Digital euro clears key hurdle

Digital euro clears key hurdle as EU seeks to break free from U.S. credit cards

Francesco Canepa and Valentina Za

The European Central Bank secured key parliamentary backing on Tuesday for the launch of a digital euro, an electronic means of payments aimed at making the euro zone less reliant on U.S. credit cards at a ‌time of fraying transatlantic relationships.

The digital euro, essentially an electronic wallet guaranteed by the central bank but marketed by banks or fintech companies, will allow all euro zone ‌residents to make payments online and in person.

Six years in the making, the ECB's digital cash has become a more pressing issue since Donald Trump returned to the White House, slapping tariffs on even established trade partners such as ​the European Union and raising fears that the U.S. could one day weaponize its dominance over payment networks like Visa and Mastercard.

The approval of draft rules by the economic committee of the European Parliament comes after three years of wrangling between the ECB and banks, which have been concerned about deposit outflows and lost revenues and sought to limit the scope of the project.

"The introduction of the digital euro would... reduce overreliance on non-European providers by becoming a pan-European means of payment and would bring the single currency into the digital era by giving Union citizens the freedom to opt to pay ‌with central bank money in their daily transactions," the draft regulation ⁠says.

FINAL APPROVAL BY YEAR-END?

Siegbert Frank Droese of the far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations, a political group in the European Parliament, said his group had voted against the proposal, raising the likelihood that a further vote would be needed at the Parliament's plenary.

Barring an objection at the plenary, lawmakers should start negotiating ⁠with the European Council of EU governments and the European Commission next month, aiming for final approval by the end of the year.

The ECB, which plans to run a 12-month pilot of the digital euro starting in the second half of next year before a full launch in 2029, said it looked forward to Parliament adopting its final position.

Outside the euro area, China has been piloting a digital yuan at scale, ​while ​countries like India and Brazil have conducted trials. Britain has focused on research, amid concerns over privacy, financial ​stability and banking-sector impact, while U.S. President Trump has forbidden the Federal ‌Reserve from issuing a digital currency.

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Time to expose Erdogan

Time to expose Erdogan's true face

Nadav Shragai

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, US President Donald Trump's "very good friend," as the American president has described him, continues to host and provide refuge to Hamas mass murderers, who keep planning terrorism and attacks against us from Istanbul and Ankara. Yesterday, we learned that dozens more such attacks, which could have ended in major disasters and many casualties, were recently thwarted by Israel, fortunately.

On this matter, Erdogan is thumbing his nose not only at Israel but also at Trump. That is hardly surprising. Trump, after all, does not spare the Turkish president expressions of admiration and affection, just as he often lavishes strange expressions of admiration and friendship on other sworn enemies of the State of Israel.

Trump's "good friend," Erdogan, has during the years of the war managed to call directly for Israel's destruction (March 2025), define Israel as a "terror state" and "a threat to all humanity," compare us to Nazis and publicly wish for our annihilation. The Turkish megalomaniac even made clear that Israel's end was near, and that "the atomic bombs it possesses will not save it."

Unlike in the past, the Turkish president no longer bothers to deny the ties between his regime and the Hamas attack planners operating from his territory. And perhaps that is no wonder, when this is a man who was in contact before and after the massacre with the architects of Oct. 7; a man who expressed respect for the late Sunni religious authority Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who issued a religious ruling permitting suicide attacks against Israelis; and a man who had close ties with Qazi Hussain Ahmad, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Pakistan, who rejected the very legitimacy of Israel's existence. Erdogan also met with two of the most prominent subversives among Israel's Arab citizens against the very existence of the Jewish state, Sheikh Raed Salah and Kamal Khatib, leaders of the outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel.

Since Oct. 7, Erdogan has treated us as an enemy, and the obvious question is: Why do we not treat him as such? Why is someone who hosted, and still hosts, arch-terrorists on his soil, some of them deportees from the Shalit deal, who direct terrorism against us from there, still not formally defined in Israel as an enemy? Why is someone who turned Istanbul and Ankara into a home and safe haven for Hamas headquarters or offices, and into an oxygen pipeline for the economy of the Palestinian Nazi terrorist organization, still not considered our clear enemy?

Erdogan, in whose country the Israeli and US flags, and the portraits of Netanyahu and Trump, are burned in the streets, exactly as in Iran, defines Hamas terrorists as mujahideen, holy warriors, and admires the "martyrs" of the Palestinian Nazi terrorist organization. In his speeches, he notes the commitment to "defend Islam" and describes the need for an "alliance of Islamic states" to act against Israel as a "religious duty." Only recently, he prayed that "al-Qahhar," one of Allah's names, meaning "the destroyer" or "the subduer," would devastate and destroy Zionist Israel, "the one created by Satan."

Trump's America knows this reality well. Nevertheless, in Erdogan's case too, it struggles to internalize that hatred rooted for generations in religious fanaticism cannot be extinguished with firehoses of money, just as the DNA of Iran's Revolutionary Guards cannot be changed in the same way. We, unlike Trump, must behave and speak differently, and make sure the entire world knows who the real Erdogan is.

The Dark Spirituality Behind Disclosure Day

The Dark Spirituality Behind Disclosure Day

 Joe Hawkins

At first glance, Disclosure Day appears to be another science-fiction thriller centered on government secrecy, extraterrestrial life, and a world-changing revelation. Beneath the surface, however, the film functions as something far more significant. It serves as a fascinating case study in how modern entertainment continues to familiarize audiences with concepts that were once considered fringe, occult, or even spiritually dangerous.

Through themes of alien disclosure, psychic abilities, remote viewing, astral projection, channeling, and possession, Disclosure Day presents a worldview that feels increasingly common in contemporary media. A worldview that conditions viewers to reinterpret the supernatural through an extraterrestrial lens as opposed to a biblical lens.

Perhaps nowhere is this agenda more apparent than in the emotional scenes involving Daniel’s girlfriend, Jane Blankenship. After viewing evidence that the aliens are allegedly being tortured, Jane becomes deeply emotional. Her response reflects the film’s broader effort to shift audience sympathies toward the extraterrestrials. Rather than presenting them as potential deceivers, the narrative casts them as victims deserving compassion and understanding.

It is Jane who voices one of the film’s most important concerns, warning that people may begin viewing these beings as deities and stop believing in God. Ironically, while the film acknowledges this possibility, much of its narrative structure appears to move viewers toward exactly that conclusion.

While the government conspiracy drives the plot, the film’s most revealing elements emerge through the character of Margaret Fairchild. Following an encounter with a cardinal—one of several animal forms allegedly used by the extraterrestrials—Margaret begins displaying extraordinary abilities. She can read people’s thoughts, speak languages she has never learned, perceive information that should be impossible for her to know, and even appear to people as their loved ones.

This theme becomes even more apparent through the mysterious metallic devices featured throughout the movie. These artifacts grant users abilities including remote viewing, astral projection, cloaking, memory recovery, and even possession. The film presents these powers as advanced technology rather than occult practices. By presenting such experiences as scientifically explainable or technologically enabled, the film makes these abilities desirable, especially to a young person (in my opinion).

One of the most striking examples occurs during one of the remote viewing sequences. Users are able to project their consciousness beyond their physical location to observe another person and even question them about their whereabouts. However, the film establishes an unusual rule: remote viewers cannot “dive” on an “experiencer”—an individual who has been abducted and had direct contact with the alien entity. This distinction elevates the experiencers into a unique category of humanity, almost suggesting that contact with the alien transforms a person into something different. The implication is that these encounters create a spiritual or metaphysical barrier that ordinary consciousness cannot penetrate.

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Putin: Western Countries Openly Say They Are Preparing for War With Russia

Western Countries Openly Say They Are Preparing for War With Russia – Putin

sputnik

Western countries are now openly saying that they are preparing for war with Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

The current international situation is far from stable, the president said, adding that the armed confrontation in the Middle East continues unabated, and the potential for conflict has increased significantly in a number of regions of the world, including in Eurasia.

"We see that if earlier the NATO countries limited themselves to supporting the Kiev regime, which came to power illegally by armed means with the help of a coup d'etat, now they openly say in the West that they are preparing for war with us, increasing military offensive budgets," Putin said at a meeting with graduates of higher military schools.

Other statements by the Russian president:

The West uses false statements about an alleged Russian military threat to justify its own militarization

The current international situation is far from stable, and the conflict potential has increased in a number of regions around the world

Russia stands for equal and indivisible security for all, which can be achieved by forming a multipolar system of international relations, Putin emphasized

The Russian nuclear triad is being consistently modernized

A qualitative development of many types of weapons of the Russian Armed Forces has taken place since the beginning of the special military operation

More than 1,000 samples of weapons and equipment were tested in combat conditions last year

Russia is ready to respond promptly and adequately to any external and internal threats

Operational information exchange between troops on the frontline and defense enterprises has been established

NATO’s Baltic Drills Serve as Warm-up for War With Russia

Israel warns Lebanon talks are becoming 'a train wreck’ over Hezbollah disarmament

Israel warns Lebanon talks are becoming 'a train wreck’ over Hezbollah disarmament

Itamar Eichner

Israel’s representative to the renewed talks with Lebanon warned Tuesday that the process was at risk of derailment, saying the fifth round of negotiations had become a “train wreck” because the core premise, removing Iran’s influence and dismantling Hezbollah, appeared to be slipping from the agenda.

“This is the fifth round of talks, and I have to say, we are in a train wreck,” Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said during the Washington meeting between Israeli and Lebanese representatives.

“Four rounds ago, we all boarded the same train. We sat in the same car and traveled toward the same destination, with the U.S. serving as the locomotive,” he said. “The train was heading in a very clear direction: full peace between the countries, Iran out and its malign influence out of Lebanon; the dismantling of Hezbollah; peace and security for Lebanon and Israel.”

Leiter said that track was now in danger.

“Today, that train is at risk of coming off the rails. I hope we can put it back on track,” he said. “The premise was that Iran is out, and that the central discussion is about Lebanon and Hezbollah, not about how much Iran can restrain Hezbollah. That is not Iran’s role. Its role is to get out of Lebanon.”

“The role of the Lebanese government is to exercise its sovereignty,” he added. “Sovereignty means Iran is no longer involved in malign activity or influence in Lebanon. We need clarity.”

Leiter also addressed U.S.-Iran negotiations, saying Israel hoped a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran would succeed but warning that it must not allow Iran to continue funding its regional proxies.

“Israel very much hopes the MOU will succeed,” he said. “We all support President Trump’s vision to ensure that Iran no longer has nuclear capabilities, ballistic missiles or the ability to funnel money to its proxies in order to threaten its neighbors and establish regional hegemony.”

“Israel is not in conflict with Lebanon. Therefore, deconfliction is not the issue. All that is required is coordination with Lebanon,” he said. “The only issue is Hezbollah. Hezbollah must be defeated and removed from the equation. Instead, there is a danger that Hezbollah has been given a shot in the arm. There is no doubt it feels strengthened and emboldened.”

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