
Zelensky-Trump meeting planned Wednesday: Ukraine presidency
"The teams are finalizing the details," the source told AFP, adding that the talks were scheduled for the "early afternoon" in the Netherlands and would focus on sanctions against Russia and arms procurement for Kyiv.

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L'Orient-Le Jour
17 minutes ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
White House lashes out at 'South Park' Trump parody
The White House lashed out at the creators of "South Park" Thursday after the bawdy satire skewered Donald Trump in an episode featuring an AI-generated version of the U.S. president crawling naked through a desert. In a no-holds-barred season premiere, the animated Trump character is also seen begging Satan for sex, only to be rebuffed — in part because his penis is too small. The White House was not amused. "This show hasn't been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention," spokesperson Taylor Rogers said. "President Trump has delivered on more promises in just six months than any other president in our country's history — and no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump's hot streak." The adult animated series, which frequently touches on hot-button issues in American life, is now in its 27th season and remains one of the world's most valuable TV shows. The season premiere begins with the foul-mouthed Cartman appalled that NPR has been taken off the air by the president, while Randy, a parent, is disturbed by the presence of Jesus in public elementary school. Complaints to the fictional White House receive only a threat from Trump to sue the mountain town of South Park for billions of dollars. Meanwhile, animated Trump is threatening to bomb Canada "like I did Iraq." "I thought you just bombed Iran," the Canadian prime minister replies. "Iran, Iraq, what the hell's the difference?" replies Trump. The episode, which sees the fictional Trump ride rough-shod over many aspects of American life, ends after the town of South Park makes a financial deal with the president that includes an agreement to make public service announcements. The AI generated short that follows — ostensibly one of those announcements — shows an overweight Trump staggering through a desert as a narrator casts him as a latter-day Jesus. The short ends with a naked Trump as the narrator says: "Trump. His penis is teeny-tiny, but his love for us is large." At a Thursday panel at pop culture event Comic-Con in San Diego, "South Park" creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker revealed internal discussions over depicting a fake presidential phallus. "They're like, 'Okay, but we're gonna blur the penis.' And I'm like, 'No, you're not going to blur the penis'," Parker told the audience. After "a whole conversation with a lot of grown up people for about four (...) days," Parker said they decided to add eyes to it to avoid it being blurred. Merger The episode aired days after creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone reportedly penned a $1.5 billion streaming deal with Paramount that gives the company global rights. The deal comes at a sensitive time for Paramount, which is trying to secure government approval for a multi-billion-dollar merger with entertainment company Skydance. The CBS parent caused a furor this month when it agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit Trump had brought over an interview the storied "60 Minutes" current affairs program aired with Kamala Harris ahead of last November's election. The payment was criticized by Democrats as little more than a bribe to help smooth the merger, with Paramount initially dismissing Trump's lawsuit as meritless. Last week CBS sparked fury after it cancelled "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" whose host is a pointed critic of the president. The network insisted it was a financial decision, but opponents have painted the move as the latest example of American institutions bowing to Trump.


L'Orient-Le Jour
17 minutes ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
US approves $4.67 bn sale of air defense system to Egypt
The United States on Thursday announced the approval of a $4.67 billion sale of the NASAMS air defense system and related support to Egypt. NASAMS — the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System — has seen recent use on the battlefield after being provided to Ukraine by Kyiv's supporters as part of efforts to bolster the country's air defenses against Russian attacks. "The proposed sale will improve Egypt's capability to meet current and future threats by improving its ability to detect various air threats," the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement. The deal also "will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a major non-NATO ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East," DSCA said. The State Department approved the possible sale of the system to Egypt and the DSCA provided the required notification to the U.S. Congress, which still needs to sign off on the transaction.


MTV Lebanon
18 hours ago
- MTV Lebanon
Justice department official expected to meet Epstein accomplice Maxwell
Jeffrey Epstein's long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell is meeting justice department officials as pressure grows on the Trump administration to release files linked to the financier's sex trafficking network, US media report. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said he planned to speak to Maxwell about any information she had on other people whom Epstein may have helped sexually abuse girls. The meeting is expected to take place on Thursday in Tallahassee, Florida, where she is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, ABC News reported. Her lawyer told the BBC that Maxwell was looking "forward to her meeting", which could help determine whether she will testify before Congress. The latest developments come as interest has switched back to Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex-trafficker in prison for helping Epstein abuse young girls. Calls have grown from the public - including President Donald Trump's loyal supporters - and lawmakers for the justice department to release files related to the Epstein case. "If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say," Blanche wrote in a post on X earlier this week. On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump during a May briefing that his name appeared in DOJ documents related to the Epstein case. The White House has pushed back dismissing the story as "fake news". Being named in the documents is not evidence of any criminal activity, nor has Trump ever been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the Epstein case. While campaigning for the presidency last year, Trump had promised to release such files about the well-connected sex offender. But his supporters have since grown frustrated with the administration's handling of the issue, including its failure to deliver a rumoured "client list" of Epstein. In a memo earlier this month, the justice department and FBI said there was no such list. Epstein died in a New York prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, following an earlier conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. His death was ruled a suicide. In the years since, conspiracy theories about the nature of his crimes and his death itself have proliferated. On Wednesday, a sub-committee of the US House of Representatives voted to subpoena the justice department for the files, which must be signed off by the committee chairman. Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have also subpoenaed Maxwell to testify before the panel remotely from prison on 11 August. House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned that Maxwell - who for years helped Epstein groom and sexually abuse girls - cannot be trusted to provide accurate testimony. Her attorney, David Oscar Markus, told the BBC the concerns were "unfounded" and that if she chooses to testify, rather than invoke her constitutional right to remain silent, "she would testify truthfully, as she always has said she would". Last week, the justice department asked a federal judge to release years-old grand jury testimony related to a 2006 Florida investigation into Epstein, but a federal judge in the state on Wednesday declined to make the documents public.