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After President Donald Trump spoke with both President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on two separate phone calls, he claims the ceasefire talks are back on and will begin “immediately.”

Trump Says Russia-Ukraine Ceasefire Talks will Begin Immediately Following Call with Putin– www.cbn.com
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Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” begin ceasefire negotiations, President Donald Trump said Monday after separate calls with the leaders of both countries meant to spur progress toward ending the three-year war. The conversations did not appear to yield a major breakthrough.

It was not clear when or where any talks might take place or who would participate. Trump’s announcement came days after the first direct engagement between Russian and Ukrainian delegations since 2022. Those negotiations Friday in Turkey brought about a limited exchange of prisoners but no pause in the fighting.

Ahead of the calls, the White House said Trump had grown “frustrated” with both leaders over the continuing war. Vice President JD Vance said Trump would press Russian President Vladimir Putin to see if he was truly interested in stopping the fighting, and if not, that the U.S. could disengage from trying to stop the conflict. Trump later told reporters that he believed Putin was serious about wanting peace.

“The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of,” Trump said in a social media post.

Former FBI Director sent out a not-so-veiled signal to far-left progressive terrorists to continue their efforts to assassinate Donald Trump by posting a picture on social media that said, in seashells on a beach, “86 47.” Response from the DNC criminal media incudes headlines like this from the Boston Globe – “James Comey calls controversy over Instagram post ‘a bit of a distraction’.”

James Comey calls controversy over Instagram post ‘a bit of a distraction’– www.bostonherald.com
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Former FBI director James Comey says that he’s still a bit bewildered over how a seemingly innocent Instagram shot of shells arranged in the sand led to allegations by Donald Trump among others that he was calling for the president’s assassination and to an interview with the Secret Service.

“It’s been a bit of a distraction, honestly,” Comey said with a weary laugh Monday night during an appearance at a Barnes & Noble on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Comey was promoting “FDR Drive,” a crime novel coming out this week. One of the book’s themes, ironically, is weighing the potential of speech to incite others to violence.

Comey, whom Trump fired in 2017 amid an FBI investigation into potential ties between Russia and Trump’s first presidential campaign, explained Monday that he and his wife, Patrice, had been returning from a walk on the beach last Thursday when they came upon some shells organized in a way that resembled numbers, including “86.”

They speculated over whether it was a home address, or a political message. His wife noted that “86” in some restaurants means they had run out of an ingredient. Comey remembered it was slang for saying something was boring and should be “ditched.”

“And she said, ‘You should take a picture of it.’ So I took a picture of it, and then we walk home and she said, ‘You should really put that on Instagram. It’s kind of a cool thing.’ I said, ‘You’re right. It’s a cool thing,’” he explained.

To many viewers, the numbers seemed to spell out 86 and 47. Merriam-Webster, the dictionary used by The Associated Press, says 86 is slang meaning “to throw out,” “to get rid of” or “to refuse service to.” It notes: “Among the most recent senses adopted is a logical extension of the previous ones, with the meaning of ’to kill.’”

In light of the recent announced advanced prostate cancer diagnosis of former President Joe Biden, non-DNC media is beginning to ask two questions: 1.) Was Joe Biden EVER the ACTUAL President?  2.) Who were the people (person) making the decisions for the incapacitated Biden?

Congress Must Grill Biden About Whether He Was Actually POTUS– thefederalist.com
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There can be no doubt now that the past four years contained arguably the most egregious cover-up in the history of American politics.

The term “soft coup” is probably more appropriate than cover-up, as the latter implies insiders were privy to information the general public was not. But any nonpartisan observer could see that from the very beginning of his 2020 presidential run, Joe Biden was not fully in command of his mental faculties. It only got worse from there until the curtain was lifted in front of the entire world on the debate stage in June 2024.

Yet even though we could clearly see the president mentally collapsing, those inside his administration and the dutifully pliant propaganda press tried to convince us that this man who wandered off aimlessly in the middle of photo ops with world leaders, meandered into the Amazon, and inquired if a deceased congresswoman was present at a conference was in reality a whirlwind who was energetic and on top of things. “I can’t even keep up with him!” claimed then-Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

This is not the first time a president has been incapacitated due to mental decline. Woodrow Wilson suffered a debilitating stroke 17 months before leaving office. In shades of Dr. Jill Biden, First Lady Edith Wilson acted as de facto president in her husband’s stead. Unlike today, however, there were far fewer press outlets in 1919, so Wilson’s condition was successfully buried by a complicit media. Old habits die hard, it seems.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that the latest ground force operation happing in Gaza right now is intended to enable Israel to “take over” Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to ‘take over’ the Gaza Strip – NBC News
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Iran’s Foreign Minister declared his country has no intentions to EVER end their nuclear military program, saying “I have said it before, and I repeat it again: uranium enrichment in Iran will continue – with or without an agreement.”

Iran says it will never stop enriching uranium and U.S. officials are wasting their breath– fortune.com
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Iran’s top diplomat insisted Wednesday that Tehran will never stop enriching uranium, further underlining the Islamic Republic’s red line in negotiations with the United States over its rapidly advancing nuclear program.

The comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi come after multiple rounds of talks between the two nations, including at an expert level over the details of a possible deal. However, none has been reached yet and American officials including President Donald TrumpMideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio maintain that Iran must give up enrichment — something it didn’t do in its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

“I have said it before, and I repeat it again: uranium enrichment in Iran will continue — with or without an agreement,” Araghchi said, according to state television.

Araghchi added that Iran is “currently reviewing whether to participate in the next round and when to take part” in talks with the U.S. The U.S. and Oman, which is mediating the negotiations, have yet to announce any fifth round of talks. Trump’s trip to the Mideast last week delayed any new meeting. Negotiators previously met in Muscat, Oman, and Rome.

“We have never abandoned diplomacy. We will always be present at the negotiating table, and the main reason for our presence is to defend the rights of the Iranian people,” Araghchi said. “We stand against excessive demands and rhetoric at the table.”

Araghchi’s remarks came a day after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said he didn’t expecting the negotiations to produce a deal.

“I don’t think nuclear talks with the U.S. will bring results. I don’t know,” Khamenei said.

The talks seek to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the U.S. has imposed on the Islamic Republic, closing in on half a century of enmity.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. Meanwhile, Israel has threatened to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities on its own if it feels threatened, further worsening tensions in the Mideast already spiked by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers capped Tehran’s enrichment level at 3.67% and reduced its uranium stockpile to 300 kilograms (661 pounds). That level is enough for nuclear power plants, but far below weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Since the nuclear deal collapsed in 2018 with Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of the U.S. from the accord, Iran has abandoned all limits on its program and enriched uranium to up to 60% purity — a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels. There have also been a series of attacks at sea and on land in recent years, stemming from the tensions even before the Israel-Hamas war began.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

After Donald Trump announces plans to build a satellite missile defense system called “Golden Dome,” China countered that such moves would make “outer space” a “battlefield.”

China warns Trump Golden Dome could turn ‘outer space into a battlefield’– www.washingtonexaminer.com
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China said it is “gravely concerned” about President Donald Trump‘s ambitious Golden Dome project, and warned that it could upset the global strategic balance.

On Tuesday, Trump announced the Golden Dome project — a concept initially pitched during his campaign that reflects Israel’s Iron Dome but is now more analogous to former President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, better known as Star Wars. Trump explicitly drew connections to Reagan’s project in his Tuesday presentation, leading some analysts to describe the project as “Star Wars on steroids.”

Expectedly, China is playing the role that the Soviet Union previously played, and it has expressed concern over the project’s strategic implications.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning expressed her country’s concerns during a Wednesday press conference, saying the “unconstrained, global, multilayer and multidomain missile defense system” will “expand the U.S. arsenal of means for combat operations in outer space, including R&D and deployment of orbital interception systems.”

“That gives the project a strong offensive nature and violates the principle of peaceful use in the Outer Space Treaty. The project will heighten the risk of turning the space into a war zone and creating a space arms race, and shake the international security and arms control system,” she added, according to a transcript from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It appears the Houthis are done with Trump, or so they think. They’re hoping for a ceasefire that allows them to continue to fight Israel, even if it means no longer attacking ships going through the Red Sea.

US-Houthi ceasefire deal does not include Israel: Houthi spokespersonChannel Asia
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A ceasefire deal between Yemen’s Houthis and the United Staes does not include sparing Israel, the group said on Wednesday (May 7), suggesting its shipping attacks that have disrupted global trade and challenged world powers will not come to a complete halt.

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the US would stop bombing the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, saying that the group had agreed to stop attacking US ships.

After Trump made the announcement, Oman said it had mediated the ceasefire deal to halt attacks on US vessels.

There have been no reports of Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea area since January.

“The agreement does not include Israel in any way, shape or form,” Mohammed Abdulsalam, the chief Houthi negotiator, told Reuters.

“As long as they announced the cessation (of US strikes) and they are actually committed to that, our position was self-defence so we will stop.”

 

Switzerland will be the home of high-level trade talks between the U.S. and China. These talks will most likely be the opening salvos in a series of talks that will eventually end with a trade deal of substance, or so it is “hoped.”

US, Chinese officials to hold trade talks in SwitzerlandChannel News Asia
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Senior US and Chinese officials will travel to Switzerland later this week to kickstart stalled trade talks following President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff rollout, according to statements from both countries.

The talks mark the first official public engagement between the world’s two largest economies to resolve a trade war escalated by Trump shortly after his return to office in January.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer will attend the talks in Europe for the United States, their offices said.

Vice Premier He Lifeng will attend for Beijing, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.

“Vice Premier He, as the Chinese lead person for China-US economic and trade affairs, will have a meeting with the US lead person Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent,” the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday (May 7).

The USTR announced that Greer would also meet with “his counterpart from the People’s Republic of China to discuss trade matters”, without naming He…

VP JD Vance is asserting Russia is demanding too much ahead of any potential long-lasting ceasefire deal.

Vance says Russia ‘asking for too much’ to end war with Ukraine – Politico
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Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that Russia is “asking for too much” to end its war with Ukraine, underscoring new frustrations in the Trump White House over its efforts to court Moscow on peace talks.

Speaking to the Munich Leaders Meeting in Washington, he said that the U.S. is focusing on a long-term settlement since Russia has rejected the U.S. call for a 30-day ceasefire. Moscow has said that sort of temporary pause is not in its strategic interest because it would allow Ukraine to regroup.

Until further notice, in the interest of public order, all political activity will cease, for the good of the whole, the Mali Junta declares.

Mali junta suspends political parties’ activities indefinitely – Vanguard News
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Mali’s junta on Wednesday suspended political parties’ activities “until further notice for reasons of public order”, as the opposition protests against the military government’s ramped-up crackdown on dissent.

Read out on national television and radio, the decree comes ahead of a rally called for Friday by parties critical of the junta against their dissolution, as well as for a return to constitutional order in the insecurity-ridden Sahel nation.