Author: staff

Published on 09/04/2026 – 20:10 GMT+2 Cuba’s foreign minister accused the United States of “extorting” Latin American countries on Thursday by pressuring them to cancel decades-old deals with Havana for the supply of doctors. Bruno Rodríguez said the United States was trying to “strangle” the economy of the communist island, which earns billions from its foreign medical missions, after several countries stopped deploying Cuban doctors. Washington says the programme, a major source of pride and income, n Cuba since the 1960s, amounts to forced labour. The US stance on the doctors’ programme is part of a campaign of maximum pressure…

“The key for us, why we want to join the EU, is obviously common values that we all believe in, and secondly, it’s the single market, it’s half a billion people versus half a million Montenegrins,” Spajić said. “And the third thing is it’s a peace project, maybe even the last peace project on Earth now these days, so this is the value of the European Union.” Across Europe, non-EU countries from Iceland to Moldova have increasingly expressed interest in joining the bloc for security and safety rather than simply trade and economic benefits following Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of…

Published on 09/04/2026 – 21:17 GMT+2 US First Lady Melania Trump made a surprise on-camera statement on Thursday denying unspecified allegations about her and Jeffrey Epstein, a scandal that her husband President Donald Trump has long downplayed. The 55-year-old former model’s remarks at the White House came without prior announcement and with no explanation for why she would bring up the late sex offender Epstein now. “The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today,” she said. “The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility and respect.” The Slovenian-born first lady gave a…

“There seems to be little doubt that spreading terror among Iranian civilians is the primary purpose of Trump’s threat,” Heller noted. “That said, Trump’s threat is unlikely to qualify as a war crime,” he added, noting that international tribunals have typically required such threats to result in “grave consequences” for civilians — and “that has obviously not happened yet.” Others suggest such rhetoric may be unlawful under international law without necessarily meeting the threshold for a war crime. “These threats violate the prohibition against giving no quarter,” said Gerry Simpson, professor of public international law at the London School of…

Published on 09/04/2026 – 21:29 GMT+2 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a ceasefire with Ukraine for the duration of the Orthodox Easter holidays, the Kremlin said on Thursday night, after Kyiv also proposed a pause in hostilities. “By the decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief…V.V. Putin, in connection with the approaching Orthodox feast of Easter (the Resurrection of Christ), a ceasefire is declared from 16:00 (13:00 GMT) on 11 April until the end of the day on 12 April 2026,” the Kremlin’s statement said. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously signalled Kyiv’s openness to a potential Easter truce. Easter falls on…

Netanyahu’s announcement follows intense European pressure on Israel to halt its attacks on neighboring Lebanon. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the ITN station Thursday that the attacks “shouldn’t be happening,” while French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told French broadcaster France Inter that “We strongly condemn these massive strikes.” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares also heaped criticism on Israel. Late Tuesday evening, U.S. President Donald Trump, under pressure from soaring international oil prices, had announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran to push Tehran to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil transport route. Israel, however,…

Published on 09/04/2026 – 20:30 GMT+2 The European Union’s police force Europol said on Thursday it had smashed a criminal gang smuggling Vietnamese people into Europe, with a final destination of Britain via small boats across the Channel. Europol said they had made eight arrests and seized passports, vehicles and cash in a French-led sting that took place on 30 March. Among the arrests was a network leader detained in Germany under a European warrant. Police arrested another high-level organiser in Hungary before the swoop at the end of last month. The Vietnamese people entered the EU’s borderless Schengen Area…

European leaders have repeatedly said they would help open the contested waterway once the fighting stops, but it hasn’t been clear what that would look like in practice. U.S. President Donald Trump has displayed increasing frustration over the lack of help from America’s European allies in NATO, openly entertaining a U.S. withdrawal from the alliance. The chancellor stressed the need for calm, telling reporters that “we do not want — I do not want — NATO to split. NATO is a guarantor of our security, including and especially in Europe. We must continue to keep a cool head here.” Merz told…

Published on 09/04/2026 – 18:40 GMT+2•Updated 19:07 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he had ordered his cabinet to open direct talks with Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah and establish “peace relations” between the two countries. “In light of Lebanon’s repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed the cabinet yesterday to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible,” his office wrote in a statement. “Negotiations will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peace relations between Israel and Lebanon. Israel appreciates today’s call by the Prime Minister of Lebanon to demilitarize Beirut,” the statement added.…

The tech company made the announcement after finding that its new Claude Mythos model outperformed most humans at “finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities.” Listen AI generated Text-to-speech