TV News LIES

US Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), a veteran voice in Republican foreign policy, has seized on the government shutdown crisis – now in its fourth day – to demand that Congress pass a serious, full-year defense appropriations bill, arguing that failure to unlock a sweeping “Trump buildup” of the military would undermine deterrence against global adversaries and jeopardize sustained support for Ukraine.

Speaking from the Senate floor on Friday, McConnell, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, delivered a sharp critique of the ongoing funding deadlock – which he squarely blamed on Democrats – warning that repeated stopgap funding measures were “devastating to US military readiness”.

Prioritizing the war in Ukraine, McConnell stressed that continued security cooperation was being monitored closely by US rivals. He directly challenged officials within the administration he suggested were seeking to curtail assistance to Kyiv.

More...

At least 53 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since dawn across Gaza as Israel threatened tens of thousands remaining in Gaza City with a forced order to leave, saying it was their “last opportunity” to flee or face the “full force” of Israel’s assault.

Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X on Wednesday that anyone who stayed would be considered “terrorists and terror supporters”.

The continuous bombardment of Gaza City has razed the territory’s largest urban centre, killing dozens of people daily, destroying numerous residential buildings and schools, and forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee to an unknown fate to the south, often targeted on the way.

Reporting from the al-Rashid Street on Thursday, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said the Israeli military was ordering people to leave, then chasing them on the coastal route south with military choppers, drones and tanks, creating “mayhem and panic”.

“A big part of the reason that people are not now leaving Gaza City is because of the fear and the intimidation created by the Israeli military,” he said.

More...

Mediators have made contact with the head of Hamas's military wing in Gaza, who has indicated he does not agree to the new US ceasefire plan, the BBC understands.

Izz al-Din al-Haddad is thought to believe the plan was designed to finish Hamas, whether the group accepts it or not, and so is determined to fight on.

US President Donald Trump's 20-point framework to end the war - which has already been accepted by Israel - stipulates that Hamas disarm and have no future role in governing Gaza.

It is thought that some of Hamas's political leadership in Qatar are open to accepting it with adjustments - but have found their influence limited as they do not have control of the hostages held by the group.

There are believed to be 48 hostages still being held in the Palestinian territory by the armed group, only 20 of whom are thought to be alive.

Another stumbling block for some in Hamas is that the plan requires them to hand over all of the hostages over the first 72 hours of the ceasefire - giving away their only bargaining chip.

Even with Trump's guarantee that Israel would abide by the terms, there is a lack of trust within the group that Israel would not resume its military operations once it had received the hostages - particularly after it attempted to assassinate the Hamas leadership in Doha in an air strike last month, in defiance of the US.

More...

Russian president Vladimir Putin has warned that supplying US Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would lead to a “whole new level of escalation”, including in relations between Moscow and Washington. Responding to questions at a forum in Sochi, Putin said it would not change the situation on the battlefield, where the Russian army is making slow but steady advances.

The Trump administration’s desire to send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine may not be viable because current inventories are committed to the US navy and other uses, Reuters reported a US official and three sources as saying. The US may look into allowing European allies to buy other long-range weapons and supply them to Ukraine but Tomahawks were unlikely, the official said, questioning the feasibility of providing the cruise missiles with a range of 2,500km (1,550 miles) and suggesting other shorter-distance options could be supplied to Kyiv.

The US will provide Ukraine with intelligence on long-range energy infrastructure targets deep inside Russia, according to several media reports, a move that would signal a significant shift in White House support for Kyiv. Dan Sabbagh and Andrew Roth report that the decision would be the first example of a change in policy by Donald Trump since his comments on social media towards the end of September that Ukraine could win back all of the territory occupied by Russia.

More...

Italy’s foreign minister has said he still doesn’t know the whereabouts of two Italian parliamentarians reportedly aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Antonio Tajani, who is also deputy prime minister, was quoted by Italy’s Rai News as saying it also wasn’t yet known if they had been taken off the flotilla and on to Israeli vessels.

Tajani said on Rai1’s Porta e Porta program:

The foreign ministry’s crisis unit has been following the flotilla every day, day after day. We’ve always spoken with the spokespeople, not with the parliamentarians, who work on their own.
We still don’t know where they are, we don’t know if they’ve already disembarked from the Flotilla ships to board Israeli vessels.

We’ll know everything by late morning.

Australian filmmaker Juliet Lamont – onboard the flotilla to Gaza – says the group is about 50 nautical miles from the shores of the territory.

On social media, Lamont described a military boat coming up close to the boat she’s on, Wahoo, which she says tried to manoeuvre them towards Egypt. Wahoo managed to “out manoeuvre” the military boat, she said.

In a following video, Lamont says there are still around 30 boats in the flotilla on course to Gaza, with about 30 military vessels surrounding and kettling the flotilla.

A lot of our comrades on the flotilla have been intercepted and boarded by zodiacs [boats], we’re still in formation ... We’re feeling really positive, we’re feeling really steadfast in our resolve to get the much needed aid there, [and] that we are on the right side of history.

We are feeling like we’re going to get there, when the sun rises we will be with the people of Gaza.

More...

The EU has transferred €4bn to Ukraine using revenue generated from frozen Russian assets, the country’s finance ministry revealed on Wednesday.

It comes as European leaders discuss the possibility of transferring up to €140bn in the same manner this week.

Moscow has warned it considers the procedure “theft” of its sovereign assets and will seek the prosecution of countries and individuals involved.

Leaders including Macron have expressed support for the initiative, but have stressed it must take place in accordance with international law.

“We need a more structural solution for military support,” the European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Tuesday. “This is why I have put forward the idea of a reparations loan that is based on the immobilized Russian assets.”

More...