28. November 2025 – Kurznachrichten

Merz causes raised eyebrows with bread remark!

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz highlighted his preference for German bread during a visit to a bakery in Hamburg. You only realize what you have in German bread when you are abroad, he told the employees. As an example, he described an experience in Luanda: “At the breakfast buffet I was looking for where a proper piece of bread is.” The remark has since sparked mockery and criticism on social media. Many users take issue with the fact that a German chancellor complains about hotel bread in one of the poorest countries in Africa. Others accuse him of a colonial attitude and a complete lack of awareness.

Trump threatens deportation – a president relying on maximum severity

Donald Trump wasted no time exploiting the Rahmanullah Lakanwal case politically. Even before investigators could name a motive, he publicly raised the possibility of deporting the wife and five children of the perpetrator. Asked whether he truly planned to do so, Trump simply said they were examining “the entire situation with the family.” It is a sentence that does not sound like sober reflection but calculated toughness. Lakanwal entered the country in 2021 through “Operation Allies Welcome,” lived in Bellingham, worked simple jobs, and was granted asylum in April. CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed his past work for a U.S. partner force in Afghanistan – a detail Trump completely ignores. Instead of restraint, he is already demanding the death penalty. The White House is seeking the grand gesture, not a clean investigation. See also our articles: “A shot at close range – 20-year-old soldier Sarah Beckstrom has died and a president who seizes the moment for himself” – https://kaizen-blog.org/en/ein-schuss-aus-naechster-naehe-die-erst-20-jaehrige-soldatin-sarah-beckstrom-ist-verstorben-und-ein-praesident-der-den-moment-fuer-sich-nutzt/ and – “What is really known about Rahmanullah Lakanwal – our investigation, the established facts, the open questions” – https://kaizen-blog.org/en/was-ueber-rahmanullah-lakanwal-wirklich-bekannt-ist-unsere-recherche-die-gesicherten-fakten-die-offenen-fragen/

Putin’s “willingness to talk” – a peace plan as a way to buy time, not a course change!

Vladimir Putin suddenly presents himself as open to the U.S. peace plan – but anyone listening closely realizes he is merely repackaging his longstanding maximal demands. In Bishkek he called Trump’s proposal a “starting point” but still demands a complete withdrawal of the Ukrainian army from all territories claimed by Russia, including areas Moscow does not yet control. The ban on NATO membership and foreign troops in Ukraine remains on his list as well. While U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff heads to Moscow and Army Undersecretary Dan Driscoll to Kyiv, the Kremlin is visibly trying to buy time – hoping the West will fatigue financially and politically. At the front, the war continues: Russian drone attacks on Sumy, Odesa, and Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian drones over Russian territory, more dead and wounded. Ukraine secured another 8.1 billion dollars from the IMF, but its budget and military costs for 2026 and 2027 amount to roughly 153 billion dollars. Putin’s message remains clear: he is willing to talk – as long as the basis is his conditions and time works in his favor.

Trump enjoys the holiday – and the contrast could hardly be sharper

While in Washington two families mourn or fear for their gravely injured children and the country debates the attack on the National Guard soldiers, Donald Trump appears with Melania, Barron, and his father-in-law Viktor Knavs at the traditional Thanksgiving dinner in Mar-a-Lago. Cameras capture a familiar scene: opulent rooms, a courtly entourage, a president visibly comfortable in his own universe while the situation outside is burning. Trump’s brief words on Sarah Beckstrom’s death sounded sober, almost offhand, before he slipped back into the role of master of his private palace. It is this abrupt cut that lingers – the image of a man celebrating a holiday while families far from his world fight for life and future.

The U.S. moves closer to Caracas – and uses the Dominican Republic as a launchpad!

As Washington increases pressure on Venezuela and the regional drug trade, the Dominican Republic is opening its military infrastructure to the U.S. more than ever before. President Luis Abinader has agreed that U.S. forces may use “sensitive zones” at the San Isidro Air Base and Las Américas International Airport for a limited period – for refueling, positioning equipment, and personnel. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praises the Dominican Republic as a “regional partner willing to take on difficult tasks,” while in the background U.S. strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats have already killed more than 80 people since September. KC-135 tankers are expected to support surveillance flights, and C-130 transport aircraft will be available for evacuations and disaster relief. Officially, Abinader emphasizes that the agreement is “technical, limited, and temporary,” a contribution to strengthening the “protective shield” against drug trafficking. In reality, Washington is expanding its military footprint in the Caribbean – parallel to talks with Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and other states. For the region, this means more U.S. presence, greater dependence, and the risk of being drawn into the conflict over Venezuela without it ever being openly stated.

Rockets on Khor Mor – how an attack on a gas field plunges an entire region into darkness!

A single rocket attack plunged most of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region into chaos overnight. The target was the Khor Mor gas field, which supplies about 80 percent of the region’s electricity. After the strike early Thursday, electricity output dropped by three quarters, entire cities woke up without light or internet. Officially no culprit has been named, but Iraqi and Kurdish authorities have been pointing behind the scenes for months to the same actors: militias with close political ties to Tehran, which previously attacked U.S. interests in Iraq and see Kurdistan as a softer target. U.S. Ambassador Mark Savaya speaks of “armed groups operating illegally and driven by foreign agendas,” while one of the most influential militias, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, condemned the attack and called for a national investigation. For people in the region, none of this matters – they sit in the dark while Baghdad and Erbil continue to argue over who controls the air-defense systems Kurdistan desperately needs. The U.S. and other Western countries are willing to supply them, but only with central government approval. A critical energy infrastructure remains exposed – at a moment when Kurdistan has become a symbolic battleground between Iran, the U.S., and internal Iraqi rivalries.

Navalny’s legacy under terror suspicion – Moscow tightens the screws even further!

Russia’s Supreme Court, and journalistically one must call it that, has now officially designated Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Fund as a “terrorist organization” – another step to dismantle a movement whose founder has been dead since February 2024. The fund was already declared “extremist” in 2021, effectively ending its operations in Russia and forcing its staff into exile. The new terrorism designation intensifies everything: anyone cooperating with or supporting the fund could theoretically face life imprisonment. In practice, authorities have for months been pursuing people who donated small amounts years ago – even transfers predating the “extremism” ruling are being criminalized retroactively. The court justifies the step by claiming the fund promotes and justifies terrorism, spoken by a judge who previously banned the “international LGBT movement” as extremist. For Navalny’s allies in exile, the purpose is obvious: to destroy the last financial and organizational space, further restrict access to information from Russia, and place any form of support under maximum threat of punishment. The Kremlin is sending a broader message: anyone exposing corruption can be transformed from an inconvenient critic into an alleged terror supporter – even when the man in whose name they once donated has long been in his grave.

Trump threatens ground operations against Venezuelan “narco-terrorists”

Donald Trump has further escalated his rhetoric toward Venezuela, announcing that the United States may soon act not only from the air but on the ground against so-called narco-terrorists. “We will also begin arresting them on the ground. That will start very soon. We warn them,” he said in front of cameras. His words come as Washington has massively expanded its military presence in the Caribbean and several governments in the region face pressure to join U.S. operations. Behind Trump’s sentence lies more than a threat – it signals that the line between anti-drug policy and covert intervention is blurring even further. For many Caribbean states the question now is how far they are willing to go in supporting Trump’s course, while tensions along Venezuela’s borders rise by the day.