Monday, May 19, 2025
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Monday, May 19, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

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https://nordictimes.com/world/joe-biden-diagnosed-with-aggressive-prostate-cancer/

World

Joe Biden diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer

Published today 11:50
– By Editorial Staff
Biden has previously been treated for skin cancer, and his son Beau died in 2015 from a brain tumor.
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Former US President Joe Biden, 82, has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, his staff said in a statement.

Biden experienced urination problems, which led doctors to discover a lump on his prostate. The diagnosis was confirmed on Friday after a pathological examination, which found cancer cells in bone tissue.

– While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management. The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians, Biden’s spokesperson said.

Prostate cancer is graded on the Gleason scale from 6 to 10, with 8–10 indicating higher aggressiveness. Biden’s cancer has been graded as a 9. When prostate cancer has spread to the bones, treatment becomes more complicated, but hormone-suppressing therapies can be effective.

– It’s very treatable, but not curable. Most men in this situation would be treated with drugs and would not be advised to have either surgery or radiation therapy, said Dr. Matthew Smith of Massachusetts General Brigham Cancer Center.

Greetings from friends and foes

As is customary when a political leader falls ill or is injured, tributes and wishes for a speedy recovery poured in from both allies and political opponents.

“Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis. We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery”, Donald Trump wrote on social media.

“Joe is a fighter – and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership”, declared Biden’s former running mate and vice president, Kamala Harris.

Former President Barack Obama also expressed his support: “Nobody has done more to find breakthrough treatments for cancer in all its forms than Joe, and I am certain he will fight this challenge with his trademark resolve and grace”.

Was Biden’s ill health kept secret?

Biden’s faltering physical and mental health was a recurring topic of debate during his presidency, when, after appearing extremely confused and almost senile during a debate against Trump in 2024, he was finally forced to suspend his re-election campaign. Harris later took over as the Democratic candidate but lost to Trump.

According to the book Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, Biden’s aides systematically concealed the extent of his ill health during his term in office – something that Biden himself has dismissed as false.

It should be noted that Biden has previously been treated for basal cell carcinoma (a common form of skin cancer) in 2023 and a potentially precancerous polyp in his colon in 2021.

In 2022, he also launched the Cancer Moonshot initiative, with the goal of halving cancer mortality within 25 years – a follow-up to his work as vice president after the death of his son Beau from brain cancer in 2015.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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https://nordictimes.com/world/sources-us-wants-to-expel-palestinians-to-libya/

World

Sources: US wants to expel Palestinians to Libya

The situation in Gaza

Published yesterday 11:29
– By Editorial Staff
The US advises its own citizens against traveling to Libya - but at the same time, according to sources, it wants around one million Palestinians to be deported there.
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

According to multiple sources speaking to NBC News, Donald Trump’s administration is currently working on a plan to permanently relocate up to one million Palestinians from Gaza to Libya. However, the White House dismisses the claims as false and denies that any such plans exist at present.

The administration of former US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering permanently relocating up to one million Palestinians from Gaza to Libya, NBC News reports, citing informed sources. The White House denies that any such plan exists.

Since taking office in January, Trump has repeatedly said the US is ready to take control of Gaza and turn the area into a “Riviera of the Middle East”. However, the proposals have faced strong opposition from other countries in the region, who argue that they violate international law, threaten regional stability and undermine the right of Palestinians to remain on their ancestral land.

According to NBC’s sources, the White House is now “seriously” considering a proposal to relocate about half of Gaza’s population to Libya. In exchange for Libya agreeing to take in the Palestinians, the US is reportedly prepared to release about $30 billion in Libyan assets that were frozen more than a decade ago.

NBC says talks have already been held with the Libyan leadership, but it is not clear which of the country’s rival governments has been involved in the discussions.

Civil war and chaos

Libya has been in a state of chaos since Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011. Today, the country is divided between two rival power centers: the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) and the UN-backed Stability Support Apparatus (SSA) based in Tobruk.

Notably, the leader of the SSA, Abdulghani al-Kikli – also known as “Ghaniwa” – was killed just last Monday, sparking violent clashes in the capital. The US State Department today advised its own citizens against traveling to Libya at all because of “due to crime, terrorism, unexploded landmines, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict“.

The sources also state that Israel has been informed about the discussions between the US and Libya. However, no final agreement on a possible relocation of Palestinians has been reached yet and details on how or when such a plan could be implemented are described as “murky”.

A Trump administration spokesperson rejects the NBC reports as “untrue” and stressed that “situation on the ground (in Libya) is untenable for such a plan. Such a plan was not discussed and makes no sense”.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/trump-wants-to-make-gaza-an-american-freedom-zone/

World

Trump wants to make Gaza an American “freedom zone”

The situation in Gaza

Published 15 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Many Palestinians are very hostile to the idea of Israel's main ally taking control of their homes.
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Donald Trump has once again proposed that the US take control of the Gaza Strip and turn the entire area into a “freedom zone”.

However, what this would mean in practice for the population is highly unclear, and Palestinian activists emphasize that they have no interest in coming under US sovereignty.

During a visit to Doha, Qatar, Donald Trump reiterated his vision of the US “taking over” the Gaza Strip and creating a so-called freedom zone.

The statement comes in the middle of a regional tour and follows earlier heavily criticized proposals to transform Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East“ by moving the Palestinian population to neighboring countries and replacing them with “people from all over the world”.

– We are working very hard on Gaza and Gaza has been a territory of death and destruction, the president proclaimed, continuing:

– I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone.

Israel’s most important ally

He did not clarify exactly what a “freedom zone” means, nor has Trump previously provided details on how a relocation or reconstruction of Gaza would be carried out.

Qatar and Egypt, which are mediating in the war between Israel and Hamas, have seen peace negotiations stall in recent months, as large-scale displacement of Palestinians is rejected not only by the Palestinians themselves, but also by many Arab states.

Trump’s proposal raises questions about whether the people of Gaza have any interest in breaking Israeli occupation under American control. Since the outbreak of the war, over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed and most of the infrastructure destroyed, according to the UN. Many more have been injured or are missing under the rubble, and more and more voices are describing the situation as ongoing genocide.

Many Palestinian activists and outside observers point out that the US supports and has enabled Israel’s invasion, bombings, and war crimes, and that from a Palestinian perspective, it is hardly desirable for Israel’s closest ally, the US, to take control of the area.

Others emphasize that the Palestinian people want and have the right to independence and self-determination and to rule over their own territory – without having to submit to either Israel or the US.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/eus-withholding-of-pfizer-vaccine-texts-ruled-illegal-by-court/

World

EU’s withholding of Pfizer vaccine texts ruled illegal by court

The criticized covid vaccinations

Published 15 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla had secret text message conversations in 2021.
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The European Commission is found guilty by the European Court of Justice of withholding text messages between Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer’s CEO in connection with the multi-billion euro purchase of COVID-19 vaccines. The Court ruled that the Commission violated transparency legislation when it refused to disclose the messages.

Now the Commission must disclose the conversations or provide a more credible explanation for why it cannot disclose them.

In spring 2021, it emerged that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Pfizer’s CEO, Albert Bourla, had private text message conversations in connection with the comprehensive COVID-19 vaccine agreement concluded between the EU and the pharmaceutical company. The agreement covered 1.8 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine, but few details of how it was reached have been made public. For example, the price tag for each dose is still not known.

When a journalist from the New York Times requested the text message conversations between von der Leyen and Bourla, it was announced that these had been deleted. The following year, the European Court of Auditors reviewed the case and questioned why the European Commission did not disclose the text messages or other written details of the agreement. Furthermore, the Commission is said to have chosen not to share any written details of the agreement, something it has been transparent about in the past, which was of course also questioned by the Court.

The European Court of Auditors has no authority to demand more information about the text message conversations, but the New York Times chose in 2023 to file a lawsuit in the matter and this week the case was brought before the European Court of Justice. The court was asked to examine whether the European Commission had breached the law by not disclosing the conversations.

Court: “Must provide credible explanations”

The court’s decision finds that the European Commission did break the law when it refused to disclose the text message conversations between the chairman and the CEO, reports the New York Times. Under EU transparency laws, the conversations should have been shared with the newspaper.

The European Commission claimed that it did not consider the conversations important and therefore deleted them and that they cannot be retrieved. However, it never explained the extent of the search for them, which the Court considers insufficient.

“The commission cannot merely state that it does not hold the requested documents but must provide credible explanations enabling the public and the court to understand why those documents cannot be found”, the Court said.

It is unclear whether the text messages have actually been deleted, but the court ruled that the European Commission must now either disclose the conversations, or at least provide a more detailed and credible explanation as to why they cannot be disclosed. In a statement, the European Commission said it would “adopt a new decision providing a more detailed explanation”.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/lithuanian-ex-president-no-need-to-fear-russias-nuclear-weapons/

World

Lithuanian ex-president: “No need to fear Russia’s nuclear weapons”

The new cold war

Published 14 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Dalia Grybauskaité was one of the voices calling for NATO to attack Russia as early as 2022.
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Lithuania’s former president Dalia Grybauskaité rejects Vladimir Putin’s proposal for peace talks with Ukraine as disingenuous, claiming that it is merely a tactical maneuver aimed at buying time.

Despite widespread concerns that the war will escalate into a large-scale European nuclear conflict, Grybauskaité argues that the threat of weapons of mass destruction is greatly exaggerated and asserts that “there is no reason to fear nuclear weapons”.

– I believe these are games for the time being, an attempt to stall for time, an attempt to shift the blame to the Ukrainian side, but in fact they are stalling for time and are unwilling to end the war now, at least in the near future as they want to occupy as much of Ukraine as possible, the former president said in a press statement on Monday.

Her statement came after four European leaders visited Kiev over the weekend and appealed for a temporary ceasefire as a basis for peace talks. Putin responded with a counterproposal for direct negotiations in Istanbul – an initiative that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has shown some openness to, but only after a ceasefire is in place.

Most notable, however, was how Grybauskaité downplayed the risk of nuclear weapons being used in the conflict – describing Russian nuclear deterrence as “an obsolete doctrine” and claiming that weapons of mass destruction should no longer be considered a relevant threat in modern warfare.

– Nuclear deterrence was effective after World War Two, during the Cold War, but not now. No umbrella will help because now we have completely different weapons, a completely different nature of war. Nuclear weapons will not scare anybody.

“An obsolete instrument”

As recently as November, Russia updated its nuclear doctrine and opened the door to using tactical nuclear weapons in response to large-scale conventional military attacks – a move that has led to increased concern in several European capitals.

Despite this, Grybauskaité tried to downplay fears of nuclear weapons as completely unfounded – and instead turned the threat back on Moscow:

– There is no need to fear and there is no need to pay attention as it is an obsolete instrument and there is nothing to fear. The Russians may be afraid of nuclear weapons themselves, so let them be afraid.

It should be noted that Dalia Grybauskaité has long been one of the most vocal advocates in Europe for a more confrontational line toward Russia. Throughout the war in Ukraine, she has repeatedly criticized the West’s stance in the conflict and called for more direct military involvement from NATO – including attacks on Russian targets. According to Grybauskaité, the only way to stop Putin is to meet him with military force, not diplomacy.

“War can only be stopped by a war”, she has declared, arguing that “if we do not stop Putin in Ukraine, we will still have to fight a war, but in our countries”.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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