London
CNN
 — 

Hip hop Irish trio Kneecap is being investigated by UK counter-terrorism police after videos emerged allegedly showing the band calling for politicians to be killed and shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah.”

It comes after the group, who are vocal critics of Israel’s war in Gaza, came under fire for their pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel messaging at the Coachella music festival last month.

The British police investigation follows widespread criticism of the band’s alleged comments, which led to several of their upcoming gigs being canceled. Some lawmakers are also calling for Glastonbury organizers to drop Kneecap from next month’s festival line-up.

Meanwhile, dozens of musicians and artists have signed an open letter supporting the group’s right to freedom of expression.

In recent days, footage has been circulating online that appears to show one of the group’s members shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” in November last year. Separately, video from November 2023 appeared to show one member of the group, who are from Northern Ireland, saying: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.” Tory is another word for Conservative, and MP is an abbreviation of Member of Parliament. In the past decade, two British MPs – Jo Cox and David Amess – have been murdered.

Kneecap has apologized to the families of Cox and Amess. It said it has never supported Hamas or Hezbollah and that the footage circulating online has been “deliberately taken out of all context” as part of a “smear campaign” following their criticism of Israel and the United States in regards to the war in Gaza.

London’s Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement Thursday that it was aware of the footage and that counter-terrorism officers are investigating.

“Both videos were referred to the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit for assessment by specialist officers, who have determined there are grounds for further investigation into potential offences linked to both videos,” the police statement said.

Katie Amess, daughter of Conservative lawmaker David Amess, who was fatally stabbed in a 2021 attack while meeting with his constituents, has called Kneecap’s rhetoric “abhorrent.”

“(It) poses a direct threat to the safety and well-being of elected officials and the democratic institutions they represent,” she said in a statement provided to the PA Media news agency.

Amess commended the action taken by law enforcement and called for those who incite “violence and hatred” to be held accountable.

“As a society, we must stand united against all forms of extremism and ensure that our public spaces, including artistic and cultural venues, are not exploited to propagate messages of hate,” Amess said.

Both videos have been widely circulated online in wake of the band’s Coachella set, where they led the crowd to chant “Free Free Palestine,” criticized Israel’s campaign in Gaza – which has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, according to the ministry of health there – and also criticized US support for the war.

CNN has reached out to Kneecap’s management for comment.

Brendan Cox, whose wife was stabbed and shot to death in 2016 by a far-right extremist while meeting with her constituents, told Sky News that the band’s apology was “not enough.”

“What’s clear (about the video) is that it wasn’t a joke, that it wasn’t out of context, that it was incitement to violence against members of parliament,” he said. Cox added that Kneecap’s comments “overstepped the mark in a frankly grotesque way,” putting them on the “wrong side of people who might agree with them” on issues, such as Gaza and Northern Ireland.

Since the videos emerged, a string of the band’s scheduled performances have been canceled.

The group said on X that it would not be performing at Hurricane or Southside Festival this year – two of Germany’s biggest music festivals – and announced three concerts in Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne instead, which have since been canceled too.

Another concert scheduled to take place at the Eden Project in Cornwall, southwest England, has been canceled.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch told ITV News Wednesday she believes the band should be prosecuted for incitement. “There are people in jail for saying things that are not as bad as what Kneecap have said… they’ve been avoiding justice for far too long,” she told the broadcaster.

Band’s supporters

Others have come out in support of the group, with several artists signing an open letter calling out the “clear, concerted attempt to censor and ultimately deplatform” the band.

“In a democracy, no political figures or political parties should have the right to dictate who does and does not play at music festivals or gigs that will be enjoyed by thousands of people,” read the letter, which was signed by musicians including Pulp, Paul Weller and Massive Attack.

“Kneecap are not the story. Gaza is the story. Genocide is the story,” wrote the band on X, echoing a separate statement of support from Massive Attack.

Kneecap’s manager, Daniel Lambert, told Irish broadcaster RTÉ Tuesday that the controversy “has nothing to do with Kneecap… it’s about telling the next young band… that you cannot speak about Palestine.”

CNN
 — 

Ukraine managed to wrangle some more favorable terms out of the United States before signing the long-awaited minerals deal on Wednesday.

The agreement on natural resources was finally struck late on Wednesday, after weeks of tense bargaining that at times turned sour and temporarily halted Washington’s aid to Ukraine.

Kyiv eventually convinced US President Donald Trump to drop some of his key demands but failed to make American security guarantees part of the agreement.

Ukrainian officials touted the final accord as an equal partnership between Kyiv and Washington – a notable shift from some of the earlier drafts which were described by Ukraine’s leader President Volodymyr Zelensky as the US asking him to “sell my country.”

The signed deal, seen by CNN, does indeed appear to be more favorable to Ukraine than some of the previous versions. Here’s what we know.

Aid: Crucially, the deal does not call for Kyiv to reimburse the US for the aid it has already received – a key concession from Trump who has long framed the agreement as Ukraine “paying back” the US.

Washington initially demanded a $500 billion share of Ukraine’s rare earths and other minerals in exchange for the aid it has already provided to Kyiv. When Zelensky rejected that idea, Trump called him “a dictator.”

Instead, the agreement that was inked on Wednesday says that future American military assistance to Ukraine will count as part of the US investment into a joint reconstruction investment fund that will be used to pour money into Ukraine’s natural resources.

Natural resources: The deal gives the US preferential rights to mineral extraction in Ukraine and states that Kyiv will have the final say in what and where is being mined. Ukraine will also retain the ownership of the subsoil.

“All resources on our territory and in our territorial waters belong to Ukraine. It is the Ukrainian state that determines where and what to extract,” said Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, who signed the deal on behalf her country.

And although Trump has referred to the agreement as a “rare earth” deal, the accord signed on Wednesday goes well beyond that by including other natural resources such as oil, natural gas, gold and copper.

The tone: In a win for Ukraine, the deal also adopts a strong language on the war with Russia itself. It points at Moscow as the aggressor in the conflict, diverging from some of Trump’s previous false statements about Ukraine and Zelensky being responsible for the war.

The deal also spells out the goal of the agreement as “a peaceful, sovereign and resilient Ukraine” – a notable step away from Trump saying earlier this year that, “Ukraine may be Russia some day.”

EU guarantees: It also keeps the door open for Ukraine’s potential future membership in the European Union, saying that investment needs to be made in accordance with Ukraine’s obligations as an EU candidate state. It adds that if Ukraine was to join the bloc in the future, this deal would be renegotiated “in good faith.”

A boost for the US: But the terms of the agreement also show the US has secured a host of advantages for itself.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent characterized it as a “historic economic partnership,” saying in a statement that it “signals clearly to Russia that the Trump Administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term.”

The agreement seen by CNN also specifies that the earnings and other payments made as part of the deal will be tax-free and not subject to any levies or duties by Ukraine.

It also says that if a conflict arises between the wording of the agreement and Ukraine’s law, the deal will have a legal precedent.

Security questions: Ukraine has dropped its key demand that the US provides security guarantees as part of this agreement. It was this demand that ultimately led to the shouty meeting between Zelensky and Trump in the Oval Office in February.

Trump then refused to provide security guarantees, saying he wanted Ukraine to sign the agreement first and talk about guarantees later.

At the time, Zelensky refused, but Ukrainian officials have since indicated that they believe that US investment and the presence of American companies in Ukraine will make Washington more interested in Ukraine’s security.

Exclusive access for the US: While it ensures the US receives preferential access to Ukraine’s mineral riches, the deal doesn’t guarantee any exclusive rights.

Existing resources: The deal is limited to new projects, which means the US and Ukraine will have to invest in order to see profits. Existing mining operations that are already generating revenue for the Ukrainian government are excluded.

This clause puts a question mark over the benefits of the deal for the US. While Ukraine has large reserves of several valuable materials, the process to extract some of them is expensive and technically difficult.

Gavin Mudd, the director of the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre at the British Geological Survey, told the non-profit Science Media Center that the production of some minerals – such as titanium, lithium or graphite – could be achieved quickly, if the regions where the deposits are are secure.

“However, in the case of rare earths, it will take years to ramp up capacity – studies will need to be completed to assess and determine how best to mine the deposits and process the ores and produce rich concentrate, and a new refinery will be needed to produce high purity metals and oxides for use in numerous technologies. All of this sits alongside the need to actually mine the minerals” he said.

The Ukrainian government has in the past made the argument that its mineral deposits are one of the reasons the West should support Ukraine – to prevent these strategically important resources from falling into Russian hands.

Experts agree with that idea. Liam Peach and Hamad Hussain, economists at Capital Economics, wrote in an analyst note on Thursday that the agreement “provides some reassurance that the Trump administration is not planning on abandoning Ukraine altogether” because it establishes US economic interests in Ukraine.

The deal strengthens Ukraine’s position, but doesn’t necessarily bring the war closer to the end as it is separate from any negotiations with Russia. Those talks appear to be stalling, as Moscow continues to refuse a 30-day ceasefire agreement proposed by the US and agreed by Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the devastating war keeps raging. Seven people died in occupied Ukraine Thursday, with Russian and Ukrainian officials trading claims over the attack

Shelby Magid, the deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, wrote in a note that the deal puts the Ukrainians “in their strongest position yet with Washington since Trump took office.”

The road to it was incredibly rocky, with the US temporarily suspending aid to Ukraine after the disastrous Oval Office meeting.

Negotiations continued behind the scenes in the weeks that followed. In the meantime Trump began losing patience with Putin’s stalling over a peace deal, giving an opening to Kyiv to repair ties.

In the end, it seems that the two leaders just needed to talk to each other privately, without cameras and away from aides who have derailed the process in the past.

Trump and Zelensky spoke at the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday. A photograph of the two of them huddled together inside St. Peter’s Basilica showed them in a discussion, leaning towards each other.

Zelensky said on Thursday the signing of the minerals deal was “the first result of the Vatican meeting.”

“President Trump and I used every minute of our time to the fullest. I am grateful for that,” he said.

It was after this meeting that Trump questioned whether Russian leader Vladimir Putin wants a peace deal and floated the idea of imposing more sanctions on Moscow. Just days later, the minerals deal was signed.

“Ukrainian officials showed they could manoeuvre and persevere to ultimately get a fair deal. While the Trump administration put tremendous pressure on Ukraine to accept earlier deals, Ukraine managed to show that it is not just a junior partner that has to roll over and accept a bad deal,” Magid said.

However, there was some more drama on Wednesday, when a last-minute disagreement over which documents would be signed on Wednesday threatened to derail the deal.

Materials such as graphite, lithium, uranium and the 17 chemical elements known as rare earths are critical for economic growth and national security.

They are essential to the production of electronics, clean energy technology, including wind turbines, energy networks and electric vehicles, as well as some weapons systems.

China has long dominated the global production of rare earth minerals and other strategically important materials, leaving Western countries desperate for other alternative sources – including Ukraine.

The US largely depends on imports for the minerals it needs. Of the 50 minerals classed as critical, the US was entirely dependent on imports of 12 and more than 50% dependent on imports of a further 16, according to the United States Geological Survey, a government agency.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has deposits of 22 of these 50 critical materials, according to the Ukrainian government.

The country has some of the world’s largest deposits of graphite, lithium, titanium, beryllium and uranium, all of which are classed by the US as critical minerals. Some of these reserves are in areas that are currently under Russian occupation.

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CNN
 — 

On a recent chilly, drizzly afternoon in Amsterdam’s city center, a steady stream of patrons venture out of the rain and into a narrow 17th-century building on the Haarlemmerdijk, a popular shopping street. A gilded sign shaped like a shining sun hangs above the front door, reflecting the shop’s name, ‘t Zonnetje, which means “little sun” in Dutch.

A jingling bell announces every arrival. These days, it’s a mix of tourists and regular customers who come to buy coffee and tea every week or two — just as their predecessors have for nearly 400 years.

But this storied institution, beloved by Amsterdam visitors and residents alike, may not be in business much longer.

Its longtime owner, Marie-Louise Velder, has plans to close at the end of May because she can no longer stay afloat after years of skyrocketing rent — a notable setback to the preservation of the Dutch capital’s character in the ongoing tide of rising rents and gentrification, partly driven by overtourism.

Velder, 76, was born and raised in Amsterdam and has owned the shop since 1999. She told CNN she has received an outpouring of support from customers and friends since the closure was reported by Dutch newspaper Het Parool in mid-April.

She said she welcomes the opportunity to share her story with a wider audience in hopes of helping her keep ‘t Zonnetje from shuttering.

“I had a lot of phone calls, and so I think perhaps help is coming from above,” Velder, clad in a green hooded fleece, told CNN during an interview at her shop over (what else?) a cup of tea. “That’s what I hope.”

Longtime customers have expressed deep sadness over the news. Kate Carlisle, an eight-year resident of Amsterdam and a longtime visitor, first discovered ‘t Zonnetje during a trip to the Dutch capital before moving there. Carlisle had her dog with her, and she was delighted to receive “the biggest welcome” from Velder.

Carlisle now visits the shop every couple of weeks to buy coffee (which she says she leaves on her counter “a good half-day just to make the house smell better”), bonding with Velder through the years over their shared love of java and animals. She said ‘t Zonnetje’s closure would be a significant loss for the city.

“It is a heritage site, the building itself, the history behind it, the street,” Carlisle told CNN Travel. “So I’m really hoping that something can happen to start to protect this. Otherwise, it’s just going to be like strip malls. And that’s not what Amsterdam is about. That’s not why people come here.”

Walking into ‘t Zonnetje, which is nestled between a flower shop and a clothing store, feels like stepping back in time. Its wooden floors are original, with shelves housing weathered tins of loose-leaf tea and spices. Dispensers of whole coffee beans from countries around the world, including Ethiopia, Portugal and Peru, stand side by side behind the counter, on which a vintage Berkel scale cuts a commanding presence.

According to ‘t Zonnetje’s entry on Amsterdam’s tourism website, the building reportedly dates to 1642 (though a book about the shop by a Dutch author and former shop owner that Velder keeps handy puts the date at 1612). The business started with “a bucket of coal, and a bucket of water and herbs,” Velder explained. “And then later on, the tea came … And then later the coffee.”

Velder pointed to a building across the street, noting that before its construction, the waters of Amsterdam’s IJsselmeer sea inlet nearly reached the shop centuries ago. “The boats were coming in here, and brought (shipments) here,” she said.

Velder purchased the business in 1999 without a contract, “just a handshake,” she says. The first few years presented a steep learning curve, but Velder, determined, said she immersed herself in learning as much as she could about the industry and what customers were looking for.

“It took me now at least five, six years until I found out what tea-drinking and coffee-drinking really was, and where I had to look and what to do and what was more important,” Velder said.

Eventually, she hit her stride, earning a reputation for high-quality products sourced from around the world. In the past, the shop has offered up to 350 varieties of tea — some made with her own “secret recipe,” Velder said — though she has cut back on placing new orders in light of the planned closure. Currently, 15 types of coffee are available.

Over the years, the shop also had an on-site cafe of sorts where patrons could linger over a cup of coffee and conversation. That feature has been closed since the pandemic, Velder said.

Even so, employees say ‘t Zonnetje remains a critical part of the true spirit of Amsterdam, a place that serves as a gathering spot for neighbors and visitors while showcasing centuries of history.

“It is more than a shop — it also has a very important social role,” explained Nathalie Teton, who has worked at ‘t Zonnetje on and off since 2021. “There were a lot of people also living alone coming here, having a cup of tea and coffee, talking with Marie-Louise. You will hear all the gossip, who is sleeping with who, and also old stories, because there were also a lot of senior people coming in.”

“Of course, there are other tea and coffee shops in Amsterdam. But they are more mainstream. This one is really unique.”

Amsterdam, which is amid a yearlong celebration leading up to its 750th anniversary this October, has been struggling for years with how to preserve its unique history as overtourism threatens to irrevocably change the character of the city.

Over the past decade, city officials have focused their tourism efforts on stemming the tourist tide and attracting the right kind of visitor to the city: those who come to appreciate Amsterdam’s museums and culture, not partake in its infamous vices.

Among those measures: increasing the tourist tax, banning tours in the historic De Wallen neighborhood, banning cruise ships and limiting the opening of shops catering specifically to tourists. However, results have been mixed, and some measures — such as a 2020 ban on vacation rentals in certain neighborhoods — have been struck down by the courts.

Meanwhile, centuries-old businesses like ‘t Zonnetje, which have long been entrenched in their local neighborhoods, remain increasingly susceptible to rising rents, as TikTok trendy eateries, generic sweet shops and “coffeehouses” that specialize in marijuana proliferate among the tourist set. In March 2023, US former boxing star Mike Tyson opened his first brick-and-mortar cannabis shop in Amsterdam, just down the street from SoHo House and W Amsterdam.

Some experts say city officials have not done enough to protect locally owned, long-established businesses such as ‘t Zonnetje. Dimitris Dalakoglou, an urban anthropologist and professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, told CNN via email that city leadership in Amsterdam and other European cities has long since “abandoned” the “prevention of this urban catastrophe.”

He warned Amsterdam is becoming “an empty façade of itself” in a 2018 article and said ‘t Zonnetje’s closure marked another “small death” for the city.

“Amsterdam’s real estate is changing fast to the benefit of capitalist profit-making: the banking sector, real estate investors and new richer inhabitants/users of the urban spaces, whilst the previous urban groups are slowly pushed away,” Dalakoglou said. “Almost every urban space’s policy goes towards this direction, even the ones which claim to aim for the opposite goal.”

Too-high rent and other struggles

Over at ‘t Zonnetje, Velder claims that the building’s landlord has steadily increased the rent, which, circa 2019, was about 18,000 euros (about $20,000) annually. In September 2024, the landlord proposed further increases, doubling the rent to about 6,000 euros (currently about $6,800) per month.

Velder took the landlord to court over that proposed increase, according to Het Parool. But even with a judge’s decision to retroactively reduce the rent to about 50,000 euros per year ($56,000), costs of the business — including payroll for four staffers — remain too high to cover with sales bringing in only about 300 euros (about $340) a day, Velder says.

Property management company Florès Vastgoedbeheer told CNN via email that the building’s landlord is not currently in the Netherlands and is unavailable for comment.

However, the email stated that the “tenant terminated the lease without any notice for her own reasons” and that “the property will become available to rent and suitable candidates can apply in due course to an estate agent to be appointed.”

Escalating rent isn’t the only challenge Velder has faced over the years.

Velder also has had disputes with a local entrepreneur who she claims offered to help the business while it was in financial trouble. A proposed deal never materialized, and the two eventually ended up in court, according to Het Parool.

In an email to CNN, Amsterdam lawyer Maarten Hilberdink, who represented Velder in various cases, described the shop’s potential closure as a “great loss for Amsterdam.”

“Marie-Louise has built something very special and it is a great pity that she had to spend her last years as an entrepreneur with legal battles and that this special store is now lost to Amsterdam,” he said.

All of these issues have taken a harsh emotional and physical toll on Velder. “I was this morning (seeing) my doctor, and (my blood pressure) was the highest I ever had, 210,” Velder said. “She said, ‘This is impossible. Your blood pressure is so high. It’s sky high.’”

Despite the assorted challenges she has faced, Velder tries to maintain an upbeat attitude. She laughs easily and often, chatting with her staffers, some of whom refer to her by her nickname of “Loucky,” and customers in Dutch and English (her father was an American from Chicago). She welcomes everyone who comes into the shop — which has a 4.9 star rating on Google and 98 mostly glowing reviews — with equal enthusiasm.

However, Velder also expresses deep sorrow over the thought of closing her beloved business. “I love my customers, they are fantastic, and they love me,” she said. “This is my baby.”

Her “baby” is now struggling through a very difficult stage — and facing a highly uncertain future. It’s unclear whether or how Amsterdam’s gemeente (municipal government) would or could grant the shop protected status. In an email to CNN, the city’s tourism department said that while it “recognize[s] the significance of such changes in Amsterdam’s streetscape, matters related to the diversity and development of the local retail and hospitality offering fall outside the scope of Amsterdam&Partners.”

Longtime customers of ‘t Zonnetje, meanwhile, hope something can be done before another piece of Amsterdam’s history is lost.

“It is a jewel that needs protecting and absolutely needs support, and people shouldering in and bellying up and [doing] everything they can do to save it, because it’s one of a kind,” Carlisle said. “Amsterdam doesn’t have much of this anymore.”