America
Trump Plays Down Expectations Ahead Historic Meeting With Putin
American President Donald Trump has sought to play down on public expectations of his Friday meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Viktor Putin, on the Ukraine war.
The meeting is due in an American military base in Anchorage, Alaska.
It is expected to draw up a blue print for the ceasefire talks between officials of Russia and Ukraine.
But ahead of the talks, Trump says there should be measured expectation.
He said he could not compel any of the parties to the war to make concessions but seemed to suggest that there could be sanctions on Russia if it fails to agree to peace talks with Ukraine.
Both Ukraine and its allies, including America and the European Union, EU, blame Russia for lack of progress on peace talks holding in Turkiye.
The Friday meeting is the first between both Trump and Putin in the last six years and comes ahead of the feared Russian military push in Ukraine.
The EU has wide ranging sanctions on Russia for its war on Ukraine, and has been pressuring Trump to add a new layer of stifling punitive sanctions on Moscow.
The Alaska meeting comes after today’ s crucial meeting between Ukraine’ s leader, Wladimyr Zelensky, and his British counterpart, Sir Keir Starmer, at 10, Downing Street, London.
Details of the Starmer, Zelensky talks remained confidential at press time.
Palestine
100 Aid Groups Berate Israel Over Blockade of Supplies
More than 100 Aid and humanitarian groups have condemned Israel’ s humanitarian policies and called on the international community to pressure its policies that have created famine and related crises in Palestine, especially Gaza and Khan Younis.
In a letter they jointly issued, the group noted that Israel had continued to weaponise aid .
They said the policy of the weaponisation of humanitarian supplies was unacceptable and a breach of international law and the global community must pressure Israel to change course.
The group equally called for the opening up of all points to ease the flow of food, water, medicine and fuel to Palestinians.
Meanwhile, 23 persons have been killed since morning in Gaza and Khan Younis, by Israeli troops.
Locals say that 10 of the dead were killed while trying to access food at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) centre in the enclave.
The GHF has four centres three of which it hardly operates.
The United Nations (UN) and other credible organizations say that more than 1,800 starving Gazans have been killed at or near the GHF centres., since May this year.
The GHF was created by both Israel and America to side step the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which had been in charge of humanitarian supplies in Gaza since the 1940s.
Brazil
Brazil Raises $5b Cushion Fund For Exporters
The Brazilian government has approved a $5billion support programme for exporters
The fund is to cushion the effects of a 50 per cent tariff hike imposed by President Donald Trump, on Brazilian exports to America
Trump had imposed the stiff tariffs on Brazil partly in protest at the government ‘s prosecution of his ally and former President on corruption and treason charges
Trump tags the prosecution a political witch hunt, but the government dismisses the insinuation as unfounded.
Scotland
A festival celebrating Palestinian culture has opened in Edinburgh , Scotland.
It is attracting a miscellany of artistes from Palestine .
The feast, tagged The Fringe Festival, is celebrating different aspects of Palestinian culture, including its arts, dance, music and folklore.
Organisers are also deploying the festival to tell the story of Palestinians now in the throes of catastrophic humanitarian conditions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Russia
Russia Unfolds Core Schedules of Trump/Putin Alaska Summit Moto
Russia today unfolded details of the core schedules of tomorrow’s summit of President Vladimir Viktor Putin and his American counterpart, Donald Trump.
The Russian Foreign Office in Moscow said that the summit would involve three major schedules
According to the office, the first schedule would be exclusively a meeting of the two leaders, each with his own interpreter.
After that, comes the second segment which will involve a meeting of the two leaders , accompanied by five experts chosen by them.
This segment of the meeting is expected to dwell on the Ukraine war and what steps should be taken to end it.
There is no schedule as to how long this segment will last, though it is expected to be protracted based on the issues up for discussion between both leader’s.
The third and final segment of the summit is the holding of a joint press conference by both leaders on the issues discussed at their summit.
The summit is scheduled to begin by 11.30 local time (about 9.30 pm Nigerian time).
