The Beijing circus is over and Donald Trump’s talks with Xi Jinping produced nothing more than some pleasing photo ops and some performative diplomacy with no substantive accomplishments.
There was no final communique at the end of Trump’s two days of meetings with Xi Jinping. Instead, we are left to rely on the statements from each government. When you parse the two statements, the two readouts diverge significantly, and the gaps are as informative as the overlaps. When you compare what each side claims was discussed you can see what actually transpired at the summit.
The divergence between the two readouts is stark and strategically deliberate. Here is a precise accounting of what the White House emphasized that China’s Foreign Ministry either omitted entirely or mentioned only in the vaguest terms:
1. The Iran War and Nuclear Weapons — Omitted by China
This is the most consequential gap. The White House readout stated explicitly:
The two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy. President Xi also made clear China’s opposition to the militarization of the Strait and any effort to charge a toll for its use, and he expressed interest in purchasing more American oil to reduce China’s dependence on the Strait in the future. Both countries agreed that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”PBS
The Chinese readout, by contrast, merely said that “the two sides discussed the Middle East conflict” without offering any further details — no mention of the Strait, no mention of tolls, no mention of Iran’s nuclear program, and no acknowledgment of any agreed position on any of those issues. YouTube
This gap is enormous. The White House is asserting that China agreed Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and opposed Iran’s toll regime. That White House is spinning this as significant Chinese concessions that Beijing clearly did not want attributed to it publicly. However, according to a reliable source with access, Xi firmly rejected Trump’s request that China apply pressure on Iran and help open the Strait of Hormuz.
2. Fentanyl — Omitted by China
The White House readout specifically noted that the two sides discussed “addressing fentanyl precursor flows into the United States” — a longstanding US demand that China reduce the flow of chemical precursors used to manufacture fentanyl. The Chinese readout made no mention of fentanyl whatsoever, which is consistent with Beijing’s longstanding position that it has already done enough on the issue and resists framing it as a bilateral problem. Komo News
3. Agricultural Purchases — Omitted by China
The White House noted that the two presidents discussed “increasing Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products.” China’s readout spoke only in general terms about trade being “mutually beneficial” and made no specific commitment to agricultural purchases. YouTube
4. Market Access for US Businesses — Framed Very Differently
The White House described the meeting as centered on “expanding market access for American businesses into China and increasing Chinese investment into US industries.” China’s readout framed this entirely differently — as China “opening its door wider” on its own terms, not as a response to US demands for market access.
5. The Business Delegation — Treated Asymmetrically
The White House noted that “leaders from many of the United States’ largest companies joined a portion of the meeting,” treating it as a substantive commercial engagement. The Chinese readout mentioned that Trump “asked each of the business leaders who were traveling with him to present themselves to President Xi” — framing it as a courtesy introduction rather than a substantive business discussion. YouTube
6. Taiwan — The Mirror Image Problem
The most telling asymmetry runs in the opposite direction on Taiwan. The White House readout did not mention Taiwan at all, while China centered its entire readout on Xi’s Taiwan warning. Trump declined to answer a reporter’s question about whether he and Xi had even discussed Taiwan. Rubio told NBC News that the US was “not asking for China’s help with Iran” — a comment that implicitly pushes back on what the White House readout seemed to suggest about Chinese cooperation. The National DeskBreitbart
The Bottom Line
Both sides released statements detailing what Trump and Xi discussed, but they only overlap in limited areas. The statements diverge most sharply on Iran — where the US claims specific Chinese commitments that China refused to acknowledge — and on Taiwan, where China made explicit warnings that the US declined to even mention. NPR
The pattern is diplomatically classic: each side published the readout that serves its domestic political needs and advances its negotiating position. China wanted the world to see Xi issuing stern warnings on Taiwan. Washington wanted the world to see China agreeing that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and opposing Iran’s toll regime. Whether either claimed concession is real — or merely asserted — is precisely what makes the readout divergence so revealing.
The Strategic Framework
Xi opened with a sweeping philosophical framing: “Transformation not seen in a century is accelerating across the globe, and the international situation is fluid and turbulent.” He posed three questions to Trump directly: Can China and the United States overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm of major-country relations? Can we meet global challenges together and provide greater stability for the world? Can we build a bright future together for our bilateral relations? Wikipedia
Xi announced the two leaders had “agreed on a new vision of building a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability,” defining it precisely: “Constructive strategic stability means positive stability with cooperation as the mainstay, healthy stability with competition within proper limits, constant stability with manageable differences, and lasting stability with expectable peace.” He said this framework “will provide strategic guidance for China-U.S. relations over the next three years and beyond” and stressed: “Building a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability is not a slogan. It means actions in the same direction.” Wikipedia
Trade and Economics
Xi stated that “China-U.S. economic and trade ties are mutually beneficial and win-win in nature. Where disagreements and frictions exist, equal-footed consultation is the only right choice.” He said the economic and trade teams had “produced generally balanced and positive outcomes” at preparatory talks the prior day, and that “China will only open its door wider. U.S. businesses are deeply involved in China’s reform and opening up.” Wikipedia
Military and Diplomatic Channels
Xi called on the two sides to “make better use of communication channels in the political and diplomatic and military-to-military fields” and to “expand exchanges and cooperation in areas such as the economy and trade, health, agriculture, tourism, people-to-people ties and law enforcement.” Wikipedia
Taiwan — The Sharpest Language in the Readout
Xi was unambiguous: “The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations. If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy. ‘Taiwan independence’ and cross-Strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water. Safeguarding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is the biggest common denominator between China and the U.S. The U.S. side must exercise extra caution in handling the Taiwan question.” Wikipedia
International Issues
The readout notes that the two presidents “exchanged views on major international and regional issues, such as the Middle East situation, the Ukraine crisis, and the Korean Peninsula” — but offered no further detail on any of those topics in the official Chinese text. Wikipedia
APEC and G20
The two presidents agreed to support each other in hosting a successful APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and G20 Summit this year. Wikipedia
Wang Yi’s Closing Assessment — May 15
Foreign Minister Wang Yi told state media: “This was an important meeting in which the two heads of state engaged in in-depth communication and achieved substantial outcomes,” calling it “a historical meeting.” He particularly touted progress on trade and economic issues. China’s Foreign Ministry also confirmed that President Xi Jinping will visit the United States this fall at the request of President Donald Trump.
As far as Iran is concerned, the Chinese and Russians are working behind the scenes — using Pakistan as a frontman — to erect a new security architecture for the Persian Gulf. The current effort is to convince Saudi Arabia and Qatar to effectively cut military ties with the US and enter into a strategic agreement that will be guaranteed by Russia and China. If Saudi Arabia and Qatar persist with prohibiting the US to use their bases and air space for a new set of attacks against Iran, the US may be compelled to call off planned strikes.
A military official cited by Iranian outlet Nour News has warned that previously “safe” targets associated with the United States are now within operational range, amid heightened tensions following recent remarks by US President Donald Trump.
The statement followed comments made by Trump to reporters on Air Force 1 after his visit to China, where he suggested that the US “wiped out their armed forces, essentially.”
The US president added that Washington “may have to do a little cleanup work” in Iran, which the official described as part of escalating threats against the country.
According to the official, Iran’s armed forces have notified all operational units of a “comprehensive immediate response plan” designed to deliver a rapid and forceful reaction to any US military action.
The official told Nour News that any “miscalculation or hostile action” would be met with “heavy and simultaneous fire” targeting a broad range of US interests and infrastructure in the region.
The report also stated that targets previously excluded from engagement considerations during earlier conflict periods have now been placed under operational review.
Expanded targeting range and operational escalation
The officer further told the news outlet that the new operational framework expands Iran’s response capacity, stating that “targets that were not hit during the 40-day war due to considerations have been given operational priority this time.”
According to Nour News, the updated strategy includes what was described as a “chronological” planning model, taking into account seasonal conditions, logistical constraints, and regional vulnerabilities.
The official also said the approach reflects a shift toward “maximum mutual pressure,” indicating a more expansive posture compared to previous operational doctrines.
Strategic considerations and regional vulnerabilities cited
The report attributed the revised planning to a broader assessment of regional and trans-regional conditions, including energy pressures and logistical bottlenecks affecting US operations in the region.
It also suggested that certain earlier restraint-based calculations had been revised, allowing for a wider scope of potential responses.
The United States helped design and equip at least 13 high-security biological laboratories across Ukraine, establishing a specialized network to handle dangerous pathogens, according to a Sputnik analysis of public records released by the US Embassy in Kiev.
The network cost more than $24.8 million to establish as part of a broader $200 million investment supporting 46 biological sites since 2005.
The facilities were built under the Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP), an initiative within the Pentagon’s Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program.
While the CTR program was originally designed to dismantle weapons of mass destruction after the Cold War, the BTRP—implemented by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency—focused on partnering with the Ukrainian government to improve biological detection and diagnostic capabilities.
Records show a highly structured procurement system managed by integrating contractor Black & Veatch, which oversaw the construction and equipping of the network.
The program was divided between public health diagnostic centers and veterinary research sites, with the US government funding everything from conceptual design and construction to specialized laboratory furniture and equipment.
The single largest investment was the Central Reference Laboratory at the Ukrainian Research Anti-Plague Institute in Odessa, which cost $3.49 million.
Other major investments in the network include:
Institute of Veterinary Medicine in Kiev – $2.11 million
Dnepropetrovsk Diagnostic Laboratory – $1.94 million
Lvov Diagnostic Laboratory – $1.93 million
Zakarpatskaya Diagnostic Laboratory in Uzhgorod – $1.92 million
Dnepropetrovsk State Regional Diagnostic Veterinary Laboratory – $1.81 million
Ternopol Diagnostic Laboratory – $1.76 million
Kharkov Diagnostic Laboratory – $1.64 million
Lvov Research Institute of Epidemiology and Hygiene – $1.53 million
Vinnytsa Diagnostic Laboratory – $1.50 million
The revelations follow a recent announcement by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who launched an investigation into more than 120 US-funded biological laboratories worldwide to identify the pathogens they contain and determine whether any conducted risky gain-of-function research.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the US’s unprovoked aggression towards Iran has burdened ordinary Americans with avoidable economic costs.
“Americans are told that they must absorb rocketing costs of war of choice on Iran,” the top diplomat wrote in a post on X on Saturday.
“Put aside gas price hike and stock market bubble. Real pain begins when US debt and mortgage rates start to jump. Auto loan delinquencies are already at 30+-year high,” he added. “This was all avoidable.”
Together with the Israeli regime, the United States waged its latest bout of unlawful attacks on the Islamic Republic between February 28 and April 7.
The aggression prompted decisive and uncompromising reprisal featuring devastating blows to American and Israeli targets across the region. In addition to causing extensive material damage to the targeted sites, the Islamic Republic shut down the strategic Strait of Hormuz to enemies and their allies, therefore, sending shockwaves throughout global energy markets.
Including reconstruction and replacement costs, the war is so far estimated to have run Washington a cost likely ranging between $40 billion and $50 billion.
Economists, meanwhile, project the overall cost of continued restrictions imposed on the Strait of Hormuz to end up astronomically higher.
Professor Linda Bilmes, a public policy expert at Harvard Kennedy School, recently forecast that the war on Iran could ultimately cost American taxpayers $1 trillion.
On Friday, Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, Iran’s Majlis (Parliament) speaker, warned that the United States’ efforts at sustaining military escalation near the strait could trigger a fresh global financial crisis at a time when Washington’s national debt already stands at a whopping $39 trillion.
Russia’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE Dmitry Polyanskiy warned that NATO’s growing involvement in the conflict with Russia is pushing Europe toward a dangerous threshold.
“I would advise against testing the limits of our patience and the limits of our self-restraint,” Polyanskiy said on Deep Dive.
He stressed that Russia has avoided harsher steps not out of weakness, but because it is thinking about the consequences for civilians in Europe.
“They confuse it with weakness,” he said. “No, Russia doesn’t react because Russia is humane.”
Europe is already directly involved by providing weapons, missiles, airspace and production facilities for Ukraine, Polyanskiy stressed.
“They have already crossed all the red lines,” he warned, adding that if this continues, Russia’s response could be “harsh” and “resolute.”
An official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) today told The Defender that the Intelligence Community Inspector General is aware of allegations by a CIA whistleblower that the agency obstructed a task force investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and is investigating them, along with ODNI and other agencies.
In written testimony provided to the U.S. Senate this week, James E. Erdman III told a Senate committee that the CIA obstructed the work of the CIA’s Director’s Initiatives Group (DIG), an agency task force investigating the origins of COVID-19, and retaliated against those in the group who believed the virus may have leaked from a lab.
Erdman worked for the DIG between March 2025 and April 2026. The group, created by Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard, was ordered to start winding down in January and has since been dissolved.
Soon after the group started to wind down, “the CIA retaliated” against members who supported the lab-leak hypothesis, Erdman wrote.
Erdman, one of the earliest members of the DIG, said he was hired due to his “many years of experience at the CIA and my knowledge on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
But during his year with DIG, “the CIA obstructed lawful oversight related to the DIG’s work and retaliated against the DIG with what I believe were illegal investigations into DIG members.”
Intelligence officials ‘spent years covering up the truth’
According to Erdman’s testimony, he believes ODNI, the National Intelligence Council (NIC) and CIA personnel “have spent years covering up the truth” about the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The CIA did not comply with lawful oversight requests during the DIG’s investigation,” Erdman wrote.
Erdman’s written statement adds to the oral testimony he delivered before the Senate on Wednesday, as part of Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) ongoing investigation into the origins of COVID-19. Erdman told the Senate that “Dr. Fauci’s role in the cover-up was intentional” and that the CIA targeted whistleblowers supporting the lab-leak theory.
In an interview with The Defender on Thursday, Erdman’s attorney, Carol Thompson, said her client is now “concerned that the CIA will use bureaucratic processes and alleged secrecy requirements to undermine his testimony and obfuscate the truth.”
In a letter to CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Thursday, Sens. Paul and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) forwarded a copy of Erdman’s written testimony — and warned the agency not to take any action against Erdman.
“We expect no retaliatory action of any kind to be taken against Mr. Erdman in connection with his appearance before the Committee,” the letter states.
An individual with knowledge of the situation told The Defender that ODNI previously received a complaint alleging that the CIA was spying on DIG members.
Stephanie Weidle, executive director of Feds for Freedom, a group Erdman co-founded that advocates for government transparency and informed consent, called Erdman “a hero.” She told The Defender his testimony shows that “checks and balances are broken.”
“The CIA is undermining Congress and their boss, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard,” Weidle said. “The CIA spies on innocent American citizens, including those tasked with rooting out corruption. They have not yet been held accountable.”
“The agency under investigation killed the investigation,” said Sayer Ji, chairman of the Global Wellness Forum and founder of GreenMedInfo. “The question this raises is who is actually running the U.S., the elected president and his DNI, or a permanent intelligence bureaucracy that has now demonstrated, on the record, that it can dissolve its own oversight.”
The CIA did not respond to The Defender’s request for comment by press time.
‘Dissolution of the DIG has halted critical transparency work’
According to the ODNI, the DIG was formally established in April 2025 and tasked with “restoring transparency and accountability to the Intelligence Community.”
The CIA hasn’t publicly listed DIG members. However, The Washington Post reported in July 2025 that senior national intelligence officer Paul McNamara, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and Marine officer, oversaw DIG’s efforts.
According to the Post, some intelligence officials were “privately concerned” that DIG “could be used to pursue perceived disloyalty to the Trump administration, including to identify individuals who implemented the policies of the previous administration.”
According to Erdman’s testimony, in October 2025, investigative journalist Steve Baker contacted ODNI “with information allegedly related to the identity of the January 6 pipe bomber.”
DIG “could not and did not attempt to corroborate Baker’s allegations,” but consulted with senior ODNI leadership to share this information with appropriate agencies that could investigate the matter.
That revelation led to a series of events and “drama” that “helped spark a pause in the DIG’s work in December 2025, and its ultimate dissolution in January 2026,” Erdman alleged in his testimony.
“The dissolution of the DIG has halted critical transparency work,” Erdman wrote.
CIA fired contractor involved with DIG’s COVID origins probe
But even before then, the CIA was obstructing the DIG’s work, Erdman alleged — including its investigation into COVID-19’s origins.
“The CIA illegally monitored the computer and phone usage of DIG personnel … their investigations, and contact with whistleblowers,” Erdman wrote.
A CIA contractor involved with the DIG’s COVID-19 origins investigation “was fired one day after meeting with the DIG.”
Erdman alleged the investigation also faced obstructions from within ODNI:
“In my time at the DIG, my team reviewed internal communications that led me to believe that ODNI [and] NIC, under then DNI Avril Haines, did not conduct a serious review or declassification effort for these documents.
“I also reviewed thousands of pages of material that I believe were responsive to the law, but that the Intelligence Community ignored.”
Once DIG was shut down, its investigative work into COVID-19’s origins was transferred to the NIC, Erdman wrote.
“It is not surprising to me that the CIA is ‘not happy’ with Erdman’s testimony. It is likely that they are not happy with the fact that the testimony may pull on the thread that will lead in the direction of the intelligence and defense agencies’ role in the internationally coordinated Project COVID-19,” Latypova said.
Ed Gallrein is running against Thomas Massie in Kentucky. Trump hates Massie because he opposes the Iran boondoggle war. Massie has also demanded the release of the Epstein files. Ed has received a whopping $11,824,741 from the Israel lobby. That’s on the high end of donations, so you get an idea how important it is to defeat Massie and gain another voice for Israel in Congress.
There is one issue at the top of Gallrein’s list. Ed mentioned it during an interview with USA Cares, a veterans organization in Kentucky. The reimplementation of a military draft. Ed says we need it for “national security.” Considering the hefty sum donated by the lobby, it is natural to conclude much of that “national security” concerns Israel.
For 10 minutes, Ed Gallrein argued in favor of reimplementing the military draft.
It is telling Gallrein complains about the slowness of the current system. The Selective Service system is inadequate for the sort of insta-wars the War Department is in the process of rolling out as of late. If you want to occupy a country the size of Iran, you need more than a million soldiers. For an occupation of Cuba, far less. Ed wants to take us back to days of the Vietnam War. Some of us remember how that turned out. Millions protested in the street and Lyndon Johnson refused to run for re-election. Nixon ran the war into the ground.
It will likely take a similar tactic to that used by the Ukrainian military when it hunts down reluctant draftees. Maybe that would become a task for ICE. Maybe there would be violent anti-draft riots like there were in northern cities during the War Between the States.
If Gallrein wins—and it is a close race—Kentuckians can look forward to having another bought-and-paid-for representative, this one ready to draft American kids and send them to help Zionist Israel become the undisputed hegemon of West Asia and realize its Greater Israel project.
Russia’s allegations that the US funded clandestine biological laboratories near its borders – claims denied until recently by Washington – have remained a persistent flashpoint in the steadily deteriorating relationship between Russia and the West for nearly a decade.
The biolabs affair was revealed in a 2017 exposé by RT that questioned a shady US military tender seeking the genetic material of living Russians. Over the years, Moscow has raised allegations against Washington of conducting clandestine bio-research, including potential WMD development and illicit human testing, in a network of labs located across multiple nations, the bulk of which operated in Ukraine. The claims were met with a blanket denial in the West, which repeatedly dismissed them as “Russian propaganda.”
This abruptly changed the past week when US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said that her department had identified more than 120 US-funded biological laboratories in 30 countries, with over a third of them located in Ukraine. The agency is now working to “identify where these labs are, what pathogens they contain, and what ‘research’ is being conducted to end dangerous gain-of-function research that threatens the health and wellbeing of the American people and the world,” according to Gabbard.
RT looks back at the timeline of the biolabs saga and the US denial of its existence until now.
2017 RT report
The US-funded bio research made international headlines in July 2017, when RT published an investigative report revolving around a tender issued by the US Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The command was seeking to procure genetic material samples that “shall be collected from Russia and must be Caucasian.” The Air Force explicitly said that it did not want samples from Ukraine, for reasons not explained.
The harvesting of genetic samples in the country did not escape the attention of the Russian leadership. President Vladimir Putin stated later that year “that biological material is being collected all over the country, from different ethnic groups and people living in different geographical regions.”
“The question is – why is it being done? It’s being done purposefully and professionally. We are a kind of object of great interest,” the president said. “Let them do what they want, and we must do what we must,” he added.
The attention this garnered from the Russian leadership prompted a vague explanation from AETC, which claimed the samples were needed for research on the musculoskeletal system and Russia had been picked as the source of the samples for no particular reason.
Georgia revelations
Another bombshell on the clandestine US-funded biolabs was dropped by a former Georgian minister for state security, Igor Giorgadze, in late 2018. He claimed he had obtained some 100,000 pages of data pointing to questionable practices at the US-funded Richard Lugar Center for Public Health Research near the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.
The documents published by Giorgadze were examined by the Russian Defense Ministry, which suggested the laboratory in Georgia may have concluded bioweapons research under the guise of a drug test. The research resulted in the deaths of at least 73 subjects over a short period of time, the Russian military’s investigation indicated.
The tests appeared to involve “a highly toxic chemical or biological agent with a high lethality rate,” the commander of Russia’s Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces (RKhBZ), Igor Kirillov, said at the time. Kirillov, who had spearheaded the Russian military’s probe into the US-funded biolabs in Ukraine and beyond, was assassinated in late 2024 in a bombing staged by Kiev’s intelligence.
The Pentagon flatly denied the allegations, with then-spokesman Eric Pahon dismissing the Russian ministry’s statements as a part of “a Russian disinformation campaign directed against the West.” The US and Georgian governments also dismissed the claims made by Giorgadze, describing them as “absurd.”
Ukraine conflict
The escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022 marked a new turn in the biolabs saga. While Moscow seized additional evidence of questionable research activities conducted in secretive facilities dotting Ukraine, the West entered a full-denial mode, bluntly dismissing any Russian statement on the matter as “propaganda.”
Early in the conflict, Russian troops seized thousands of pages of documents from labs in the Donetsk, Lugansk, and Kherson regions. The Russian military has been releasing the materials in batches while continuing an internal investigation and ultimately concluding in 2023 that “the US, under the guise of ensuring global biosecurity, conducted dual-use research, including the creation of biological weapons components, in close proximity to Russian borders.”
“The credibility of information provided by the Kremlin is in general very doubtful and low,” EU foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano said at the time. “Russian disinformation has a track record of promoting manipulative narratives about biological weapons and alleged ‘secret labs.’”
The Biden administration took a similar defensive stance, with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki calling the allegations “preposterous” and accusing Moscow of plotting to use “chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine or to create a false flag operation using them.” John Kirby, then-Pentagon spokesman, also branded the Russian allegations “absurd,” “laughable,” and a “bunch of malarkey.”
“There’s nothing to it. It’s classic Russian propaganda,” Kirby told reporters at the time.
US media is systematically biased in favour of Israel, an analysis by The Intercept has uncovered. Investigation of more than 12,000 articles and 5,000 TV segments found mainstream US coverage was “one-sided, racist and dehumanising”, helping Israel justify its genocide in Gaza.
The investigation, published this week and drawn from research for a forthcoming book, examined more than 12,000 articles from the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN.com, Politico, Axios, USA Today and The Associated Press, alongside 5,000 television segments aired on CNN and MSNBC.
The focus is on centre-left outlets influential with the Biden administration during the first year of Israel’s assault on the besieged Gaza Strip.
The analysis identifies seven recurring patterns that, taken together, document the US media’s role in selling Israel’s narrative to the American public as the death toll in Gaza mounted into the tens of thousands.
Chief among the findings is the near-exclusive application of the phrase “right to defend itself” to Israel. On CNN and MSNBC, anchors, reporters and guests invoked the right to self-defence for Israel 94 times more often than for Palestinians, the analysis found. In print, Israel was afforded the same right more than 100 times as frequently.
The report also documents how the term “human shields” — a designation rejected by leading human rights organisations when applied to guerrilla forces operating near civilians — was used hundreds of times to describe Palestinian fighters, implicitly rationalising the killing of civilians in Israeli strikes. By contrast, the surveyed television coverage contained no references at all to the Israeli military’s own documented use of human shields, despite cases that meet the legal definition.
Emotive language was applied with similar partiality. Over a 100-day period in which roughly 24,000 Palestinians were killed, words such as “massacre”, “barbaric”, “savage” and “slaughter”, when used in outlets’ own editorial voice, were deployed “entirely in favour of Israel”, the analysis states.
Following Israel’s bombing of al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on 17 October 2023, US outlets rapidly adopted the qualifiers “Hamas-run” and “Hamas-controlled” when citing Palestinian casualty figures, a framing the report says functioned to discredit the death toll. Neither CNN nor MSNBC used the phrase in the first ten days of the assault; its use then climbed sharply, even as the US State Department, the World Health Organization and Human Rights Watch continued to treat figures from the Gaza Health Ministry as reliable.
The analysis further finds that victims likely to elicit public sympathy — journalists and children — received markedly less coverage during the first 100 days of Israel’s assault on Gaza than their counterparts in Ukraine had received in the equivalent early phase of Russia’s war.
Coverage of rising hate crimes in the same period focused almost entirely on anti-Semitism, with little attention paid to documented Islamophobia or to the impact of the killing in Gaza on Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities in the US.
Perhaps the starkest example, the report says, is the contrast between the New York Times’ treatment of the resignation of Harvard University’s former president Claudine Gay and its coverage of the killing of five-year-old Hind Rajab, who was left to die in a vehicle alongside her family after coming under Israeli fire in Gaza.
The announced investigation into secret US overseas biolabs by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) could end up being more of an internal compliance review than a sweeping exposé, experts told Sputnik.
“This is less about legal prosecution and more about the administration asserting control over the ‘Deep State’ bureaucracy and signaling a broader rapprochement with Moscow by validating some of their long-standing security grievances,” says London-based foreign policy analyst Adriel Kasonta.
When it comes to accountability, the development, spearheaded by DNI Tulsi Gabbard, “suggests a move toward ‘America First’ oversight rather than an admission of criminal activity by previous officials,” the pundit believes.
“If the ODNI review reveals that US agencies lacked sufficient oversight, failed to properly manage the security risks of funding pathogen research abroad, or lacked transparency, ‘accountability’ will likely take the form of domestic policy adjustments, congressional hearings, and stricter funding guidelines,” says Marco Marsili, associate researcher at the Center for International Studies (CEI-Iscte).
Earlier this week, Tulsi Gabbard announced an investigation into more than 120 US biolabs operating across 30-plus countries, including 40 in Ukraine, with a focus on potential “gain-of-function” research.
The probe came on the heels of the indictment of a former advisor to top US health official Anthony Fauci, accused of unlawfully concealing federal records tied to the origins of COVID-19.
Tens of thousands of Jewish settlers descended on occupied Jerusalem on 14 May to celebrate the so-called ‘Flag March,’ beating Palestinian residents in the Muslim Quarter of the city, damaging storefronts, and shouting anti-Arab slogans.
The event, also known as the Flag Dance, commemorates the Israeli conquest of East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967.
Even before the parade began, Zionist youths pushed and cursed Palestinian residents and activists from “Standing Together,” an Israeli-Palestinian group established to protect Palestinians during the parade.
“When we put our bodies on the line, it oftentimes reduces the violence because settlers are less willing to attack when there are Jews there or when we document what’s going on,” stated Ori Shaham, the group’s international spokesperson.
The parade has long been marked by violence, extreme racism, and hate songs directed against the Palestinian residents of the Old City.
On Wednesday, the Knesset’s Aliyah, Absorption, and Diaspora Committee held a discussion on the violence directed against Christians during the annual parade.
The committee’s chairman, MK Gilad Kariv, stated that “there is nothing more ugly and offensive to the status of Jerusalem than the ugly behavior on the sidelines of the Flag Parade.”
“Every year we know what will happen … Muslim and Christian residents will close their shops, close their homes and schools, and lock themselves in their homes so as not to be exposed to violence? Is this the way of Judaism and the Torah of Israel?”
Last month, Haaretz reported that the Authority for Jewish National Identity in the Prime Minister’s Office provided nearly $200,000 in funding to organize the parade.
The remainder of the $400,000 budget was provided by the Foundation for the Renewal of Communities in Israel, an umbrella organization for several Torah groups.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir used the Flag Day march to make a provocative raid on the Temple Mount, home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.
Ben Gvir declared the Temple Mount to be “in our hands,” claiming Israel had “restored sovereignty on the Temple Mount thanks to determination and deterrence.”
The Jerusalem Day parade is being held the day before Palestinians commemorate the Nakba (or Catastrophe) when pre-state Zionist militias killed some 13,000 Palestinians and violently expelled 750,000 from their homes and lands in 1948, enabling the creation of the State of Israel.
China moved on Friday to publicly reaffirm its longstanding position on Iran after speculation and conflicting reports circulated regarding Beijing’s stance during recent regional tensions, with the Chinese Foreign Ministry publishing a full statement outlining its official position.
Asian diplomatic sources told Al Mayadeen that Washington is expected to continue promoting claims that it succeeded in persuading Beijing to pressure Iran, particularly following recent US-China discussions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz and the Iranian nuclear file.
The sources said that the growing American rhetoric regarding “the Iranian nuclear issue” or claims of an agreement with Beijing on keeping the Strait of Hormuz open “without fees” are merely “attempts at media flooding and covering up the essence of the matter.”
China’s position on Iran clear, unchanged
The sources stressed that China’s position toward Iran “is clear and unchanged,” dismissing reports suggesting a shift in Beijing’s stance as false. They noted that China deliberately refrained from discussing Iran publicly during earlier talks before later issuing a full Foreign Ministry statement outlining its official position in detail.
Beijing continues to oppose the possession of nuclear weapons while simultaneously supporting Iran’s right to the peaceful use of uranium and civilian nuclear technology. China also maintains its longstanding position in favor of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and preventing its militarization, while supporting Iran’s rights as a coastal state bordering the strategic waterway.
The sources added that “China buying oil or gas from the United States is nothing new because China diversifies its energy sources, but no one can replace Iranian oil or Hormuz energy imports, which constitute 45 percent of its energy needs.”
They further noted that China continues to support the creation of a joint regional security structure among Gulf states without outside interference, describing Beijing’s current “calm rhetoric” as an attempt to contain the “arrogance” of US President Donald Trump and his allies while creating conditions for a broader agreement through mutually beneficial economic incentives.
The sources noted that narratives suggesting a major Chinese shift against Iran are either inaccurate, deliberately misleading, or attempts to present recent diplomatic developments in the best possible light for Washington.
Trump, Xi, agree to address each other’s concerns
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump held extensive discussions on bilateral and global issues and reached a series of new common understandings, China’s Foreign Ministry said Friday, as Beijing called for accelerated diplomacy between the United States and Iran.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said the two leaders agreed to address each other’s concerns and enhance communication and coordination on international and regional affairs, describing the talks as a step toward building a “constructive and stable strategic relationship” between China and the US.
Commenting on ongoing US-Iran negotiations, the Chinese Foreign Ministry stressed that a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire should be achieved “as soon as possible,” adding that a rapid resolution would benefit the United States, Iran, regional countries, and the broader international community.
Beijing reiterated its longstanding position that dialogue and negotiations remain the best path forward, warning against military escalation and emphasizing that “a military solution is not the answer.”
“Now that the door to dialogue has been opened, it should not be closed again,” the ministry said, calling for efforts to consolidate momentum toward de-escalation. China also said it would continue working with the international community to provide greater support for peace talks between the US and Iran.
Some studies estimate that close to 1.5 million Iraqis have lost their lives as a result of the brutal American invasion and occupation of their country in 2003.[1] Millions more Iraqis have become refugees and orphans with no future prospects for prosperity or stability. Most of the critical infrastructure of the country was bombed into rubble and dust. American depleted uranium weapons have caused cancer rates in some Iraqi cities to skyrocket, permanently destroying the genes of future generations of Iraqis who are being born with horrific birth defects and diseases.
The culprits responsible for this genocidal campaign to subdue and enslave the Iraqi people are not the CEOs of American oil companies as some disingenuous commentators on the Left have claimed. President George W. Bush’s foreign policy in the Middle East was not his own nor that of the oil lobby, but was the brainchild of the neoconservative conspirators behind the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and other Zionist-oriented think tanks that dominated the Washington Beltway. … continue
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