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WATCH: Bipartisan group of lawmakers express shock, grief after Charlie Kirk’s killing

WATCH: Bipartisan group of lawmakers express shock, grief after Charlie Kirk’s killing

Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike mourned the “horrific” fatal shooting of conservative leader Charlie Kirk Wednesday.  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., praised Kirk’s faith and positive message to young people, saying he “leaves a huge legacy.” “It’s going to be hard for anybody to fill his shoes,” she said. “He’s extremely important. Students all over the country would get very excited if they found out he was coming to their college campus. He brought in thousands of people to hear him speak. Even people that didn’t agree with him would come, ask questions, even argue with him. “He would go on college campuses and tell young people to get married and have children and just talk about how wonderful it is to be married and to have children,” she added. “He shared the word of God. He was a Christian, and he shared the gospel of Jesus Christ and encouraged young people.”  LIVE UPDATES: MANHUNT FOR CHARLIE KIRK SHOOTER CONTINUES VANCE SHARES HOW HE LEARNED CHARLIE KIRK WAS GUNNED DOWN DURING WEST WING MEETING Greene added that she believes Kirk was “killed for the words that he says and the things that he stood for.”  “He was always about the debate, and Charlie Kirk was never for violence. And to see him murdered in such a graphic way in front of the camera and that video is too gruesome,” said Greene. “We’re honestly shocked. We’re devastated,” she said. “I’m at a loss for words, and I’m not often at a loss for words.”  Democrats have also expressed grief over Kirk’s death. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said, “It’s awful. It’s absolutely awful.”  “I’m sorry for his family. There’s no room for political violence in our country, and we all can do more to just condemn it and hopefully that’s the antidote to it, but it’s awful, period,” said Swalwell.  MESSAGES FOUND ON CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN’S GUN, SOURCES SAY Asked whether he was concerned about the safety of other political figures and members of Congress, Swalwell said, “We don’t have enough resources to protect the people who are threatened around here. But I don’t want to make it about us right now. This is just, it’s awful. “It has no room in our politics, and we can’t normalize political violence.”  Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., blamed Kirk’s death on the media and Democrats who he accused of “fueling the political violence.”  “Every single member of that party that is putting out politically violent statements, and so many of them have, should be censured, and they should be removed from every single one of their committees or more people are going to die,” Orden said.  “This didn’t have to happen. It did not,” he added. “But it happened because of the violent political rhetoric coming out of the left being amplified by you people in the press. You are partially responsible for this. For both the assassination attempts for President Trump and for Charlie Kirk being shot.”  SPEAKER JOHNSON ADDRESSES HOW A PRAYER IN CONGRESS ‘TURNED INTO AN ARGUMENT’ Pressed on whether both sides of the political aisle share in the responsibility for the ongoing spate of political violence, especially in light of the recent shootings of two Minnesota Democratic lawmakers and their spouses, Orden answered, “It’s horrible, I said the same thing.” “Let’s quit convoluting this issue. The vast majority, by orders of magnitudes, of the politically violent speech is coming out of the left. Period. So, until these people stop doing that, and until you stop trying to drive wedges between Republicans and Democrats and everyday Americans, this is going to happen again and again and again,” he said.  “So, every single one of you people needs to go home tonight and do some deep soul-searching. There’s a dead man who left two kids in a widow because of you.”

Belarus frees 52 political prisoners after US mediation

Belarus frees 52 political prisoners after US mediation

Belarus has released 52 prisoners following mediation by the United States, which has promised to grant Minsk sanctions relief. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Thursday that the prisoners, along with the US delegation, had crossed into Lithuania. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “No man left behind! 52 prisoners safely crossed the Lithuanian border from Belarus today, leaving behind barbed wire, barred windows and constant fear,” he wrote on X. US President Donald Trump had called on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, to release detainees whom the US leader has described as “hostages”. Belarus later confirmed their release. In return for Lukashenko’s gesture, Washington will grant sanctions relief to Belarus’s national airline Belavia, allowing it to service and buy components for its fleet, which includes Boeing aircraft, the US embassy spokesperson in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius said. Relatives, friends and journalists gather near the US Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, ahead of the arrival of released prisoners from Belarus on September 11, 2025 [Mindaugas Kulbis/AP Photo] Sanctions relief It was the biggest batch of prisoners yet pardoned by Lukashenko, who is seeking to repair relations with the United States after years of isolation and sanctions on his former Soviet state. But it was far short of the 1,300 or 1,400 prisoners whose release Trump had called for in a conversation with Lukashenko last month, as well as in subsequent social media posts. Advertisement Those released include Ihar Losik, 33, a journalist sentenced in 2021 to 15 years in a penal colony on charges of inciting hatred and organising riots, the Belarus affairs section of the US embassy in Vilnius said. The embassy could not immediately confirm whether prominent critics of Lukashenko’s decades-old rule, such as human rights campaigner Ales Bialiatski, co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, were among those released. Belarusian veteran dissident Mikola Statkevich was among the 52 political prisoners, according to rights group Vyasna. “Among those released today is Mikola Statkevich,” it said on Telegram, adding that the 2010 presidential candidate had been sentenced to 14 years following the protests after the contested presidential elections of 2020. EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced that an EU staff member was among the released prisoners, thanking “US partners for their efforts”. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the exiled Belarus opposition whose husband, Siarhei, was released from jail in June, said Thursday’s release covered only 4 percent of those designated as political prisoners, and did not signal any real change of policy by Lukashenko. “We welcome their release, but in essence, this is a trade in human lives – people who should never have been imprisoned in the first place,” Tsikhanouskaya said in a statement released to the Reuters news agency in which she urged the European Union to maintain sanctions on Belarus until democracy is established. US envoy John Coale, who has been involved in the negotiations with Lukashenko, said he hoped for the release within a short time of all of the 1,400 Belarusian prisoners that Trump has described as “hostages”. “Our mission is to get them all out now,” Coale told Reuters. “Eventually, hopefully within a short period of time everybody will be out,” he said. ‘A global deal’ Belarus’s state news agency BelTA said those released included 14 foreign nationals – from Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, France, the United Kingdom and Germany. BelTA quoted Coale, the US deputy envoy for Ukraine, who headed the US delegation, as saying Trump had told Lukashenko that Washington wants to reopen its embassy in Minsk. Coale had earlier passed a letter from Trump in English to Lukashenko, signed “Donald”, BelTA showed. The fact that Trump had signed the letter simply “Donald” was “a rare act of personal friendship”, it quoted Coale as saying. “If Donald insists that he is ready to take in all these released prisoners, God bless you, let’s try to work out a global deal, as Mr Trump likes to say, a big deal,” said Lukashenko, who praised the US leader for seeking a peace deal in Ukraine. Advertisement “Our main task is to stand with Trump and help him in his mission to establish peace,” BelTA later quoted Lukashenko as saying, referencing Trump’s assertion that he has resolved six or seven world conflicts. Lukashenko has led Belarus through more than three decades of authoritarian rule. He said as recently as August 22 that he was not prepared to release “bandits” who might “wage war” against the state. Trump has said he plans to meet Lukashenko, long treated as a pariah by the West, and described him as a “very respected man, strong person, strong leader”. The prisoners were released a day after Poland shot down what it said were Russian drones over its territory, and on the eve of joint military exercises involving Russia and Belarus. Belarus shares borders with three NATO countries and with Ukraine. Lukashenko let Putin use Belarusian territory when invading Ukraine in 2022, but the Belarusian army has not directly participated in the war. Adblock test (Why?)

With the Doha strike, Netanyahu has declared war on the world

With the Doha strike, Netanyahu has declared war on the world

And so Israel has struck again. On Tuesday, the Middle East’s favourite perennial aggressor launched missiles against the Qatari capital of Doha, targeting Hamas leaders involved in negotiations surrounding a proposal from the United States for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli genocide of Palestinians has officially killed more than 64,000 people in less than two years. To be sure, Israel has never been a fan of ceasefires – even ones proposed by the reigning global hegemon and most devout backer of Israeli atrocities. After all, the state’s very existence is predicated on wiping out Palestinians and engaging in unceasing belligerence. And while anyone harbouring an iota of common sense will have long regarded Israel as a rogue state, the unprecedented attack on Qatar appears to have opened some international eyes with regard to just how out of control the Israeli government actually is. For instance, world powers like Britain, France, and India – which have to varying degrees enabled the genocide in Gaza, among other acts of terror by the Israeli military across the region – have managed to muster uncharacteristic condemnation following the Doha strike. This is not to imply, of course, that targeting Hamas leaders in a country that happens to host the largest US military base in the Middle East is somehow more morally appalling than slaughtering tens of thousands of people in Gaza, most of them women and children. It is simply to observe that even apologists for Israel’s genocidal recklessness seem to have drawn a new red line – which is that the Israelis can’t simply go around bombing people and places as they see fit. Advertisement Following the strike on Doha, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt announced that “unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals”. Lest we rush to accord any sense of logic or reason to the current White House, Leavitt went on to add the disclaimer: “However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.” For his part, US President Donald Trump has now “assured” the Qataris that “such a thing will not happen again on their soil”, in Leavitt’s words. And yet Qatar would be forgiven for feeling somewhat less than “assured”, given that it has already been made quite clear that Trump has forfeited control over what Israel does or does not do on other people’s soil. As a testament to this reality, Israel’s aptly named Defence Minister Israel Katz took to social media on Wednesday to warn that “Israel’s long arm will act against its enemies anywhere. There is no place where they can hide.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has meanwhile explicitly threatened Qatar, suggesting that this may not be the last the emirate sees of Israeli missiles: “I say to Qatar and all nations who harbour terrorists, you either expel them or you bring them to justice – because if you don’t, we will.” As usual, then, the country with the present monopoly on regional terrorism – not to mention nearly eight decades of Israeli ethnic cleansing, dispossession, and massacres of Palestinians – has taken the liberty of deciding whom to assign the role of “terrorists” and then attack. Considering Israel’s utterly mendacious definition of “terrorism”, it’s not only Qatar that needs to worry. As Netanyahu himself said, “all nations who harbour terrorists” are eligible for Israel’s version of “justice”, which in the end generally amounts to war crimes and wanton violations of international law. As Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday, Israel had conducted military attacks on no fewer than six countries in the past 72 hours alone. In addition to Palestine and Qatar, the “soil” of Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen had also been graced with Israel’s penchant for destruction. Now, it’s anyone’s guess as to who might be safe from Israel’s “long arm” – but the possibilities are few and far between. Decades ago, the Israeli spy agency Mossad had already shown itself to be perfectly comfortable with assassinating Palestinians on European soil. And now that there’s a full-blown genocide on in Gaza, the more “terrorists” that can be detected abroad, the better for Israel in terms of distracting from and validating its blood-drenched operations. Advertisement Israel may currently pride itself on the total impunity it enjoys, and its ability to wreak devastating havoc at will. But while it remains to be seen what other diabolical manoeuvres the “long arm” has up its sleeve, Netanyahu’s effective declaration of war on the world should at least serve as a wake-up call to those still wooed by the lethal oxymoron of Israeli “justice.” The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Adblock test (Why?)

Hamas promises to keep fighting after Israeli attack on Qatar

Hamas promises to keep fighting after Israeli attack on Qatar

Qatar’s prime minister called the attack ‘state terror,’ as region plans response. Published On 11 Sep 202511 Sep 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share A spokesperson for Hamas has promised that the group will keep fighting after Israel attacked Qatar’s capital this week in an attempt to assassinate senior leaders of the Palestinian group, including negotiators engaged in talks on securing a ceasefire in Gaza. “The Israeli attack cannot dent our resolve by targeting our leaders,” Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said in a news conference televised on Al Jazeera on Thursday. “The crime did not target the negotiating delegation, but rather the entire negotiation process.” Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The Hamas delegation was meeting in Doha to discuss the latest ceasefire proposal put forth by the US at the time of the attack, Barhoum said, adding that Israel’s goal was to “torpedo” the negotiating process. The attack came at a time when Qatar, one of the lead mediators between Israel, the United States and Hamas, had been trying to broker a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 64,600 people since October 2023. Five members of Hamas were reportedly killed in the attack this week, including the son of Hamas’s exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya. At least one Qatari security official died in the attack, as well. The purpose of Israel’s missile attack was to “injure what Qatar symbolises, the support of all the aggrieved and oppressed,” Barhoum said. He also stressed that Hamas’s key demands — including the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and reconstruction of the enclave — have not wavered. He described the ongoing siege, bombardment and mass displacement in Gaza as “a full-fledged war crime.” Advertisement Since Tuesday’s strike, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened further attacks on Qatar. “I say to Qatar and all nations who harbour terrorists, you either expel them or you bring them to justice,” Netanyahu said. “Because if you don’t, we will.” Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani responded by calling Israel’s attack on Doha “state terror” in an interview with US media outlet CNN on Wednesday. “There is a response that will happen from the region. This response is currently under consultation and discussion with other partners in the region,” the prime minister told CNN, adding that “the entire Gulf region is at risk”. Adblock test (Why?)