World News

"Today, history is made," EU chief Ursula von der Leyen told a ceremony in Lithuania's capital. "This is freedom, freedom from threats, freedom from blackmail."

Polish President Andrzej Duda, praised it as a "truly symbolic moment" that would make the region "more secure and resilient".

"It is the final step towards emancipation from the post-Soviet sphere of dependence," he added.

The so-called Brell power grid - which stands for Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania - is controlled almost entirely by Moscow and has long been seen as a vulnerability for the three Baltic states.

Now Nato members, they have not purchased electricity from Russia since 2022, but their connection to the Brell grid left them dependent on Moscow for energy flow.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/54805138

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themoscowtimes.com/2025/02/06/…

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/54702117

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he wants his country to take ownership of the Gaza Strip and redevelop it after Palestinians are displaced elsewhere.

"We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site," Trump said at the start of a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"I do see a long-term ownership position," Trump said when asked about the U.S. controlling the territory for an extended period, adding that he is not ruling out sending U.S. troops in to secure Gaza.

...

Trump's comments came hours after he suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be "permanently" resettled outside the war-torn territory.

"You can't live in Gaza right now. I think we need another location," Trump said earlier Tuesday.

"I think it should be a location that's going to make people happy. You look over the decades, it's all death in Gaza. This has been happening for years. It's all death. If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people, permanently, in nice homes where they can be happy and not be shot and not be killed and not be knifed to death like what's happening in Gaza."

Trump has previously called on Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries to take in Palestinians temporarily while Gaza is reconstructed after the devastating war between Hamas and Israel, which was paused in January by a ceasefire. Tuesday was the first time he has publicly floated making that resettlement permanent.

Sorry to beat the same drum in a short amount of time, but this is where thinking Biden wasn't doing enough has led. Perfect being the enemy of the good and all. Explicit calls for ethnic cleansing were at least not on the table with the last administration.

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themoscowtimes.com/2025/02/06/…

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/32268916

Japanese police said they have arrested seven people suspected of running an illegal sex business that reportedly targeted tourists in Tokyo's busy red-light district.

A record 36.8 million foreign visitors came to Japan last year, drawn partly by the weak yen -- a figure the government wants to almost double to 60 million annually by 2030.

But some campaigners have raised concerns that the tourism influx could also be boosting the sex industry.

A Tokyo police spokesman told AFP on Wednesday that seven people, including a Brazilian national, had been arrested for running prostitution businesses under the guise of massage parlours for men in the central Kabukicho red-light district.

One of those arrested, a 54-year-old Japanese man named Kazuki Sudo, is believed to have headed the prostitution ring that ran from October and November last year, the spokesman said.

They allegedly created an English-language website because 60 to 70 percent of their clientele were from abroad, including from Asian countries and North America, Japan's Mainichi daily reported.

The newspaper said that the businesses employed foreign touts and payments were accepted in different currencies.

The Tokyo Shimbun newspaper said one 25-year-old Malaysian man who used the group's services told police he wanted to "make memories" before returning home.

Vancouver Public Library policies that prevent staff from wearing Palestinian symbols have put the library in the spotlight.

The library’s policies say it can’t become involved in partisan issues and bar employees from wearing political symbols at work.

After a handful of complaints about pro-Palestinian symbols at library branches this summer, leadership enforced the policies and asked staff who were not Palestinian to stop wearing symbols including kaffiyehs and watermelon pins, which show support.

Since the Mainlander first reported on the library’s policy this month, some advocates have spoken out against it, accusing the library of selective enforcement on the ban on workplace political symbols.

The shooting happened in Orebro, 200km (124 miles) west of the capital, Stockholm, on Tuesday afternoon.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/25054328

Summary

Trump's confrontational approach to U.S. allies—threatening tariffs, pushing Canada and Mexico, and pressuring Colombia—risks alienating key partners.

Analysts warn this could push nations toward China, which is eager to capitalize on diplomatic rifts. Panama, after Trump's canal threat, opened talks with Beijing.

Critics argue Trump's aggressive diplomacy weakens trust, while supporters claim it reinforces U.S. strength. Despite the rhetoric, some policies, like repatriation flights to Colombia, remain unchanged.

Experts caution that isolating allies may bolster China’s global influence at America’s expense.

Investigators from the NTSB have determined the CRJ700 airplane was at 325 feet, plus or minus 25 feet, at the time of impact, officials said.

themoscowtimes.com/2025/01/30/…