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Just In: Israeli Staffers Shot in DC
Global Recap
May 22, 2025 • Read in: 10 minutes
Hi Global Recap readers,
I often begin these newsletters without a specific theme in mind—just scanning the news, social media, and reports to gather information and public sentiment.
But occasionally, a pattern emerges on its own, pulling the stories together under a single thread. And today, as I was finalizing the newsletter, that thread became clear.
Today’s theme is: targeted killings. Our first story just came in.
🌐 WORLD
Fast Scroll News
🇺🇸 Israeli Embassy Staffers Shot. A gunman opened fire outside Washington DC’s Capital Jewish Museum, killing two Israeli Embassy staffers. Witnesses say he yelled “Free Palestine” as he was arrested, but officials haven’t named him yet. Israel’s UN ambassador called it a “depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism,” and US leaders say justice is coming fast. The museum was hosting an event at the time.
🇪🇸 Portnov Shot in Madrid. Andrii Portnov, adviser to former Ukrainian president Yanukovych, was gunned down outside the American School of Madrid at 9:15 a.m. local time. Police say he took at least three bullets to the head and back while getting into his car. He’d just dropped off his kids when the gunmen struck, then took off toward a nearby forest. Portnov had been investigated for allegedly helping Russia annex Crimea and was later sanctioned by the US for alleged corruption.
🇵🇰 Suicide Bomb Targets School. A suicide attack on a school bus in Khuzdar, Balochistan, killed three children and two adults, injuring 38 others. The bus was carrying students from the military-run Army Public School, but no group has claimed responsibility yet. Pakistan’s military blamed “Indian proxies,” though India dismissed the allegation as baseless.
🇬🇧 Russians Hacking Ukraine Aid. The UK says Russia’s military intel unit, GRU Unit 26165 (better known as Fancy Bear), has been hacking cameras and networks tied to Ukraine’s aid supply. A joint report from the UK, US, and allies found that 10,000 cameras near military sites and transport hubs were compromised to track gear heading into Ukraine. Fancy Bear has a history of high-profile cyberattacks, including leaking World Anti-Doping Agency data and meddling in the 2016 US election.
🇺🇸 Russia’s Not Ready For Peace. After a private call with Putin, Trump reportedly told EU leaders Russia isn’t “ready” to end the war, then backed off on new sanctions. Just a day earlier, he hinted he might crack down if Putin didn’t agree to a ceasefire. But by Monday, he was pushing for low-level peace talks at the Vatican. Supporters say he’s trying a different tactic from other politicians—working to ease Putin into a truce. Critics say he’s just getting played.
🇿🇦 SOUTH AFRICA
Trump’s Ambush of
South African President
US President Trump greets South African President Ramaphosa
President Trump and President Ramaphosa met at the White House in what was initially viewed as an effort by Ramaphosa to strengthen South Africa’s relationship with the United States, advocating for renewed trade ties and broader cooperation.
However, things went south. Critics and supporters alike are calling it an “ambush”—just not in the same way.
Meeting Setup
It started off on a friendly note, with President Trump greeting South African President Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa showed up ready, backed by his delegation—including white South African sports legends and business tycoon Johann Rupert—hoping to hit reset on rocky US relations.
Ramaphosa aimed to mend US relations amid canceled aid and tariff concerns.
The delegation also featured noted figures like South African golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen—seen as a play to win over Trump’s well-known love of golf.
✒️ Context: The US is South Africa’s second-biggest trading partner.
White Genocide Claims
However, the narrative shifted quickly when Trump asked the light to be turned down to get everyone to watch a video.
In the video, Julius Malema, a member of South Africa’s National Assembly, is seen with his followers chanting, “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer.”
The video also shows a long line of white crosses, with the White House claiming they represent graves of white farmers.
Printed articles were used to claim, as Trump put it, “death, death” among white South Africans.
Trump even suggested that opposition leader Julius Malema deserved arrest.
✒️ Context: Back in 2020, the local out Newcastle Advertiser reported that the footage showing what looked like burial sites for white farmers was actually from a memorial protest on Sept. 5 in South Africa.
It was reported that:
• The protest was held for a white farming couple murdered the month before.
• Those white crosses, along with flowers and posters, were placed by protestors as a sign of respect—not actual graves.
Hermann Pretorious, a spokesperson for the the South African Institute of Race Relations, told ABC News:
"Those crosses are not graves, yet they are crosses commemorating farm murder victims."
"They were displayed temporarily as part of a processional protest following the murders of Glenn and Vida Rafferty, who were killed on their farm in Normandien in KwaZulu-Natal. The crosses were removed afterwards."
Ramaphosa’s Rebuttal
In response, Ramaphosa pointed to the composition of his delegation as living proof against the claims, emphasizing the real crime statistics and the absence of any white genocide.
Ramaphosa noted, “if there were genocide, these gentlemen wouldn’t be here.”
He stressed that most crime victims in South Africa are Black, saying “There is just no genocide in South Africa.”
Ramaphosa has been firing back at similar claims, rebutting that White South Africans—who made up only 7 percent of the population in 2017—still own around 75 percent of the land, a stark reminder of apartheid’s lasting grip.
White Murders
Still, that’s not to downplay what the white population and farmers are dealing with across the country. The people claiming white genocide say “official reports” are just part of the cover-up, asking, “if it’s a state-backed genocide, why would the state be honest about it?”
In Feb 2025, a South African court shot down claims of white genocide, calling them “not real” and “clearly imagined,” disallowing claims of white genocide.
However, Gareth Newham, the head of the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa says that the primary motivation behind farm attacks is robbery. He goes on to say:
"Murder victimisation is far more correlated to class, gender and location than race."
“Attacks where there may be evidence of racial or political motives (i.e. slogans written on the wall at a scene of a crime, or words spoken by the attacker according to the victim), are exceedingly rare and make up only a few percent of the cases recorded.”
And there’s this report: The South African Police Service crime report from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, shows 51 farm murders out of 27,494 total killings across the country.
However, other than the small number of farm murders, these reports also don’t consistently record the race of farm murder victims, further fueling speculation about the veracity of reports like this.
Trade talks
As the meeting moved on from these claims, attention shifted to trade discussions. Ramaphosa and his team used the opportunity to highlight economic ties and propose new deals that could smooth over past grievances.
The trade proposal included discussions on critical minerals and LNG.
Both nations underscored their deep economic interdependence.
The talks aimed to ease tariff pressures and forge stronger bilateral deals.