03 World

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North Korea, much like China and Russia in recent weeks, issued a scathing rebuke on Tuesday of President Donald Trump‘s pursuit of his Golden Dome missile defense system.

Trump has made the Golden Dome — a comprehensive air defense system that, once operational, will be able to intercept various missiles fired from land, sea, and space — a signature of his military policy early in his second term in office.

North Korea‘s foreign ministry said that Trump’s plan is the “height of self-righteousness, arrogance, high-handed and arbitrary practice, and is an outer space nuclear war scenario supporting the U.S. strategy for uni-polar domination with the preemptive establishment of the outer space-based military substructure, not a ‘defensive measure’ to cope with the ‘threat’ from someone.”

The ministry accused the U.S. of being “hell-bent on the moves to military outer space,” while claiming that the plan for the Golden Dome, as outlined by the Trump administration, “is also the expression of another attempt to militarize outer space coming from the past strategies for dominating outer space and the epitome of revealing the criminal past of the U.S. which plunged the whole world into the nightmare of the outbreak of a nuclear war.”

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EMMANUEL Macron and his wife Brigitte have put on a united front for the world’s cameras a day after the shocking face slap drama.

Viral footage that has overshadowed the start of the couple’s Southeast Asia tour shows the French leader’s wife shoving him in the mouth and jaw after landing in Vietnam.

Furious Macron attempted to downplay the incident last night by claiming the pair were “squabbling and, rather joking”.

He added that the unbelievable incident has been overblown into “a sort of geo-planetary catastrophe”.

The French leader also argued that the clip and viral reaction to it offered a cautionary tale about disinformation in the social media age.

Today, Macron and the First Lady were captured arm-in-arm after arriving at Hanoi’s University of Science and Technology for the French president to make a speech.

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The European Union said it agreed to accelerate negotiations with the US to avoid a transatlantic trade war, signaling a more amicable approach just days after President Donald Trump criticized the bloc for taking advantage of the US and slow-walking talks.

“There’s now a new impetus for the negotiations,” Paula Pinho, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, told reporters on Monday, a day after Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke with Trump by phone. “They agreed both to fast track the trade negotiations and to stay in close contact.”

Following the call, Trump extended the deadline to hit the EU with 50% tariffs by more than a month to July 9 to allow for more negotiations. “We had a very nice call and I agreed to move it,” Trump told reporters Sunday.

Talks so far have been beset with a multitude of problems, with no clear path to finding a middle ground that will appease them both. The Europeans have complained that it’s not clear what the US wants or even who speaks for the American president, and the US has said the EU unfairly targets US companies with lawsuits and regulations.

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At least 32 people were killed and another 55 injured – some of them left with horrendous burns – after an Israeli air stroke hit a school in Gaza where women and children were sleeping

A fire breaks out on the Fahmi al-Jarjawi School where displaced Palestinians took refuge, following an Israeli attack in Gaza City(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)

An Israeli air strike has hit a school inside Gaza with several children burned alive. At least 32 people were killed and another 55 injured – some of them left with horrendous burns. Fires broke out inside three classrooms in the school which was being used to shelter displaced families. Faris Afana, the ambulance service manager for Northern Gaza, said he arrived at the scene with crews to find the school ablaze.

He said: ‘There were sleeping children and women in those classrooms. Some of them were screaming but we couldn’t rescue them due to the fires. I cannot describe what we saw due to how horrific it was.” Local resident Rami Rafiq said: Flames were everywhere. I saw charred bodies lying on the ground. My son fainted when he saw the horrific scene.’ Horrific video footage posted online showed large fires consuming parts of the school.

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The South African president rejected President Donald Trump’s assertion that the South African communist leader who leads chants about killing white farmers should be arrested.

President Cyril Ramaphosa met with President Trump last week in the White House, where he firmly denied the existence of a genocide or even targeted killings of white South African farmers known as the Boers.

‘It’s not meant to be a message that elicits or calls upon anyone to go and be killed.’

During their meeting, Trump suggested to Ramaphosa that the South African government should arrest Julius Malema, a political leader who has led chants of “shoot the Boer” and “shoot to kill” to a stadium full of supporters.

Upon returning to South Africa, Ramaphosa spoke to reporters about the idea of arrests and asserted that his country is a sovereign nation with its own laws and processes. He also excused the racist chants as freedom of expression.

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“The IOC Executive Board recommendation from March 2023 with regard to teams of athletes with a Russian passport remains in place,” an IOC spokesperson said, according to a report. “It is based on the fact that, by definition, a group of Individual Neutral Athletes cannot be considered a team.”

Affirmation of a continued ban, which began as part of sanctions imposed on Russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, arrives after International Ice Hockey Federation President Luc Tardif was quoted as saying the IOC had planned to exclude Russia and its star-studded hockey team from next year’s games.

“We have been pressuring them to make a decision, one way or another, because we’re getting closer to the Olympics and we need to know,” Tardif said.

“Recently, they asked us to send them a schedule without Russia, so that’s where we are. The official statement is pending but the IOC has told us that they are informing the Russian Olympic Committee that they are not participating in the Olympics.”

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A clip showing Brigitte Macron appearing to shove the French president in the face went viral, with local media reporting that the Élysée Palace initially decried the video as “fake”. It was later corrected, though Macron downplayed the moment as ‘horsing around’ with his wife. Online reactions though have been negative, either proclaiming the moment shows domestic violence or mocking the incident. Vedika Bahl goes through what we know in Truth or Fake.

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Russia seized four Ukrainian border towns in the northeast late Monday while tempering down its bombing campaign after three days of intense aerial attacks.

The move comes just days after President Trump claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin has gone “crazy.”

Oleh Hryhorov, the head of the Sumy regional military administration said Monday that Russian forces captured four villages: Novenke, Basivka, Veselivka and Zhuravka. He added that the local population was evacuated early so that they would not be in danger.

The land seizure comes less than a week after Putin ordered the military to formulate a buffer zone along the Russian border with Ukraine. Sumy Oblast borders Russia’s Kursk region, an area the Ukrainian military occupied parts of during last year’s offensive.

Russia launched 60 drones into Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian military. The nation’s Air Force said early Tuesday that 43 Shahed drones were downed in the east, north and south of the country.

 

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A NON-VERBAL autistic boy, 4, has tragically died from a curable snake bite after being unable to tell anyone what had happened.

Italo Alves dos Santos had been playing at his grandma’s home in Equador city, Brazil, when a deadly rattlesnake bit his foot.

Despite predictably being in absolute agony, Italo wasn’t able to tell his family he was bitten.

Instead, the four-year-old could only point to his swollen ankle due to being non-verbal.

Italo’s worried family feared he had twisted his ankle and took him to the hospital.

Medical staffed scheduled an X-ray for the boy the following day – but it was too late.

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that Russia and the White House have agreed to a prisoner swap, according to NBC News.

Lavrov did not provide any additional details as to the nature or persons involved in the swap in his remarks during multilateral negotiations involving Russia, Turkey, the U.S. and Ukraine in Istanbul, Turkey, according to NBC News. The deal would be the second such swap in as many months, as Russian-American woman Ksenia Karelina was released in April after being imprisoned on treason charges in exchange for Russian national Arthur Petrov.

The exchange comes in the backdrop of stalled negotiations between the U.S., Ukraine and Russia to end the three-year war. In light of the slow-moving talks, President Donald Trump has reportedly become frustrated with Putin, and has considered implementing new sanctions against Moscow, a number of unnamed sources told The Wall Street Journal Tuesday.

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Trump Media & Technology Group announced on Tuesday that it has entered into agreements with 50 investors to raise roughly $2.5 billion in capital to invest in bitcoin.

TMTG, the company behind President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, said in the announcement that the proceeds from the investment would create a bitcoin treasury, a move it hailed as one of the “largest Bitcoin treasury deals of any public company.”

“We view Bitcoin as an apex instrument of financial freedom, and now Trump Media will hold cryptocurrency as a crucial part of our assets,” Trump Media CEO and Chairman Devin Nunes said.

“Our first acquisition of a crown jewel asset, this investment will help defend our Company against harassment and discrimination by financial institutions, which plague many Americans and U.S. firms, and will create synergies for subscription payments, a utility token, and other planned transactions across Truth Social and Truth+. It’s a big step forward in the Company’s plans to evolve into a holding company by acquiring additional profit-generating, crown jewel assets consistent with America First principles,” Nunes continued.

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The King has delivered a warning shot to US President Donald Trump after his verbal attacks on Canada, saying the country is “strong and free”. During a historic address for the opening of parliament at the Senate in the capital Ottawa, he appealed for calm in light of Canadians “feeling anxious and worried about the drastically changing world around them”.

The King’s visit to Canada, one of the 14 realms where he is head of state, comes in the wake of prolonged aggression from Trump who, amid a global trade war, has claimed the country should become the 51st state of America. Canadians reacted with horror over the outlandish suggestion, with new prime minister Mark Carney insisting during a tense meeting in the Oval Office that his country would “never ever” be for sale.

Speaking today from a throne carved from a Canadian black walnut tree and donated English walnut from a forest behind Windsor Castle, the monarch said Canada faced a “critical moment” in its history. He also received a rapturous applause from those gathered after he delivered the line “strong and true”.

He said: “Democracy, pluralism, the rule of law, self-determination, and freedom are values which Canadians hold dear, and ones which the Government is determined to protect.” In a 25 minute speech delivered in both English and French, Charles spoke of his “greatest admiration for Canada’s unique identity”.

In front of senior politicians, including recently elected prime minister Mark Carney and his predecessor Justin Trudeau, indigenous leaders and MPs, Charles also referenced the unity of the monarchy and Canada as its sovereignty is under threat. He said: “Today, Canada faces another critical moment. Democracy, pluralism, the rule of law, self-determination, and freedom are values which Canadians hold dear, and ones which the Government is determined to protect.”

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Donald Trump grows angrier as Vladimir Putin exposes his impotence

As Washington settled in for a typically sleepy Memorial Day following the passage of Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” in the House, the president fired off one of his trademark furious rants on Truth Social, but the target was a surprise.

Mr Trump sudden harsh turn was illuminative, if not for the reason he may have intended, writes John Bowden:

Arpan Rai27 May 2025 05:37

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WASHINGTON: The US rejected on Monday (May 26) an assertion by Hamas that the group had accepted a Gaza ceasefire proposal that reportedly involves the liberation of 10 hostages in two batches and a 70-day truce.

A Palestinian official close to Hamas had said earlier it had agreed to a proposal by US special envoy Steve Witkoff for a Gaza ceasefire, which was received by Hamas through mediators.

A Hamas source told AFP that the group had “agreed to the new proposal” by the US, “which the movement received from mediators.”

But reporting by Axios, confirmed to AFP by Witkoff’s spokesman, said the US envoy disputed that the Palestinian militant group had agreed to his proposal.

“White House envoy Steve Witkoff rejects Hamas’ claim that the group has agreed to his proposal for a hostage and ceasefire deal,” Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X.

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French President Emmanuel Macron brushed off an incident involving his wife, where she appeared to aggressively shove him while disembarking a flight.

Macron’s office on Monday downplayed the altercation in which his wife, Brigitte Macron, appeared to shove him in the face as the couple arrived in Vietnam at the start of a Southeast Asia tour.

In the video, Brigitte’s hands can be seen pushing into his face while the president prepares to disembark from the presidential aircraft. Only her arms and hands are visible, which, clad in red sleeves, matched the attire she wore moments later when walking down the plane’s steps alongside her husband.

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Palestinian groups slam the raids targeting exchanges in several cities in a widespread operation in the territory.

Israeli forces have raided money exchanges across the occupied West Bank, using live fire and tear gas as they stormed the city of Nablus, killing at least one Palestinian and wounding more than 30.

Exchange shops in the cities of Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron Arrabeh, el-Bireh, Bethlehem, Jenin and Tubas were attacked on Tuesday, residents said.

In the northern city of Nablus, Israeli soldiers raided a foreign exchange belonging to the Al-Khaleej company and a gold store, according to local media reports. They also fired smoke bombs in the centre of Jenin, and streets were closed in Tubas and Bethlehem in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The Ramallah-based Ministry of Health said one man was killed and eight injured by live ammunition during a raid in Nablus.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it treated 20 people for tear gas inhalation and three injured by rubber bullets.

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India moved to fast-track the development of an advanced new stealth jet on Tuesday after suffering embarrassing losses in air combat with Pakistan during the recent flare-up in tensions.

While both sides claimed victory in the brief conflict earlier this month, a massive air battle ended with Pakistan as the clear victor, downing at least three Indian jets at the cost of none of its own. This included at least one French-made Rafale jet, a plane considered one of the best in the world with a previous reputation for invulnerability. Unsatisfied with these results, New Delhi is now seeking to develop its own fifth-generation stealth fighter.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, greets Indian Air Force officers on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, during a visit to Air Force Station Adampur, India. (Indian Prime Minister’s Office on X via AP)

India’s state-run Aeronautical Development Agency announced it will shortly invite defense firms to develop prototypes for the new twin-engine stealth fighter.

So far, only the world’s three major powers have developed and possess fifth-generation fighters — the United States, which operates the F-22 and F-35; China, which operates the J-20; and Russia, which operates the Su-57. All have banned the export of these aircraft to safeguard their technologies.

Other countries, including Turkey, South Korea, Japan, and Sweden, have their own fifth-generation programs, but they are still in the development stage.

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Has Beijing found a new “assassin’s mace” to keep the U.S. military out of a fight over Taiwan?

Ongoing debates over how China’s military would counter U.S. intervention often focus on precision strikes against U.S. forces in the Western Pacific. Indeed, some wargames assume that the People’s Liberation Army would throw the first punch. But such a move is not the only option available to China’s decision-makers. Other options include mounting a surprise invasion of Taiwan before the United States can mobilize, pressuring America’s allies to deny U.S. forces access to forward bases, or using strategic deterrence, which seeks to discourage Washington from defending Taiwan in the first place.

Of these options, pursuing strategic deterrence could prove most alluring for Beijing. The logic would be to convince the U.S. government that risks to the U.S. homeland, such as cyber attacks on power grids and telecommunications networks and even the specter of nuclear escalation, are too severe to contemplate. This strategy would leverage China’s expanding nuclear arsenal (and attendant nuclear signals), new intercontinental conventional missiles, space and cyber capabilities, and the belief that Beijing is inherently more resolved than Washington. Chinese leaders who embrace this thinking might conclude that a war could be limited, and thus, they might be more likely to opt for aggression.