Week of geopolitical poker over Ukraine ends with no endgame in sight

Path to peace looks as unclear as it was before European leaders’ meeting with Zelenskyy in Kyiv

This week began with four European leaders, standing defiantly in Kyiv alongside Volodymyr Zelenskyy, issuing an ultimatum to Vladimir Putin: sign a ceasefire now, or together with Donald Trump we will force you to do so, with sanctions and other tough measures.

Over the subsequent days, there followed a series of offers, counter-offers, ultimatums and deflections, in a dizzying week of high-stakes diplomacy that often seemed to resemble a geopolitical poker game.

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Trump confirms U.S. gave Iran a proposal for a nuclear deal – Axios

  1. Trump confirms U.S. gave Iran a proposal for a nuclear deal  Axios
  2. Top Iranian official says Tehran would forgo highly enriched uranium in nuclear deal with Trump  NBC News
  3. Trump Wants an Iran Deal, but It May Be Weaker Than His Supporters Demand  The New York Times
  4. Trump’s Middle East trip reveals sometimes contradictory foreign policy approach  The Washington Post
  5. Tehran persists that Iran has the right to enrich uranium  The Jerusalem Post
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Polish voters set for tight presidential race after 10 years of Duda – BBC

  1. Polish voters set for tight presidential race after 10 years of Duda  BBC
  2. Why so much is riding on Poland’s presidential elections  The Economist
  3. Poland’s presidential election could end last vestige of populist resistance to PM Tusk  CNN
  4. Poland presidential election 2025: From migration to EU, what’s at stake?  Al Jazeera
  5. Polish presidential hopefuls in final campaign push - as it happened  The Guardian
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Watching Trump from afar, Israel fears being left out of a new Middle East it helped create – AP News

  1. Watching Trump from afar, Israel fears being left out of a new Middle East it helped create  AP News
  2. Netanyahu is the odd man out in Trump's Middle East trip  NBC News
  3. Trump’s Trip Lays Bare a Stark Advantage Some Arab States Have Over Israel  Politico
  4. Column | In Middle East, Trump marginalizes Israel without helping Gaza  The Washington Post
  5. Trump's Message to Netanyahu Is Loud and Clear: You're Fired!  Haaretz
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Are surging shark sightings and strandings linked to South Australia’s toxic algal bloom?

Some have speculated there is a link, but it’s too soon to say, one expert says, with toxicology results expected to reveal more soon

Shark sightings and strandings are unusually high across South Australia amid a prolonged toxic algal bloom, but scientists say it’s too soon to link to recent shark incidents.

On Thursday, a swimmer was bitten by a shark at Port Noarlunga beach, 30km south of Adelaide’s CBD, one of a rising number of reported sharks swimming closer to shore – with some washing up dead on beaches.

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Matan Zangauker’s mother says Edan Alexander provided sign of life from son – The Times of Israel

  1. Matan Zangauker’s mother says Edan Alexander provided sign of life from son  The Times of Israel
  2. Scoop: Hamas approached pro-Trump activist for secret talks that freed Edan Alexander  Axios
  3. Last U.S. Hostage in Gaza Is Reunited With Parents: ‘We Never Lost Hope’  The New York Times
  4. Terrorists dressed as women to transfer Edan Alexander across Gaza, released hostage recounts  The Jerusalem Post
  5. Trump Sides With the Israeli People Against Netanyahu  The Atlantic
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23-year-old influencer shot dead during TikTok livestream – NJ.com

  1. 23-year-old influencer shot dead during TikTok livestream  NJ.com
  2. TikTok Influencer in Mexico Is Shot Dead While Livestreaming  The New York Times
  3. Valeria Marquez: Who was Mexican influencer killed live on TikTok?  Yahoo
  4. Influencer shot dead during livestream voiced fear minutes before murder: "Maybe they were going to kill me"  CBS News
  5. In Mexico, first outrage, then victim blaming over murdered TikTok influencer  Reuters
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Pope Leo offers Vatican for Ukraine peace talks – politico.eu

  1. Pope Leo offers Vatican for Ukraine peace talks  politico.eu
  2. The rite for the Inauguration of the Petrine Ministry of Leo XIV  Vatican News
  3. Pope meets with head of Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine, who invites him to Kyiv  Politico
  4. Zelenskyy asks for Pope Leo XIV's help in bringing Ukrainian children home from Russia  NPR
  5. Pope Leo Offers Vatican to Putin, Zelensky for Talks  Newsweek
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Russ Vought: key Project 2025 figure set to continue Trump cuts after Musk exit

Goal of Christian nationalist and director of OMB to dismantle federal workforce may be coming to fruition

Russ Vought’s years-long quest to dismantle the federal workforce and consolidate power for the president is coming to fruition, and he may be given a major boost when he reportedly takes on Elon Musk’s cost-cutting efforts as the billionaire bows out of the federal government.

The director of the office of management and budget has worked alongside Musk’s “department of government efficiency” to slash through the federal government since Trump took office. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Vought would take on an increased public role in Washington as Musk transitions out and the president’s budget process advances. The outlet reported that Vought could use the budget process to make some of Doge’s cuts permanent.

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Trump hails trade deals as he wraps up Gulf trip – US politics live

President claims he has made agreements worth more than $200bn with the UAE

David Hogg believes the Democratic party not only needs better messengers – it needs stronger fighters.

“The base of the party, they just want us to do anything,” the 25-year-old Florida activist and Democratic National Committee (DNC) vice-chair said in an interview last week. “They feel alone, they feel isolated, they feel unheard, and they feel like they’re not being fought for.”

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Trump acknowledges starvation in Gaza as Israeli airstrikes kill more than 100

President says US will ‘take care of’ situation in Gaza on final day of Gulf tour in Abu Dhabi

Donald Trump has said people are starving in Gaza and the US would have the situation in the territory “taken care of” as it suffered a further wave of intense Israeli airstrikes.

On the final day of his Gulf tour, the US president told reporters in Abu Dhabi: “We’re looking at Gaza. And we’re going to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving.”

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