Author: Press Room

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected the peace deal framework reportedly proposed by the Trump administration of freezing the lines of the conflict and recognising Crimea as Russian territory. Planned peace talks in London on Wednesday were downgraded as it became clear that major fault lines remain over what an acceptable end to the war would look like. According to reports, last week in Paris, Washington’s negotiators put forward an outline of a deal to end the conflict, which would include America’s “De jure” recognition of Russia’s ownership of Crimea, which Moscow has controlled since 2014 and is an area…

Whoopi Goldberg told her co-hosts Wednesday on ABC’s “The View” that unless Americans resist President Donald Trump’s administration, the country is “going down.” Co-host Sunny Hostin said, “I’m not a glass-half-empty person. I try to be pretty optimistic, but I’m also a realist, and we are in the middle of a constitutional crisis; I don’t care what anybody says. There’s been a benchmark survey U.S.-based professors rate the performance of American democracy on a scale of zero, complete dictatorship which is 100, perfect democracy, at this point in Trump’s second term that figure is now 55.” She added, “The indicators…

Flight testing of China’s two new next-generation fighter designs is continuing apace and offering new insights into both aircraft. The latest imagery of the larger of the two designs, commonly — but unofficially — called the J-36, offers the clearest look to date at the exhausts for its three engines and a new angle into its possible two-seat cockpit. Additional views of the second type, referred to variously as the J-XDS and J-50, show the interesting bay configuration on the side of the fuselage immediately behind the air intake and highlight other distinctive features like its swiveling wingtip control surfaces.TWZ…

A federal judge could soon block the White House’s move to strip collective bargaining rights from hundreds of thousands of federal workers.U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman appeared skeptical during a hearing Wednesday of the administration’s arguments that a little-known provision in federal labor law allows it to exclude several agencies from unionization rights because their work is primarily focused on national security. Friedman said the White House’s determinations about the nature of the agencies’ work seem implausible.President Donald Trump issued an executive order last month purporting to end union contracts and public workers’ rights to collectively bargain with the federal…

SANTA ROSA BEACH — A new memorial will be built at Thomas Pilcher Park in honor of the crew of AirHeart One, following a directive from the Walton County Board of County Commissioners on April 22.The memorial will be constructed in collaboration with the South Walton Fire District. The tribute is to recognize Tom Palcic, pilot; Jack Chase, flight nurse; and Robert Heighton, paramedic, who lost their lives in a helicopter crash on Oct. 20, 2004.On that night, AirHeart One took off from the Walton County Sheriff’s Office heliport in Santa Rosa Beach to transport a patient to Pensacola. Shortly…

A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, could happen on Friday, Axios reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed US official.Earlier, Moscow confirmed that Witkoff would travel to Russia later this week.Witkoff has visited Russia three times in recent months for multiple rounds of talks with senior Russian officials, including Putin, as part of peace efforts undertaken by Washington and Moscow to end the Ukraine conflict.As part of a potential peace deal, Washington reportedly proposes to recognize Russia’s jurisdiction over Crimea and acknowledge Moscow’s control over four other former Ukrainian regions that…

We are currently well below the replacement fertility rate in our country meaning we are not having enough babies to replace our existing population. This presents a looming danger of population collapse. The Trump administration is reportedly fielding ideas to change this. The Gateway Pundit reported, The Trump administration is exploring ways to address America’s demographic crisis. According to a report from The New York Times, Trump aides are considering a range of proposals designed to encourage families to have more children. One idea involves reserving 30 percent of Fulbright scholarships — a prestigious, government-funded international fellowship — for applicants who are married…

This photograph taken on March 19, 2025 shows European flags outside the EU headquarters in … More Brussels. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP) (Photo by NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images The EU is soon to intimately understand a truth too often lost on politicians and regulators: the only closed economy is the world economy. This will become apparent in the aftermath of the EU’s $570 million and $228 million fines respectively levied on Apple and Meta. The EU’s regulators will describe the fines as harmful to Apple and Meta uniquely, and consequences of their alleged failure…

LONDON (AP) – A set of the first four editions of William Shakespeare’s collected works is expected to sell for up to 4.5 million pounds ($6 million) at auction next month. Sotheby’s auction house announced the sale on Wednesday, Shakespeare’s 461st birthday. It said the May 23 sale will be the first time since 1989 that a set of the First, Second, Third and Fourth Folios has been offered at auction as a single lot. The auction house estimated the sale price at between 3.5 million and 4.5 million pounds. After Shakespeare’s death in 1616, his plays were collected into…

Bessent: China Tariffs Stay Until Reform Begins Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stood before the Institute of International Finance this morning and delivered a speech that ought to be remembered as a turning point in U.S. economic diplomacy. While the press zeroed in on his critiques of the IMF and World Bank, what may matter more in the long run was his blunt message to Beijing. “China needs to change. The country knows it needs to change. Everyone knows it needs to change,” Bessent said. “And we want to help it change—because we need rebalancing too.” That clarity is what has…