TV News LIES

The US has for the sixth time vetoed a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council that would have demanded an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.

US deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus said the text did not go far enough in condemning Hamas or recognise Israel's right to defend itself.

All 14 other members of the Security Council voted in favour of the draft resolution - which described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as "catastrophic" and called on Israel to lift all aid restrictions.

It comes as the UN's humanitarian office warns that the last lifelines for civilians are collapsing in Gaza City as Israel expands its military offensive.

On the global stage, Israel and its closest ally look increasingly isolated.

Speaking prior to the vote, Ortagus said Washington's opposition to the resolution should "come as no surprise".

"It fails to condemn Hamas or recognise Israel's right to defend itself, and it wrongly legitimises the false narratives benefitting Hamas, which have sadly found currency in this council," she said.

After the vote, UN members reacted swiftly to express their disappointment.

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Donald Trump announced on Friday that the US military has carried out another deadly strike on a vessel in the the Caribbean, killing three males on board the vessel whom Trump alleged were trafficking illicit narcotics.

“On my orders”, Trump wrote in a social media post shared by the White House and defense secretary, “the Secretary of War ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.”

Trump’s post included video of the strike and the fiery aftermath.

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage enroute to poison Americans”, the president claimed, without citing any legal authority for the latest in a series of extrajudicial killings of suspected drug smugglers.

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More than 700,000 Russian soldiers are currently fighting in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

Putin made the announcement at a meeting with parliamentary leaders in Moscow, the TASS news agency reported.

The meeting was primarily about creating quotas for the subsequent employment of veterans of the war.

"You see, there are more than 700,000 people on the front line," Putin was quoted as saying.

Whether the figure Putin quoted corresponds to reality cannot be independently verified.

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President Trump signed a proclamation on Friday to raise the fee for H-1B visa applications to $100,000, setting up a new barrier for companies to hire foreign workers.

Trump signed the proclamation on Friday to add the payment on top of current visas under H-1B, which are typically paid by an employer.

“We need workers, we need great workers and this pretty much ensure that that’s going to happen,” Trump said.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the new fee will prevent companies from training foreign workers and instead encourage them to hire Americans on a new front in the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.

“Stop bringing in people to take our jobs, that’s our policy here,” Lutnick said. “All of the big companies are on board. We’ve spoken to them about the gold card and this.”

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Israeli tanks and jets pounded Gaza City, the target of a major ground offensive, on Thursday, September 18, prompting Palestinians to flee south, where the Israeli military announced the deaths of four soldiers. AFP journalists and witnesses saw a steady stream of Gazans heading south on foot, in vehicles and on donkey carts – their meagre belongings piled high.

There is artillery fire, air strikes, quadcopter and drone gunfire. The bombing never stops," said Aya Ahmed, 32, sheltering with 13 relatives in Gaza City. "The world doesn't understand what is happening. They (Israel) want us to evacuate south – but where will we live? There are no tents, no transport, no money."

Palestinians say the cost of a ride to the south has soared, in some cases topping $1,000. "The situation is indescribable – crowds everywhere, the sound of explosions, women and men crying and screaming as they walked while carrying their belongings," said Shadi Jawad, 47, describing his family's ordeal as they fled their home on Wednesday. "God, send a missile to take us out and relieve us," he said.

The offensive has sparked international outrage, with the territory already devastated by nearly two years of war and the Gaza City area gripped by a UN-declared famine. It comes ahead of a planned move by several Western countries, including France and Britain, to recognize a Palestinian state later this month at the UN. US President Donald Trump, currently on a visit to Britain, said Thursday he had a "disagreement" with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over this.

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A giant radio telescope in Crimea used in the past to support missions to Mars and Venus and attempt to contact alien civilizations has been destroyed in a drone attack.

Ukrainian defense forces took down the 230-foot (70 meters) antenna dish to prevent Russian forces from using it to guide attacks on its territory. The RT-70 radio telescope has been under Russian control since the annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014. According to Defense Express, Russians carried out major upgrades to the 5,000 metric ton structure to use it for military communications.

In late August, footage emerged captured by a drone slamming into the 50-year-old radio telescope. The drone, according to Defense Express, aimed at the 200-kilowatt radio receiver at the heart of the telescope. The custom-made receiver produced in 2011 in Moscow during the last major upgrade of the telescope will be hard to replace, Defense Express said, meaning Russia will not likely be able to repair the antenna any time soon.

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