In recent months, European expressions of concern over the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have regularly hardened into outright condemnation. Last September, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, expressed horror and outrage at aid restrictions that she said created a “man-made famine” in Gaza. Brussels has inveighed against settler violence and land grabs in the West Bank, which undermine the possibility of a viable Palestinian state. Responding to the bombing of Lebanon following the US-Israeli ceasefire with Iran, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said: “Israel’s right to self-defence does not justify this destruction.”
The angry words and exhortations have achieved nothing. Mr Netanyahu and his ministers have generally treated European critics with barely concealed contempt, presumably reassured by the fact that their chief allies in the White House tend to behave in exactly the same fashion. The EU is Israel’s biggest trading partner, and the academic benefits it confers through Israeli participation in the Horizon research programme are considerable. But internal disunity, and an overoptimistic faith in the power of persuasion, have led to a reluctance by the bloc to use those relationships as leverage.
Belatedly, there are indications that a change in approach may be coming. The recent election humiliation for Hungary’s outgoing prime minister, Viktor Orbán, was also a bad result for Mr Netanyahu, who lost an invaluable far-right ally. In February, Hungary was the only EU country to vote against the adoption of sanctions against violent settlers in the West Bank, blocking a measure requiring unanimity. Once Mr Orbán’s successor is in office, it is expected that the proposal will come back to the table.
The Guardian view on the EU and Israel: moving beyond mere exhortation
Rep. Who Replaced Marjorie Taylor Greene Makes All Kinds Of Mistakes In Hotel AC Rant
In a rant (or major trolling job) on X Sunday griping about an air conditioner that shut off at a Maryland hotel while he slept, the Donald Trump-endorsed lawmaker falsely asserted that Georgia is named for George Washington (it’s named for King George II) and that Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. was born there (he’s from Venezuela).
He also erroneously called Maryland “newer to the union” (it’s one of the 13 original colonies) and appeared to taunt the University of Maryland for never winning an SEC title (it’s a member of the Big Ten conference after being in the ACC for many years) and for not having a football team at all (it does).
He also said that if University of Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton were born in Maryland, “he’d play some fake sport like lacrosse.”
Fuller got agitated by waking up in a Maryland hotel room that he said was too hot. He said he was then informed by the front desk that the motion-sensor air conditioning was shut off at night “because of an AOC Green New Deal thing.” While there may be a hotel or regional policy in place, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s environmental initiative was never passed.
White House: Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will leave job
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is leaving the Trump administration, the White House announced on April 20.
She is the third Cabinet member to depart this year. All are women. Her exit comes amid allegations of misconduct and after multiple outlets reported that an investigation into her leadership was well underway.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in an X post that Chavez-DeRemer would be leaving the administration to take a job in the private sector. He did not say where.
"She has done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labor practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives," Cheung wrote.
U.S. seizes Iranian cargo ship in Strait of Hormuz
The U.S. has seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz after firing on its engine room, President Trump said in a post on social media.
Trump wrote that the U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS Spruance intercepted the Touska in the Gulf of Oman.
The U.S. Navy "gave them fair warning to stop. The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
He said U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel and that it is "under U.S. Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity."
Israel's campaign of terror in Lebanon takes another psychopathic turn
On 8 April, Israel's military launched the psychopathically titled Operation Eternal Darkness against Lebanon, with predictably macabre results. In the span of a mere 10 minutes, Israel struck more than 100 sites across the country, killing more than 300 people and wounding at least 1,150.
The killing spree took place amid the regional ceasefire that had ostensibly taken hold after five weeks of cataclysmic war unleashed on Iran by the US and Israel.
Of course, Israel is not much one for ceasefires - and especially not when it comes to Lebanon. In just seven months following the so-called ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon in November 2024, Israel not only continued to occupy territory in southern Lebanon but also kept up regular air strikes on the country, killing no fewer than 250 people. And things only went downhill from there.
'All changed with the genocide': Palestinian women and girls face brutal abuse in Israeli jails
Once you picture schoolgirls, university students, mothers, aunts and grandmothers lying on their stomachs in prison pyjamas - their hands tied behind their backs, and soldiers looming over them, beating them if they move even slightly - you cannot forget the image.
When you hear a female prisoner say she has "nothing but her heart", you immediately grasp how prison can dismantle lives.
Palestinian Prisoners’ Day is marked every year on 17 April to spotlight ongoing human rights violations - and today, conditions are worse than ever. Since the launch of the Gaza genocide, starvation, isolation, humiliation, strip searches, torture and overwhelming fear have become constant realities for Palestinian women in Israeli prisons.
More than 700 Palestinian women have been arrested in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza since the genocide began in late 2023, according to rights groups. Enduring night raids on their homes or detention at military checkpoints, most have been subjected to physical and psychological abuse both during and after their arrest.
“Everything is different from the prisons of the 1990s. All changed with the genocide,” Ramallah-based lawyer Sahar Francis, who is also the former director of the prisoners’ rights group Addameer, told a recent webinar entitled Women, Prison Sumoud.
Kyiv Gunman Shot Dead By Police After Killing Six, Injuring 14
A deadly shooting spree in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district ended with the liquidation of the attacker by police special forces after he killed s people and took several hostages in a local supermarket.
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Saturday, April 18 that the perpetrator was neutralized during a storming operation by elite KORD units.
According to the president, 10 people remain hospitalized with various injuries, and four hostages were successfully rescued during the assault. “The circumstances are being clarified. My condolences to the families and friends of the victims,” Zelensky stated, adding that he has instructed the Interior Ministry and the National Police to provide the public with all verified information.
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko identified the attacker as a 58-year-old native of Moscow who utilized automatic weapons. Before barricading himself in the Velmart supermarket, the gunman opened fire on civilians and reportedly set fire to the apartment where he was registered.
Mamdani and Obama make first joint appearance at Bronx child care center
As the two leaders entered the pre-K classroom, a group of 19 students dressed in blue and plaid school uniforms let out squeals upon seeing Mamdani. Their teachers, who knew the mayor was coming but not his special guest, gasped at the sight of the 44th president of the United States.
“My name’s Barack,” the president said, introducing himself to the children. As the two men took seats in front of the kids, the children started shouting out their own names, and with one boy shouting out, “I know who you are, you are Mamdani.”
During the event, which was first reported by Politico, Mamdani and Obama read to the students and joined them in a rousing rendition of the “Wheels of the Bus.” Before meeting with the children, they discussed Mamdani's affordability-focused vision for the city — including universal child care, according to the mayor.
Obama and Mamdani did not take questions.
This marks their first face-to-face meeting and comes months after Obama called Mamdani just before Election Day in November. The former president praised Mamdani's campaign and offered to be a sounding board if he won the election. During the Bronx event, there was also a clear chemistry between Mamdani and Obama, who interacted with the children and teased each other with ease.
Monstrous category 5 typhoon hits US territories
American territories are recovering after a category 5 super typhoon hit Western Pacific islands before peak storm season.
Typhoon Sinlaku hit Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands beginning April 11 after rapidly developing into a category 5 storm. Territorial and federal officials have issued emergency declarations. The storm left power outages, flooded homes and roofs ripped from homes in its wake. So far, no deaths have been reported.
The powerful storm, which had winds reach at least 175 mph, hit before most typhoons form between May and October, though NASA said the season is yearlong in the Western Pacific.
“We’re actively recovering to get our people back into their business and to their lives again,” Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said in an April 16 video address.
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- Trump nominates Erica Schwartz, ex-deputy surgeon general, as CDC director
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