Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni proposed the creation of a global coalition against human trafficking during a meeting at the White House with President Joe Biden. Biden welcomed the Italian leader with a brief rendition of Ray Charles’ “Georgia On My Mind” in the Oval Office, setting a friendly tone for the discussion.
Addressing the European migration crisis, Meloni emphasized the importance of supporting African development to address the root causes of migration. Additionally, she highlighted the urgency of combating human trafficking, which she described as the most profitable criminal activity worldwide.
Meloni’s proposal comes amidst heightened attention to immigration issues in the United States, with both Biden and former President Donald Trump recently visiting the Mexico border. The meeting between Biden and Meloni also underscored their alignment on supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression and providing humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Following the meeting, Meloni departed for Canada to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Her visit coincides with Italy’s presidency of the G7 and precedes the NATO Summit in Washington in July. Under Meloni’s leadership, Italy has distanced itself from China, particularly after withdrawing from the Belt and Road Initiative.
This meeting marks Meloni’s second visit to the White House, following her initial visit last summer. The proposal for a global coalition against human trafficking signals Italy’s commitment to addressing transnational issues under Meloni’s leadership.
The Office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas on Thursday of creating a “last-minute crisis” after allegedly trying to modify details of the draft ceasefire in Gaza announced yesterday by Qatar, and assured that the Israeli government will not approve its implementation until the disagreements are clarified.
“Hamas violates parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel in an effort to extort last-minute concessions,” the Israeli president’s office denounced today. “The cabinet will not meet until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all the elements of the agreement.”
In a statement in response, Hamas said that “it is committed to the ceasefire agreement, announced by the mediators.” For his part, Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, told EFE that he did not know what Netanyahu’s words about new demands meant.
One of the spokesmen of the Islamist organization, Sami Abu Zuhri, blamed Israel on Thursday for seeking to “create tension at a critical moment” and demanded that the US administration force compliance with the agreement.
The Directorate of Kidnapped, Repatriate and Disappeared of the Netanyahu Office informed the families of the kidnapped early of the setback in the negotiations.
The Government meeting, which was scheduled for this Thursday at 11:00 am (9:00 GMT), is thus postponed indefinitely until the discrepancies are resolved, but Israeli local media say that it could be held this afternoon.
In addition to all this, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that his party would leave the coalition government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he does not commit to resuming the war in Gaza “immediately after” the end of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
This morning, Netanyahu’s Office reported, in a first statement, that the prime minister had spoken by phone with the Doha mediators, who informed him that Hamas was trying to move away from what was already agreed on May 27, by wanting to choose who will be the prisoners released in an exchange for hostages.
“Among other things, contrary to an explicit clause that grants Israel the right to veto the release of mass murderers who are symbols of terrorism, Hamas wants to dictate the identity of those terrorists,” the text denounces, in what it describes as “blackmail attempts.”
However, Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, told EFE that he did not know what Netanyahu’s words about new demands referred to.
According to the public broadcaster Kan, the sudden delay of the government vote could in turn be due to “the ongoing deliberations” of the Religious Zionism party, chaired by the Minister of Finance and far-right settler Bezalel Smotrich, on whether or not to leave the Executive once the ceasefire is approved.
Both Smotrich and the also settler and Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, oppose what they consider a “surrender” agreement before Hamas, which would also prevent their longings for Jewish settlers to reoccupy the post-war Palestinian enclave.
But even if this happened, Netanyahu would have the majority support to give the green light to the ceasefire, which would come into force this Sunday after more than 15 months of massacres and about 47,000 Gazans dead.
According to leaks, in a first phase Hamas will gradually release, and in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, 33 hostages (alive and dead) giving priority to women still captive – including soldiers -, people over 50 years old, children under nineteen and the sick.
The Arab League, made up of 22 states, also demanded to prioritize the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza as soon as the agreement between Israel and Hamas enters into force, and that the war be “completely ended”.
On the other hand, the United States, Qatar and Egypt, the mediators and guarantors of the truce agreement in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, confirmed in a joint statement that they will ensure the implementation of the pact by both parties “in all its phases.”
“Egypt, the State of Qatar and the United States of America affirm that their policy as guarantors of the agreement is to ensure that both parties fully implement their three phases,” underlined a joint statement made public in the last few hours by the Egyptian Presidency.
In addition, after the agreement, the Israeli Army killed at least 71 Gazati between the night and early hours of Thursday, according to local sources in the Gaza Strip.
The Australian Police have filed charges against a 34-year-old woman for allegedly poisoning her one-year-old baby to gain followers and raise money from donations, according to a statement released this Thursday by the Australian authorities.
The Child Protection and Investigation Unit has accused the woman of torture, claiming that she “filmed and published videos of the girl while she was suffering anguish and immense pain,” a content that exploited the child “and was used to attract monetary donations and online followers,” says the Queensland state department, northeast of the country.
In the statement, the Police explain that, between August 6 and October 15, 2024, the woman administered several prescription and unauthorized medications to the baby and tried to hide this behavior.
However, the medical staff of a hospital in southern Brisbane, capital of Queensland, detected what happened and informed the police while the girl was admitted last October, when they did some tests with which they detected unauthorized medications in the blood.
The woman was arrested this Thursday and is accused of crimes such as poisoning and premeditation of the facts, including torture, manufacture of child exploitation material and fraud.
An explosion shook the center of Kiev this Thursday around noon when the city’s air defenses were activated to repel a Russian attack in the middle of a visit to the Ukrainian capital of the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, who arrived hours before this bombing.
“Air defense forces operate in the center of the capital. Go to the shelters!”, the city’s mayor, Vitali Klichkó, wrote on his Telegram account, just after the rumble of the explosion was heard.
The Ukrainian Air Force had previously warned that attack drones launched by Russia were heading towards the Kiev region and towards the capital itself.
Russia usually carries out its suicide drone attacks at night or in the early hours of the morning, although it has also launched numerous missile and drone bombings against Kiev and other cities in Ukraine in broad daylight.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview published in the Polish press that “Europe, without the Ukrainian army, will not be able to face the Russian army, because it is more numerous” and also “Russia has more weapons, more people and is more cruel than the Europeans.”
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