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Year: 2025

General who helped Trump decimate ISIS terrorists in first term confirmed as Joint Chiefs chairman

General who helped Trump decimate ISIS terrorists in first term confirmed as Joint Chiefs chairman

The Senate has voted to confirm the general who told President Donald Trump that ISIS could be eradicated “very quickly” with loosened rules of engagement during his first term to the role of chairman of the Joint Chiefs.  The vote came in the wee hours of Friday morning after Democrats rejected a GOP attempt to quickly confirm Caine on Thursday and get out of town. The vote tally was 60 to 25, with 15 Democrats supporting the Trump nominee. An Air Force F-16 pilot by background, Caine will be the first National Guard general to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Trump plucked him from retirement to reactivate and serve as his top military advisor after firing Gen. C.Q. Brown in February.  Brown had been behind a 2022 memo laying out diversity goals for the Air Force.   Caine will be the first Joint Chiefs chairman who was not a four-star and the first to come out of retirement to fill the role. He hasn’t been a combatant commander or service chief, meaning Trump had to grant him a waiver to serve in the role.  TRUMP, HEGSETH REVEAL WHOPPING FIGURE THEY WANT FOR THE NEXT PENTAGON BUDGET Caine acknowledged his unconventional nomination during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee: “In our family, we serve. When asked, we always say yes. Senators, I acknowledge that I’m an unconventional nominee. These are unconventional times.” ​ He worked as the associate director of military affairs for the CIA from 2021 to 2024 and founded a regional airline in Texas. He was a White House fellow at the Agriculture Department and a counterterrorism specialist on the White House’s Homeland Security Council. Caine was among a group of military leaders who met with the president in December 2018 at the Al Asad airbase in Iraq. Trump was there to deliver a Christmas message and hear from commanders on the ground, and there Caine told Trump they could defeat ISIS quickly with a surge of resources and a lifting of restrictions on engagement.  “‘We’re only hitting them from a temporary base in Syria,’” Trump said Caine told him. “‘But if you gave us permission, we could hit them from the back, from the side, from all over – from the base that you’re right on, right now, sir. They won’t know what the hell hit them.’”  Trump had claimed Caine was wearing a red MAGA hat the first time he met him – a claim Caine repeatedly denied during the hearing. “Sir, for 34 years, I’ve upheld my oath of office and my commitment to my commission, and I have never worn any political merchandise,” Caine told Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss.  Trump, when he picked Caine, praised him as “an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a ‘warfighter’ with significant interagency and special operations experience.” NEW NAVY CHIEF ‘REGRETS’ COSTLY MISSILE STRIKES AGAINST HOUTHIS, PUSHES FOR CHEAPER RED SEA DEFENSE Caine vowed his duty would be to advise the president on defense considerations without any political influence.  The role, he said, “starts with being a good example from the top and making sure that we are nonpartisan and apolitical and speaking the truth to power,” Caine said. Trump’s first chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Mark Milley, has now become a top foe – the president recently stripped him of his security clearance and had his portrait taken down at the Pentagon. 

China to ‘reduce’ Hollywood movie releases in response to Trump’s tariffs

China to ‘reduce’ Hollywood movie releases in response to Trump’s tariffs

China’s National Film Administration says US movies will be less popular after Washington imposed a 145 percent tariff on Chinese imports. China has moved to “moderately reduce” the release of Hollywood films in the Chinese market in the latest front of the growing United States-China trade war. China’s National Film Administration directly linked their decision on Thursday to US tariffs on Chinese products, which US President Donald Trump has raised to a sky-high 145 percent. “The wrong move by the US government to abuse tariffs on China will inevitably further reduce the domestic audience’s favourability towards American films,” the film administration said in its announcement. “We will follow market rules, respect the audience’s choice, and moderately reduce the number of American films imported,” it said. The decision likely came as no surprise to observers, who had predicted that China might target Hollywood as part of its response to surging US tariffs. China accepts 10 films a year from Hollywood, and the Chinese market was once seen as a major source of revenue for the US film industry. Actor Brad Pitt attends a promotional event for the movie Allied in Shanghai, China, in 2016 [File: Reuters] In recent years, though, the popularity of Western movies has waned with Hollywood films accounting for just 5 percent of box office receipts in China, according to Chris Fenton, author of Feeding the Dragon: Inside the Trillion Dollar Dilemma Facing Hollywood, the NBA, and American Business. Advertisement Still, the message sent by China to the US movie industry will be hard to miss, Fenton said, due to the industry’s symbolic cultural power. “Such a high-profile punishment of Hollywood is an all-win motion of strength by Beijing that will surely be noticed by Washington,” Fenton told the Reuters news agency. It is still unclear how the decision will impact much-anticipated releases due later this year, such as Paramount’s Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Warner Brothers’ latest Superman movie, and another version of Marvel’s The Fantastic Four. President Trump, who has been rebuked by many Hollywood celebrities in the past for his policies, told reporters on Thursday he was untroubled by the decision taken in China to target the film industry. “I think I’ve heard of worse things,” he said in response to a query. Adblock test (Why?)

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,142

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,142

These are the key events on day 1,142 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Here is where things stand on Friday, April 11: Fighting Russia said its aerial defence systems destroyed 48 Ukrainian drones overnight and into the early morning in the Bryansk, Kursk, Kaluga, Belgorod, Moscow and Oryol regions, as well as the Russian-annexed Crimea. The Russian Ministry of Defence said its forces captured the border village of Zhuravka in Ukraine’s Sumy region. Ukrainian authorities recorded 145 Russian drones in its airspace in overnight attacks, of which 85 were destroyed while 49 were “lost” due to electronic warfare measures, Kyiv’s air force said. At least 13 people were injured by Russian drone attacks in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the southern city of Mykolaiv overnight, local authorities said. The drone assaults also damaged nine apartment blocks, dozens of garages and an administrative building. At least one person was killed and three were injured by a Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s Dnipro city. The attack damaged civilian infrastructure and sparked a huge fire, the regional governor, Serhiy Lysak, said. A person was also killed in a separate drone strike on a residential building in the city of Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said. Footage from a Ukrainian surveillance drone obtained by The Associated Press news agency showed four Ukrainian prisoners being shot dead by soldiers wearing Russian uniform markings. The Kremlin’s shorter version of the video, which was posted by a Russian military blogger, showed the Ukrainian soldiers lying on the ground alive. The video’s caption said the “enemy decided not to be killed and came out with their hands up”. The video did not show their execution. Advertisement Ceasefire Moscow’s Defence Ministry accused Ukraine of carrying out 11 attacks on Russian energy infrastructure over the past 24 hours despite a mutually agreed 30-day moratorium on energy strikes. Politics and Diplomacy Russia released Russian American ballet dancer Ksenia Karelina, who was serving a 12-year prison sentence, in a prisoner exchange with the US, the Reuters news agency reports, citing Karelina’s lawyer. Karelina was found guilty of treason by a Russian court for donating $52 to a US charity aiding Ukraine. She was swapped for Arthur Petrov, a German Russian citizen arrested in 2023. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called for a “sober” view of its role in the Ukraine crisis after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv’s intelligence had information about 155 Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russian forces against Ukraine. A spokesperson for the ministry also warned against making “irresponsible” remarks about the presence of Chinese fighters in Ukraine. President Zelenskyy accused Russia of working systematically in China to recruit fighters for the war in Ukraine. He also said, “Everything necessary must be done to ensure Russia has no such similar opportunities to prolong and expand the war.” The United States and Russia held talks in Istanbul, Turkiye, on normalising diplomatic relations between the two countries. The talks were led by Russia’s new ambassador to Washington, Alexander Darchiev, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Sonata Coulter. Defence ministers from some 30 countries who are part of the “coalition of the willing” met in Brussels to discuss a “reassurance force” for Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow. However, key questions about its mission and any support from the US remained unanswered. The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, is stepping down after three years of service, the US Department of State said. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)

Syria and South Korea establish formal diplomatic relations

Syria and South Korea establish formal diplomatic relations

The move is a blow to North Korea, which once counted Damascus as an ally until the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. South Korea and Syria have formally established diplomatic relations, in another milestone for the transitional government of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. The move has also dealt a blow to Seoul’s archenemy, North Korea, which once counted Syria as a friend under the regime of now-deposed President Bashar al-Assad. Diplomatic ties were formalised on Thursday in Damascus between South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani. During the ceremony, Cho said South Korea was ready to help aid Syria’s recovery from its 13-year civil war through business investment and humanitarian assistance. Al-Shaibani said he hoped that Seoul would support the easing of international sanctions that remain on Damascus, according to a readout from South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The establishment of formal ties concludes talks that began in February with approval given by Seoul’s cabinet, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, and comes as both countries are in the middle of major political transitions. Advertisement In December, opposition forces in Syria overthrew President al-Assad, whose family ruled the country for more than 50 years. A transitional government was sworn in on March 30 under the leadership of President al-Sharaa, who previously led anti-Assad forces during Syria’s civil war. The focus of al-Sharaa’s government is on returning stability to Syria, which is still struggling with violent clashes months after the fall of Assad. South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol was formally impeached last week after parliament received support from the country’s Constitutional Court for his removal from office. Yoon set off a political crisis in December when he briefly declared martial law, claiming that “antistate” and North Korean forces had infiltrated the government. South Korea is now headed by an acting president, and voters will choose Yoon’s replacement during a snap election in June. With the addition of Damascus, Seoul now has diplomatic ties with all 191 UN members, including the Holy See in Rome. Last year, Seoul and Cuba, another North Korean ally, established diplomatic ties in a surprise move that ended decades of isolation. Adblock test (Why?)

Trump threatens tariffs and sanctions on Mexico for ‘stealing’ water from Texas farmers

Trump threatens tariffs and sanctions on Mexico for ‘stealing’ water from Texas farmers

President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs, and possibly sanctions against Mexico, if it continues to rob South Texas farmers of Rio Grande water promised under a decades-old treaty. In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump proclaimed that Mexico owes Texas 1.3 million acre-feet of water under the 1944 Water Treaty, though Mexico was violating their obligation. “This is very unfair, and it is hurting South Texas Farmers very badly,” the president wrote. “Last year, the only Sugar Mill in Texas CLOSED, because Mexico has been stealing the water from Texas Farmers. Ted Cruz has been leading the fight to get South Texas the water it is owed, but Sleepy Joe refused to lift a finger to help the Farmers. THAT ENDS NOW!” Trump continued, saying he will make sure Mexico does not violate treaties with the U.S. and hurt farmers in Texas. TEXAS FARMING CRISIS LOOMSAS US, MEXICO SPAR OVER LONG-STANDING WATER TREATY “Just last month, I halted water shipments to Tijuana until Mexico complies with the 1944 Water Treaty,” he said. “My Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, is standing up for Texas Farmers, and we will keep escalating consequences, including TARIFFS and, maybe even SANCTIONS, until Mexico honors the Treaty, and GIVES TEXAS THE WATER THEY ARE OWED!” Texas farm groups warned of a disastrous season ahead of them for citrus and sugar, last year, as Mexican and U.S. officials tried to resolve a dispute over the 1944 water treaty that supplies U.S. farmers with critical irrigation. The two countries have tussled over the treaty before, but the drought-driven water shortages were the most severe in nearly 30 years. BOTH SIDES CLAIM VICTORY AFTER SUPREME COURT RULES TEXAS RANCHER CAN SUE STATE OVER FLOODED LANDS Under the treaty designed to allocate shared water resources, Mexico is required to send 1.75 million acre-feet of water from the Rio Grande to the U.S. over a five-year cycle. Texas’s half-billion-dollar citrus industry is heavily dependent on water from Mexico, especially with drought conditions growing more severe in the region. In fact, Texas is the third-largest citrus state behind California and Florida. Last month, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs posted that it was denying a request from Mexico to deliver water to Tijuana. TEXAS TOWN DECLARES ‘WATER EMERGENCY,’ TELLS RESIDENTS THAT IT COULD RUN OUT OF WATER “Mexico’s continued shortfalls in its water deliveries under the 1944 water-sharing treaty are decimating American agriculture – particularly farmers in the Rio Grande valley,” the agency wrote on X. “As a result, today for the first time, the U.S. will deny Mexico’s non-treaty request for a special delivery channel for Colorado River water to be delivered to Tijuana.” The day before, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas., said South Texas was facing a water crisis, which he called a “man-made crisis.” He also noted that he was leading the fight in the Senate to hold Mexico accountable and abide by the treaty to deliver water to farmers in South Texas. He shared the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs’ post, calling the move, “excellent.” “As I said yesterday, this option is absolutely what the Trump administration needs to pressure Mexico to fulfill its obligations under the 1944 Water Treaty,” Cruz wrote on X. “Texas farmers are in crisis because of Mexico’s noncompliance. I will work with the Trump administration to pressure Mexico into complying and to get water to Texas farmers.” Reuters contributed to this report.