Category News

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) will attempt to break Israel’s months-long blockade of Gaza by taking the place of Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and actor Liam Cunningham from Game of Thrones.

On Sunday, the “Madleen” will depart from Catania, Sicily, carrying a load of humanitarian aid and several well-known activists, including Thunberg, Rima Hassan, a European Parliamentarian, and Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian-American lawyer.

Cunningham, an Irish actor best known for playing Davos Seaworth in the popular HBO series, has long supported Palestine and related issues.

The FFC, a coalition of humanitarian organizations, attempted to reach Gaza twice in as many months with the sailing.

After two alleged drones attacked another FFC vessel, the “Conscience,” while sailing in international waters off Malta’s coast, a mission was called off at the start of May.

The ship’s front section was severely damaged, according to the FFC, and Israel is to blame for the attack.

Meet some of the panelists, volunteers, and supporters who are preparing to sail to Israel’s illegal Gaza siege in Catania. ⛵️#AllEyesOnDeck #BreakTheSiege https://t.co/ZoCnr45S3I @RimaHas pic. twitter.com/IqAhOSHBv9

In a short video posted on social media, MEP Hassan claimed that the “Madleen’s” trip is both an attempt to provide Gaza with much-needed aid and a protest against Israel.

The first priority is, of course, to reject the blockade of humanitarian aid, the ongoing genocide, and the impunity imposed by the State of Israel, she said, and to raise awareness of the world at large.

The previous ship was attacked on May 2 in international waters close to Malta, and this is also the subject of this action.

Israel partially lifted its nearly three-month-long blockade of Gaza last week, but it has since restricted humanitarian travel to the Palestinian territory, which the United States has warned is nearing famine.

At least three people died and dozens of others were injured in the chaos that resulted as desperate people frantically searched for food supplies as a result of thousands of Palestinians rushing to so-called aid distribution stations set up by the contentious Gaza Humanitarian Foundation this week.

The US and other international aid organizations are boycotting the US-backed initiative, accusing Israel of attempting to coordinate and distribute aid across Gaza in a further attempt to fuel food and hunger.

About a quarter of Gaza’s population is in a “catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness, and death,” according to the World Health Organization, and that the country is in “catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness, and death” after months of protracted food shortages in response to Israel’s punishing blockade.

Elon Musk, who is a director of SpaceX, has stated that there is a 50% chance that his Mars spacecraft will make its first uncrewed voyage to the red planet by the end of 2026, just two days after his company’s most recent test-flight setback.

In a video that his Los Angeles-based rocket company posted online on Thursday, Musk provided a detailed timeline for Starship development.

The billionaire and SpaceX owner from South Africa said it was dependent on the craft’s ability to perform a number of challenging technical tests, most notably a post-launch refuelling maneuver in Earth’s orbit.

Musk claimed that his Starbase industrial complex and Texas rocket launch facility were the “gateway to Mars” in a video posted on social media platform X, which he also owns.

In the first time in Earth’s four and a half billion years, he said, “it is where we are going to develop the technology necessary to transport humanity, civilisation, and life as we know it to another planet.”

A narrow window will open at the end of 2026, allowing travelers to travel between Earth and Mars at once every two years. It would take a spacecraft seven to nine months to travel this far.

A Tesla-built humanoid Optimus robot crew would be on the first mission to Mars. In the second or third landing, human crews would follow.

Musk claimed in the video that there was a 50/50 chance that SpaceX would meet the first mission’s deadline of 2026. He added that SpaceX would wait another two years before attempting again if Starship wasn’t ready by that point.

Following a turbulent few months in which his various businesses, including SpaceX and Tesla, have become increasingly strained, Musk announced his resignation from the presidency of US President Donald Trump the day before.

He has been subjected to intense criticism for overseeing what has been labeled as haphazard cuts to government programs because of Musk’s unofficial role in leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

In response to falling stock prices and shareholder concerns, Musk announced this week that he would resign from his post in the government and concentrate on his private ventures.

deadlines that were missed

Musk stated in 2016 that he wanted to launch the first crewed mission to Mars in 2024 and that he wanted to launch an uncrewed SpaceX vehicle there as early as 2018.

However, the mercurial entrepreneur’s plans for interplanetary exploration have suffered from numerous setbacks in recent years.

Following a ninth Starship test flight that evening, Musk was scheduled to deliver a live webcast from the company’s Starbase in Texas on Tuesday.

However, the speech was postponed without notice after Starship sprang out of control and failed to fulfill some of its most crucial test objectives about 30 minutes after launch.

The mega-rocket returned to Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday after an uncontrollable spinning in space resulted from a fuel leak, according to the Reuters news agency.

Musk claimed that the test provided a lot of “good data to review” and that the launch “cadence” would be quicker for the next several attempts after the failed flight was posted on X.

In March, the craft blew up moments after liftoff, causing commercial jetliners to change directions, and there was a failed launch as well.

Musk, who has invested billions of dollars in the development of the Starship, claims that SpaceX intends to colonize Mars from there.

More than 50 years after astronauts last walked on the moon’s surface in 1972, the company is also working with US government agency NASA to bring people back to Earth in 2027 onboard Starship.

These efforts are a first step toward NASA’s 2030 mission to Mars.

Five Mexican band members who were hired to play a concert in a troubled city in the northeast of the nation are suspected of murdering them.

The five musicians went missing on Sunday, and nine suspects were detained in connection with their abduction and murder, according to the Diario de Mexico newspaper on Thursday.

The Gulf Cartel, which operates in the city of Reynosa in Tamaulipas state, close to the US border, is alleged to be responsible for the nine suspects’ arrests.

“Five people who are deemed to be at risk of the events were detained by law enforcement.” They are suspected of belonging to a Gulf Cartel criminal cell, according to attorney general of Tamaulipas Irving Barrios.

Due to the presence of cartel members involved in drug and migrant trafficking, as well as other crimes, including extortion, Tamaulipas is regarded as one of Mexico’s most dangerous states.

Officials announced the arrests shortly after they learned that five bodies had been discovered while the men, who were members of a local band called Fugitivo, were being searched.

According to family members who had staged a protest calling on the authorities to act, the musicians were hired to perform a concert on Sunday but when they arrived, they discovered that the venue where their planned performance would be held was a vacant lot.

The musicians, who ranged in age from 20 to 40, were reportedly being demanded by relatives for ransom.

Mexican musicians have previously been targeted by cartel members because some of their music is paid to write and perform songs that glorify the exploits of gang leaders.

According to Barrios, investigators tracked the musicians’ last movements using video surveillance footage and mobile phone tracking.

He claimed that he found two vehicles and nine firearms.

In Mexico, over 480 000 people have died in drug-related violence and organized crime, and 120 000 have vanished.

On Friday, May 30th, 2018, here is the current situation:

Fighting

• In its most recent advance, the Russian army claimed on Thursday that it had taken control of three villages in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions of Ukraine.
• Authorities in Ukraine reported that in five front-line Ukrainian regions, Russian authorities fired 90 drones overnight and that at least seven people died as a result of these strikes.
• 48 Ukrainian drones were reportedly withdrawn overnight by Russia, including three near Moscow.
• According to regional governor Alexander Khinshtein, drones launched an attack at night in the western Kursk region of Russia, causing at least one injury to a hospital and apartment complex.
• Russia’s military announced last week that it had finished ejecting Ukrainian forces from the Russian region, but the Ukrainian military said its forces remained active in a small portion of Kursk.

• The regional governor of Ukraine’s neighboring Sumy region, who reported fresh fighting in villages close to the border where Russia has been seizing control, reported new fighting. He claimed that as both sides battled for control, various parts of his region were constantly changing hands.
• According to Sumy Governor Oleh Hryhorov, “Active battles continue in some border areas, particularly around the settlements of Khotyn and Yunakivka.” The situation is constantly changing along the contact line. The enemy is active in some places, while the others are a challenge to us.
• As it moves slowly through eastern Ukraine, Russia’s defense ministry reported that its forces had taken control of three additional villages. Shevchenko Pershe and Hnativka, both located near the town of Pokrovsk, where the main point of Russia’s westward drive for months, were Stroivka in the northeast of Kharkiv.
• None of the three villages that were under Russian rule were made public by Ukrainian military reports. According to the military, Russian forces carried out 53 attacks close to Pokrovsk in the last 24 hours.

Ceasefire

• The Kremlin stated on Thursday that it was anticipating Kyiv’s response to its suggestion for new talks in Istanbul starting on Monday.
• Ukraine demanded that Moscow provide a document outlining its conditions for peace during the conflict, adding that Kyiv had already submitted its vision for a peace settlement. However, it stated that it was ready to hold further discussions with Russia in Istanbul.
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, claimed that Russia had engaged in “yet another deception” by failing to submit its proposed peace settlement before the next potential meeting. In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy stated that “even the so-called “memorandum” they promised and appear to have prepared for more than a week has not yet been seen by anyone.
• Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, claimed Kyiv’s demand for the “memorandum” was “non-constructive.”
• Heorhii Tykhyi, a spokesman for the Ukrainian government, said Moscow’s inability to send the document “suggests that it is likely filled with unrealistic ultimatums.”

• The new discussions will be led by Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan, who has warned Russia and Ukraine to “shut the door” of dialogue.
• According to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova, the Russian delegation to the second round of talks in Istanbul will be the same as it was for the first round.
• Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs, reported to the Security Council that the “brutal surge in large-scale Russian attacks” against Ukraine has reduced the “cautious hope” she had a month ago for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
• Khrystyna Hayovyshyn, the deputy Ukrainian ambassador to the UN, stated to the council that “Russia is not signaling any genuine intention to end its war” and that Moscow needed to be put under more political, economic, and military pressure.
• Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador to the UN, refuted the accusations, accusing Kyiv of “prolonging the war” and remarking that Ukraine’s defeat was unavoidable. No new anti-Russian sanctions, weapons deliveries to Ukraine, or other hostile measures will stop the Zelenskyy regime from eventually being defeated militarily, according to Nebenzia.
• Washington will consider “stepping back from our negotiations efforts to end this conflict,” according to John Kelley, the United States’ alternate representative at the UN meeting, adding that additional sanctions against Moscow were “still on the table”.

military assistance

Zelenskyy and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz discussed potential delivery of German Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine during his Berlin trip. The Ukrainian president told the German broadcaster RTL that the chancellor and I had a one-on-one meeting about the Taurus issue.
• Russia claimed that Serbia’s long-standing Slavic Balkan ally sent arms to Ukraine as a result of this offense.
• According to a statement from Russia’s foreign intelligence service, “Serbian defense enterprises, contrary to the “neutrality” declared by official Belgrade, continue to supply ammunition to Kyiv.”
• According to the statement, Serbian arms exports to Ukraine are allegedly handled through NATO-intermediates, “mostly the Czech Republic, Poland, and Bulgaria.” According to the article, “Exotic options involving African states have recently been used for this purpose.”

Regional security

• In advance of Poland’s presidential election, a Belarusian radio station allegedly used disinformation and propaganda to support a pro-Russian candidate on social media.
• According to experts, a Polish-based radio station, which was established by Belarus, has been using pro-Russian stories on social media for almost two years despite EU sanctions, according to a report released by three think tanks. Poland will cast its ballot on Sunday in a fiercely contested presidential election between pro-EU and nationalist candidates.

Economy

• The International Monetary Fund announced that a review of the loan program would help unlock approximately $500 million in funds to promote macroeconomic stability.