Catégorie oBox : OBOXMA

Since the global upheaval caused by Donald Trump’s arrival as President of the United States, in particular his withdrawal of support for Ukraine in the face of Russian invasion, Emmanuel Macron has been arguing for a strengthening of Europe’s strategic autonomy.

The French president has held talks with allies such as Germany and Poland as Europe responds to signs that the US plans to scale back its military presence on the continent. www.ft.com/content/9623…

— Financial Times (@financialtimes.com) 2025-05-14T03:23:54.497Z

With this in mind, the French president has declared himself open to the idea of sharing France’s nuclear umbrella with all European countries, in order to build a common deterrent against hostile threats.

In an interview with TF1, Emmanuel Macron said he would personally lead the development of such a plan in the coming weeks and months.

Although the United States already has nuclear weapons deployed in Europe, notably in Belgium, Germany, Italy and Turkey, Emmanuel Macron insists on the need for Europe to regain control of its own defense, in an international context where traditional alliances seem to be changing rapidly.

Macron makes it clear, however, that this project will not jeopardize France’s defense capabilities, which must remain fully intact, and stresses that the French will not pay for the security of other European countries.

France’s nuclear defense system, which is estimated to have around 300 warheads, is entirely independent of the USA, unlike that of the UK.

It could therefore provide fully autonomous protection for Europe, while remaining under the exclusive control of France, wherever it is deployed.

Tensions escalate in West Bank after Israeli army targets visiting foreign delegation, citing « warning shots ».

Israeli troops fire ‘warning shots’ at 25 diplomats visiting occupied West Bank

— The Guardian (@theguardian.com) 2025-05-21T17:02:36Z

Israel claims that the delegation had left the originally planned itinerary, justifying the military intervention.

The incident took place during an official mission to assess the humanitarian situation in the city of Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It involved several ambassadors and diplomats from countries such as Canada, the UK, France, Turkey, Ireland and Italy.

The Israeli army expressed its regret for « the inconvenience caused », when ambassadors and diplomats should have taken cover under fire.

According to The Guardian, it has also clarified that those involved in the incident will receive the findings of its internal investigation into the incident.

The scene was captured on video: diplomats can be seen running for cover in a nearby street, as brief bursts of gunfire ring out repeatedly. A voice in the recording claims that Israeli soldiers are firing in the direction of the delegation.

A number of foreign officials demanded explanations for this unacceptable incident. European leaders, notably in France, summoned Israeli ambassadors to their capitals to seek clarification on the circumstances of the event.

President Donald Trump welcomed his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, to the White House for a visit meant to ease tensions between the two countries.

Trump ambushes South African president with video and false claims of anti-white racism

— The Guardian (@theguardian.com) 2025-05-21T23:38:34Z

However, Trump may have been setting a trap, which many observers compared to the one he had brutally set for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a few months earlier.

It didn’t take long for Donald Trump to go on the offensive during his meeting with the South African president. During the meeting in the Oval Office, the lights were turned off to show a video in which a member of a South African opposition party sang a song calling for the death of Afrikaners, the term used to describe South Africa’s white farmers. The footage also included unverified images purporting to show a mass grave where white farmers were buried.

Ramaphosa vigorously refuted these accusations, pointing out that the chants and words broadcast in the video in no way represent the government’s position, and reminding us that criminal acts affect all South African communities, without distinction.

The South African president then asserted that he had never seen the images of the mass grave in question, and asked his American counterpart for details of their origin, in particular the exact location where they were allegedly filmed, so that he could verify their authenticity. Donald Trump dismissed the question as unimportant.

It should be remembered that Donald Trump has been targeted for several years by the lobbying efforts of AfriForum, a South African organization representing the interests of the Afrikaner minority.

Although this group refrains from explicitly using the term « white genocide », its campaigns highlight accounts of persecution targeting white farmers. In fact, it was a video produced by AfriForum that Trump chose to broadcast in front of the South African president during their meeting.

This far-right rhetoric was also echoed by former Fox News star Tucker Carlson, who was instrumental in spreading the « white farmer genocide » theory in the US.

Elon Musk, too, has played a role in this amplification. A native of South Africa and now an influential advisor to Donald Trump, Musk has taken up these « white genocide » allegations, notably through his artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, which has been roundly criticized for propagating unfounded claims of allegedly targeted violence against whites in South Africa.

The North Korean leader was attending the official launch of a new warship when, in a matter of moments, the ceremony turned into a fiasco.

North Korea’s efforts to modernize its navy — and its military pride — have been damaged after its newest warship partially capsized during a launch ceremony on Wednesday, with leader Kim Jong Un calling the “catastrophic failure” a “criminal act.” www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0…

— Michelle Ye Hee Lee (@myhlee.bsky.social) 2025-05-22T13:10:07.132Z

The ship, christened Choe Hyon, suddenly tipped over on its side as it was being launched from the quay, during a side launch.

The incident reportedly provoked the fury of North Korea’s leader, who quickly branded it an act of sabotage, calling the scene a « criminal act », according to The Guardian.

According to the official KCNA news agency, sections of the 5,000-ton warship’s bottom broke off, an incident it claims led to the collapse of the North Korean state’s dignity and self-esteem.

Humiliated, Kim Jong-un denounced the incident as an act of total negligence and inexcusable irresponsibility, saying it was simply intolerable.

For their part, North Korea’s state media attributed the failure of the lateral launch, a first in North Korea, to command inexperience and a serious operational error.

North Korea had planned for the warship to enter service early next year, but following this fiasco, its future now remains uncertain.