers," the Wall Street Journal warned, "None of this industrial policy is likely to make American shipbuilding great again. Like the tariffs, they will be a deadweight on the U.S. economy." 'Deadweight on the economy': WSJ's conservative editors warn Trump 'whacking' Americans

In Sevastopol, a mass evacuation of the families of senior officers of the Russian Black Sea Fleet is being reported. They are urgently leaving the Crimean Peninsula, according to the Telegram channel of the partisan movement ATESH. Agents of the resistance movement have revealed that almost all families of senior officers of the Russian Black Sea Fleet have urgently left the occupied Crimea. "Currently, panic is observed in the units of the Russian Black Sea Fleet – according to our information, in early April, a directive from 'superiors' was issued regarding the implementation of additional security measures at military sites on the peninsula," reports the ATESH movement. It is also noted that covert patrols by reservists from BARS in civilian clothes are being conducted in the bays of Sevastopol, and there is an increase in security as well as attempts to hide military equipment. "Additionally, all leave for the Russian army has been canceled," the partisans emphasize. Representatives of the movement suggest that the Russian forces may have started implementing Ukraine's directive regarding the termination of the agreement on the presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol. Also, in mid-March, ATESH reported that Russia is hiding ships in the bays of Sevastopol, fearing strikes from the Ukrainian Defence Forces. Russian officers' families flee en masse from occupied Crimea - ATESH

Russia violated its energy ceasefire with Ukraine more than 30 times since both nations agreed to the deal according to comments made by a spokesperson from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on April 16th. Tykhyi was speaking at a briefing and revealed that in the 24 hours Russia had violated the energy infrastructure ceasefire three times, damaging transformers in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions. However, despite the 30-day ceasefire deal going into effect, Russia launched several attacks that hit energy infrastructure in the weeks that followed, including attacks on the Kharkiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kherson regions. Russia violated its ceasefire with Ukraine 30 times in less than a month

The US will not hinder Ukraine’s obligations related to its European Union accession process in the upcoming US-Ukraine mineral deal, according to a 'Memorandum of Intent' seen by Euronews. According to the one-page document, signed by Ukraine's first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko and US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent on Thursday evening, a key round of negotiations is set to take place in Washington between 21 and 26 April. “The United States respects Ukraine's intention to avoid conflicts in the drafting of the agreement with Ukraine's obligations under European Union accession or agreements with international financial institutions and other official creditors,” the document says. Leaked: US won’t block Ukraine’s EU path in mineral deal talks

A cyberattack of unprecedented scale has rocked the Kremlin. The international hacker collective Anonymous says it launched the operation and calls it one of their largest ever. According to reports, 10 terabytes of highly sensitive data have been exposed in the breach. Anonymous posted a statement on X: “To defend Ukraine, Anonymous has leaked 10TB of data on all companies operating in Russia, Kremlin assets in the West, pro-Russian officials, Donald Trump, and more.” The leaked data reportedly includes information on Kremlin financial assets, foreign business links, and connections to former U.S. President Donald Trump. This latest leak is being described as one of the biggest cyberattacks of the Russia-Ukraine war, with the potential for global political fallout. Massive Cyberattack Hits Putin’s Presidential Palace

You said Hamas doesn't distinguish between civilians and their own terrorists in body counts. Yet the article states the attack on the southern city of Khan Younis, resulted in at least 16 deaths, most of them women and children. So are you saying these women and children were terrorists?

Please post some links showing women and children are acting as terrorists in Gaza

For anyone interested in finding about more regarding the minerals in Ukraine, I urge them to read the following article: How Ukraine’s 2.5-bn-year-old rock deposit became central to helping stop Russia Ukraine has deposits containing 22 of 34 critical minerals identified by the European Union as essential for energy security. This positions Ukraine among the world’s most resource-rich nations. Lithium is used in electronics the world over: electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels and energy storage systems all require lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements which Ukraine has in abundance. The price of lithium has surged from US$1,500 (£1,164) per ton in the 1990s to around $20,000 per ton in recent years. Demand is expected to increase nearly 40-fold by 2040. Apart from lithium, Ukraine has significant deposits of rutile, iron ore, titanium, manganese ore, uranium, plus deposits of rare earth elements, including neodymium and dysprosium.

The thing is would US companies go trooping over the Ukraine countryside if the war was still on? Some say companies wouldn't want to invest all that money in digging and extraction unless the war was clearly over.