Cuban authorities report four shot dead, six injured on Florida-registered speedboat

Cuban authorities said Monday that four people were killed and six wounded aboard a Florida-registered speedboat after it entered Cuban waters and opened fire on a Cuban patrol vessel, an incident likely to sharpen already-fraught U.S.-Cuba tensions. Cuba’s Interior Ministry said the wounded from the speedboat were evacuated for medical care, and the commander of the Cuban patrol was also injured. The ministry said the clash remained under investigation to determine precisely what happened. None of the dead or wounded on the…

FAI says it has no option but to play Israel matches

Republic of Ireland will play their UEFA Nations League games against Israel as scheduled, with the Football Association of Ireland confirming the 4 October home tie will go ahead in Dublin despite mounting calls for a boycott and pressure to move the match to a neutral venue. FAI chief executive David Courell said the governing body had “no choice” but to fulfil the fixtures after consulting with government officials and An Garda Síochána, who advised they can deliver a safe event in the capital. “While our Federation and…

Zelensky: Druzhba pipeline repairs progressing slowly, won’t be quick

Zelensky says Druzhba oil pipeline repairs cannot be rushed as Hungary escalates dispute Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said repairs to the Druzhba pipeline that carries Russian oil to Eastern Europe “are not that fast,” pushing back on European Union pressure and Hungarian protests as a supply outage to Hungary and Slovakia entered a fourth week. Shipments of Russian crude to both countries have been halted since Jan. 27, when Kyiv says a Russian strike hit pipeline equipment in western Ukraine. Slovakia and Hungary…

Viktor Orban Accuses Ukraine of Disrupting Energy Supplies

BUDAPEST/KYIV/DUBLIN — Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused Ukraine on Wednesday of preparing to disrupt Hungary’s energy system and ordered soldiers and equipment deployed to protect critical infrastructure, escalating a dispute over a shutdown of the Druzhba oil pipeline that has choked Russian crude deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia. Orban, speaking in a video posted to his Facebook page, said the Druzhba outage was for “political, not technical, reasons,” and cited intelligence reports pointing to possible…

African Nations on UN Security Council Condemn Sudan Aid Convoy Attack, Call for Ramadan Ceasefire

A3 Group Condemns Attacks on Humanitarian Assets in Sudan This article examines the recent condemnation by the A3 group of African members of the United Nations Security Council concerning attacks on humanitarian efforts in Sudan. The urgency of the statement reflects the dire humanitarian crisis facing the country. The A3 group consists of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, and Somalia. The joint statement was delivered by Somalia’s Permanent Representative to the UN. Attacks on humanitarian assets…

Search at Prince Andrew’s former residence comes to an end

British police have concluded searches at Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s former home in southeast England after arresting the former prince last week on suspicion of misconduct in public office, part of an investigation into his ties with the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “Officers have now left the location we have been searching in Berkshire. This concludes the search activity that commenced following our arrest of a man in his sixties from Norfolk on Thursday,” Thames Valley Police’s Assistant Chief Constable…

Sri Lanka ex-spy chief arrested in probe of 2019 Easter attacks

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan police have arrested the country’s former intelligence chief, retired Maj. Gen. Suresh Sallay, in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 people, including 45 foreigners, authorities said. Police said Sallay, the former head of the State Intelligence Service (SIS), was taken into custody at dawn in a suburb of Colombo in the most high-profile arrest to date in the long-running probe. “He was arrested for conspiracy and aiding and abetting the Easter Sunday attacks,” an…

Time will judge whether Trump’s unity-and-strength message truly resonates

Donald Trump’s State of the Union address ran long but felt tightly controlled, the work of a president who understands television and the power of staging. It was a carefully sequenced production that blended valor, grievance and a handful of policy points into a split-screen test of political identities in an election year. The speech returned Trump to familiar ground: the economy, tariffs, immigration and cultural combat. In front of a silent Democratic caucus and a Supreme Court he rebuked from a few feet away, the…

Trump touts ‘golden age’ in State of the Union amid economic pessimism

President Donald Trump proclaimed a “golden age of America” in his State of the Union address, using a record-length speech to cast his stewardship as a run of uninterrupted victories even as polls show sagging approval and voter frustration over the cost of living ahead of November’s midterm elections. Heeding warnings from Republicans anxious about losing control of Congress, Trump centered the first hour on the economy, asserting he had slowed inflation, lifted the stock market to record highs, signed sweeping tax cuts…

Police wrap up search at Prince Andrew’s former residence

Police conclude search at Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s former home after arrest linked to Epstein probe British police have concluded searches at Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s former home in southeast England following his arrest last week on suspicion of misconduct in public office, part of an ongoing investigation into his ties with the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Thames Valley Police said officers had wrapped up activity in Berkshire that began after the arrest on Thursday. “Officers have now left the location…