‘On level of atomic bomb’: Iran highlights Hormuz importance amid US talks
The strait represents 'a capability that can affect the entire global economy with a single decision', politician says.
No-bid contract to turn DC’s reflecting pool blue goes to firm with ties to Trump
A company Trump has used for work at his Virginia golf course was awarded $6.9m to paint the iconic attraction
Donald Trump’s latest beautification plan for Washington DC – the restoration of the 2,000ft-long reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial – has met been with claims that a $6.9m contract to carry out the project was hastily handed out to a company that renovated a swimming pool at the president’s Virginia golf course.
The New York Times reported that the no-bid contract for the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool was given to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, based in New Canton, Virginia, on 3 April – despite company records’ showing it has not previously been awarded a federal contract.
Continue reading...Niger suspends nine French media bodies: Watchdog slams ‘abusive’ decision
Niger's military government has banned dozens of local and foreign reporters since seizing power in 2023.
I will serve – not rule over Hungary, says new PM
Nearly a month ago Péter Magyar steered his Tisza party to a landslide victory, sweeping away 16 years of rule by Viktor Orbán.
Peter Magyar Takes Over as Hungary’s Leader From Viktor Orban – The New York Times
- Peter Magyar Takes Over as Hungary’s Leader From Viktor Orban The New York Times
- Péter Magyar Led Hungarians out of Autocracy. Where Will He Take Them Now? The New Yorker
- As Hungary gets a new leader, the ‘trauma’ sinks in for Orbán loyalists The Seattle Times
- Péter Magyar sworn in as Hungary’s prime minister ending 16-year Orbán era The Guardian
- Hungary’s New PM Magyar Demands President Quit in Showdown Bloomberg.com
Australian far-right party wins first lower house seat – DW.com
- Australian far-right party wins first lower house seat DW.com
- Australia's right-wing One Nation party scores historic parliamentary win BBC
- Waking up in One Nation country: after the Coalition demolition, voters wait to see if Pauline Hanson’s party can deliver The Guardian
- One Nation Wins Australia Special Election, Claiming Seat in Lower House The New York Times
- Australia's Trump-aligned populists vow to fight mass migration after winning first lower house seat Reuters
Palestinians run West Bank freedom marathon along separation wall
Palestinians ran alongside the separation wall today, a structure that cuts them off from their land and their families.
One dead in US after being struck by taking off Frontier Airlines plane
Authorities say individual jumped fence at Denver International Airport in Colorado before being struck.
Australia’s right-wing One Nation party scores historic parliamentary win
One Nation gains its first seat in the lower house, in a by-election seen as a key test for the populist party.
Trump Media and Technology Group lost $406m in first three months of 2026
Parent company of president’s Truth Social platform generated only $870,000 even as net sales were up 6%
The parent company of Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform – one of the president’s preferred communications channels – lost nearly $406m in the first three months of the year while generating a little over $870,000 in revenue, according to financial filings.
The Trump Media and Technology Group’s quarterly report for January to March 2026 showed that while net sales were up 6% year over year, the company took sizable losses related to other investments.
Continue reading...‘This is not another Covid,’ WHO chief tells Tenerife as hantavirus cruise ship heads to island – as it happened
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The interior minister of Spain told Reuters on Saturday that Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands have confirmed they will send planes to repatriate nationals from their respective countries aboard the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak.
The European Union is sending two more planes for the remaining European citizens, and the US and UK have also confirmed planes and contingency plans for non-EU citizens.
A total of 8 cases, including 3 deaths, have been reported as of Friday. Six of these cases cases are confirmed as Andes virus and four patients are currently hospitalised.
One case previously reported as suspected hantavirus has now been reclassified as a non-case after testing negative for Andes (ANDV) virus.
A man who disembarked in Tristan da Cunha on 14 April is currently stable and in isolation. He is currently a probable case until laboratory confirmation.
Passengers who travelled on the same flight from St Helena to South Africa along with one of the confirmed cases have been contacted – 75 of those contacts have been identified in South Africa, of whom 42 have been traced by national authorities and are currently under monitoring.
Continue reading...Danish rightwing leader asked to form government after Frederiksen fails to form coalition
Denmark’s king asks Troels Lund Poulsen to form government after PM struggles to gather support
The king of Denmark has asked a centre-right politician to try to form a new government after the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has failed to put together a ruling coalition.
The announcement on Friday night shook the political establishment as Frederiksen has been a staple of Danish politics for decades. Her left-leaning party, the Social Democrats, won the plurality of votes in parliamentary elections in March.
Continue reading...Israel to release two detained Gaza flotilla activists
Lawyer representing Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila tells Al Jazeera they will be 'released to their home countries'.
UK warship HMS Dragon heads to Middle East for potential Strait of Hormuz mission
The Ministry of Defence says the ship will prepare to join an international mission to safeguard shipping, but only when fighting in the region ends.
Neither US nor Iran can sustain strait of Hormuz standoff indefinitely
Simply hanging on could be a disaster for Iranians, while Trump needs to resolve this economic crisis he created
Exchanges of fire between Iran and the US demonstrate the serious instability of the situation in the Middle East. Though the US strikes late on Thursday were just “a love tap”, according to the US president, Donald Trump, the reality is that neither side can continue the high-stakes standoff in the strait of Hormuz indefinitely.
The US and its ally Israel demonstrated a comprehensive military superiority over Iran – taking minimal casualties in the 38-day war – but Washington has both failed to translate that into strategic dominance and allowed Iran to take control of the strait, driving up the oil price.
Continue reading...U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces calls to resign after disastrous local elections – CBS News
- U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces calls to resign after disastrous local elections CBS News
- Britain’s Electorate Is ‘Splintering.’ Can Its System Stand the Strain? The New York Times
- An Epic Collapse for Britain’s Labour Party The American Prospect
- Labour MPs have put Starmer on notice after election battering. Can he turn it around? BBC
- Nigel Farage’s triumph is not quite what it seems The Economist
Bahrain rounds up dozens over alleged links to Iran’s IRGC
Interior Ministry says legal proceedings are under way against the 41 people arrested.
Hungary’s New PM Magyar Demands President Quit in Showdown – Bloomberg.com
- Hungary’s New PM Magyar Demands President Quit in Showdown Bloomberg.com
- Peter Magyar Takes Over as Hungary’s Leader From Viktor Orban The New York Times
- In Hungary, jubilation marks Péter Magyar's inauguration as prime minister Le Monde.fr
- Péter Magyar Led Hungarians out of Autocracy. Where Will He Take Them Now? The New Yorker
- Hungary's new PM Magyar sworn in after landslide victory over Orbán BBC
Russia will always be victorious, says Putin at scaled-back Victory Day parade
Moscow blanketed in heavy security despite last-minute announcement of three-day ceasefire with Ukraine
Vladimir Putin has declared Russia will always be victorious as he oversaw a scaled-back Victory Day parade on Red Square held under heavy security amid mounting fears of Ukrainian attacks and growing public fatigue with the war.
Speaking to the crowd, the Russian leader invoked the sacrifices of the second world war to rally support for his soldiers fighting in the war in Ukraine. “The great feat of the generation of victors inspires the warriors carrying out the tasks of the special military operation today,” he said, using the Kremlin’s preferred euphemism for his invasion of Ukraine.
Continue reading...Peter Magyar sworn in as Hungary’s PM, ending Orban’s 16 years in power
Magyar's Tisza party secured a huge parliamentary majority in last month's election.