The elected president of Argentina, Javier Milei, will travel this Sunday night to New York, where he will visit the tomb of a rabbi, and will then travel to Washington, to have a series of meetings there, confirmed sources from the future Government.

“First he goes to the Ohel, in New York, to give thanks for the place that Hashem (Hebrew term for the name of God) has given him.. Then he goes to Washington to hold work meetings,” indicated the sources consulted.

Located within the Montefiore Cemetery, in the New York neighborhood of Queens, the Ohel is a structure that protects the tomb of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), known as the Lubavitch rebbe, and is a pilgrimage site for Jews Hasidic (Orthodox).

Milei, leader of the far-right party La Libertad Avanza, had already visited Ohel last July, before the August primary elections in Argentina.

Days ago, in an interview after his victory last Sunday in the presidential second round, Milei had already anticipated that he planned to return to Ohel these days to “give thanks for this mission” that will begin on December 10, when he takes office. Argentine Presidency.

Milei has recognized himself as Catholic, but he also said a few years ago that he was thinking of converting to Judaism.. He receives instruction in the Jewish sacred books and this Saturday he attended a Jewish ceremony in Buenos Aires where he received a blessing from a rabbi.

After passing through New York, Milei will travel to Washington to hold a series of meetings, an agenda about which no further details are known.

According to local media, the president-elect will travel to the United States with his chief of staff, Nicolás Posse, and Luis Caputo, designated as a possible Minister of Economy of the new Government, although the sources consulted did not confirm who will be part of the delegation. .

After last Sunday's victory, Milei held conversations with the president of the United States, Joe Biden, and with the former president of that country Donald Trump (2017-2021).

Likewise, on Friday he had a conversation with Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to which Argentina owes $46 billion.

The Washington-based organization committed in this first formal contact with the president-elect to “support efforts” to resolve Argentina's severe macroeconomic imbalances.

The White House National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, has assured that the United States is working so that the four-day truce agreed for the Gaza Strip is extended beyond Monday, but has indicated that the final decision depends on Hamas. .

“It could be that the pause is extended for another day or two, or three or even more. The ball is in Hamas's court because what Israel has said is that it is willing to stop an additional day for every ten hostages that Hamas releases,” Sullivan said in statements to the American network ABC.. “If the truce ends, the responsibility will be on Hamas, not Israel,” he argued.

Sullivan has acknowledged that this truce allows Hamas to “resupply and reorganize” and also “generate propaganda” on social networks, but the Israeli authorities decided to accept it “for the benefits, which are these incredible images of people being reunited with their families, for the humanity they have, the sense of completing something and the possibility of others and ultimately all the hostages coming home.”

Sullivan has also revealed that the International Committee of the Red Cross could visit the hostages who continue to be held by Hamas to report on their condition.. “It is part of the agreement agreed upon by the Red Cross and we hope it is fulfilled,” he recalled.

The ICRC has not confirmed that it has been notified of this part of the agreement, but insists on its willingness to visit the hostages if both parties agree.

The nightmare is over for Abigail Mor Edan, a four-year-old girl who had been kidnapped by Palestinian Hamas terrorists since October 7, the day the Islamists kidnapped her from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza after murdering her parents. .

The girl, who has American nationality and spent four years in captivity, is one of the 17 hostages released on the third day of the truce between the terrorists and the state of Israel.

In an exclusive interview with NBC News earlier this month, Abigail's great-aunt Liz Hirsh Naftali recounted the horror the little girl witnessed when she was kidnapped.

Abigail, who turned 4 on Friday, was in her father's arms when a Palestinian Hamas terrorist shot her, and he fell on top of the little girl, Hirsh Naftali said.

Then Abigail “crawled out from under her father's body…full of his blood,” the woman added. After running to a neighbor's house, Abigail joined them in their bomb shelter, Hirsh Naftali said, adding: “The last we knew, someone saw a terrorist taking this mother, her three children and Abigail out. of the kibbutz.”

Abigail's older siblings survived the terrorist attack, he said. “They saw their mother murdered. They saw their father murdered. “These kids know their parents are gone,” he said.. “What do you say to these children? You give them love. You give them everything,” Hirsh said.

Before the release, in an interview with NBC News' Meet the Press on Sunday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said it was “about time” for the girl to be released.

He added that the White House was “hopeful that more Americans would be freed” and that the United States was “working with all parties on the possibility of this agreement being extended to more hostages beyond the initial 50.”

The Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, has valued the visit of the German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who arrived this Sunday in Jerusalem, and has contrasted his support with the “hypocrisy” and “double standards” of other European leaders, in evening to the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, and the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez.

Herzog has thus thanked Steinmeier for the “clear stance” of the German Government on Israel's right to defend itself in contrast to other leaders of EU countries.

Israel summoned the ambassadors of Spain and Belgium on Friday in response to the “false” statements made in recent hours by Sánchez and De Croo, as they consider it to be “support for terrorism” by Hamas.. Sánchez slipped that he could recognize the state of Palestine unilaterally if there is no joint EU decision in that regard.

Herzog received Steinmeier this Sunday in Jerusalem, with whom he shares a personal friendship. “Your visit is an expression of the firm alliance between our countries,” he declared before describing the German leader as a “true friend.”

Germany reiterates its unwavering support

The German president, for his part, has reiterated his country's unwavering support for Israel at the beginning of his visit. Steinmeier will spend two days in Israel and then visit Qatar and Oman.

“We are in solidarity with Israel. It's not just that Israel is a victim of terrorism. Our solidarity is also with Israel that defends itself, that fights against an existential threat,” Steinmeier declared at a joint press conference from Jerusalem with his counterpart, Isaac Herzog.

The German president has highlighted the need to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip and ensure that their basic needs are covered.. “It is mandatory under International Humanitarian Law,” he pointed out, and that is why he has defended the current truce agreement.

“Israel has the right to defend itself and guarantee its existence,” he noted in reference to the October 7 attacks led by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and the “unprecedented deep wounds” they have left.. “The terrorist organization Hamas can never achieve its stated objective, which is the annihilation of Israel,” he stated.

The war in Ukraine will be two years old in February, and there are no signs of progress in either direction. Although both Russia and the invaded country do not even want to hear about a truce, there are already voices that suggest that it is inevitable.

Without significant achievements and with the world looking at Israel and Hamas, some experts put the possibility of a permanent ceasefire on the table. This is the question that the Daily Mail has posed to several military experts.

Charlie Herbert, a former British Army major general who served in Afghanistan, said signing a truce would only freeze Putin's “murderous aspirations” rather than stopping them completely.

For her part, Aliona Hlivco, CEO of the Henry Jackson Society think tank, and a former Ukrainian politician whose brother is fighting on the front lines, says: “This is an existential war for Ukraine. “If we reach an agreement now, as we did in 2015, Putin will only return ten years later to eliminate the Ukrainian nation as an entity.”

Ben Hodges, former commander of US forces in Europe, says: “Zelensky knows that Russia cannot be trusted in any negotiations and that the Kremlin is playing the long game, waiting for the United States and other Western nations to pressure Ukraine into consider a peace treaty.”

For his part, Kevin Ryan, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general, agrees, saying the security of Ukraine and Western nations — especially Estonia, Lithuania and Poland on NATO's eastern flank — would be in jeopardy if Zelensky sign a peace agreement now.

'Ukraine is the first battlefield of Putin's war with the West,' says Ryan. “The West has not fully woken up to the reality that we are at war with Russia. “Countries like Poland and the Baltic countries believe in Putin's words and actions and think that we are in a war,” he continued.

“But the United States, the United Kingdom and much of NATO? I think they believe that this is just a war between Russia and Ukraine, a war in which we can be on the sidelines helping,” he adds.

Ryan insists that no peace deal should be signed before Ukrainian troops retake the territory they lost in the 2022 Russian invasion, as well as Crimea, and that Western nations should do more to help Ukraine achieve this.

Never without Crimea

Ben Hodges agrees: “Zelensky knows he needs Crimea. They will never be safe as long as Russia occupies Crimea.. “Zelensky will never be able to rebuild Ukraine if Russia is in Crimea and capable of blocking or disrupting all of Ukraine's ports.”

However, Charlie Herbert believes that Zelensky “will inevitably look at a number of options to end this war in a way that is tolerable for the Ukrainian people.”

“They have sacrificed an enormous amount, more than I suspect we will ever know or understand, but an endless war is not possible for Ukraine or its Western supporters,” he added.

An endless war is not possible for Ukraine or its Western supporters

All experts admit that Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive, which began in the summer, has not been as successful as Ukraine and its Western allies hoped.

The counteroffensive has moved at a much slower pace than anticipated as Western nations sent tanks and missiles into Ukraine, while Ukrainian troops struggled to dislodge Russian soldiers who are entrenched among the captured. And this has meant that Russia still controls almost a fifth of Ukraine.

Ukrainian soldiers continue fighting, determined to protect their land. But the situation is terrible: both suffer heavy losses and there are an estimated 100,000 casualties on each side.

And since the counteroffensive began, Ukraine has advanced just 16 km. He lost 20% of his field weapons in the first two weeks of the operation.

“The war is stagnant”

“The war is at a standstill,” says retired US Army colonel Gian Gentile.

“After months of relentless and grueling fighting, with huge casualties on both sides and little change in the position of the front lines, it has become increasingly evident that neither side still had a decisive military advantage,” says Herbert .

Herbert adds that this means the prospect of a decisive military victory by either side remains “illusory.”. “We shouldn't be surprised,” says Herbert.

“The callous and sacrificial nature of Russia's 'meat-grinding' tactics has proven to be beyond Ukraine's ability to quickly defeat them, regardless of the relentless courage and determination of the Ukrainian armed forces,” it added.

Gentile, associate director of the Arroyo Center at the RAND think tank in the United States, says morale among Russian soldiers is still low.. He says the West must take advantage of this and supply Ukraine with more weapons so it can win decisively.

“Although the Russians have built formidable defensive lines with mines, obstacles and trenches, Russian morale overall remains quite low and they lack a true operational reserve to respond to a Ukrainian advance,” says Gentile.

Gentile, who served in Iraq, added: “In other words, Russian defenses are susceptible to a Ukrainian offensive that could cause a systematic breach in the overall defenses of Putin's men.”

Hodges also has hope: “The counteroffensive on the ground is not going as well as we all hoped, but it is still moving forward,” says Hodges.. “I am witnessing the Ukrainian landings and the expansion of the beachhead on the left bank of the Dnieper River,” he adds.

The counteroffensive on the ground is not going as well as we all expected

Hodges says these gains, however small, mean Zelensky has “no need or desire to settle for anything with Putin.” Herbert says that while the prospect of a significant change in the stalemate over the winter months is “dim,” it is “too early to seriously consider that either side is ready for some form of negotiated political settlement to end the conflict.” this war.”

And without any peace agreement or agreement, Herbert says another “bloody summer of attrition next year remains the most likely scenario, with the sides desperately trying to find technological, tactical and logistical advantages.”

“It will be a deadly competition to break the stalemate, not unlike that faced by the Allied forces on the Western Front in World War I,” says Herbert. “The West can end the war, if only it provides Ukraine with enough weapons to win,” he adds.

A waste

Philip Ingram, a retired British Army colonel and military intelligence specialist, said: “If support dwindles before Ukraine has managed to defeat the Russians, then billions of dollars in aid given to Ukraine have been wasted. until now”.

“Any Western government, including the United States, that decides to waste all that money and not give more will be committing political suicide,” he adds.

Hlivco says: “Ukraine needs more weapons, more ammunition, more long-range systems and more fourth-generation fighter jets like the F16. The whole counteroffensive failed because we are short of weapons supplies.” When asked how long he thinks the war could last, Hlivco says: “My brother, who is a soldier on the front lines in Ukraine, said they are ready to fight this war for at least a decade.”

Back to the border of 1991

For Hodges, the most important step the West can take would be to “publicly declare that it is in our strategic interest for Ukraine to win, defeat Russia, and drive Russia back to the 1991 border” and send more weapons.

“Such a strategic objective would lead to much more effective policies in support of Ukraine,” says Hodges, explaining how policies should focus on sending more weapons to Ukraine.

'The US administration will ultimately decide how this war ends,' Hodges says. “The current policy of 'with you for as long as it takes' is another way of saying that we are not committed to seeing Ukraine win, but rather that we will provide incremental aid that keeps Ukraine in the fight, but will not be decisive,” he adds. .

“This is bad policy and is a huge missed opportunity to help Ukraine inflict defeat on Russia and change the security situation in Europe for generations,” he says.

For Herbert, he says there is a “certain inevitability” that the conflict will come to an end through some kind of political agreement, but insists that such an agreement should not be reached in the short term.

“Absent a fundamental change in the trench stalemate, there is some inevitability that this conflict will be brought to an end not by the cannon of a tank, but by quiet diplomacy and some form of political agreement, but not anytime soon.” term,” says Herbert.

“There will come a time when Ukraine will be forced to accept at least a ceasefire if there are no changes in the situation on the battlefield,” Ryan says.

“The goals of Ukraine being sovereign and free will not be achieved at the negotiating table,” he adds.. “Ukraine and the West must affirm and protect them with military power,” he concludes.

Israel has confirmed the release of a new group of hostages held by Hamas on the second day of the truce. This second group, made up of 17 people, has been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has transferred them to Egypt and subsequently taken them to the Israeli security services.

After several tense hours where the agreement has been in danger of being fulfilled, Qatar, the mediator country in the agreement between Hamas and Israel, has confirmed the release of the hostages and that Israel would release 39 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.

Among the Palestinians released from Israeli prisons there are 33 children and 6 women, while the Israeli captives in the hands of Hamas released this Saturday are 8 children and 5 women. The four foreign hostages are Thai nationals, as confirmed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The Egyptian television channel Al Qahera News has shown live how the 17 hostages had arrived on the Egyptian side of Rafah. In the images you can see a minibus and an ambulance to cross the pass.

There, Egyptian doctors have carried out a preliminary medical checkup before handing them over to the Israeli authorities.

For its part, the Israel Defense Forces have spread the video on social networks of the moment the hostages enter Israeli territory.

Who are the freed hostages?

Among the first confirmed hostages are Sharon Avigdori, 52, and her 12-year-old daughter, Noam Avigdori; as well as brothers Noam Or, 17, and Alma Or, 13, whose mother Yonat was murdered and their father Dron and cousin remain in captivity.

Adi Shoham, 38, whose husband Tal remains captive by Hamas, was another of those released in this second group along with her children, Nave Shoham and Yahel Gani Shoham, aged 8 and 3, respectively.. Likewise, Adi's mother and the children's grandmother, Shoshan Haran, 67, was part of this group of freed hostages.

Also released were the minors Hila Rotem, 13 years old, whose mother Raya, 54, remains kidnapped; Shiri Weiss, 53, and her daughter, Noga Weiss, 18, and Emily Hand, 9. In Hand's case, her family feared that she had died, but it was later proven that she was detained in Gaza and she was finally part of this second batch of hostages.

They are all from Kibbutz Beeri, where Hamas committed one of its worst massacres on October 7, the forum for the relatives of hostages and missing persons has confirmed.

The only one in this group who does not belong to that kibbutz is Maya Regev, 21, who was kidnapped during the rave, where Hamas carried out an indiscriminate massacre of young people.

Hamas delayed the delivery of hostages

“After a delay in the implementation of the release of prisoners from both sides, obstacles were overcome through Qatari-Egyptian communications with both sides, and tonight 39 Palestinian civilians will be released in exchange for the release of 13 Israeli hostages from Gaza,” Majed al Ansari, spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, said on Twitter.

The second day of the truce was on the verge of being blown up after Hamas delayed the handover of a second batch of hostages by accusing Israel of violating the terms of the agreement they reached regarding the entry of humanitarian aid and the release of Palestinian prisoners with the longest service in prisons.

After several hours of silence following this Hamas announcement, the Israeli Government has reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has carried out “an assessment of the situation with all security elements to verify that the second phase is progressing as planned.” “.

According to Hebrew media, Israel had threatened the Islamist group to resume the military offensive in Gaza if it does not release the second batch of captives before midnight.

The parties agreed this week, with the mediation of Egypt, Qatar and the United States, to exchange 50 Israeli hostages for 150 Palestinian prisoners, during four days of truce, and the entry of 200 trucks of humanitarian aid daily into the Gaza Strip.

The public message of gratitude that the Palestinian Islamist terrorist group Hamas has dedicated to the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has not gone unnoticed in Tel Aviv, where the Israeli government has made it clear that they take good note.

In a message on his official

“We will not forget who is with us at this moment and who supports a murderous terrorist organization that is holding more than 200 hostages,” added the Israeli minister.

This afternoon, the terrorists issued a statement that said: “We appreciate the clear and bold stance of the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, who affirmed his rejection of the destruction of Gaza and the murder of civilians; and of the Spanish Pedro Sánchez, who condemned the indiscriminate killings of the occupying State against civilians in the Strip, and pointed out the possibility that his country unilaterally recognizes the Palestinian State, if the European Union does not take this step.

Hamas, responsible for the death of more than 1,300 people on October 7 in indiscriminate attacks in Israel, took advantage of Sánchez's words to ask that “all countries in the world” take “the side of justice and the Palestinian cause.” “.

This Friday, Sánchez said at the Rafah border crossing, between Egypt and the Palestinian territory, that “the time has come for the international community and especially the EU to make a decision on the recognition of the Palestinian State.”. If not, added the President of the Government, “of course Spain will make its own decisions.”

Previously, the President of the Government had already challenged his host, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, by demanding that he respect international law in Israel's military response to the terrorist attacks of October 7.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has ordered that from now on a new anthem be played in his honor before every social event, such as sporting events, theater performances and even weddings.

As reported by The Sun, the hymn says: “Our general is the wisest among ten millions. Our general cultivates the best paradise with the power of love for our eternal happiness. His name is Kim Jong-un!”

Esre newspaper cites the news portal Radio Free Asia, which revealed that Kim Jong-un's official anthem will replace the anthem of General Kim Jong-il, the father and predecessor of the current leader.

That song had been used since 1997, when it replaced the anthem of General Kim Il-sung, the first of the three-generation dynasty of North Korean dictators.

In addition to starting with Kim Jong-un's anthem, citizens must end all events with another song called We will defend General Kim Jong-un at the cost of our lives.

Russia and Ukraine do not seem willing to declare a truce as Israel and the Islamist group Hamas have done, despite the fact that both presidents, the Russian Vladimir Putin and the Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky, have drawn parallels between both conflicts.

Putin accuses Israel and Ukraine of indiscriminately attacking civilian targets, while Zelensky has openly compared the Kremlin to Hamas. Both sides are gathering supplies for the winter.

Nobody is talking about a possible Christmas break after Moscow already rejected the possibility of an Olympic truce in mid-2024. In fact, Moscow has intensified attacks on the entire front, especially around the strongholds of Avdivka (Donetsk region). and Kupiansk (Kharkov).

Ukraine, whose capital was the target of a massive drone attack this morning, continues trying to advance south of the Dnieper River, although its senior officials openly acknowledge that they are on the defensive in other sectors.

Without trust, there is no peace worth it

The leader of the presidential party in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian legislature), David Arajamia, revealed this Saturday on television that, during the March 2022 negotiations in Istanbul, Russia tried to extract from Kiev a commitment to neutrality.

“That was the most important thing for them (the Russians). “They were willing to end the war if we accepted neutrality – as Finland did at the time – and committed not to join NATO,” said Arajamia, who then led the Ukrainian delegation.

He recalled that this would require modifying the Constitution. “No, there was no confidence that the Russians would comply. This can only be done if there are security guarantees (…) We could only work if we have 100% certainty that this will not be repeated. And that security does not exist,” he stated.

In response, the head of the International Affairs Committee of the Duma (Russian chamber of deputies), Leonid Slutski, admitted this Saturday that “the peace treaty” was ready and that is why Moscow withdrew its troops from the north of Kiev in a gesture Of goodwill.

“It is evident that the (Ukrainian) neo-Nazi regime is looking for a way out. It is not too late to return to the path of negotiations (…) But only now under other conditions, taking into account the new territorial reality,” said Slutski, who blamed the West for the failure of those negotiations.

Tragedy with no end in sight

Putin admitted this week at the G20, where he shared the stage with Western leaders for the first time in a long time, that war is indeed “a tragedy” and that “we have to think about how to stop it.”

But, next, he criticized the West for its double standards for not being moved in the same way by the suffering of the pro-Russians in Donbas and the Palestinians in Gaza as by the pain of Israelis and Ukrainians.

In an unprecedented gesture, the leader of Russia's only legal opposition party (Yábloko), Grigory Yavlinsky, personally asked Putin to stop the war.

“The objective of the meeting was the ceasefire. He is the only person who can make that decision (…) There is no peace plan. It is a fantasy. There is a thesis about the need for a cessation of hostilities. That's all,” he told the local press.

March presidential elections could tip the balance. Although politically Putin has time on his favor – a new six-year term – the situation is unsustainable from a social point of view (more than 50,000 dead) and economically (40% spending on defense and security).

Zelensky sticks to his guns

The deep pessimism that overwhelmed Kiev after the rejection in the US Congress of a new aid package for Ukraine seems to have faded, although military assistance of 50 billion euros from the European Union (EU) is now also in doubt.

“We need three wins. The first, in Congress. It is a challenge. Is not easy. Not everything depends on us,” said Zelensky when receiving the Latvian leader, Edgars Rinkevics, in kyiv.. The second and third victories would be help from Brussels and accession to the EU.

The breath of fresh air was brought by Germany, which announced this week a new package of 1.3 billion euros focused on the defense of Ukrainian skies and another Patriot anti-aircraft system is on the way.

The Ukrainian counteroffensive is experiencing a clear stalemate, but Zelensky does not want to hear about it and advised the military not to dedicate themselves to politics, as that is what he is already there for.

“Russia makes the most of the different challenges in the world to divert any aid to Ukraine. “They do everything possible to distract attention from the war in our country,” he said, alluding to the conflict in the Middle East.

Smoking is an increasingly expensive habit, but if we go to some countries, in addition to being bad for your health, it is bad for your pocket.. This is the case of the United Kingdom, where the imminent rise in the price of tobacco will put it through the roof.

According to the Daily Mail, the next increase, of 10%, will leave the package above 20 pounds, that is, about 23 euros, which means that each cigarette will exceed the price of one euro.

Such is the situation that the Daily Mail has made a calculation that reveals that traveling abroad, low-cost plane ticket included, and buying tobacco at duty free, is cheaper than buying it as is in the United Kingdom.

Specifically, the newspaper says that, since you can bring a carton in Great Britain when you travel (10 packages, 200 cigarettes), if you take a return flight on the same day to Slovakia and take the opportunity to buy tobacco at the airport, you will still save up to 115 euros.

Another trick that the British resort to is having friends or family bring them tobacco when they go on vacation.. This is the example of Brian Holmes, a young man interviewed by the Mail who says that every two weeks he receives relatives from Ireland, who bring him cigarettes.

Another testimony is that of Zack Nasro, an Italian who every two months travels back to his country and buys a carton for himself and another for his partner, who manages until in the end he has to buy it at the skyrocketing price of the United Kingdom.