TV News LIES

US president Donald Trump has said the White House would “take a pass” on brokering a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine if there are no signs of immediate progress.

“Now if for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say, ‘you’re foolish, you’re fools, you’re horrible people, and we’re going to just take a pass,” Mr Trump told reporters at the White House.

“But hopefully we won’t have to do that,” he added.

The president’s comment came hours after US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said the White House may move on unless there are signs of progress.

Meanwhile, Ukraine said it had signed a preliminary agreement on a minerals deal with the US, and that a final accord could be reached by the end of next week.

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U.S. strikes on Yemen's Ras Isa fuel terminal on the Red Sea coast have killed at least 74 people in the deadliest attack since the U.S. started its bombing campaign against the Houthis last year, according to the Houthi-run health ministry.

President Donald Trump ordered the intensification of strikes last month in the biggest U.S. military operation in the Middle East since he took office in January. Washington has vowed to keep attacking the Iran-aligned Houthis until the group halts attacks on Red Sea shipping.

Health ministry spokesperson Anees al-Asbahi said 171 people were injured in the strikes on April 17, according to preliminary figures, with rescue teams continuing efforts to search for victims.

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Ukrainian forces have liberated approximately 16 square kilometers of territory near Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast in recent weeks, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi said on April 17.

There has been a notable slowdown in Russia’s offensive operations after months of steady territorial gains across eastern Ukraine. According to battlefield monitoring group DeepState, Russian troops have captured just 133 square kilometers in March, the lowest monthly total since June 2024.

The recently recaptured territory by Ukrainian troops includes areas near the settlements of Udachne, Kotlyne, and Shevchenko, according to Syrskyi. He made the announcement after a three-day visit to the Operational-Tactical Group Donetsk, which he described as the strongest formation within the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

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Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen said he has met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man wrongly deported to El Salvador last month.

Van Hollen, who traveled to the Central American country earlier in the week, wrote in an April 17 message on X, “I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance."

"I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love," he said. "I look forward to providing a full update upon my return.”

Moments before the lawmaker posted a message and image, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele posted three additional photos from the meeting. He quipped that the two were sharing a margarita together.

"Now that he’s been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody," Bukele said.

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Israel’s defense minister said on Wednesday that troops will remain in so-called security zones in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely, remarks that could further complicate talks with Hamas over a ceasefire and hostage release.

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes across Gaza killed another 22 people, according to local health officials, including a girl who was not yet a year old. The girl’s mother, who was wounded, embraced her daughter, still wearing a bloodied blue dress, before she was taken for burial.

Israeli forces have taken over more than half of Gaza in a renewed campaign to pressure Hamas militants to release hostages after Israel ended their ceasefire last month. Israel has also refused to withdraw from some areas in Lebanon following a ceasefire with the Hezbollah militant group last year, and it seized a buffer zone in southern Syria after rebels overthrew Syrian President Bashar Assad in December.

TVNL Comment: Israel cannot carry out these audacious acts without unending funding by the United States. Trump, like Biden, does whatever Netanyahu wants.   How long till Americans refuse to finance this disaster?

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy tasked with ending the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, are expected to travel to Paris later this week, according to two people familiar with preparations for the trip.

Witkoff is set to meet French President Emmanuel Macron while Rubio will speak with his French counterpart, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.

According to a U.S. official who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters, Rubio will be in Paris this week before heading to Africa.