Blinken warns incoming Netanyahu govt against settlements, annexation
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed Sunday to oppose Israeli settlements or annexation in the West Bank, but promised to judge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s incoming government by actions and not personalities.
Netanyahu is expected to return to power after sealing a coalition deal with the extreme-right movements including Religious Zionism, which will be given a post in charge of settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Speaking to J Street, a progressive pro-Israel US advocacy group, Blinken offered congratulations to the veteran Israeli leader, who has clashed with previous Democratic administrations in Washington.
Ukraine presidential aide warns against Musk’s ‘magical simple solutions’
A top Ukrainian presidential aide criticised Twitter owner Elon Musk on Sunday for the billionaire’s “magical simple solutions,” citing ideas put forward by Musk on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Twitter content moderation.
Mykhailo Podolyak listed “exchang(ing) foreign territories for an illusory peace” and “open(ing) all private accounts because freedom of speech has to be total”, as examples of such suggestions.
“(Elon Musk) prefers so-called magical ‘simple solutions’,” Podolyak wrote on Twitter, an apparent reference to self-described free speech advocate Musk’s plans to reform Twitter, which he took over on Oct 27, as well as a tweet in which he called for Ukraine to give up the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula in exchange for peace.
Brazil’s Lula undergoes new throat exam; ‘normal’ results, doctors say
Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday underwent a laryngoscopy, a medical note showed, a follow-up procedure after he had potentially pre-cancerous patches removed from his vocal cord.
Doctors at Sao Paulo’s Sirio Libanes Hospital said the new exam had been previously scheduled and the results came in “within normality”.
Lula, 77, had small white patches called “leukoplakia” removed from his larynx last month, after beating President Jair Bolsonaro in an Oct 30 second round election runoff. Doctors said at the time that no abnormal tissue mass was found.
World Cup: Record-setting Giroud, sublime Mbappe send France into q-finals
Olivier Giroud set a scoring record for France as he sent Les Bleus on their way to a 3-1 win against Poland in their World Cup last-16 clash on Sunday.
His 52nd international goal came after fellow attacker Kylian Mbappe set him up with a through ball one minute before half-time.
The AC Milan striker proceeded to clip a shot across Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
World Cup: ‘Football’ or ‘soccer’? Biden and Dutch PM banter on Twitter
The perennial question of whether it’s “soccer” (as Americans call it) or “football” prompted Twitter wisecracks between US President Joe Biden and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte this weekend, as the Netherlands sent the United States crashing out of the World Cup.
“It’s called soccer,” Biden said in a video posted on Twitter wishing the US team luck ahead of their last-16 clash against the Dutch side Saturday at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.
But the clinical Netherlands soon ended the United States’ World Cup dream, sweeping into the quarter-finals with a ruthless 3-1 victory – and Rutte was quick to respond to Biden’s tweet.
