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JD Vance brushes off racist texts in Republican group chat as ‘what kids do’ | First Thing
Vice-president downplays messages such as ‘I love Hitler’ in chat by 24- to 35-year-olds as ‘stupid jokes’. Plus, Virginia Giuffre on her abuse at the hands of Epstein and MaxwellDon’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.JD Vance sought to downplay the revelation that leaders of a group called the Young Republicans exchanged hundreds of racist and sexist text messages – including one in which rape was called “epic”, and another in which someone wrote “I love Hitler” – as youthful indiscretions.How old are the people who exchanged the messages? Mother Jones reports that public records indicate that eight of the 11 Republican operatives who took part in the offensive chat appear to range in age from 24 to 35.What has the US said about the return of the dead hostages? Though well short of the 28 dead hostages expected by Israel, senior US advisers later said they believed Hamas was committed to finding and returning the others. Continue reading...
‘Inherently cruel’: Canadian parents say citizenship bill erodes rights of children adopted abroad
Rule would require adopted children born abroad to prove ‘substantial connection’ to Canada to pass on citizenshipCanadian parents of children adopted abroad say a proposed citizenship bill represents a “shocking and unconscionable” erosion of their children’s rights by the governing Liberals.The federal government is in the midst of overhauling the Citizenship Act so Canadians born abroad can pass citizenship to further generations born abroad. The bill would also restore or grant citizenship descendants who were excluded under older citizenship laws. Continue reading...
Lawyer urges judge to acquit British ex-soldier in 1972 Bloody Sunday killings in Northern Ireland
A lawyer for the only British soldier charged in the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre says prosecutors failed to prove murder and attempted murder charges
Palestinians cannot know peace till Trump and his fellow ghoul finally leave the stage
Before Donald Trump is officially canonized for ending the Israeli-Palestinian war and bringing peace to the Middle East, let’s do a reality check on Trump’s role and on the ultimate long-term impact.First, it was past time for Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war and he knew it. He had accomplished his goals: severely degrading Hamas, killing or injuring 10 percent of Gaza’s Palestinian population including over 20,000 children and 10,000 women, displacing nearly 90 percent of the population, and destroying Gaza’s infrastructure to ensure the displaced would come home to cataclysmic, unlivable ruin. He was also losing support in Israel every day the onslaught continued. Decades ago, Netanyahu was heard on tape as saying of the Palestinians, "We must beat them up, not once but repeatedly, beat them up so it hurts so badly, until it's unbearable." Netanyahu accomplished his goal.As the war raged on in 2025, Trump’s disdain for the Palestinians was evident. Trump offered to turn Gaza into a real estate magnate’s Shangri-La, assumedly free of Palestinians. He continued to supply Israel’s mighty military force with more weaponry against a woefully inferior opponent. Under Trump, the US voted against United Nations resolutions demanding a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestinian war, killing the resolutions.Trump refused to condemn Israel’s massacre of Palestinian civilians while the world’s International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, for using “starvation as a method of warfare,” restricting humanitarian aid, and intentionally targeting civilians. Under Trump, the US has refused to join the 147 nations that recognize Palestinian statehood or even commit to supporting a two-state Israeli-Palestinian solution. Trump has been Netanyahu’s boy since the beginning of the war, enabling Netanyahu to carry out his scorched earth campaign until the Palestinians were ground into the Gaza dust, their territory destroyed. Netanyahu was more than happy to reward Trump’s unconditional support by giving Trump an uncontested slam dunk: ending the war after Netanyahu had accomplished all he wanted. Of course, there will be no just peace agreement coming out of negotiations. Israel will maintain its military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, further increase its stranglehold on the territories, build more Jewish settlements in the West Bank in violation of international law, and prolong the misery under which Gaza residents will suffer for decades. A two-state solution, which any just peace agreement must include, will remain sheer fantasy until Netanyahu is no longer in power. As Netanyahu said in 1999 after sabotaging the Oslo Accords, which provided a roadmap for Palestinian statehood, “I’m proud I blocked a Palestinian state.” A two-state solution has always been anathema to Netanyahu, the Palestinians unwanted interlopers on lands rightfully belonging to Israel.An elaborate diplomatic charade will occur among participants in the peace negotiations that will ultimately end in Israel maintaining iron-clad control over Palestinian territories and making no significant concessions. Trump will brag about the settlement bringing peace to the Middle East when all it will do is ensure decades of subjugation of a badly broken Palestinian people to their brutal occupier.The entire world is thankful that the slaughter of Palestinian civilians and devastation of their homeland has ended. Netanyahu, however, should never be forgiven for his brutally asymmetrical response to the Hamas attack on Israel, resulting in 82 percent of the war’s casualties being Palestinians, 56 times as many as Israelis. It should also be remembered that Trump never wavered in his support for Netanyahu, that he refused to condemn the annihilation of Palestinians, that he continued providing weapons to Israel, that his administration killed UN ceasefire resolutions, and that his end-the-war overtures came after Netanyahu had demolished Gaza and killed 67,000 Palestinians. Netanyahu and Trump are kindred spirits, comrades in corruption, in extreme-right politics, in authoritarian rule, in undermining their countries’ democracies, and in their indifference to the suffering of Palestinians. In a 2001 tape discussing sabotaging the Oslo Accords, Netanyahu wasn’t concerned about the US response because the US, he said was “easily manipulated.” That remark was certainly prescient regarding his relationship with Trump.Netanyahu knows that as long as Trump is staunchly in his corner, he can do whatever he wants and the rest of the world be damned, including the UN, the International Criminal Court, international law, and the 149 nations that recognize Palestinian statehood. Trump’s loyalty has proven unshakeable throughout the war and will continue throughout the peace talks. Trump did not end the Israeli-Palestinian war. He was handed the “honor” on a silver platter by his grateful political doppelgänger. Until both men have mercifully left the political stage, Palestinians will be left twisting in the bitter wind. Tom Tyner is a freelance editorialist, satirist, political analyst, blogger, author and retired English instructor
Violence erupts during protest as anger boils in Tunisia’s phosphate belt
Demonstrators have clashed with police during a protest against worsening air pollutionfrom a phosphate-processing plant in the southern Tunisian city of Gabes
MI5 chief says China is a daily threat to Britain's security as spying case collapsed
The head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency says China poses a daily threat to the United Kingdom’s security
Pope Leo urges world leaders 'not to look the other way' in fighting global hunger
Pope Leo XIV has called on world leaders to act responsibly and address global hunger and conflict
Kanchha Sherpa, last surviving member of 1953 Mount Everest expedition, dies at 92
Kanchha Sherpa, the last surviving member of the first Mount Everest expedition team, has died at 92
Embattled French PM Sebastien Lecornu survives no-confidence votes in Parliament
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived two votes of no-confidence Thursday that could have toppled his fragile new government and plunged France deeper into political chaos.
Thousands turn out to receive body of former Kenyan PM Raila Odinga
Thousands of Kenyans have turned out at the country's main airport to receive the body of renowned African politician and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, a day after he died in India
Vatican report says clergy sex abuse victims need reparations, sanctions to heal
The Vatican’s child protection board says the Catholic Church has a moral duty to help victims of clergy sexual abuse heal
'Gen Z' protesters lead global wave of generational discontent
A new wave of protests is unfolding worldwide, driven by young people expressing discontent with their governments
