TV News LIES

New York’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has received a baby box from the Scottish government after modelling part of his election campaign on Edinburgh’s example of providing each expectant mother with a set of essentials.

Scotland’s social justice secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville, said it would help the city’s leader develop his own plans for a “baby basket”.

She said: “I read with interest that mayor Mamdani was considering a baby basket scheme in New York and hope that, by sending a Scottish example, it will provide inspiration to help him to refine and develop his exciting policy.

“Scots share much in common with the people of New York; not least our history and heritage – as celebrated every year during New York Tartan Week.

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At least 11 Palestinians killed in surge of Israeli attacks across Gaza: The bodies of 11 Palestinians arrived at hospitals in Gaza between this morning and 4:00pm local time, while six Palestinians were injured, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The Health ministry has not updated the total death toll recorded since October 7, 2023, which on Tuesday stood at 71,551 killed, with 171,372 injured.

Three journalists among those killed in Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday: Three Palestinian journalists—Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Samir Shaath, and Anas Ghanem—were killed in Israeli attacks on Wednesday. The journalists were targeted in a strike on their car, while filming for an Egyptian government humanitarian initiative in the central town of Zahraa. Footage of the aftermath of the strike showed the targeted vehicle clearly marked with the Egyptian Committee’s logo.

Over 260 journalists have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza. In separate Israeli attacks on Wednesday, a man and his 13-year-old son were killed in an Israeli drone strike, along with a 22-year-old man, while collecting firewood on the east side of Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to the Associated Press. Another 13-year-old boy was shot and killed by the Israeli military in Bani Suhaila, eastern Khan Younis.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters in Davos, Switzerland, that the territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia remains unresolved after his conversation with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Thursday.

The forum’s agenda has been dominated by the diplomatic response to Trump’s threats to gain control of NATO ally Denmark’s mineral-rich Arctic territory, Greenland. But, after a false start on Wednesday, the two leaders finally held a “good” meeting – in Trump’s word – on Thursday.

“It’s all about the eastern part of our country. It’s all about the land. This is the issue which we [have) not solved yet,” Zelensky told reporters afterwards, as per AFP.

The US administration has been determinedly upbeat about the state of negotiations to end Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine since before Christmas – perhaps, as it turns out, with some merit. Zelensky also said that he and Trump had finalized the terms of US security guarantees for Ukraine – describing them as “done.”

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Trump withdraws invitation for Canada to join his global ‘board of peac

Donald Trump withdrew on Thursday an invitation for Canada to join his “board of peace” initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts.

“Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post directed at the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney.

Trump launched his “board of peace” initiative at the World Economic Forum in Davos, claiming it would be “one of the most consequential bodies ever created in the history of the world”. The board, which will be chaired by Trump, was originally described as a temporary body to oversee the governance and reconstruction of Gaza.

Permanent members must help fund the board with a payment of $1bn each, according to Trump.

While the leaders of many liberal democracies declined to sign on to Trump’s new international organization, Carney had, before Davos, accepted in principle, though he said on Sunday his officials had not yet gone through “all the details of the structure, how it’s going to work, what the financing is for, etcetera”.

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Many of the countries that signed on to join President Trump’s “Board of Peace” to stabilize Gaza are also banned from immigrant visas by the State Department. 

Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Morocco, Mongolia, Pakistan and Uzbekistan are among the 75 countries the Trump administration has deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio instructed consular officers to halt immigrant visa applications from these nations earlier this year. 

“President Trump has made clear that immigrants must be financially self-sufficient and not be a financial burden to Americans,” the State Department “The Department of State is undergoing a full review of all policies, regulations, and guidance to ensure that immigrants from these high-risk countries do not utilize welfare in the United States or become a public charge,” it added.wrote in a release last week.

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The U.S. is moving additional military assets into the Middle East amid speculation Trump could green light an attack on Iran at any moment. More than a dozen F-15 fighter jets have been deployed along with the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. The sense that an overt war is imminent has abated and the protests, riots, and bloodshed in the streets of Iran that took place earlier this month have, for now, ended, yet the incendiary situation remains liable to develop into wider conflict.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that if Iran sought to assassinate him, “the whole country’s going to get blown up.” “I have very firm instructions,” he continued. “Anything happens, they’re going to wipe them off the face of this earth.” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that any attempt to assassinate Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “is tantamount to a full-scale war with the Iranian nation.”

Drop Site News’s Jeremy Scahill spoke to Dr. Foad Izadi, professor of American studies and international relations at University of Tehran, on Wednesday. They discussed the origins of the protests, the narrative war, how Iran might respond to another military attack by the U.S. and more.

“The U.S. wants to repeat the Libya experience, disintegrate Iran, take out the oil-rich southern part, and then the rest of the country would fall apart. This is the ultimate plan they have,” said Izadi. “I don’t think they have given up. I think Trump has basically given the Iran portfolio to Netanyahu. He decides what to do. And then basically Trump implements whatever Netanyahu has decided to do. And Trump is going to be in office for another three years. So I don’t think they are done with Iran.”

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