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Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Sunday that Russia could deploy new missile systems in response to a planned US missile deployment to Germany and warned of a Cold War-style incident.

Earlier this month, the US announced it would deploy missiles to Germany in 2026 that were previously banned by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which prohibited land-based missile systems with a range between 310 and 3,400 miles.

The US withdrew from the treaty in 2019, but Putin said Russia has maintained a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of missiles prohibited by the treaty. He said that could change in response to the US deployment.

“If the United States carries through these plans, we will consider ourselves to be free from our unilateral moratorium on deploying intermediate-and shorter-range strike weapons, including measures to raise the capabilities of coastal defense troops of our Navy,” Putin said in a speech for Russia’s Navy Day in St. Petersburg.

Putin noted that the US missile systems would be able to quickly strike Russian territory. “The fly-in time of such missiles that can be eventually equipped with nuclear warheads will constitute about 10 minutes to reach targets on our territory,” he said.

The US announced its deployment would include Tomahawk missiles, which are nuclear-capable and have a range of over 1,000 miles. Tomahawks are typically used on US Navy destroyers and submarines since a land-based version was banned by the INF.

The US also said it will send SM-6 missiles to Germany, which signals it’s planning to deploy a Typhon missile system. The Typhon is a covert system concealed in a 40-foot shipping container that can fire Tomahawks and SM-6 missiles. The SM-6 can hit targets up to 290 miles away, below the levels previously banned by the INF. The US has recently deployed Typhon launchers for drills in the Philippines and Denmark.

Putin said Russia was in the process of developing similar missile systems. “Today we are at the final stage of developing a number of such systems. We will take measures in kind to deploy them, taking into account the moves by the United States and its minions in Europe and other regions of the world,” he said.

The Russian leader warned that the  “situation is reminiscent of the events of the Cold War period.” Before the INF was signed in 1987, the Soviet Union had land-based nuclear-armed missiles deployed in its western territory that could hit western Europe, and the US had similar systems deployed that could hit Soviet territory.

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On Sunday, members of the Arab Druze community in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights mourned 12 children who were killed when a rocket hit a soccer field in the village of Majdal Shams a day earlier.

Israel has pinned the blame for the rocket strike on Hezbollah, which denies any responsibility. According to Axios, Hezbollah told the UN that an Israeli anti-rocket interceptor hit the soccer field.

The US is backing Israel’s claim, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying there was “every indication” that Hezbollah was behind the strike. For its part, Syria has blamed the incident on Israel and said the Israeli government was trying to use it to escalate in Lebanon.

“As part of attempts to escalate the situation in the region, Israeli occupation entity committed a heinous crime on Saturday in Majdal Shams town and then held the Lebanese National Resistance accountable for this crime,” the Syrian Foreign Ministry said, according to The Cradle.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and annexed the territory in 1981. Under international law, the territory is considered to be Syrian and under Israeli occupation. In 2019, the US became the first country besides Israel to recognize the Golan Heights as Israeli territory.

According to CNN, most of the Druze in the Golan Heights consider themselves Syrian and have rejected offers of Israeli citizenship. None of the 12 children who were killed were Israeli citizens.

During the funeral, mourners protested the participation of Israeli ministers, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. “Get out of here, you criminal. We don’t want you in the Golan,” one protester shouted at Smotrich, according to the Anadolu Agency.

Israeli ministers attended the funeral despite a request from community leaders not to come. “Do not come. Given the sensitivity of the situation, we ask not to turn this massacre into a political event. We demand a quiet religious funeral according to Druze customs,” the Druze Authority Forum said in a letter to Israeli government ministers.

Israeli officials are threatening a major attack in Lebanon in response to the rocket attack. The Israeli military launched strikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday, but more are expected. The Israeli Security Cabinet convened on Sunday to discuss a potential escalation, and the US is reportedly warning against strikes on Beirut.

A major Israeli attack could escalate the situation on the Israel-Lebanon border into a full-blown war. Since October 7, Israel and Hezbollah have been trading strikes across the border almost every day.

According to an AFP tally, Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon have killed at least 527 people, including 104 children. On the Israeli side, 18 soldiers and 24 civilians have been killed, a total that includes the 12 Druze children.

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Former President Donald Trump said in a post on his social media site Truth Social that the US should wipe Iran “off the face of the earth” if he’s ever assassinated.

After the assassination attempt on Trump, CNN reported that the US had intelligence from a single “human source” that Iran was plotting to kill him. The report offered no evidence, and Iran strongly denied the accusation. But that hasn’t stopped Iran hawks from using the claim to advance their agendas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated the claim during his address to Congress. In his post on Truth Social, Trump included a video of Netanyahu saying, “We recently learned” that Iran was threatening to kill the former president.

“If they do ‘assassinate President Trump,’ which is always a possibility, I hope that America obliterates Iran, wipes it off the face of the Earth — If that does not happen, American Leaders will be considered ‘gutless’ cowards!” Trump wrote.

Trump made the post ahead of his Friday meeting with Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. During Netanyahu’s visit to the resort, Trump denied rumors that his relationship with the Israeli leader ever soured. “We’ve always had a great relationship,” Trump told reporters, according to The Associated Press. “It was never bad.”

According to a readout of the meeting put out on Trump’s official website, Netanyahu thanked the former president for steps he took during his time in office, including the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, which brought the US and Iran to the brink of war.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked President Trump and his Administration for working to promote stability in the region through, among many historic achievements, the Abraham Accords, moving the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, eliminating Qasem Soleimani, ending the horrific Iran Nuclear Deal, as well as combatting anti-Semitism in America and abroad.,” the readout said.

After the meeting, Trump took aim at Vice President Kamala Harris, who met with Netanyahu on Thursday. Israeli officials were reportedly upset with her public remarks after the meeting. Harris pledged strong support for Israel but also said Netanyahu should get a deal with Hamas “done” to “get a ceasefire to end the war.”

“PM Netanyahu of Israel had a terrible and ‘insulting’ meeting in DC with Kamala Harris, who also refused to preside over Congress during his speech, which is an obligation of the VP Rarely has such a thing happened,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday. He also said any Jewish Americans who vote for Harris should “have their heads examined.”

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Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has announced that Italy will appoint an ambassador to Syria for the first time in 12 years.

 According to The Associated Press, Tajani said one reason why Rome was restoring ties with Damascus was to “prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.”

The step to normalize relations with the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad comes after Italy and seven other European Union members sent a letter to Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, urging a different approach toward Syria and a re-evaluation of sanctions on the country.

Tajani said Italy received support to normalize with Syria from the other seven signatories to the letter, which include Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus, and Slovakia.

At least five EU countries have some sort of diplomatic ties with the Assad government, including the Czech Republic, which never cut ties with Damascus. Greece re-opened its embassy in Damascus in 2021.

The US says that it’s strongly opposed to other countries restoring ties with the Assad government, but that has not stopped a growing trend of normalization. More and more countries are accepting the regime change effort against Assad has failed. Last year, Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League, and Saudi Arabia re-opened its embassy in Damascus.

The US maintains crippling economic sanctions on Syria that are designed to prevent the reconstruction of the country, which naturally has a devastating impact on the civilian population. The US also keeps an occupying force of about 900 troops in eastern Syria and backs the Kurdish-led SDF.

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