Author: staff

“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump said in a post on TruthSocial, referring to an earlier Russian attack on Kyiv that killed at least eight people. “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently,” Trump said, adding that Washington would consider additional sanctions against Russia. Trump’s chat with Zelenskyy earlier Saturday in Rome was the first encounter between the two leaders since their disastrous meeting at the White…

National Rally President Jordan Bardella confirmed on Saturday he will run in the 2027 French presidential election if his mentor Marine Le Pen — the three-time candidate and front-runner whose ambitions have been derailed by an embezzlement conviction — is barred from taking part. “There is no ambiguity about the fact that Marine Le Pen is my candidate, but that if she was prevented [from running] tomorrow, I think I can tell you that I would be her candidate,” he told French publication Le Parisien in an interview published Saturday. Bardella, the 29-year-old chair of the Patriots for Europe group…

United States President Donald Trump said U.S. military and commercial ships should be allowed to travel free of charge through the Panama and Suez canals, two strategic routes for global trade and military operations. “Those Canals would not exist without the United States of America,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social late Saturday. “I’ve asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to immediately take care of, and memorialize, this situation,” Trump added. The Panama Canal connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. Both are essential for global…

Thousands of faithful have gathered since the early hours of Sunday at Rome’s Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major to pray and pay their respects to Pope Francis who died last Easter Monday.The flow of faithful has continued uninterrupted since 7 am when the basilica opened its doors, but many had been queuing outside the church gates since the crack of dawn.According to sources at the Questura in Rome, some 20,000 people had reached the basilica by midday, 13,000 of whom had already entered.Several Eucharistic celebrations have been held in the side chapels of the basilica since opening time with…

At least 25 people have died and 800 others were injured in a large explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port near Bandar Abbas in southern Iran on Saturday.State media offered the casualty figures, saying authorities identified only 10 of the dead, including two women.It also reported the fire was under control and will be fully extinguished later Sunday. It also said activities have resumed at the port, showing footage of containers of a commercial ship being unloaded.The explosion affected offices belonging to the port, and its intensity was sufficient to cause tremors felt in nearby cities, according to domestic reports.…

“The Kyiv regime once again simply shows its true nature. The Kyiv regime continues to be involved in terrorist activity on the territory of our country,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a state TV reporter. The explosion on Friday came hours before United States President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for a new round of high-level diplomatic talks. The victim of Friday’s attack was identified as Yaroslav Moskalik, 59, deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. According to the authorities, the explosion occurred at approximately…

Reports indicated that the blast likely was caused by the explosion of chemical materials stored at the port. The BBC reported witnesses saying the explosion occurred after a fire broke out and spread to unsealed containers storing flammable materials. The Associated Press referred to a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant. “The source of this incident was the explosion of several containers stored in the Shahid Rajaee Port wharf area,” a crisis management official in the region said, according to the BBC report. The fire was the result of “improper handling of a shipment of solid fuel intended for…

The Kremlin also expressed gratitude for North Korean troops deployed in the region to assist Russia’s efforts, with Gerasimov hailing their “fortitude and heroism,” according to Interfax. It’s the first time the Kremlin has confirmed the presence of North Korean troops, which could number as many as 11,000, according to Ukrainian and South Korean estimates. “I want specially to note the participation of servicemen of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in liberating border areas of the Kursk Region who in accordance with the Treaty on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between our countries rendered considerable assistance in crushing the Ukrainian…

After the funeral of Pope Francis in the presence of numerous world leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Palazzo Chigi.The conversation between the two lasted just under an hour. According to a note released by Palazzo Chigi, during the talks “the leaders reiterated their support for President Trump’s efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace, capable of guaranteeing a future of security, sovereignty and freedom for Ukraine.””Meloni expressed, also on behalf of the government, her condolences for the victims of the recent Russian attacks, renewing her firm condemnation of such acts and…

In their brief exchange, President von der Leyen and President Trump agreed to meet. https://t.co/2UA60vfNJb— Paula Pinho (@Pinhopau) April 26, 2025 Until Saturday, the two leaders hadn’t met since before Trump’s inauguration in January, with Trump appearing to deliberately — and repeatedly — snub the European leader in favor national leaders such as Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.  The need for a diplomatic meeting is particularly acute for the European Union, which faces tariffs of 20 percent on all its exports to the U.S., plus 25 percent duties on automobiles, steel and aluminum, if it is unable to work out a new…