Israel Weighs West Bank Annexations in Response to Palestine Recognition Push

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The Israeli government is seriously debating the annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank in retaliation for the imminent recognition of Palestine by several western countries, according to three Israeli, U.S. and European officials with direct knowledge.

Why it matters: Most of the international community views the West Bank as occupied territory and would consider any Israeli annexations illegal and inflammatory.

Israel’s next move will depend on the stance of President Trump, who blocked Israeli annexations twice in his first term. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Axios the administration doesn’t yet have a position.

“I don’t know how extensive [the planned annexation] is. I’m not sure there is common view inside the Israeli government about where would it be and how much,” he said.

Some Israeli officials claim the Trump administration won’t oppose annexation because they’re so angry at the countries planning to recognize Palestine. (Read more from “Israel Weighs West Bank Annexations in Response to Palestine Recognition Push” HERE)

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Olympic Champion Imane Khelif Appeals World Boxing Genetic Sex Test Ruling

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Olympic gold medalist Imane Khelif — a 26-year-old who has long maintained “she” is female despite leaked testing results — has formally appealed a World Boxing decision that bars her from competition unless she undergoes genetic sex testing, escalating a heated debate over gender eligibility in international sports.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed on Monday that the Algerian boxer lodged her appeal last month. While Khelif had hoped to participate in the world boxing championships beginning this Thursday, CAS dismissed her request to suspend World Boxing’s ruling while the case is ongoing.

Khelif rose to global prominence after winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024, a victory shadowed by scrutiny surrounding her eligibility alongside Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, another Olympic champion. Both fighters had previously been disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in 2023 after the organization alleged they failed unspecified eligibility tests.

The IBA, however, was later expelled from overseeing Olympic boxing after years of corruption scandals, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stepped in to manage the last two Games. Under IOC rules, both Khelif and Lin were deemed eligible to compete.

With World Boxing now provisionally approved as the sport’s governing body for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, it has faced mounting pressure to establish formal standards on sex eligibility. In May, the organization announced mandatory sex testing for all athletes and controversially singled out Khelif in its statement — a move it later apologized for.

Despite the controversy, Khelif has vowed to defend her welterweight title in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, newly elected IOC president Kirsty Coventry has launched a task force to review gender eligibility policies, signaling that the issue will remain at the forefront of international sport.

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Putin’s Three Demands for Ukraine Peace Revealed After Alaska Summit With Trump: Report

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has laid out three conditions he says are necessary to achieve peace in Ukraine, according to a new report.

Putin, who met with Donald Trump two weeks ago in Alaska for a high-stakes summit, is demanding that Ukraine surrender control of the remaining parts of the Donbas region, abandon its bid to join NATO, and accept strict neutrality that bars Western forces from setting foot in the war-torn country, three sources familiar with Kremlin thinking told Reuters.

The reported proposal marks a scaling back from Moscow’s earlier demands. In June 2024, Russia insisted Kyiv give up four provinces: Donetsk and Luhansk in the east, along with Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south. Now, according to Russian sources, Putin is seeking only the full Donbas in exchange for halting operations in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Russia currently controls about 88% of the Donbas, as well as 73% of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, according to U.S. intelligence estimates and open-source data. Moscow has also signaled it could return small parts of the Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk regions as part of a potential settlement.

Still, Putin remains firm on his two other core demands: that Ukraine’s NATO ambitions, written into its constitution, be abandoned, and that Western militaries not be allowed to deploy in Ukraine under any peacekeeping mandate.

“Putin is ready for peace — for compromise,” one Russian source told Reuters. “That is the message that was conveyed to Trump.”Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly rejected any deal that involves ceding internationally recognized Ukrainian territory to Russia. On Thursday, he stressed the Donbas region is essential to his country’s survival.

“If we’re talking about simply withdrawing from the east, we cannot do that,” Zelensky said. “It is a matter of our country’s survival, involving the strongest defensive lines.”

He also argued that Ukraine’s NATO aspirations are a sovereign matter and should not be dictated by Moscow.

For now, no direct talks between Putin and Zelensky are scheduled. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told NBC News that “the agenda is not ready at all” for such a summit.

“President Putin said clearly that he is ready to meet provided this meeting is really going to have an agenda, presidential agenda,” Lavrov said, accusing Kyiv of stalling.

Meanwhile, Trump has applied pressure from the sidelines, warning of “massive” sanctions and tariffs if Putin and Zelensky fail to move toward negotiations.

“I’ll see whose fault it is,” Trump said Friday. “If there are reasons why, I would understand that. I know exactly what I’m doing. We’re going to see whether or not they have a meeting — that will be interesting to see.”

Zelensky has said he is ready to meet Putin but accused the Kremlin leader of blocking progress.

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Report Warns of Looming Collapse in Iran Amid Mounting Executions and Nuclear Ambitions

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The Islamic Republic of Iran is facing an existential crisis that could spiral into civil war if not managed properly, according to a new report released this week by the UK-based Henry Jackson Society.

The report comes as the United Nations accuses Tehran of executing nearly 900 people in 2025 alone, describing the surge in executions as a “tool of intimidation” against dissent. The sheer scale of repression, combined with economic discontent and rising opposition movements, has fueled speculation that the regime’s grip on power may soon weaken.

“If the Islamic Republic falls, there is a danger that regime collapse could lead to a vacuum of governance that is accompanied by civil war,” the report warns. “This is an outcome that must be avoided at all costs for the Iranian people, and every step must therefore be made to ensure that any transition is quick and painless.”

The findings stress that Iran’s ruling clerical elite remains firmly committed to the 1979 revolution and its ideological mission, which includes “reconstituting its nuclear program and exporting terrorism both regionally and internationally.” These ambitions, the report argues, make the regime an enduring threat not just to its own people but also to Western security.

Targeted airstrikes by Israel, reportedly carried out with U.S. support in June, damaged Iranian nuclear sites and temporarily set back Tehran’s program.

“This offers a greater prospect of galvanizing the Iranian opposition if there is a plan for the day after as opposed to a vacuum of governance,” the report concludes. “And in so doing, it contains the best prescription for both resolving the threat the Iranian regime poses to the international community, and to its own people.”

The analysis comes at a time when economic hardship, protests, and international isolation have pushed Tehran into one of its most fragile moments in decades—raising the question of whether Iran is on the verge of transformation, or turmoil.

Russia Hammers Ukraine With One of the Largest Air Strikes of the War

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Russia launched one of its biggest aerial attacks of the year on Ukraine, firing 574 drones and 40 ballistic and cruise missiles overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said Thursday, while a recent diplomatic push to stop the three-year war is trying to gain momentum.

The attack mostly targeted western regions of the country, the air force said, where much of the military aid provided by Ukraine´s Western allies is believed to be delivered and stored. The strikes killed at least one person and injured 15 others, according to officials.

It was Russia´s third-largest aerial attack this year in terms of the number of drones fired and the eighth-largest in terms of missiles, according to official figures. Most such Russian attacks have hit civilian areas.

The strikes occurred during a renewed U.S.-led effort to reach a peace settlement following Russia´s February 2022 invasion of its neighbor. U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the war with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week, and at the start of this week hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House. (Read more from “Russia Hammers Ukraine With One of the Largest Air Strikes of the War” HERE)

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Nvidia Reportedly Developing New AI Chip for China Amid Export Restrictions

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Nvidia, the world’s most valuable chipmaker, is reportedly preparing to release a new artificial intelligence chip tailored for China, even as Washington tightens controls on advanced semiconductor exports.

According to sources cited by Reuters, the chip—codenamed B30A—is designed to comply with U.S. trade restrictions while still offering more power than the H20 models currently sold in China. The B30A is expected to be about half as powerful as Nvidia’s flagship B300 Blackwell GPU but will include key features such as fast data transfer, NVLink support, and high-bandwidth memory. Unlike the dual-die structure of the B300, the B30A will rely on a simpler single-die design.

Nvidia has not confirmed specific details about the chip but acknowledged in a statement that it “evaluates a variety of products for our roadmap, so that we can be prepared to compete to the extent that governments allow.” The company emphasized that all of its products are approved by regulators and developed strictly for commercial use.

The development of the B30A comes as the United States and China continue to clash over access to next-generation technologies. Washington has restricted exports of advanced GPUs over concerns that Beijing could use them for military or surveillance purposes. Industry critics say the U.S. must maintain its technological edge by limiting China’s access, while Nvidia and other American chipmakers argue that abandoning the Chinese market would hand the advantage to domestic rivals like Huawei.

In a related development, Breitbart News reported that the Trump administration recently struck a deal with Nvidia and AMD requiring both companies to share 15 percent of their revenues from Chinese chip sales with the U.S. government. The arrangement was reportedly tied to export licenses granted last week, allowing the sale of restricted chips such as Nvidia’s H20 and AMD’s MI308. Officials have not disclosed how the collected funds will be used.

Despite the geopolitical headwinds, Nvidia appears determined to hold its position in China, the world’s largest semiconductor market.

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North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-Un Orders More Nuclear Weapons

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North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un on Monday ordered a rapid buildup of nuclear weapons, ostensibly because recent joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea were an “obvious expression of their will to provoke war.”

Kim made his remarks while attending the launch of the new 5,000-ton destroyer Choe Hyon at North Korea’s western port city of Nampo. North Korean state media claims the destroyer will be capable of carrying nuclear missiles when it becomes operational in 2026.

The Choe Hyon is the second destroyer in its class. The first one, Kang Kon, featured in a botched launching ceremony in May that caused serious damage to the underside of the ship. The destroyer was reportedly repaired and relaunched in June.

Kim raged that the launch mishap, which he personally witnessed, was a “serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism.”

According to the dictator, the Kang Kon disaster “brought the dignity and self-respect of our state to a collapse.” A smoother launch ceremony for its sister ship, the Choe Hyon, was meant to be a step toward restoring the pride of the North Korean military. (Read more from “North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-Un Orders More Nuclear Weapons” HERE)

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Russia Open to Bilateral or Trilateral Talks With Trump and Zelensky: Putin’s Foreign Minister

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Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, either one-on-one or alongside President Trump, a top Kremlin official said Tuesday — without committing to a timetable.

“We do not reject any forms of work, neither bilateral nor trilateral. Russian President Putin has repeatedly spoken about this,” Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov told Moscow-owned broadcaster VGTRK.

Putin has rejected attempts by Zelensky to meet face-to-face for the entirety of the 41-month-old war, but the White House insisted Tuesday that talks would happen after Trump met Putin in Alaska on Friday and discussed the way forward with Zelensky and other European leaders at the White House Monday.

Lavrov added that any meeting, whether “1+1” or “1+2,” should be undertaken with a “serious approach” and not simply intended to make headlines.

“Any contacts with the participation of top officials must be prepared with the utmost care,” he stressed.

Trump said Monday that he had spoken to Putin during the meeting with Zelensky and the Europeans and the Russia leader had said he was ready to talk with his Ukrainian counterpart. (Read more from “Russia Open to Bilateral or Trilateral Talks With Trump and Zelensky: Putin’s Foreign Minister” HERE)

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Trump, Zelensky, and European Leaders Meet at White House as NATO Chief Hails “Breakthrough” on Ukraine Peace Talks

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In a high-stakes day of diplomacy at the White House, President Donald Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a delegation of European leaders for talks aimed at securing a potential peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte described Trump’s offer of U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine as a “breakthrough” moment, saying it could pave the way toward a lasting settlement.

“The fact that you have said, ‘I am willing to participate in the security guarantees,’ is a big step. It’s really a breakthrough, and it makes all the difference,” Rutte told Trump during a multilateral meeting alongside Zelensky and European leaders. He also credited the American president with “breaking the deadlock” and drawing Russian President Vladimir Putin into peace negotiations.

Trump Hints at U.S. Troop Role

Earlier in the Oval Office, Trump left the door open to sending American troops to Ukraine to help enforce a potential agreement. “We’ll let you know that, maybe later today,” he said when asked whether U.S. forces could be deployed.

The U.S. president suggested that negotiations are moving quickly: “I have a feeling you and President Putin are going to work something out. Ultimately, this is a decision that can only be made by President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine, working in agreement with President Putin.”

Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, explained that Washington’s proposed commitments could amount to “Article 5-like protections,” a reference to NATO’s collective defense clause. Such guarantees, he said, would deter future Russian aggression without granting Ukraine formal NATO membership — a long-standing red line for Moscow.

Zelensky Praises “Very Good Conversation”

For his part, Zelensky signaled cautious optimism. “I think that we had a very good conversation with President Trump,” he told reporters, adding that they discussed security guarantees, humanitarian concerns, and abducted Ukrainian children. “We will come to a resolution today, I think, on almost everything, including probably the security.”

He also reiterated Ukraine’s willingness to consider a trilateral meeting with Trump and Putin if Russia agrees.

Europe Pushes for a Bigger Role

French President Emmanuel Macron, also present in Washington, argued that Europe should be directly represented in any future negotiations. “When we speak about security guarantees, we speak about the whole security of the European continent,” Macron said, suggesting a quadrilateral format for talks.

While Trump appears intent on pursuing a direct arrangement with Putin and Zelensky, Macron’s comments reflect Europe’s deep concerns about being sidelined in discussions that could reshape the continent’s security order.

A Crucial Test for Trump’s Diplomacy

Analysts caution that Trump’s next steps will be decisive. After meeting Putin last week and placing responsibility on Zelensky to seek compromise, Trump now faces the delicate task of balancing Kyiv’s survival with Moscow’s demands.

Ukraine insists on maintaining sovereignty and strengthening its military after the war, while Putin seeks to cement territorial gains and limit Ukraine’s ties to the West. For Trump, the prize is a swift peace deal he can claim as a political victory.

Whether the U.S. president can keep all sides at the table long enough to bridge these divides remains uncertain. But for now, NATO’s chief says the American commitment has already changed the calculus.

“This is a breakthrough,” Rutte said. “And it makes all the difference.”

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Netanyahu’s ‘Greater Israel’ Remarks Sets Off a Wave of Anger in Egypt

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Egypt has strongly denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ‘Greater Israel’ vision, which implies expanding Israel’s territories from the Nile to the Euphrates rivers.

In a statement late on Wednesday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said Netanyahu’s remarks undermine regional stability and reflect a policy direction opposed to peace, one that aims for escalation.

“This contradicts the aspirations of regional and international parties that crave peace and want to achieve security and stability for all regional peoples,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.

“Egypt is keen on laying the foundations of peace in the Middle East,” it added.

Netanyahu stirred up major debates in Egypt after divulging his attachment to the controversial vision. During an interview with the Israeli television channel i24 late on Tuesday, the far-right premier said he feels he is on a “historic and spiritual mission” to fulfill this vision. (Read more from “Netanyahu’s ‘Greater Israel’ Remarks Sets Off a Wave of Anger in Egypt” HERE)