03 World

Venezuela’s Machado Says “No Regrets” Over Gifting Trump Nobel Peace Prize– www.ndtv.com

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Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Saturday she had “no regrets” about symbolically handing over her Nobel Peace Prize to US President Donald Trump in January.

“There is a leader in the world, a head of state in the world who risked the lives of his country’s citizens for Venezuela’s freedom,” she told a news conference in Madrid.

Machado presented her Nobel prize to Trump when she met him in the White House just two weeks after he ordered US forces to attack Caracas and snatch Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

Trump, who has long coveted the award, is currently embroiled in the Middle East war he started with his ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with airstrikes on Iran at the end of February.

French military killed in attack on peacekeepers in Lebanon — Macron – World– tass.com

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A French soldier serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeeping contingent was killed in a strike in southern Lebanon, French President Emmanuel Macron said.

“Staff Sergeant Florian Montorio of the 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment from Montauban was killed this morning in southern Lebanon during an attack on the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission,” he wrote on the X social network, expressing condolences to relatives of the deceased.

Three more soldiers were wounded and evacuated, Macron added. “Everything indicates that responsibility for the attack lies with [the Shiite organization] Hezbollah,” he said, therefore demanding that the Arab Republic’s authorities “arrest those responsible” and “assume responsibility” for maintaining order, along with UNIFIL.

Kash Patel’s ‘erratic’ habits raise concerns as FBI director’s late-night drinking delays meetings: Report– timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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Concerns are growing inside the FBI over Director Kash Patel’s conduct, with colleagues alleging that the Indian-origin agency head has engaged in heavy drinking and unexplained absences that they say have affected his leadership.According to multiple current and former officials in FBI, Patel’s behaviour has raised alarm within the bureau and across parts of the US government. Some have described his tenure as erratic, pointing to incidents where his actions caused confusion and disrupted normal operations.

One such episode took place on April 10, when Patel struggled to log into an internal system and believed he had been locked out. He thought he was fired and contacted aides in a “freak-out”. The situation caused concern within the FBI and prompted calls to the White House and members of Congress about who was leading the agency. The issue was later found to be a technical error.More than two dozen people, including FBI staff and others familiar with his work, told reporters that Patel has been “erratic, suspicious of others, and prone to jumping to conclusions before he has necessary evidence,” according to a report cited by the Atlantic.

Iran’s Supreme Leader sends chilling threat as he mocks US ‘arrogance and weakness’ | World | News– www.express.co.uk

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Iran’s Supreme Leader has issied a chilling threat in a new bombshell message, while also taking a brutal swipe at Donald Trump and US troops.

Mojtaba Khamenei commended his forces for resisting what he called American and Israeli “arrogance”, before threatening to bring about “new defeats”. The Supreme Leader also said his opponents’ “weakness and humiliation” had been exposed for all to see. Khamenei has not been seen since the war began. He replaced his father Ali Khamenei, who was killed in Israeli-US strikes at the start of the conflict.

In a statement issued through an Iranian state news agency, Khamenei said his forces had “stood firm against America’s sinister schemes.”

He continued: “With its strong divine and popular support and in dense, fortified ranks, it (the army) stands shoulder to shoulder with other mujahideen of the armed forces against the two armies at the forefront of the front of kufr (disbelief) and arrogance, clashing with them hand-to-hand and exposing their weakness and humiliation to the eyes of the world.

Japan’s defense budget to reach 1.9% of GDP in fiscal 2026– japantoday.com

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Japan’s initial budget for defense spending and related costs for fiscal 2026 totaled about 10.6 trillion yen ($66.5 billion), equivalent to roughly 1.9 percent of its 2022 gross domestic product, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Friday.

Japan has set a goal of raising defense spending and related costs to 2 percent of GDP by fiscal 2027 in a notable shift from its long-standing practice of keeping defense spending around 1 percent of GDP amid growing security challenges from countries such as China and North Korea.

Using projected GDP for fiscal 2026, the ratio would stand at around 1.5 percent, Koizumi added while speaking to reporters.

Under its three key security documents adopted in late 2022, the Japanese government outlined plans to spend about 43 trillion yen on defense over the five years through 2027.

Oil prices jump after U.S. seizes Iranian vessel, imperiling ceasefire – The Washington Post– news.google.com

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  1. Oil prices jump after U.S. seizes Iranian vessel, imperiling ceasefire  The Washington Post
  2. Iran War Live Updates: Tehran Sends Mixed Signals on Talks After U.S. Seizes Ship  The New York Times
  3. U.S. seizes Iranian-flagged ship, Warsh’s big week, Cursor funding and more in Morning Squawk  CNBC
  4. Live updates: Pakistan prepares for upcoming peace talks despite US seizure of Iranian cargo ship  AP News
  5. Oil and Gas Prices Surge After U.S. Navy Seizes Iranian-Flagged Cargo Ship  Democracy Now!

Russian Oil Is Too Big to Ignore, Kremlin Says– www.themoscowtimes.com

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The Kremlin said Monday that a new U.S. sanctions waiver on Russian oil exports proves that the commodity is too vital to the global economy to be sidelined.

“Russia remains a responsible and very important player in global energy markets,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “The market is going through tough times and, of course, Russian volumes are difficult not to take into account and ignore.”

The U.S. Treasury Department issued the extension on Friday, allowing for the purchase of Russian oil and petroleum products loaded onto ships between April 17 and May 16. The move is part of an ongoing effort to stabilize global energy prices, which have surged following the outbreak of war in the Middle East.

Several Asian countries had lobbied Washington for an extension as they looked for alternatives to Middle Eastern supplies disrupted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. On Thursday, Indonesia announced a new agreement to receive Russian crude, while Malaysia said its state energy firm, Petronas, is negotiating its own purchases.

Trump, Iran cite progress in talks as uncertainty hangs over Strait of Hormuz– www.channelnewsasia.com

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Trump defended the US blockade and threatened “to start dropping bombs again” unless the countries reached a long-term deal before the ceasefire expires on Wednesday.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Tehran’s control over the strait included demanding the payment of costs related to security, safety and environmental protection services, state media said.

Concern remained after at least two vessels reported being attacked on Saturday while trying to transit the waterway. India summoned the Iranian ambassador in New Delhi and expressed deep concern that two Indian-flagged ships had come under fire in the strait, the government said.

Trump reaffirms US-Israel support after Netanyahu ‘alarmed’ by Lebanon comments– www.mirror.co.uk

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Donald Trump posted on social media to reaffirm the US’s support for Israel, calling it a ‘great ally’, just hours after sources told Axios that Benjamin Netanyahu had been left ‘personally stunned and alarmed’ by an earlier post in which Trump said Israel was ‘prohibited’ from bombing Lebanon

President Trump Meets With Visiting Israeli PM Netanyahu At The White House(Image: Getty)

Donald Trump reaffirmed his backing for Israel in a Truth Social message on Saturday evening, merely hours after reports suggested Benjamin Netanyahu had been unsettled by an earlier comment he made.

Writing around 9pm ET, the US president described Israel as a “great ally” of Washington while taking aim at European nations that refused to take part in the Iran conflict.

SETH ORANBURG: Local Municipalities Weaponize Bureaucracy Against Prayer– dailycaller.com

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As Congress debates antisemitism legislation and the Religious Liberty Commission holds hearings on rising hate, a case pending before the Supreme Court reveals a more mundane threat: city officials who use zoning bureaucracy to shut down Jewish prayer in a private home.

Daniel Grand invited a handful of neighbors to his house on a Saturday morning to pray. The City of University Heights, Ohio, served him with a cease-and-desist order, calling his home an “illegal house of worship.” Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan then encouraged Grand’s neighbors to surveil his home and report any religious activity for punishment.

When a city criminalizes home worship, you’d figure the homeowner has recourse. On paper, yes. In practice, no. In reality, municipalities across the country destroy faith communities not through action but through something more sinister: selective inaction.

Pope Leo warns African youth against emigration, urges battle against ‘scourge of corruption’– www.lifesitenews.com

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Pope Leo XIV called on young people in Africa to resist emigration and corruption, and to work for the good of their own countries.

On April 17, Pope Leo XIV addressed students and faculty at the Catholic University of Central Africa in Yaoundé and later celebrated Mass in Douala, urging African youth to remain in their homeland, combat corruption through moral integrity, and contribute to national development, during the midpoint of his pastoral journey to four African nations.

“Do not give in to distrust and discouragement,” the Pope said during the Mass in Douala. “Do not forget that your people are even richer than this land, for your treasure lies in your values: faith, family, hospitality, and work.”

Why game theory could be critical in a nuclear war– www.scientificamerican.com

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“The half-life of humanity is currently around 35 years,” said Nobel laureate in physics David Gross as he concluded an evening lecture at the German Physical Society’s conference in Erlangen in March. Put another way, the physicist believes that in a little more than three decades, there is a 50 percent chance that our species will be extinct.

The alarming statement followed Gross’s estimation that the risk of a nuclear war was increasing from 1 percent per year to about 2 percent annually. After the lecture, the audience was visibly pensive. The current world situation and the award-winning speaker’s warnings hung over attendees like a dark cloud.

“I’m still hoping game theory will come to the rescue,” another physicist later told me at the conference. The rules of logic—provided everyone follows them—would prohibit a nuclear first strike, this reasoning goes.

Iran Pushes Too Far in Hormuz, and the U.S. Pushes Back – PJ Media– pjmedia.com

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President Donald Trump authorized a direct response after an Iranian-flagged vessel moved into a restricted pattern of activity in the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Navy forces intercepted and disabled the vessel after it failed to comply with repeated warnings. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth supported the operation, and the U.S. Central Command coordinated the response, stopping the vessel before it could continue its course through one of the world’s most contentious shipping lanes.

It was the first interception since the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports began last week. Iran’s joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation, the state broadcaster said.

With the U.S.-Iran standoff over the strait sharpening and the ceasefire expiring by Wednesday, it was not clear where President Donald Trump ’s earlier announcement on new talks with Iran now stood. He had said U.S. negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday.

Zelensky Says Oil Sanctions Relief Provides Billions for Russian Military– www.themoscowtimes.com

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday condemned the easing of sanctions on Russian oil after the United States extended a waiver meant to soften surging energy prices driven by the Middle East war.

“Every dollar paid for Russian oil is money for the war” and is used for devastating strikes on Ukraine, Zelensky said in a post on X.

Zelensky did not mention the United States, but President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday issued a month-long sanctions waiver allowing the sale of Russian oil and petroleum products that are at sea.

The action was intended to bring down soaring energy prices. But the U.S. Treasury Department extension came two days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Washington would not renew the waiver.

US seizes Iranian vessel in Hormuz; Iran vows ‘retaliation soon’ — what we know– timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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US President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed that American forces seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship TOUSKA after it tried to bypass a naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz.Iran initially contradicted the claim, saying US forces were forced to retreat…

In a post on Truth Social he wrote, “Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA… tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them.”

Trump said the ship was warned by a US Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman to stop, but it did not comply.

“The US Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop. The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room. Right now, US Marines have custody of the vessel. The TOUSKA is under US Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!,” he further wrote.