Melania Trump returns to Washington after four-week absence.

-
Image
After a four-week absence from Washington, first lady Melania Trump returned to the White House on Saturday for an annual dinner and reception with the nation’s governors. “She worked very hard on making sure that everything was beautiful. And she’s very good at that,” President Donald Trump said in brief remarks to governors in the candlelit East Room, his wife seated nearby at a table filled with overflowing vases of white hydrangeas and tulips. While Melania Trump may be preparing the White House for visitors — she announced in a statement last week that tours of the historic home are reopening to the public — the first lady apparently has had less interest in spending time there.  Since her husband took the oath of office on January 20, she has not spent significant time at the White House, according to sources with direct knowledge of her schedule. Melania Trump was an active presence during the first days of the president’s second term, but after joining her husband for...
Post a Comment

Australian police find explosives for possible antisemitic attack

-

 


Authorities in Sydney are investigating whether explosives discovered in a caravan were intended for an antisemitic attack.

The explosives could have caused a 40-metre-wide blast and "significant damage,"

 police said on Wednesday, adding that the threat was contained.

A note was found in the caravan that displayed antisemitic messages, investigators said.


"This is the discovery of a potential mass casualty event," New South Wales Premier

 Chris Minns said.

New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson told a news conference

 that the caravan was discovered on 19 January in Dural, a suburb of north-west Sydney.

The investigation became public on Wednesday after details of it were leaked to the

 media.

There was "some indication that the explosives might be used in some form of 

antisemitic attack," Mr Hudson said, but he wouldn't be drawn on the possible target.

He said officers had "mitigated the risk as much as possible" but stressed: "I'm not

 saying it's been eliminated. I'm saying it's been mitigated."

"That's one of the reasons we're talking today, for members of the public to be vigilant in relation to what they see and what they hear in relation to antisemitism in our community."

An investigation involving the Australian Federal Police (AFP) has been launched.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese posted a statement on X saying that "hate and

 extremism have no place in Australian society".

He said that New South Wales Police had "people in custody" and was working with

 the AFP taskforce investigating antisemitic crimes called Special Operation Avalite.

Premier Chris Minns described the incident as "terrorism".

"This would strike terror into the community, particularly the Jewish community, and it

 must be met with the full resources of the government."


It has not yet been designated a terrorist incident, the premier confirmed.

The discovery follows a spate of antisemitic attacks in Australia in recent months.

In December, worshippers were forced to flee as Melbourne's Adass Israel synagogue

 was set on fire.

Earlier this month, a childcare centre in Sydney was set alight and sprayed with 

antisemitic graffiti.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

American fighters are dying in Ukraine in growing numbers. Bringing their bodies home is a complex task

-
Image
More than 20 Americans are missing in action on the front lines in Ukraine, with a spike in casualties over the past six months as foreigners fill urgent gaps in the country’s embattled defenses, according to a CNN investigation. The bodies of at least five American volunteers who signed up to the Ukrainian military could not be retrieved from the battlefield after being killed in action in the past six months, CNN found. Two of these were repatriated from Russian-occupied territory on Friday to Ukrainian soil after lengthy negotiations. The stark testimony of their surviving colleagues, and the growing toll, portrays the obscure yet important role of American frontline fighters in a war President Donald Trump has called “ridiculous” and has pushed Russian President Vladimir Putin to end diplomatically. The relatives of the missing Americans have told CNN of the distressing lack of closure in not being able to bury their sons, of the legal limbo of not being able to officially ...
Read more

Wrongfully detained American teacher Marc Fogel meets with Trump after being released from Russia in an ‘exchange’.

-
Image
Marc Fogel, an American teacher detained for more than three years in Russia, was welcomed back to the US by President Donald Trump on Tuesday night after the White House secured his release in an “exchange.” Fogel arrived at the White House late Tuesday draped in an American flag and was greeted by Trump, who said it was “an honor to have played a small role” in his release. “Thank you all, and I love our country, and I’m so happy to be back here. And I wish I could articulate it better,” said Fogel, who appeared overwhelmed with emotion as he spoke in the Diplomatic Reception Room.   The deal to release Fogel, who was designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department, was negotiated by Trump, Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, “and the President’s advisers,” according to a statement from national security adviser Mike Waltz. The statement did not provide any details about the “exchange,” other than to say it was “a show of good faith from ...
Read more

OpenAI says Chinese rivals using its work for their AI apps

-
Image
  The maker of ChatGPT, OpenAI, has complained that rivals, including those in China, are using its work to make rapid advances in developing their own artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The status of OpenAI - and other US firms - as the world leaders in AI  has been dramatically undermined this week  by the sudden emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese app that can emulate the performance of ChatGPT, apparently at a fraction of the cost. Bloomberg has reported that Microsoft is investigating whether data belonging to OpenAI - which it is a major investor in - has been used in an unauthorised way. The BBC has contacted Microsoft and DeepSeek for comment. OpenAI's concerns have been echoed by the recently appointed White House "AI and crypto czar", David Sacks. Speaking on Fox News, he suggested that DeepSeek may have used the models developed by OpenAI to get better, a process called knowledge distillation. "There's substantial evidence that what DeepSeek did here is ...
Read more