Arab leaders gather to endorse counterproposal to Trump’s Gaza plan, ceasefire’s fate uncertain

Source: SFGate

“Arab leaders meeting in Cairo on Tuesday are set to endorse a counterproposal to U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for the Gaza Strip to be depopulated and transformed into a beach destination, even as the continuation of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire is uncertain. The summit hosted by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi included the emir of Qatar, the vice president of the United Arab Emirates and the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia — countries whose support is crucial for any postwar plan. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also attended. Israel has embraced what it says is an alternative U.S. proposal …. [and] has blocked the entry of food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to Gaza to try to get Hamas to accept the new proposal and has warned of additional consequences, raising fears of a return to fighting.” (03/04/25)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/arab-leaders-gather-to-endorse-counterproposal-to-20201163.php

Forget “return to office,” Mr. President. This is the pro-baby way to go.

Source: Washington Post
by Timothy P Carney

“JD Vance’s biggest applause line at this year’s March for Life wasn’t specifically about abortion. ‘I want more babies in the United States of America,’ the vice president declared. Vance is right to care about the U.S. birth rate, which has fallen to record lows …. Here’s one way to jump-start a fix: The federal government should let its employees work from home as much as possible. … If you want to really support working parents, the best thing you can do is give them flexibility on where and when they work. Yet the Trump administration is pushing in the opposite direction.” (03/04/25)

https://archive.is/uPjCD

Bondi says FBI delivered “truckload” of Jeffery Epstein files after ultimatum

Source: mint [India]

“US Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed on Monday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) delivered a ‘truckload of evidence’ in the Jeffrey Epstein case after she imposed a deadline on them. Speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity, Bondi revealed that the FBI had delivered a ‘truckload’ of Epstein-related files after she imposed a strict deadline of 8 am last Friday for their handover. Pam Bondi, without providing evidence, said she had learned from an unidentified source that the FBI’s New York office remained in possession of thousands of documents related to wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein that had not been disclosed.” (03/04/25)

https://www.livemint.com/news/us-news/pam-bondi-says-fbi-delivered-truckload-jeffery-epstein-files-after-ultimatum-11741085520294.html

What Zelenskyy can learn from Netanyahu & his Oval Office meltdown with Obama

Source: New York Post
by Michael Oren

“On May 20, 2011, inside the Oval Office and before the cameras, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lectured President Barack Obama. The incident was the closest the two countries came to a total breakdown. I was then Israel’s ambassador to the United States and had a ringside seat to the clash. It left a deep impression on me, underscoring the importance of interpersonal relationships in the shaping of foreign policy. Those lessons proved especially applicable last week in the wake of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Oval Office meltdown with President Trump and Vice President JD Vance. By repeatedly interrupting and finally lecturing his hosts, the feisty Ukrainian leader supplied a textbook example of how not to handle a foreign leader of formidable pride and breakaway policies. To understand how he might get out of this mess, it’s worth going back to the Netanyahu-Obama collision.” (03/03/25)

https://nypost.com/2025/03/03/opinion/what-zelensky-can-learn-from-netanyahus-oval-office-meltdown/

Spain: Father tries to block daughter’s euthanasia in landmark case

Source: BBC News [UK State Media]

“A young woman is due to testify in a Spanish court today in a bid to persuade a judge to let her die voluntarily against the wishes of her father, in the first case of its kind. The 23-year-old woman who wants to end her life is paraplegic due to injuries suffered when she tried to take her own life in 2022. She has the support of the regional government of Catalonia after a local euthanasia guarantee and evaluation board unanimously supported her decision in July 2024. … The woman was due to die in August, but the process was suspended at the last moment due to legal objections raised by her father, with the backing of the campaign group Christian Lawyers (Abogados Cristianos).” (03/04/25)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crrdqdky9gxo

The DOGE Charade

Source: CounterPunch
by Phil Mattera

“Donald Trump and Elon Musk keep claiming that their scorched-earth approach to remaking the federal government is made necessary by the prevalence of fraud and waste. Musk’s DOGE attack-squad tabulates its progress on a Wall of Receipts that currently purports to have saved Uncle Sam $65 billion. That number appears to have been plucked out of thin air. The savings for the 2,300 individual contracts listed on the site add up to only $9.6 billion, and even that amount is shaky. For example, the single biggest savings, $1.9 billion, is attached to a Treasury Department contract that is reported to have ended during the Biden Administration. DOGE gives no details of any fraud it may have found in the contracts. That is not surprising, since it is impossible to have done a careful examination of that many contracts in such a short amount of time.” (03/04/25)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/03/04/the-doge-charade/

US State Department unfreezes $95 million in aid for the Lebanese army

Source: Axios

“The State Department is waiving $95 million in military assistance to the Lebanese armed forces amid the Trump administration’s nearly 90-day foreign-aid freeze, two U.S. officials told Axios. The waiver suggests the Trump administration intends to try to strengthen Lebanon’s military and the new government that took office in January. The aid is part of a broader Trump administration strategy to try to continue weakening Hezbollah, decreasing its influence in Lebanon and making sure the ceasefire with Israel holds, U.S. officials said.” (03/04/25)

https://www.axios.com/2025/03/04/lebanon-state-department-unfreezes-aid