TV News LIES

THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES Bill will be brought before cabinet for government approval later, with the aim of enacting it before the Dáil summer recess.

The long-awaited bill was first proposed by senator Frances Black in 2018 and would ban trade from illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Foreign affairs minister Helen McEntee will later seek government approval and aims to meet this summer deadline.

A department spokesperson remarked that Ireland has “continually advocated for a peaceful resolution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians”.

However, the spokesperson added that it is “clear from the actions of the Israeli government, both in Gaza and in the West Bank, that they have no intention of reaching a peaceful resolution”.

The spokesperson added that it “remains the government’s preference that collective action would be taken at EU level” and that McEntee is “continuing to actively pursuing this”.

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In a historic first for Germany, nearly 700 students at the University of Leipzig voted almost unanimously on 19 May to demand that their university sever all ties with Israeli academic institutions over the genocide in Gaza.

The location is significant.

For decades, Leipzig has been regarded as one of Germany’s strongest centers of the "Antideutsche" current, a tendency within the radical left defined by militant anti-nationalism and vocal support for Israel under the banner of combating antisemitism. Antideutsche activists also frequently clash with pro-Palestinian activists at demonstrations and events.

The adopted list of demands calls on the university to recognise and condemn the genocidal nature of Israel’s war on Gaza, including the scholasticide taking place there, a term used to describe the systematic destruction of educational institutions, students and staff.

Students demand an end to all cooperation with Israeli universities and institutions, and insist that the University of Leipzig neither participate in, promote, nor publicise collaborations or activities organised or hosted by Israeli universities.

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Russian threats against the foreign diplomatic corps in Ukraine, calling the Kremlin’s statements “shameless blackmail” aimed at intimidating the international community.

The ministry said the security situation in Kyiv remains consistent with the level of threat the capital has faced in recent months amid repeated Russian missile and drone attacks.

In its statement, the MFA expressed gratitude to foreign diplomatic missions and personnel who continue to work in Ukraine despite the ongoing risks.

Ukrainian officials thanked foreign diplomats for continuing their work in Ukraine despite Moscow’s attempts at intimidation. The ministry said it remains ready to assist and coordinate with foreign missions to strengthen their security.

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US authorities have temporarily banned green-card holders from entering the country if they have traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda or South Sudan in the last 21 days.

The order issued on Friday is part of an expanding attempt to prevent Ebola from entering US borders. A previously announced travel restriction blocked only people without US passports who had visited those countries from entering but exempted US citizens and lawful permanent residents.

“HHS [the Department of Health and Human Services] and CDC [the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] have determined that permitting the director of CDC or other secretarial delegate the discretion to prohibit entry of certain lawful permanent residents is reasonably required in the interest of public health,” the order reads.

The order added that green-card holders may maintain stronger ties to families and communities outside the US than US citizens and nationals, “such that prohibiting their entry is comparatively less burdensome”.

US citizens returning from the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan now have a second point of entry to the US, the CDC said, in addition to Washington’s Dulles airport. The agency said on Saturday it is expanding its enhanced Ebola screening to include the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airport.

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A massive overnight Russian drone strike partially destroyed a multi-story residential building in Konotop, Sumy Oblast, injuring at least six people and prompting an urgent search-and-rescue operation for residents feared trapped beneath the debris, local officials said.

Konotop Mayor Artem Semenikhin said Russian forces targeted civilian infrastructure in the city, with the strike causing part of the high-rise to collapse.

“Behind me is a multi-story building. Part of it is gone. And there are people there,” Semenikhin said in a video address posted on social media.

Due to a lack of ambulances, the injured are being transferred to the hospital in civilian vehicles, Semenikhin added.

According to the mayor, there were “many” people injured in the attack. Emergency teams were working at the scene to clear rubble and search for possible survivors.

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The office of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court last month filed a secret arrest warrant application for Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, sources briefed on the matter told Middle East Eye.

Israeli media reports over the weekend claiming the prosecutor’s office had filed five applications for Israeli officials are inaccurate, MEE understands.

An evidence review took place on Wednesday last week to examine the possibility of two more warrant applications, including one for national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, but they have yet to be filed.

MEE understands that the charges against Smotrich include forced displacement as a crime against humanity and war crime, the transfer of Israel’s own population as a war crime, and persecution and apartheid as crimes against humanity.

If approved by the ICC’s pre-trial chamber the warrant for Smotrich would be the first ever issued by an international court for the crime of apartheid.

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