All posts tagged: leaders

European leaders back Zelensky’s call for direct Russia talks

European leaders back Zelensky’s call for direct Russia talks

Published by Sam Flores

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received the backing of the leaders of the UK, France and Germany in calling for direct ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine, according to a joint statement issued following defence talks in London on Sunday. Zelensky met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at 10 Downing Street for talks as Russia’s war has stretched into its fifth year. The leaders “supported the proposal for a direct dialogue between Ukraine and Russia – with active US and European participation – to bring about a ceasefire and support further negotiations”, they said in a joint statement with Zelensky. “The current line of contact should be the starting point for negotiations,” it said. “International borders must not be changed by force.” Zelensky proposed a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an open letter on Thursday. To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the …

Faith leaders keep ministering at Delaney Hall

Faith leaders keep ministering at Delaney Hall

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — Moments before Department of Homeland Security agents fired a hail of pepper balls at the feet of demonstrators outside the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, New Jersey, last Monday (May 25), faith leaders say they were frantically working to calm things down. Kathy O’Leary, coordinator of the Catholic group Pax Christi New Jersey, said she was helping to push the crowd back. Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, executive vice president of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, said she and a Christian pastor had placed themselves between agents and demonstrators, raising their hands aloft. And the Rev. Robin Tanner, a Unitarian Universalist minister in Summit, New Jersey, said she was conversing with DHS agents as she stood beside U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, who had come to visit Delaney amid reports of a hunger and labor strike staged by detainees alleging inhumane conditions inside.  Then, unexpectedly, DHS agents unleashed the volley of pepper balls. All three faith leaders — along with Kim — were exposed, some left coughing and sputtering as bystanders rushed to help. “We got …

AI Leaders Call for Rules on Synthetic DNA to Limit Bioweapons Risk

AI Leaders Call for Rules on Synthetic DNA to Limit Bioweapons Risk

Published by skeptic

The big names in the artificial intelligence industry don’t always get along. We’ve seen lawsuits between AI companies and intense rivalries between leaders that turn into all-out feuds. But it seems that they generally agree on at least one thing: AI should not be used to create biological weapons. CEOs of some of the world’s leading AI companies signed a public letter this week urging governments to address the risks that could come from bad actors using their technology. The letter encourages Congress to enact laws to improve the tracking of synthetic DNA sequences that could be used to create biological weapons.  Signed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, Meta’s Alexandr Wang, Microsoft AI’s Mustafa Suleyman, Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis and other scientists and AI lab leaders, the letter suggested legislation to require companies that sell synthetic DNA and manufacturers of synthesis machines to thoroughly check “sequences of concern and to verify customer legitimacy before shipping orders.” The letter, also signed by leaders in the synthetic DNA industry and experts in national security, makes …

Catholic sisters push Palantir on human rights as faith leaders rally in New York

Catholic sisters push Palantir on human rights as faith leaders rally in New York

Published by Sam Flores

NEW YORK (RNS) — Catholic sisters, investors and immigrant rights activists plan to rally on Wednesday (June 3) outside of Palantir Technologies’ New York office, 30 minutes before the company holds it annual general meeting and considers a shareholders’ proposal calling on Palantir to conduct a human rights review of its work.  “We’re investors, but we’re also Catholics,” said Sister Susan Francois, assistant congregation leader and treasurer of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace and the lead filer of the shareholder proposal, called Proposal 5. “When we see potential risks to the company that are also causing harm to the human community, we feel that it is of a moral and business imperative to raise the question.” Proposal 5 calls on Palantir to conduct and publish a human rights impact assessment of its work, which includes selling artificial intelligence tools to U.S. and foreign militaries and governments. Last year Palantir won a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to develop surveillance systems for immigration enforcement. Proposal 5 raises concerns about Palantir’s work …

Colombia’s Presidential Election Pits Outgoing Leader’s Ally Against Pro-Trump Candidates

Colombia’s Presidential Election Pits Outgoing Leader’s Ally Against Pro-Trump Candidates

Published by Sam Flores

BOGOTÁ, Colombia (AP) — Colombians milled into voting stations on Sunday in the first round of the South American nation’s presidential election, choosing between candidates with radically diverging visions for the future of peace in a country haunted by decades of armed conflict. The vote, seen as a referendum on outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s policies, comes 10 years after Colombia signed an historic peace pact with guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. That agreement offered hope to break the nation out of a vicious cycle of fighting between rebel groups and the government but violence has roared back since then, coming to a head in the lead-up to the presidential vote. Criminal groups have increasingly launched drone strikes, armed attacks have plagued the race and last June, 39-year-old politician and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay was fatally shot at a political rally. In a country where the fight for peace has long been a part of the political ethos, the question of how to address the conflict is once again dividing …

“Brief Exchange”: Top U.S., Cuban Military Leaders Meet At Edge Of Guantanamo Base

“Brief Exchange”: Top U.S., Cuban Military Leaders Meet At Edge Of Guantanamo Base

Published by Jenni Sidey

Three weeks after CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with officials in Havana, reopening a political backchannel between Washington and the Cuban government, a rare military-to-military meeting unfolded at the edge of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay. U.S. Southern Command wrote on X that Marine Gen. Francis Donovan, head of U.S. Southern Command, met with Cuban Gen. Roberto Legrá Sotolongo and other officers at the perimeter of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay for what SOUTHCOM described as a “brief exchange on operational security matters.” #SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan met with Army Corps General, Gen. Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, First Deputy Minister of the Chief of the General Staff, and other senior leaders from the Cuban military today at the perimeter of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for a… pic.twitter.com/V4Fau3HxSo — U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) May 29, 2026 SOUTHCOM did not elaborate on the brief exchange between top U.S. military brass in the region and Cuban generals. No statement was issued by the U.S. Embassy in Havana, leaving the meeting framed as yet another signal …

Hegseth urges Asian leaders to boost military spending against China : NPR

Hegseth urges Asian leaders to boost military spending against China : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth waits to deliver his speech at the 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on Saturday. Anupam Nath/AP hide caption toggle caption Anupam Nath/AP SINGAPORE — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called on allies in Asia to ramp up military spending to counter China’s “historic military buildup” but also did not mention Taiwan in his speech on Saturday at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a key annual regional defense summit in Singapore. Hegseth’s appearance comes just over two weeks after President Donald Trump held a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing that both sides hailed as a success. Hegseth said U.S.-China relations are “better than they’ve been in many years” but that there is “rightful alarm” about China’s military activities in the region and beyond. “A Pacific dominated by any hegemon would unravel the regional balance of power and undermine the equilibrium we all seek to preserve,” Hegseth said to a room full of military, defense officials and diplomats. This is the defense secretary’s second appearance at the defense forum in Asia. …

Southern Democratic leaders say South Carolina should hold first primary in 2028 

Southern Democratic leaders say South Carolina should hold first primary in 2028 

Published by Sam Flores

A group of Democratic leaders from Southern states advocated Thursday for South Carolina voters to cast the first ballots in the next presidential primaries. The Democratic Party chairs from Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and West Virginia made the request in a letter to Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin.  The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws… Source link

Why Iran’s Leaders Think They’ve Won

Why Iran’s Leaders Think They’ve Won

Published by Sam Flores

An interim agreement to end the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran looks likely, and it may very well find Donald Trump acceding to Iranian demands he has long resisted. Many in the Iranian regime are feeling triumphant, and understandably so, despite the exchange of some strikes in the Persian Gulf this week. But an end to the war will leave the Islamic Republic with a host of unsolved problems. The deal is expected to open the Strait of Hormuz, lifting the blockades imposed by both Iran and the United States. But it may also include language asserting that sovereignty over the waterway is to be shared among Iran, Oman, and other countries in the region, a political consultant close to the Iranian side who is not authorized to speak about the negotiations publicly, told me. Iran won’t get away with charging passing ships a toll per se, but it may be permitted to levy an environmental-protection fee and split the proceeds with Oman and perhaps other regional countries. The source also said that a …

Arab Leaders Left In 'Stunned Silence' By Trump's Demands Over Iran, BBC Expert Says

Arab Leaders Left In 'Stunned Silence' By Trump's Demands Over Iran, BBC Expert Says

Published by Sam Flores

President Donald Trump speaks during the 158th National Memorial Day Observance coinciding with the nation’s 250th anniversary, at the Memorial Amphitheater in Arlington National Cemetery, Monday, May 25, 2026. Donald Trump’s “coercive” diplomatic efforts in the Middle East left Arab leaders in “stunned silence”, according to a BBC expert. The US president is trying to broker peace in the region after he and Israeli forces attacked Iran at the end of February. Iranian troops then effectively closed the major oil waterway, the Strait of Hormuz, causing a global energy crisis. The two sides continue to fight even as they claim to be deep in the negotiation process over a possible ceasefire. Trump is now attempting to force more Arab countries to join the Abraham Accords, the 2020 US-brokered agreements which normalise relations between Israel and some neighbouring nations, as part of the peace process. “It was an absolutely remarkable moment,” Tom Bateman, the BBC’s State Department correspondent, told Radio 4′s Today programme. “According to reports of that call, Mr Trump had said I want you to …