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AfD's EU delegation shaken up following election results

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AfD's EU delegation shaken up following election results

Political scientist Dr Antonios Souris says part of the AfD’s success can be attributed to their successful social media campaign.

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Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) top European candidate Maximilian Krah has been ousted from the newly elected European Parliament delegation, which is now to be lead by Rene Aust.

Krah has been excluded as the AfD seeks to rejoin the Identity and Democracy (ID) group in Brussels, after Marine Le Pen suggested expelling the AfD for being ‘too extreme.’

During the press conference in Berlin, co-chairperson of AfD Alice Weidel urged the German government to call a snap election.

“People want us to take on governmental responsibility,” she told journalists at a conference announcing Aust’s new position.

Weidel said that the Greens have reached their end. “People have realised what it means when the Greens are in government. They ruin everything. They ruin the foundations. They are not a liberal party, they are a party of prohibitions,” she added.

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Co-leader Tino Chrupalla said voters wanted to see nuclear energy return to Germany and to be able to continue to drive combustion engine cars.

Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) emerged as the winning party on Sunday night but the AfD performed particularly well amongst young voters.

Political scientist Dr Antonios Souris says part of the AfD’s success can be attributed to their successful social media campaign, but said the three governing parties should stop trying to compete with each other.

He also urged the parties to “think about policy solutions to problems,” and said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz needs to start explaining policies to the public.

Dr Souris said the results also showed some positive signs and praised the record breaking voter turn out, at 65%. Around 65 million people living in Germany were eligible to vote.

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“For Germany, there were some very interesting developments. You could see that you have a strong democratic opposition party with the CDU, CSU, which is always a good sign for democracy,” he said, although he also said there have been some “worrisome developments” regarding “huge regional differences in right wing voting”.

Despite the Social Democrats’ historic defeat at the European elections, Scholz has ruled out calling an early snap election. Weidel said the party has set its sights on becoming the new ruling government at the 2025 federal elections next year.

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FAA grounds all JetBlue flights after request from airline

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FAA grounds all JetBlue flights after request from airline

NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded all JetBlue flights due to a request from the airline, the agency said Tuesday.

The ground stop impacts flights to all destinations, according to the advisory.

It was not immediately clear why JetBlue requested the ground stop or how long it would last.

The airline and the FAA didn’t immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press requesting more information.

The airline, which was founded more than 25 years ago, has its headquarters in New York City and its flagship terminal at the city’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

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Trump says it’s an ‘honor’ to keep Strait of Hormuz open for China and other countries

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Trump says it’s an ‘honor’ to keep Strait of Hormuz open for China and other countries

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President Donald Trump said he wants to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, saying it would be an “honor” to do so in an effort to help other nations that rely on the vital Middle East waterway.

Trump was speaking with reporters in Florida on Monday, when he was asked about the global energy choke point, which has been disrupted amid back-and-forth attacks between Iran and Israel and the United States. 

IRAN SEIZES OIL TANKERS, THREATENS ‘MASSACRE’ IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ HOURS BEFORE US TALKS

People mourn slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Thursday, in Isfahan, Iran.  (Payman Shahsanaei/ISNA via AP)

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At about 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, the Strait of Hormuz is between Iran and Oman and carries roughly 20 million barrels a day and about one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas, making it a top-value target when conflict in the region erupts.

“We’re really helping China here and other countries because they get a lot of their energy from the Straits,” Trump said. “We have a good relationship with China. It’s my honor to do it.”

US POSITIONS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS, STRIKE PLATFORMS ACROSS MIDDLE EAST AS IRAN TALKS SHIFT TO OMAN

A screenshot of a marine traffic terminal showing vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on March 4. (Kpler/Marine Traffic)

Trump is slated to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this month. While touting the United States’ new energy partnership with Venezuela, Trump noted that China gets its oil through the strait. 

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“I mean, we’re doing this for the other parts of the world, including countries like China,” he said. “They get a lot of their oil through the straits.”

“We have a very good relationship with President XI (Jinping) and China,” he added. “I’m going there in a short period of time, and we’re protecting the world from what these lunatics are trying to do, and very successfully I might add.”

President Donald Trump greets Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of a bilateral meeting at Gimhae Air Base on Oct. 30, 2025, in Busan, South Korea. Trump said he wants to keep the Strait of Hormuz open in the Middle East for countries, including China.  ( Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The U.S. will also waive all oil-related sanctions on some countries in an effort to reduce energy prices amid the conflict in the Middle East, Trump said.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps took to Iranian State TV vowing it would “not allow [the] export of a single liter of oil.”

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Later, Trump reaffirmed his position on the strait in a fiery Truth Social post.

“If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far. Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again — Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!,” he wrote.

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“This is a gift from the United States of America to China, and all of those Nations that heavily use the Hormuz Strait. Hopefully, it is a gesture that will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

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NATO intercepts another Iranian missile in Turkish airspace

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NATO intercepts another Iranian missile in Turkish airspace

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NATO forces have intercepted an Iranian missile heading to Türkiye for the second time in less than a week, as US-Israeli strikes on Iran throw the wider Middle East into conflict.

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Last Wednesday, Türkiye’s Ministry of Defence said it intercepted an Iranian ballistic missile headed toward Turkish airspace close to the Syria border.

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Confirming the incident, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said “NATO stands firm in its readiness to defend all Allies against any threat”.

According to NATO sources, there is as yet no indication Türkiye is triggering formal proceedings within the alliance to initiate action against Iran.

However, the Turkish government summoned Iran’s ambassador to Ankara for a formal rebuke over the incident.

The US has a military presence at the Incirlik airbase in the south of the country.

“NATO has been clear it has strong interception capabilities”, Colonel ​Martin O’Donnell, spokesperson ​for the ⁠Supreme ‌Headquarters ‌Allied Powers ⁠Europe, told Euronews, saying that while Iran is “targeting the US footprint in various countries” it is also attacking public spaces “indiscriminately”.

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While NATO has increased its security posture to a heightened level until the threat subsides, O’Donnell reiterated NATO’s position that it is not a party to the conflict, despite the fact the conflict is being prosecuted by the US, the alliance’s most powerful member by far.

“The Secretary General has been clear that NATO is not part of this war, but NATO will defend itself”, he said, speaking to Euronews from NATO HQ in Brussels on Monday.

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