AFP USA

A “Blood Moon” will bathe a large swathe of the world in red light overnight Thursday during a rare total lunar eclipse.Skygazers will be able to witness the celestial spectacle in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa.The phenomenon happens when the Sun, Earth and Moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite.But as the Earth’s shadow creeps across the Moon, it does not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the Moon turns a reddish colour. This is because the only sunlight that reaches the Moon is “bent and scattered” as it goes through Earth’s atmosphere, Daniel Brown, an astronomer at the UK’s Nottingham Trent University, told AFP.It is similar to how the light can become pink or red during sunrises or sunsets on Earth, he added.And the more clouds and dust there are in Earth’s atmosphere, the redder the Moon will appear.The lunar eclipse, which will last around six hours on Friday morning, “is an amazing way to see the solar system in action”, Brown said.The period when the Moon is completely in Earth’s shadow — called the totality — will be just over an hour.This particular event has been dubbed the “Blood Worm Moon”, after one of the names given to March full moons by some Native Americans.- When can you see it? -In North America, the moon will start to look like a bite is being taken out of it from 1:09 am Eastern Time (0509 GMT), then the totality will be from 2:26 am to 3:31 am, according to NASA. In France, the totality will be from 7:26 am to 8:31 am local time (0626-0731 GMT), according to the French Institute of Celestial Mechanics and Ephemeris Calculation. However only the most western parts of Europe, such as France’s Brittany region, will get any chance to see the totality before the Moon sets.People in New Zealand will have the opposite problem, with the eclipse only partially visible as the Moon rises.In the United Kingdom, the weather forecast is poor but Brown said he hoped to “snatch a peak at the Moon with clouds above the horizon”.Brown dislikes the term “Blood Moon”, saying it has a negative connotation and “originates from a misinformed theory of the end of the world”.But not all societies took a negative view of these celestial shows.Some people in Africa traditionally viewed a lunar eclipse as a conflict between the Sun and Moon that could be resolved by people “demonstrating on Earth how we work together” and laying old feuds aside, Brown said.”An amazing story that should inspire us all at the moment,” he said.- Solar eclipse soon -It will be the first total lunar eclipse since 2022, but there will be another one this September.Thursday’s event will be a “Micromoon”, meaning the Moon is the farthest away it gets from Earth, making it appear about seven percent smaller than normal, according to the website Earthsky. This is the opposite of a “Supermoon”, as was seen during 2022’s lunar eclipse.Some skygazers will be in for another treat later this month — a partial solar eclipse, which is when the Moon blocks out the Sun’s light on Earth.This eclipse will be visible on March 29 in eastern Canada, parts of Europe, northern Russia and northwest Africa.Viewing even a partial solar eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous, and people advised to use special eclipse glasses or pinhole projectors.

The International Olympic Committee on Thursday announced a $3 billion deal for NBC Universal to broadcast the Olympics until 2036 in the United States.The IOC said the deal, which extends the current agreement with the US broadcaster by four years, was “a major contribution to the long-term financial stability of the entire Olympic Movement”.The extension of the rights covers the Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2034 and the 2036 Summer Olympics, for which the host city is yet to be decided.The new deal elevates Comcast NBC Universal to the status of a “strategic partner” of the IOC rather than just a media rights holder, the IOC said in a statement.The Executive Board of the IOC has approved the agreement and has authorised the next IOC president, who will be elected on March 20, to sign the agreement after they take office in June 2025.NBC’s previous Olympic rights deal was signed in 2014 and was valued at $7.75 billion. It covered the Summer and Winter Games until 2032.The current IOC president Thomas Bach said the new deal with NBC “goes far beyond the traditional media rights agreement”.”Thanks to their innovative approach, serving on all platforms from linear to streaming and digital, we can now take our partnership to new heights,” Bach added.NBC’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics reached an average of 67 million viewers a day across its broadcast, cable and streaming platforms.Viewers streamed 23.5 billion minutes of NBC’s coverage from Paris, led by its streaming service Peacock, representing a 40 percent rise on all prior Olympic Summer and Winter Games combined.

The White House abruptly withdrew its vaccine-skeptical nominee for director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ahead of a scheduled Senate hearing on Thursday, marking a setback for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s agenda.Like Kennedy, internal medicine physician and former Florida congressman David Weldon has long voiced concerns about potential adverse effects from immunization and has promoted the debunked theory of a link between vaccines and autism.The withdrawal comes as measles, a once-vanquished childhood disease, has killed two people and infected more than 250 in Texas and New Mexico, the majority of whom were unvaccinated.Kennedy’s comments downplaying both the severity of the outbreak and the role of vaccination in its prevention may have contributed to eroding political support for Weldon among Republican senators, ultimately influencing the White House’s decision to pull the nomination.A Senate committee that would have voted on Weldon put out a statement just minutes before the hearing was scheduled to take place saying it had been cancelled after he pulled out.”During one of the worst measles outbreaks in years because of Trump, Weldon should NEVER have even been under consideration to lead CDC,” Democratic Senator Patty Murray wrote on X.Weldon, 71, told The New York Times that a White House official contacted him on Wednesday night to inform him that “they didn’t have the votes to confirm” his nomination.— Kennedy ‘upset’ —Speculation on holdouts centers on one Republican senator in particular — Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who is also a medical doctor. Cassidy had pressed Kennedy on his history of vaccine skepticism during the health secretary’s confirmation hearings before ultimately voting to confirm him.As a Republican congressman, Weldon co-sponsored a 2007 bill, which ultimately failed, that sought to create a vaccine safety office independent of the CDC, arguing that the agency had an inherent conflict of interest.He also raised concerns about a “possible association between the mercury-based preservative, thimerosal, and the childhood epidemic of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), including autism.”Thimerosal was removed from childhood vaccines in the United States in 2001. According to the CDC, “there is no evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines, except for minor reactions like redness and swelling at the injection site.”Under Kennedy, the CDC has been tasked with investigating this alleged link, which was first widely raised in a 1998 paper that was later found to be based on manipulated data. The scientific consensus remains that there is no causal connection between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine — or any other vaccine — and autism.Weldon said Kennedy was “very upset” about the decision but noted that he would ultimately return to his private practice, where he expects to “make much more money,” according to The New York Times.

European and US policy makers are eyeing deeper ties around natural gas even as trade conflict boils and President Donald Trump challenges the long-running transatlantic alliance.EU officials appearing on public panels at the CERA Week energy gathering spoke optimistically about the potential for rising US liquefied natural gas exports to play an even bigger role after the fuel offset key supplies following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.”Hopefully by 2027, we will be down to zero (fossil fuel imports from Russia),” Jovita Neliupsiene, ambassador of the European Union Delegation to the United States, said on a panel Wednesday.Earlier this week, Dan Jorgensen, commissioner for energy and housing in the European Commission, said the bloc now gets 13 percent of its gas from Russia, down from 45 percent in February 2022.”Indirectly we have filled Putin’s war chest,” said Jorgensen, who described the goal as “100 percent free of molecules from Russia.”The statements come as supplies of US LNG exports appear poised to surge higher after Trump reversed a move by predecessor Joe Biden to freeze LNG export permitting. Trump administration officials have pointed to higher LNG exports as a way for Europe to address Trump’s focus on trade imbalances.At CERA, Trump’s Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum both spoke of LNG exports as a way to bolster an ally.European officials did not comment on Trump’s friendly posture towards Russian President Vladimir Putin which has come as the White House has broadly distanced itself from traditional allies in Europe.On Wednesday, the European Union unveiled counter-tariffs on US goods after 25 percent US tariffs went into effect on steel and aluminum.- Europe’s dilemma -While EU officials set government policy, the decisions about fuel transactions are taken at the corporate level, a point alluded to Laurent Ruseckas of S&P Global, who moderated Wednesday’s panel, “Energy and the future of European Security.””It’s become sort of a cliche to say that the transatlantic relationship now has become transactional, but in the energy business, transactions are what we’re all about,” Ruseckas said.LNG is one place where the United States and Europe are still “potentially extremely well aligned,” said Ruseckas.The Trump administration’s positive stance towards fossil fuels is expected to roughly double the amount of US natural gas exported over the next five years, said Matthew Palmer, head of North American natural gas at S&P Global Commodity Insights.Much of the LNG in this growing “wave” has been through relatively short-term contracts between suppliers like Total and Shell and European utilities that may not want to lock themselves into long-term agreements, Palmer said.”We love the US because you have the cheapest gas of the planet,” TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said this week in vowing more US LNG investment.Begun in 1983 by Daniel Yergin, author of The Prize, a Pulitzer Prize-winning history of the oil industry, CERAWeek is an annual Houston gathering that has expanded beyond its petroleum roots to include the power and renewable sectors.The conference also includes panels with geopolitical experts analyzing what the early days of the Trump administration portends for international alliances.Europe has realized “they have to go it on their own,” said Brookings Institution senior fellow Angela Stent.”I see now the beginning of a long term shift of the Europeans realizing that what they have had for these past nearly 80 years is really gone.”Some Europeans are privately discussing “why should I trade reliance on Vladimir Putin for reliance on Donald Trump?” said Chris Treanor, executive director of the Partnership to Address Global Emissions.But the current surge of US LNG investment means “there will be more gas available for European buyers, should they be interested in pursuing it.”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visits the White House Thursday seeking to convince President Donald Trump to maintain US commitment to the transatlantic alliance and to Ukraine.Dubbed the “Trump whisperer” for his ability to manage the mercurial US leader, the former Dutch prime minister will face a tough job of convincing Trump that NATO allies are paying enough for their own defense.Trump has repeatedly called into question whether the United States would defend allies who do not boost their defense spending, causing major jitters as Europe faces an increasingly aggressive Russia on its doorstep.Rutte will also be trying to smooth over recent tensions between Trump and Ukraine, as a top US negotiator arrived in Moscow to deliver a ceasefire proposal following a swift pivot by Trump towards Russia.”I expect key messages will be around how much Europe is stepping up on spending, how we all need to do more on defense production, and welcoming progress in pursuit of peace for Ukraine,” Rutte’s spokeswoman said.Trump will host Rutte in the Oval Office before the pair have lunch at the White House. The NATO chief will also meet senior Trump administration officials and members of the US Congress.The visit is Rutte’s first meeting with Trump since the US president began his second term on January 20, and comes at a critical time.Trump is famously skeptical about whether the United States — by far the biggest military in the transatlantic alliance and ultimate guarantor of Europe’s security since World War II — should continue in that role.- Defense spending -The US president’s sudden decision to start talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in February on the Ukraine war further stunned and worried US allies about his commitment.He has continued to sow doubts in recent days, saying of allies a week ago that “if they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them.”Trump has previously called for allies to lift annual defense spending to five percent of GDP from the current two-percent target, which NATO expected only 23 of 32 members to meet last year.He has also questioned whether allies would defend the United States — despite the fact that the only time NATO has invoked its Article 5 collective defense measure was after the 9/11 attacks on the United States in 2001.NATO allies will be looking to Rutte, a veteran of European diplomacy, to convince Trump that the alliance is worth sticking by.Rutte is widely credited with rescuing a 2018 NATO summit by talking Trump around on defense spending during his first term.He also showed typical Dutch directness by brazenly contradicting the president in a previous visit to the Oval Office that same year.In an exchange that later went viral, Trump claimed it would be “positive” whether or not the EU and the United States managed to clinch a trade deal.The visiting Rutte scoffed out loud and interjected: “No! It’s not positive. We have to work something out.”

US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday to present Washington’s plan for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, a source said, as the Kremlin warned against any “hasty” deal that would give Kyiv a respite from fighting.Ukraine agreed to the plan during talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, as US President Donald Trump pushes for a speedy end to the more than three-year conflict.But even before meeting Witkoff, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin said the document only took Ukraine’s position into account, and that Russia needed input as well.”It will be necessary to work on it, think and take into account our position,” Yuri Ushakov told Russian state TV, saying Putin would probably give his verdict on the deal later.Russia has been grinding forward on the battlefield for over a year, and claimed on Thursday to have driven Ukrainian forces from the town of Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk region.Trump has expressed optimism that his team can secure a ceasefire, despite Moscow’s battlefield gains.”If we can get Russia to stop, then we have a full ceasefire. And I think it’ll never go back to war,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said the fact Russia was yet to respond officially to the idea showed it did not want peace.”Regrettably, for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made,” he said on social media.”This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible.”- ‘Temporary breather’ -Setting out its red lines ahead of the talks, Russia ruled out foreign peacekeepers in Ukraine and raised the possibility of relief from sanctions imposed on it.Moscow wants any settlement to be long-term and to secure its interests, rather than a temporary deal that would give Ukraine a “breather”, Ushakov said.”That is what we are striving for. A peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country,” he told a state TV reporter.Ushakov called the 30-day ceasefire proposal a “hasty” plan that “is not in favour of a long-term settlement”.”It would be nothing more than a temporary breather for the Ukrainian military,” he said following a call with US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.Russia has also ruled out accepting foreign peacekeepers in Ukraine as part of a ceasefire or long-term security guarantee for Kyiv.That could go against an ask Ukraine has made of European allies to deploy military “contingents” on its territory once the conflict ends to protect against future attacks from Russia.”It is absolutely unacceptable to us that army units of other states are stationed in Ukraine under any flag,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a briefing.”Be it a foreign contingent and a military base… all this would mean the involvement of these countries in a direct armed conflict with our country.”- Battle for Kursk -Russia, meanwhile, claimed rapid advances in the Kursk region — where Kyiv launched a cross-border assault last August and has held territory since.The Russian defence ministry said it had “liberated” Sudzha along with two other settlements in the border region.Sudzha, home to around 5,000 people before the fighting, was the largest settlement Kyiv seized after it launched its shock assault into Russia.The Kursk region was one of Kyiv’s few bargaining chips in swapping land with Russia, which has occupied around a fifth of Ukraine since it took Crimea in 2014 and launched its full-scale assault in February 2022.Ukraine now risks losing its grip on the border region entirely, ceding dozens of square kilometres (miles) in the past seven days, according to military bloggers.Ukraine’s commander-in-chief hinted late Wednesday some of its troops were pulling back in the region.Putin visited the region on Wednesday for the first time since Ukraine launched its incursion.Dressed in battle fatigues, he expressed hope his army would “fully liberate” areas under Kyiv’s control.Moscow’s rapid advances in the region came after the US paused intelligence sharing and security support for Ukraine, although analysts and officials cautioned against making a direct link.Washington said it had resumed its support for Kyiv ahead of the talks with Moscow.Both Moscow and Kyiv kept up hostilities into Thursday.Russia downed 77 Ukrainian drones overnight, its defence ministry said, while Ukraine’s air force said it downed dozens of drones fired at multiple regions.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met his Canadian counterpart Thursday as part of the highest-level US visit to Washington’s northern neighbor since threats launched by President Donald Trump, whose trade war and bid for a Ukraine ceasefire dominated a Group of Seven meeting.Canada, the current president of the club of powerful economies, is gathering G7 foreign ministers for three days of talks inside a rustic hotel in snow-covered Charlevoix, on the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. Once broadly unified, the G7 — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — has been rattled since the return of Trump, who has reached out to Russia and slapped punishing trade tariffs on close allies.Before the full talks, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly met separately with Rubio. The two exchanged pecks on the cheek and shook hands before sitting next to US and Canadian flags standing at equal stature. They did not respond to questions.Trump has taunted Canada by saying it should be absorbed into his country as the 51st state. Joly, ahead of her meeting with Rubio, told reporters: “Canadian sovereignty is not negotiable.”Rubio on Wednesday defended Trump’s tone but said he was not planning to discuss “how we’re going to take over Canada” at the G7 talks.Rubio took a circuitous route to the United States’ northern neighbor from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, where Ukraine agreed to a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia.Rubio has said he will push the G7 to draft a statement that avoids “antagonistic” language toward Russia.Diplomats said that no other G7 country was aligned with the United States but that the group was looking at a formulation that could please all sides, such as endorsing the ceasefire proposal. Trump stunned allies, and led Europeans to ramp up discussion on a defense future without the United States, by berating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as insufficiently grateful and cutting off aid vital to Kyiv since the Russian invasion of 2022.The United States restored assistance after the Jeddah agreement on Tuesday, with Rubio saying the ball was now in Moscow’s court.Russia appeared to throw cold water on the proposal on Thursday, with top Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov saying it would only offer a “temporary breather” to Ukraine.British Foreign Minister David Lammy said the G7 needs to focus on “ensuring Ukraine is in the strongest possible position to secure a just and lasting peace.”Joly said she expected her talks with Rubio will be centered on “Ukraine and the ceasefire that’s on the table.”- Trade wars -The G7 meeting came just as Trump’s sweeping 25-percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports came into effect Wednesday, prompting immediate retaliation from major US trading partners. The European Union swiftly unveiled counter-tariffs hitting about $28 billion of US goods in stages from April, while Canada announced additional levies on $20.7 billion of American products from Thursday.Canada has previously imposed 25-percent tariffs on $20.8 billion of American goods in response to US levies on certain Canadian imports. Joly said she intends to raise the issue of tariffs in “every single meeting” at the G7. Rubio said he expected his counterparts to set aside any frustration over Trump’s trade policies to work on shared goals. The steel and aluminum tariffs are anchored to national security concerns, he said Wednesday. “Every country in the world we expect will act in their national interest,” he added. “I think it is quite possible that we could do these things and at the same time deal in a constructive way with our allies and friends,” Rubio said. “That’s what I expect out of the G7 and Canada.”The three-day meeting in Charlevoix will also touch on China and the Middle East, among other subjects. It comes ahead of a G7 leaders’ summit in the Canadian province of Alberta in June.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to impose 200-percent tariffs on wine, champagne and other alcoholic products from France and other European Union countries in retaliation against the bloc’s planned levies on US-produced whiskey.”If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES,” he posted on his Truth Social platform.Trump has launched trade wars against competitors and partners alike since taking office, wielding tariffs as a tool to pressure countries on commerce and other policy issues.On Wednesday, the European Union unveiled tariffs countering US moves on steel and aluminum, hitting some $28 billion of US goods in stages from April. Trump on Thursday renewed his criticism of the bloc, singling out a 50-percent levy on US whiskey as being “nasty.”He termed the EU “one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World” and said it “was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States.”Uncertainty over Trump’s trade plans and worries that they could trigger a recession have roiled financial markets. But US stocks regained some ground Wednesday even as some Asia markets retreated.US distillers have called the EU’s levy on American whiskey “deeply disappointing.””Reimposing these debilitating tariffs at a time when the spirits industry continues to face a slowdown in US marketplace will further curtail growth and negatively impact distillers and farmers in states across the country,” said Distilled Spirits Council head Chris Swonger in a statement on Wednesday.A 2018 imposition of similar tariffs led to a 20-percent drop in American whiskey exports to the European Union.The lifting of that measure in 2021 saw US whiskey exports surge by nearly 60 percent, industry data showed.It was not immediately clear what legal justification Trump would rely on to hike tariffs on European alcohol.Trump’s tariff wars have taken aim at Canada, Mexico and China over allegations they are not doing enough to curtail fentanyl smuggling or illegal immigration into the United States.He has also taken aim at specific commodities, including steel, aluminum and copper.Some countries, much like the EU, have imposed retaliatory tariffs on the United States in response to Trump’s moves to address what he terms unfair trade imbalances.China has vowed “all necessary measures” in response to US measures, and has already imposed duties of 10-percent and 15-percent targeting US agriculture products ranging from soybeans to chicken.European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday maintained that the EU’s retaliation, affecting products ranging from bourbon to motorbikes, was “strong but proportionate.”

US negotiators travelled to Russia on Thursday to present their plan for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but Moscow warned in advance it would refuse any temporary deal that gave Kyiv a “breather”.Ukraine agreed to the plan during talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, as US President Donald Trump pushes for a speedy end to the more than three-year conflict.Russia has been grinding forward on the battlefield for over a year, claiming on Thursday to have driven Ukraine from the town of Sudzha in its Kursk region.Russian President Vladimir Putin will likely give his assessment of the US and Ukrainian-backed proposal later on Thursday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.A plane linked to Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff landed earlier at Vnukovo-2, a Moscow airport terminal often used to receive foreign dignitaries, Russian news agencies reported.”Negotiators are flying in and indeed contacts are scheduled,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, without saying who was part of the US team.Trump has expressed optimism that his team can secure a ceasefire, even as Kyiv and Moscow trade almost daily aerial attacks.”People are going to Russia right now as we speak. And hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia,” he told reporters on Wednesday.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said the fact Russia was yet to respond to the idea showed it did not want peace.”Regrettably, for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made,” he said on social media.”This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible.”- ‘Temporary breather’ -Setting out its red lines ahead of the talks, Russia ruled out foreign peacekeepers in Ukraine and mooted potential sanctions relief.Moscow wants any settlement to be long-term and secure its interests, rather than a temporary deal that would give Ukraine a “breather”, Ushakov said.”That is what we are striving for. A peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told a state TV reporter.Ushakov called the 30-day ceasefire proposal a “hasty” plan that “is not in favour of a long-term settlement”.”It would be nothing more than a temporary breather for the Ukrainian military,” he said following a call with Waltz.Russia has also ruled out foreign peacekeepers being deployed to Ukraine as part of a ceasefire or long-term security guarantee for Kyiv.Ukraine has asked its European allies to deploy military “contingents” on its territory once the conflict ends to protect against future attacks from Russia.”It is absolutely unacceptable to us that army units of other states are stationed in Ukraine under any flag,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a briefing.”Be it a foreign contingent and a military base… all this would mean the involvement of these countries in a direct armed conflict with our country,” she added.- Battle for Kursk -Russia meanwhile claimed rapid advances in the Kursk region — where Kyiv launched a cross-border assault last August.The Russian defence ministry said it had “liberated” Sudzha along with two other settlements in the border region.Sudzha, home to around 5,000 people before the fighting, was the largest settlement Kyiv seized after it launched its shock assault into Russia.The Kursk region was one of Kyiv’s few bargaining chips in swapping land with Russia, which has occupied around a fifth of Ukraine since it took Crimea in 2014 and launched its full-scale assault in February 2022.Ukraine now risks losing its grip on the border region entirely, ceding dozens of square kilometres in the past seven days, according to military bloggers.Ukraine’s commander-in-chief hinted late Wednesday some of its troops were pulling back in the region.Putin visited the region on Wednesday for the first time since Ukraine launched its incursion.Dressed in battle fatigues, he expressed hope his army would “fully liberate” areas under Kyiv’s control.Moscow’s rapid advances in the region came after the US paused intelligence sharing and security support for Ukraine, although analysts and officials have cautioned against making a direct link.Washington resumed its support for Kyiv ahead of the talks with Moscow.Both Moscow and Kyiv kept up hostilities into Thursday.Russia downed 77 Ukrainian drones overnight, its defence ministry said, while Ukraine’s air force said it downed dozens of drones fired at multiple regions.

US President Donald Trump has been condemned by Jewish and Muslim groups for using the term “Palestinian” as a slur in an attack on the country’s highest-ranking elected Jewish official.In comments to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer had “become a Palestinian.””He used to be Jewish. He’s not Jewish anymore, he’s a Palestinian,” Trump said.Schumer, a long-serving Democratic senator from New York, has resisted Republican pressure this week to back their stopgap plan to avoid a government shutdown.The Senate minority leader is a longtime advocate for Israel who has voiced support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and also criticized Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza.Jewish and Muslim organizations both slammed  Trump’s comments as offensive.”A President has many powers, but none of them include deciding who is and isn’t Jewish. Doing so, and using ‘Palestinian’ as a slur, are both beneath any (US president),” the Jewish activist group, the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement on X.Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), called on Trump to apologize, adding that his use of the term “Palestinian” as a racial slur was both “offensive and beneath the dignity of his office.”Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, also condemned Trump’s statements, calling them “abhorrent.””Since taking office, he’s elevated antisemitic conspiracy theorists & attacked our democracy. His rhetoric, agenda, and alignment with right-wing extremists are endangering American Jews,” Soifer wrote on X.Schumer’s office did not immediately reply to an AFP request for comment.Last month, Trump also referred to Schumer as Palestinian when the president proposed a widely criticized plan for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip and relocate Palestinians.And ahead of last year’s election, Trump accused Schumer of being a “proud member of Hamas.”