As the world watches tariff brinkmanship unfold between the US and China, analysts have cast doubt on the truth of US President Donald Trump's claim in a magazine interview that China's President Xi Jinping called him.

Mr Trump told Time magazine that tariff talks were taking place between the US and China, an assertion he repeated to reporters as he was leaving the White House to attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome.

Beijing denied any talks were taking place.

Leaked documents reviewed by The Grayzone reveal that a blueprint for Ukraine’s failed effort to capture the village of Krynky was assembled by Project Alchemy, a secret military-intelligence cell created by the British Ministry of Defence which sought “at all costs” to “keep Ukraine fighting.” The Krynky plot led to a bloodbath that remains one of the war’s biggest disasters.

UK intel behind Ukraine’s disastrous Krynky invasion, leaked documents reveal

BY KIT KLARENBERG

IA's catalogue of major reasons Peter Dutton should never be prime minister – begun a few months ago and updated here by Michelle Pini – is now at 95 big fat whopping reasons.

If Dutton’s Coalition fails the May 3 contest, members of the media circus will still be able to hold their heads high, since the loss won’t be due to lack of effort on their part.

A whopping 95 reasons why Dutton is unfit to be PM — and still counting
By Michelle Pini

Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly prepared to hold peace talks with Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Saturday, as the Russian military claimed to have recaptured the border region of Kursk.

According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Putin stated his readiness to negotiate during a meeting with US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Friday.

In 1948, as the foundations of the Israeli state were being laid upon the ruins of hundreds of Palestinian villages, Albert Einstein wrote a letter to the American Friends of the Fighters for the Freedom of Israel, condemning the growing Zionist militancy within the settler Jewish community.

Aisya A. Zaharin

What would it mean for Ukraine to temporarily give up land?
The mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, has told the BBC that Ukraine may have to give up land as part of a peace deal with Russia.
It follows growing pressure from US President Donald Trump to accept territorial concessions.
The political opponent to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, called it a "temporary" solution. But what might that actually mean?
BBC Verify's Merlyn Thomas explains.
https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/c9dj44v4eqwo

====================

The Road to War in Ukraine — The History of NATO and US Military Exercises With Ukraine — Part 1
    by Larry C. Johnson

Palestinians do not have the luxury to allow Western moral panic to have its say or impact. Not caving in to this panic is one small, but important, step in building a global Palestine network that is urgently needed.

Responses in the Western world to the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank raise a troubling question: why is the official West, and official Western Europe in particular, so indifferent to Palestinian suffering?

Ilan Papp

Peter Dutton’s long-awaited military spending plan was supposed to be the Coalition’s chance to shift the election debate onto the former defence minister’s favoured terrain.

Instead, Dutton ran into yet more questions about his preparation for the election contest as he revealed the plan in a hot defence manufacturing factory in Perth on Wednesday, raising further questions over what his own MPs privately describe as a thin and rushed policy agenda.

“Leaving policies so late is a tactic that belongs in the Howard era, and we haven’t learnt our lesson from last time when Morrison’s super-for-housing policy should have come earlier,” one opposition minister, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss internal party matters, said. “We needed to offer more than just saying we’re not Labor, and we’ve so far failed.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Moscow on Friday for discussions on the Ukraine conflict and other issues. The talks have proven to be “constructive” and brought the US and Russian positions “closer,” Yury Ushakov, an adviser to the Russian leader on international affairs, has said.

The discussion, which lasted for around three hours, was “very useful,”and brought “the positions of Russia and the US closer not only on Ukraine, but also on a number of other international issues,” Ushakov told reporters.

In particular, Putin and Witkoff discussed the “possibility of resuming direct negotiations between representatives of Russia and Ukraine,” Ushakov said, without providing further details.

The recent visit to South Africa by Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky is a diplomatic show for NATO, which has been a destabilizing force around the world, Thato Senabe, leader of the local chapter of the Anti-Fascist International Organization, has said.

The activist made the remarks on Thursday while speaking with RT about the reasons for protests in South Africa against Zelensky’s visit, during which the Ukrainian leader accused Russia of impeding Kiev’s efforts to build relations with Africa.

“We as the Anti-Fascist International… do want peace and stability, but our opposition to this [visit] has to do with Zelensky’s ideological position… and his alignment to the NATO imperialist,” Senabe stated.

France and the UK displayed a weakening resolve to put boots on the ground in Ukraine, during recent talks in London, The Times has reported, citing anonymous sources.

Defense chiefs from a number of European NATO states have been debating deploying forces to Ukraine as part of a self-titled “coalition of the willing.”

The idea, led by France and the UK, was proposed as a means of providing Kiev with security guarantees in the event of a ceasefire with Russia. Moscow has rejected outright the idea of troops from the US-led military bloc being deployed to Ukraine under any pretext.

According to The Times, the UK-French plan was rolled back during talks in the UK capital on Wednesday.

Donald Trump selling 2028 election merch despite term limit
The US Constitution limits presidents to two four-year stints in office. Donald Trump has said he still intends to run for a third term and has started selling the hats and t-shirts that say it.

Karl Sexton with AFP, AP

US President Donald Trump's online store is selling merchandise branded with the slogan "Trump 2028" for the country's next presidential election.

The hats, T-shirts and can coolers are available for purchase despite the fact that the US Constitution prohibits presidents from serving three terms.

He was a young American from Chicago, via South Vietnam. He was lean and clean and crew cut, and he was telling us about his experiences up there. Conditions were really rugged, he said. Charlie was unpredictable and vicious.

Addo asked him, “Who's Charlie?”

“VC,” he said.

"Oh well, I s'pose you have to be unpredictable and vicious to get a VC."

Peto said, “VC means Viet Cong, you mug. Septic Tanks don't get VCs. They get purple hearts.”

“Oh.” Addo said. “Must be all that ice-cream they eat. Sends their blood pressure up.”

The young bloke said that where he was stationed they didn't get much ice-cream. And nearly every night they got mortared.

Addo said, “Peto just gets bombed.”

Peto ignored this slander, and the young American looked puzzled.

Addo said, 'Anyway, what are you doing down here?'

“I came down on R an' R,” the Yank said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp7DR3bktLk

Colonel Douglas Macgregor argues the US needs to return to strategic clarity about its interests, objectives and priorities. This entails ending the Ukraine War by walking away. Colonel Macgregor is a combat veteran, a PhD, an author of many books on war strategy, and served as a senior official in Trump's Department of Defense during his first administration. Colonel Macgregor is also the CEO of Our Country Our Choice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm-KDhp2DZ4

Israeli strikes included the bombing of a school-turned-shelter, which killed 13, and the bombing of a children's hospital

Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday that Israeli attacks killed at least 38 Palestinians and wounded 105 over the previous 24-hour period as US-backed Israeli strikes pound targets across the Strip.

Israeli Attacks Kill 38 Palestinians in Gaza Over 24 Hours

Dave DeCamp

The Health Ministry said that one body was recovered from the rubble over the same period. The ministry’s numbers are based on dead and wounded Palestinians brought to hospitals.