World

U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that Venezuelan military jets flying over American naval vessels would be shot down if such actions resulted in danger.

This warning came after Venezuelan aircraft flew near a U.S. Navy ship off the coast of South America for the second time in two days.

President Trump further alleged that Venezuela had become a hub for drug trafficking and that members of “Tren de Aragua,” a gang banned in the United States as a terrorist organization, were residing there.

In response, the U.S. military has deployed additional naval vessels, Marines, and sailors to curb drug trafficking and has strengthened its military presence in the southern Caribbean region.

During Trump’s first term, the United States had also leveled accusations against senior Venezuelan officials over drug trafficking, terrorism, corruption, and various other offenses.

The Iranian-backed Houthis said Saturday an Israeli airstrike killed the prime minister of the rebel-controlled government in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed in a Thursday strike in Sanaa along with a number of ministers, the rebels said in a statement.

The Israeli military said Thursday that it “precisely struck a Houthi terrorist regime military target in the area of Sanaa in Yemen.”

Al-Rahawi, who served as prime minister to the Houthi-led government since August 2024, was targeted along with other members of his Houthi-controlled government during a routine workshop held by the government to evaluate its activities and performance over the past year, the rebels’ statement said.

The Houthis have repeatedly launched missiles against Israel throughout Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The group says the attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians. Though most of the missiles launched by Yemen are intercepted by Israel, or fragment mid-air, this has done little to deter the attacks.

Earlier in the week, Israeli strikes hit multiple areas across Sanaa, killing at least 10 people and wounding 102 others, according to the Houthi-run health ministry and government officials.

The Houthis have launched missiles and drones toward Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea throughout Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The rebels say their attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians.

In response to the Houthi attacks, Israel and a U.S.-led coalition pounded the rebel-held areas in Yemen, including Sanaa and the strategic coastal city of Hodeida. Israeli strikes knocked the Sanaa airport out of service in May.

The Trump administration announced a deal with the Houthis to end the airstrikes in return for an end to attacks on shipping in May. The rebels, however, said the agreement did not include halting attacks on targets it believed were aligned with Israel.

Source: AP --

Agencies

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that any foreign troops deployed to Ukraine, particularly while its invasion was still ongoing, would be considered “legitimate targets” by Moscow’s forces.

Putin’s comments came hours after European leaders repledged their commitment to a potential peacekeeping force, a prospect that Moscow has repeatedly described as “unacceptable.”

“If any troops appear there, especially now while fighting is ongoing, we assume that they will be legitimate targets,” he said during a panel at the Eastern Economic Forum in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok.

Putin also dismissed the idea of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine after a final peace deal, saying “no one should doubt” that Moscow would comply with a treaty to halt its 3½-year full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

He said that security guarantees would be needed for both Russia and Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later said Moscow would need “legally binding documents” to outline such agreements. “Of course, you can’t just take anybody’s word for something,” he told Russian news outlet Argumenty i Fakty.

European leaders pledge peacekeeping force in Ukraine

Putin’s comments follow remarks from French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday that 26 of Ukraine’s allies have pledged to deploy troops as a “reassurance force” for Ukraine once fighting ends.

Macron spoke after a meeting in Paris of the so-called coalition of the willing, a group of 35 countries that support Ukraine. He said that 26 of the countries had committed to deploying troops to Ukraine — or to maintaining a presence on land, at sea or in the air — to help guarantee the country’s security the day after any ceasefire or peace is achieved.

Addressing the participants of the international economic conference the Ambrosetti Forum on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was important that security guarantees “start working now, during the war, and not only after it ends.”

He said he could not disclose more details as they are “sensitive and relate to the military sphere.”

Drone strikes continue

Russian troops attacked Ukraine overnight with 157 strike and decoy drones, as well as seven missiles of various types, Ukraine’s air force reported Friday. Air defenses shot down or jammed 121 of the drones, it said.

One attack damaged multiple residential buildings in Dnipro in central Ukraine, regional administration head Serhii Lysak wrote on social media. The regional administration also said that an unspecified “facility” had been set alight in the strike, but did not give further details.

Lysak shared photos of residential buildings with damaged roofs, glass shards lying on the ground and people carrying wooden boards to cover broken windows. “Private homes were damaged. Windows in apartment buildings were shattered,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region north of Kyiv, Russian drones attacked infrastructure in the Novhorod-Siversk district, leaving at least 15 settlements without electricity, local authorities reported.

Elsewhere, Russian troops destroyed 92 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday. Local social media channels in the city of Ryazan, approximately 200 kilometers (125 miles) southeast of Moscow, reported that the city’s Rosneft oil refinery had been targeted. They shared videos that appeared to show a fire against the night sky.

Ryazan regional Gov. Pavel Malkov said that drone debris had fallen on an “industrial enterprise” but did not give further details, instead warning residents not to post images of air defenses on social media.

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian oil infrastructure that it says fuels Moscow’s war effort in recent weeks. Gas stations have run dry in some regions of Russia in recent weeks, with motorists waiting in long lines and officials resorting to rationing or cutting off sales altogether.

Zelenskyy holds rare talks with Russia-friendly Slovak PM

The drone strikes were a key topic of rare high-level talks Friday between Zelenskyy and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, a tense encounter given Fico’s repeated calls for “normalising” relations with Russia.

Following the meeting in Uzhhorod, a Ukrainian city near the border with Slovakia, Zelenskyy said Ukraine would continue to “respond” to years of Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities, despite criticisms from Slovakia and neighboring Hungary.

Both Bratislava and Budapest continue to import Russian oil and gas, even as most EU countries cut ties following Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine. Recent Ukrainian strikes have disrupted shipments from Russia to Slovakia along the Druzhba pipeline, prompting Bratislava to protest.

Zelenskyy told reporters that Kyiv was ready to supply its neighbor with oil and gas that didn’t come from Russia.

“Russian oil, like Russian gas, has no future” in Europe, Zelenskyy maintained, an apparent reference to comments made the day before by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Joining a call with European leaders after the “coalition of the willing” met in Paris, Trump said that countries in the continent must stop buying Russian oil, as these purchases help Moscow fund its war against Ukraine, according to a White House official. The official was not authorized to comment publicly about the private talks and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Fico told reporters on Friday that both Slovakia and Ukraine “have the right to defend our own national interests and we must respect each other in this regard.”

He also sounded a conciliatory note as he voiced his support for Kyiv’s bid to join the EU, offering to share Slovakia’s experience.

adaderana.lk

A US judge who amassed a huge online fan base via clips of his compassion in the courtroom has died.

Frank Caprio was on the bench at a court in Providence, Rhode Island, for almost four decades.

He became affectionately known as the “nicest judge in the world”, NBC Boston reported, after viral videos of him handing out justice with a smile were viewed more than a billion times on social media.

The latter years of his career, which ended in 2023, were documented in the TV show Caught In Providence.

A statement on Wednesday on his Instagram page, which had 3.2 million followers, said he had died aged 88 “after a long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer”.

It said he was “beloved for his compassion, humility, and unwavering belief in the goodness of people”.

He had posted a message from his hospital bed the day before, saying: “Unfortunately I’ve had a setback, I’m back in the hospital now, and I’m coming to you again asking you to remember me in your prayers once more.”

Caprio’s persona was at odds with my fellow TV judges, who were less sympathetic and more confrontational. In one popular clip, he dismissed a traffic ticket handed to a bartender who skipped a red light, as they were only earning less than $4 (£2.97) an hour.

Another saw him listening sympathetically to a woman whose son had been killed, before dismissing her tickets and fines which had totalled $400 (£297).

Caprio also used his fame to speak out about inequality in the justice system.

“Almost 90% of low-income Americans are forced to battle civil issues like health care, unjust evictions, veterans benefits and, yes, even traffic violations, alone,” he said in one video.

After his death was announced, Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee paid tribute to his “warmth and compassion”.

“He was more than a jurist - he was a symbol of empathy on the bench, showing us what is possible when justice is tempered with humanity,” he said.

Source: Sky News

--Agencies

In Portugal’s capital, Lisbon, a tragic accident occurred when the 140-year-old Gloria Funicular, a landmark and major tourist attraction, derailed, resulting in the deaths of 15 people.

A further 18 individuals were hospitalized, with five reported to be in critical condition, according to foreign media.

The accident, which took place at approximately 4:30 p.m. yesterday, claimed the lives of both locals and foreign nationals, though the identities and nationalities of the victims have not yet been confirmed by authorities.

In response, the Portuguese government declared yesterday a national day of mourning.

Italy’s Mount Etna has erupted, with large plumes of ash and smoke seen rising from the volcano.

Images and video from the island of Sicily showed volcanic material spilling out of the volcano on Monday morning.

A number of explosions of “increasing intensity” were recorded in the early hours on Monday morning, Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) Etna Observatory said.

The full scale of the eruption is currently unclear and disruption appears to be minimal.

Mount Etna is one of the world’s most active volcanoes, so eruptions are not uncommon and its outbursts rarely cause significant damage or injury.

Ground movements indicated latest eruption happened on the south eastern edge of the volcano, according to INGV. This appears to be where a known 200m-wide vent is.

Footage shared throughout Monday shows a rapidly moving mix of ash, gas and rock - known as a pyroclastic flow - emerging from the site and moving down the side of the volcano.

Geologists monitoring the eruption said it was likely that part of volcano’s crater collapsed and that this was the material being carried down its slopes.

Pyroclastic flow can be very dangerous to the surrounding area, but there has been no indication of an imminent threat.

In its most recent update, INGV noted that the volcanic material had not yet gone past the Valley of the Lion, the point on the approach to the summit where tourist trips stop.

INGV said it first recorded changes in the volcano’s activity at 00:39 local time (22:39 GMT), before clarifying that there was an ongoing “Strombolian” eruption.

The size of Strombolian eruptions can vary but are often characterised by intermittent explosions, which occur due to the presence of gas in the magma chamber within the volcano.

When the gas bubbles reach the surface, they can burst suddenly, throwing material skywards. The process is not dissimilar to letting gas out of a fizzy drink.

These types of eruptions can be particularly dangerous for nearby aircraft.

A red alert was reportedly issued earlier on Monday, possibly suspending flights operating nearby, but this was later downgraded.

Mount Etna’s last notable eruption came in February and caused the island’s Catania airport to divert dozens of flights because of ash clouds.

Tourists were also warned to stay away from the volcano’s lava flows.

Source: BBC

• Agencies

Severe rainfall and flooding in the northern Indian state of Punjab have resulted in the deaths of 30 individuals and affected more than 354,000 people.

Rivers and reservoirs have reached critical levels, prompting large-scale evacuations and the establishment of numerous relief camps. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann described the floods as the worst since 1988.

The Indian government reported that 148,000 hectares of agricultural land have been submerged, causing significant crop damage. The Indian Army, Air Force, and Navy, along with multiple disaster response teams, are assisting with rescue operations. More than 35 helicopters and over 100 boats have been deployed to support relief efforts, according to international media sources.

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake has struck off the southern coasts of Chile and Argentina, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) says.

Chilean authorities issued an evacuation alert on Friday for the entire coastal section of the Strait of Magellan, in the far south of the South American country.

The death toll from the earthquake in eastern Afghanistan that all but destroyed several villages rose on Tuesday to at least 1,411 people, a government spokesperson said.

Another 3,124 were injured in the 6.0 magnitude quake, which struck just before midnight on Sunday, Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson, said on social media.

"Rescue operations are still underway in all the affected areas today," Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesperson, said on Tuesday. "Dozens of commandos have been airlifted to areas where planes could not land to pull out the injured from the rubble and transport them to a suitable location."

Shah Mahmood, a Taliban official in Nangarhar Province, said destroyed some 8,000 houses. Emergency responders have yet to reach some villages, where they fear there may be more dead and injured under the rubble, he said.

The powerful earthquake's epicenter was about 17 miles east of Jalalabad, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Almost all of the deaths were in Kunar Province, officials said in a statement shared Monday by Zabihullah Mujahid, a government spokesperson. Others were killed in Nangarhar Province, said Mufti Abdul Matin Qani, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior.

Deadly earthquakes have struck Afghanistan several times in recent years, including a 5.9 magnitude quake in June 2022 and a 6.3 magnitude one in October 2023. The death toll for each of those quakes rose to over 1,000 people, local officials said in their aftermaths.

Earthquakes are common in both eastern and western Afghanistan, where the India plate and the Eurasia plate intersect underneath the Hindu Kush mountains range, according to USGS.

"Since 1950, 71 other magnitude 6 or larger earthquakes occurred within 250 km of the August 31 earthquake, including six magnitude 7 and larger earthquakes," USGS said in a summary of the activity it recorded during Sunday's quake and the aftershocks.

The first strong quake struck at about 11:47 p.m. local time on Sunday and was followed by four weaker-but-still-powerful aftershocks into Monday, the USGS said. Those aftershocks measured 5.2, 5.2, 4.7 and 4.6, the organization said.

An estimated 12,000 people have been directly affected by Sunday's, according to the World Health Organization in Afghanistan.

The hardest hit districts and villages in Kunar were Chawkay, Nurgal, Chapa Dara, Dara-e-Pech and Watapur, the WHO said in a report dated Monday. Structures in other villages in Nangarhar and Laghman provinces were also damaged, the report said.

"As the scale of devastation from the Afghanistan earthquake becomes clearer, my deepest condolences go to the victims and their families," Richard Bennett, the U.N. special rapporteur for the country, said on social media on Tuesday.

Many of the health facilities in the affected regions appeared to be "functional" after the quake, the WHO said, adding that its local staff were working on-site at several locations in the region, including Nangarhar Regional Hospital.

At that hospital in Nangarhar, several injured children were being treated without their parents or relatives, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health.

"These are painful and unbearable moments," Dr. Sharafat zaman Amar, the spokesperson, said in a social media post that included pictures of several children with visible injuries and bandages.

India has banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels, including Dawn News, Samaa TV, Ary News and Geo News, for disseminating misinformation against India in the backdrop of the recent Pahalgam terror attack.

The YouTube channels have been banned for spreading provocative and communally sensitive content, false and misleading narratives against India, its Army and security agencies.

The banned channels have subscribers of over 63 million.

The government has also objected to the reporting of the BBC on the Peshawar terror attack and conveyed the country’s strong sentiments to India’s BBC head.

A formal letter has also been sent to the BBC on the terming of terrorists as militants. The External Affairs Ministry will be monitoring the reporting of the BBC.

(BBC) More than 800 people are feared dead after a magnitude 6.0 earthquake hits eastern Afghanistan, the Taliban interior ministry reports.

The quake, at a shallow depth of 8km (6 miles), shook buildings from Kabul to Pakistan's capital Islamabad .

The remote area where it struck makes providing accurate estimates hard, as officials warn of high casualty figures.

Dozens of houses are "under rubble", sources from the Taliban government say, while officials report entire villages being destroyed.

The earthquake's epicentre was 27km (17miles) away from Jalalabad, Afghanistan's fifth-largest city, and around 140km (87 miles) from the capital Kabul.

The area is mountainous with limited communications, which means information is emerging slowly.

Beijing on Friday increased its tariffs on U.S. imports to 125%, hitting back against U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to hike duties on Chinese goods to 145%, raising the stakes in a trade war that threatens to up-end global supply chains.

The hike comes after the White House kept the pressure on the world's No.2 economy and second-biggest provider of U.S. imports by singling it out for an additional tariff increase, having paused most of the "reciprocal" duties imposed on dozens of other countries.

(Reuters)