It took West Jerusalem decades to deploy a comprehensive system to protect its skies from all kinds of threats, the French president has said It is impossible for the West to provide Ukraine with a version of Israel’s famed Iron Dome air defense system, because it has neither the time nor the resources to accomplish such a feat, French President Emmanuel Macron has said. Speaking at a press conference after a European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday, Macron stressed the urgency of Western countries providing Ukraine with various types of air defense systems. When asked about the possib ..read more

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has said this was the message he relayed to American counterpart Antony Blinken Ukraine does not have a ‘Plan B’ for the conflict with Russia if the US Congress refuses to approve more military aid for Kiev, Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has said. The diplomat told Ukraine’s Rada broadcaster on Thursday that this was the message he had impressed on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier the same day, when the pair met on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers’ summit on the Italian island of Capri. The administration of US President Joe Biden ..read more

Air defenses have reportedly been activated in several provinces of the Islamic Republic Israel carried out strikes in Iran in the early hours of Friday, multiple news outlets reported, citing senior US officials. The news comes less than a week after the Islamic Republic fired a barrage of drones and missiles at Israel. Iranian news agency Mehr reported that several explosions were heard around 4 am local time in the skies over the central city of Isfahan. Broadcaster IRNA said that air defenses have been activated in some parts of Iran. It added that Israel also struck targets in Syria ..read more

The employees were ousted after staging sit-ins at the company’s offices Google has fired 28 workers who protested against the company’s ties with the Israeli government amid the continuing war in Gaza. The Silicon Valley-based tech giant claimed that defiant employees were disrupting the normal work process.  “Physically impeding other employees’ work and preventing them from accessing our facilities is a clear violation of our policies, and completely unacceptable behavior,” Google spokesperson said in a statement to the media on Wednesday. “After refusing multiple requests to leave the ..read more

The two countries targeted Tehran’s drone-building industry London and Washington have blacklisted several Iranian military officials and companies in the steel, automotive and drone industries for the “destabilizing” strike on Israel last Saturday. Iran had targeted Israel with a barrage of drones and missiles, in what Tehran called lawful retaliation for the April 1 bombing of its consulate in Damascus, Syria which killed seven high-ranking officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron announced the sanctions at the meeting of G7 ..read more

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called on other NATO members to contribute air defenses to Kiev Members of NATO should find more US-made Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday in Brussels. Berlin has promised to deliver one such system in the near future, in addition to the two it had already sent to Kiev.  Scholz said that he sought to promote the idea during “many discussions” at the EU summit held on Wednesday and Thursday. “We heard that there should now be seven more, one of them is ours and then we hope that six more will be found” by othe ..read more

America was the sole Security Council member to vote against the resolution The US has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have paved a way for Palestine to become a member of the world body. Palestine is currently a “permanent observer state” at the UN that participates in many meetings but does not have voting rights. The draft resolution debated on Thursday contained a recommendation to the UN General Assembly to hold a vote on updating Palestine’s status within the organization. The document was rejected with 12 votes in favor, one against, and two abstentions. US ..read more

The US has reportedly advised Netanyahu not to attack Iran The US has denied giving Israel the green light to move against the Gaza city of Rafah instead of attacking Iran, as a Qatari outlet reported Thursday citing an anonymous Egyptian official.  Israel has said it would respond to Saturday’s missile and drone attack by Iran, itself a reprisal for the deadly Israeli bombing of the Iranian consulate in Syria. The war cabinet in West Jerusalem is reportedly trying to formulate a plan of action acceptable to Washington. Egypt is preparing for a possible Israeli ground attack on Rafah, an ..read more

The Russian embassy has dismissed the case as a “blatant provocation” Two men have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of planning to sabotage local military infrastructure, including US bases, the Prosecutor General’s Office said on Thursday. Authorities claim to have linked at least one of the suspects to Russia’s security services. Warrants for the men, identified only as Dieter S. and Alexander J. — both referred to as German-Russian dual nationals — were issued by the German Federal Court of Justice, the nation’s highest court of criminal jurisdiction, earlier in April. Investigators sa ..read more

Marjorie Taylor Greene has tried to attach conditions for American aid to Kiev Any member of the US House of Representatives who votes for sending $60 billion in aid to Kiev should be required to enlist in the Ukrainian military, according to an amendment proposed by a prominent Republican lawmaker. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia has submitted half a dozen amendments to the Ukraine “security supplemental appropriations” bill, part of a $95 billion foreign aid package pending before the lower chamber of Congress. “If you want to fund the endless foreign wars, you should have to go fight them ..read more