Amid ferocious Israeli attacks on Yemen, ostensibly in response to Houthi attacks on Israel, surprising news from the United States seemed to shake matters briefly.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that a ceasefire had been agreed between his country and the Houthis, claiming the Houthis had bent the knee and this was a victory for the US.
He also praised the Houthis for their bravery and resilience.
This meant the US would no longer be bombing Yemen, and the Houthis would stop firing at ships in the Red Sea in support of the Palestinians in Gaza.
There was no mention of Israel in Trump’s announcement – a sign, to many, of a possible chill between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Houthis, for their part, made it clear that the deal does not extend to Israel and they would continue their attacks until Israel allowed aid into Gaza, ending the starvation it is imposing on the people there.
Israel left out?
Israel has been launching attacks on Yemen, claiming it wants to deter the Houthis, who took control of Sanaa in 2014 and already fought a years-long war against the internationally recognised Yemeni government.
Israel’s most recent attack, on Sunday, bore an eerie resemblance to how it has operated when bombing the trapped population of Gaza, issuing “warnings” to people in three Yemeni ports in Hodeidah governorate to flee, with less than an hour’s notice.
Whether this escalation is a reaction to the announced US ceasefire remains to be seen, but many analysts have spoken of a widening rift between Netanyahu and Trump.
Netanyahu has reportedly expressed his frustration with Trump’s Middle East policy in private conversations.
He has been publicly against the US administration’s talks with Iran, claiming there is no diplomatic way to resolve differences with Tehran, yet Iran and the US have continued their talks.
He went on to blame Iran for the Houthis’ attacks, claiming Israel’s attacks are a message to the “Houthis’ sponsors”.
Trump, for his part, has seemed unconcerned.
“It’s worth noting Trump didn’t say anything about [Houthi] attacks on Israel, which seem to be continuing amid this escalation,” Nicholas Brumfield, a Yemen analyst, told Al Jazeera.
“In [this] case, it’s a US drawdown because the Houthis haven’t been attacking international shipping,” Brumfield said. “They’ve been attacking Israel. The US has been doing its thing, and the Houthis have been targeting US ships.”
After Israeli attacks on Monday and Tuesday, which killed at least three people and wounded 35 others and damaged Hodeidah Port and Sanaa Airport, the Houthis promised retaliation.
Journalists take pictures of a plane Israel destroyed at Sanaa International Airport on May 7, 2025 [Khaled Abdullah/Reuters]
That kind of statement is typical of the Houthis, who have managed to weather more than a decade of attacks by forces with far superior military capabilities.
Air strikes by the US and United Kingdom on Yemen in early 2024 were unable to stop the Houthis’ attacks on Red Sea traffic.
Years of air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government taught the Houthis to keep their military infrastructure agile, analysts told Al Jazeera.
A senior US government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al Jazeera that recent US attacks on the Houthis have pushed leaders underground after the killing of some key military commanders.
However, unlike under US President Joe Biden’s administration, the attacks under Trump have been indiscriminate and have led to more civilian deaths. More than 250 people have been killed by US attacks on Yemen since mid-March, including at least 68 people at a centre housing detained African refugees and migrants in late April.
Experts told Al Jazeera that despite the increased ferocity of those attacks, the Houthis have not been deterred.
“The Houthis aren’t going to stop,” Brumfield said.
Israel still striking
The Houthis have made their stance clear vis-à-vis the agreement with the US and the continuation of attacks on Israel, which has also made clear that it plans to keep attacking.
“The stated aim is to deter [the Houthis] or deplete their military capabilities to the point that the Houthis cannot target Israel any more, but these are both very unrealistic goals,” Hannah Porter, an independent Yemen analyst, told Al Jazeera.
Israel already considers that it has diminished the capabilities of two of its biggest foes, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, over the past 19 months.
But trying something like that on the Houthis would be a vastly different challenge, she said.
“Israel has probably not gathered the amount of intel on the Houthis that they have on Hamas or Hezbollah, so tracking and targeting leaders will be harder,” Porter said.
“More importantly, the geographic area is much larger in northern Yemen, meaning that there are far more potential targets.”
“The terrain is a factor, too,” she added. “Northern Yemen is very mountainous with plenty of places to hide people and weapons.”
For now, Israel and the Houthis seem intent on continuing their exchange of attacks. And the first to suffer will be the people of Yemen.
Israel struck numerous targets in recent days in Yemen, including Sanaa’s airport and the port in Hodeidah, which experts said is likely to exacerbate Yemen’s dire humanitarian situation.
Israel destroyed at least three civilian planes in the attacks.
Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike on Sanaa on May 6, 2025 [Adel al-Khader/Reuters]
Yemen is already suffering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. More than 18.2 million people require humanitarian assistance and protection services, according to the United Nations.
More than 17.1 million Yemenis suffer acute food shortages, and about five million are on the brink of famine.
While analysts said Israel’s attacks on ports will not be a “knockout blow”, they are among a matrix of factors that leave many Yemenis in an increasingly precarious position.
“The humanitarian situation will just get worse,” Raiman Al-Hamdani, a Yemen researcher with the international development company ARK, told Al Jazeera.
“Destroying the two main ports of northern Yemen, where the majority of the population lives, coupled with the FTO [“foreign terrorist organisation”] designation with cuts to the aid system around the world and the deteriorating economy … is a recipe for [unprecedented] humanitarian disaster.”
“[Israel’s attacks] are a continuation of its strategy. It’s out of spite, targets civil infrastructure and the policy of creating human suffering,” Al-Hamdani said.
Both sides seem unwilling to stop, however.
“I cannot see anything quite good coming out of this unless the war Israel is waging on Gaza comes to some form of truce,” Al-Hamdani said.
By Ron Chernow Penguin Press: 1,200 pages, $45 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.
Mark Twain was America’s first celebrity, a multiplatform entertainer loved and recognized all over the world. Fans from America to Europe to Australia bought his books and flocked to his one-man shows, and his potent doses of humor and hard truth enthralled both the highborn and the humble. After he died, his work lived on through his novels, and his influence has endured — this year’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “James” by Percival Everett, reverses the roles of the main characters in Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” replacing the narration of the teenaged Huck with that of the slave Jim.
Ron Chernow writes books about men of great ambition ranging from President Ulysses S. Grant to financier J.P. Morgan — his biography of Alexander Hamilton inspired the long-running Broadway musical — and is an expert chronicler of fame’s highs and lows. But in taking on Twain’s story, he signed on for a wild ride. Twain was both a brilliant writer who exposed America’s hypocrisies with humor and wit, and an angry man who savored revenge, nursed grudges and blamed God for the blows fate rained down on his head. “What a bottom of fury there is to your fun,” said Twain’s friend, the novelist William Dean Howells.
Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835, Twain grew up in the slaveholding community of Hannibal, Mo., a town he would immortalize in “Huckleberry Finn” and its prequel, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” The restless young man drifted from one job to another, then found his first calling as a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi, an experience that would inform Twain’s “Life on the Mississippi” and other books. The river gave him his pen name (the phrase “mark twain” indicated a safe water depth) and inflicted an early blow in the loss of his younger brother: encouraged by Twain, Henry Clemens signed on to a riverboat crew, then died when the boat exploded. Twain blamed himself.
Twain’s river idyll ended with the Civil War. Traffic dried up, and to escape conscription into the Confederate Army, Twain headed west with his brother Orion to the Nevada territory. He reveled in the rambunctious disorder of its mining towns, and as a young reporter there he uncorked his ebullient sense of humor. His literary career began in earnest when he moved to San Francisco, and helped by California writers such as Bret Harte, he went national when in 1865 a New York newspaper picked up his story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” Twain moved east, and his career took off like a rocket.
On a travel junket that inspired his first book, “Innocents Abroad,” Twain saw a portrait of his future wife, Olivia “Livy” Langdon. He fell for her image and contrived to meet her, and despite Twain’s many eccentricities, her distinguished family accepted him. They married, and their life in Hartford, Conn., padded by Livy’s family wealth, was a gracious dream, as the greatest of Twain’s age — Grant, Robert Louis Stevenson, Helen Keller — sought his company. But tragedy struck again: their first child, a son, died at 18 months.
The couple had three more children — daughters — and Livy’s seemingly bottomless wealth supported him. She edited his manuscripts, ran his household and smoothed his rough edges. But the couple’s Achilles’ heel was their shared taste for luxury. They routinely lived beyond their means, running up bills even as Twain, a reckless investor with terrible business sense, gambled with both his publishing earnings and her inheritance.
Throughout it all, he kept writing. The most enduring of Twain’s books is “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” published Stateside in 1885 when Twain was 49, the story of a runaway boy and an escaped slave who flee down the Mississippi River. A sequel to Twain’s comic novel “Tom Sawyer,” it penetrated the dark heart of Hannibal’s savage treatment of Black people. Chernow writes that “if Tom Sawyer offered a sunlit view of antebellum Hannibal, in ‘Huck Finn’ Twain delved into the shadows. As he dredged up memories anew, he now perceived a town embroiled in slavery.”
Ron Chernow has previously authored biographies on historical figures including Ulysses S. Grant and Alexander Hamilton.
(Beowulf Sheehan)
“Huck Finn” was the apotheosis of Twain’s gift for truth-telling, as he exposed the sadistic oppression of Black people and made the slave Jim the hero. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the book has been banned for its use of a racial slur, but Chernow makes a strong case for the book’s significance, buttressed by “James” author Everett’s summation: “Anyone who wants to ban Huck Finn hasn’t read it.”
Twain’s book sales failed to balance the household budget, and the family had to move to Europe to curtail expenses, the beginning of years of exile. Their departure from America was the end of a dream and the beginning of a nightmare. Twain’s daughter Susy, who had remained in America, died of bacterial meningitis at age 24. Then Livy died. Her loss unleashed Twain’s anger at pitiless fate, and his relationships with his two surviving daughters became increasingly estranged. “Ah, this odious swindle, human life,” he swore, after his daughter Jean endured a major epileptic seizure.
“In most lives there arrives a mellowing, a lovely autumnal calm that overtakes even the stormiest personalities,” Chernow writes. “In Twain’s case, it was exactly the reverse: his emotions intensified, his indignation at injustice flared ever more hotly, his rage became almost rabid.” He continued to write and make appearances, drawing huge crowds, honing his image as a white-suited, cigar-chomping seer. But he also became self-indulgent and self-isolating, assisted by a poorly paid helper, Isabel Lyon, who took over most aspects of his life, an arrangement that was a prescription for disaster. His main companions were his “angelfish,” prepubescent girls he arranged to keep company with (Chernow makes a strong case that there was no sexual abuse in this arrangement), but his retreat into a second childhood couldn’t shield him from the final, catastrophic family loss that came shortly before his own death.
The downward trajectory of Twain’s life shadows his story in elements of Greek tragedy. Twain was a cauldron of creativity and often courage, speaking for Black equality and the suffrage movement, and against anti-Chinese harassment, colonialism and kings. But in his final years, he allowed grief and bitterness to swamp his life, and one wonders at how such a brilliant man could have such little understanding of himself. At 1,200 pages, this is not a book for the casual reader, and Chernow never quite gets to the core of the contradictions in Twain’s conflicted soul. But he tells the whole story, in all its glory and sorrow.
“Mark Twain” is a masterful exploration of the magnificent highs and unutterable lows of an American literary genius. Twain himself once said that “Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of a man — the biography of the man himself cannot be written.” But this one feels like the truth of one man’s star-crossed life.
Gwinn, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who lives in Seattle, writes about books and authors.
May 12 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday night said he will sign an executive order to reduce drug prices in the United States by between 30% and 80% with the aim of equalizing global prices.
No details of the executive order, which Trump said he’d sign Monday morning, were released, and it was not immediately clear how exactly the order would work.
He made the announcement in a post to his Truth Social platform, calling the executive order “one of the most consequential … in our Country’s history.”
“Prescription Drug and Pharmaceutical prices will be REDUCED, almost immediately, by 30% to 80%. They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!”
In the statement, Trump said he would be instituting a “MOST FAVORED NATION’S POLICY whereby the United States will pay the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price.”
He said the executive order would be signed 9 a.m. EDT Monday at the White House.
Trump had tried during his first term to institute a Most Favored Nation policy via executive order to tie U.S. prescription drug prices for Medicare to the world’s cheapest price tags but was met with successfullegal challenges from the pharmaceutical industry.
PhRMA, a pharmaceutical trade group, criticized the original version of the plan from Trump’s first term as “bad policy,” stating it will limit seniors’ access to existing medicine and hamper development of new drugs.
Dr. Houman David Hemmati, a California physician and critic of California’ s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, said the policy is “a strong step toward fairness” but does present risks.
On X, he said it could limit patient access to drugs in those countries where the drugs’ prices are cheapest, as drug makers might pull out of those markets. It could also affect development, especially of generic drugs, which could also be pulled from shelves.
“A generic priced very low abroad might disappear if the U.S. demands that price, impacting access to essentials like insulin,” he said, adding that countries reliant on low prices might face drug access issues, and the United States might see delays in new drug launches.
According to a January 2024 report from the Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, the prices across all drugs in the United States were at least 2.78 times higher than in comparison countries and at least 3.22 times as high for brand drugs.
In his Sunday night statement, Trump said that with his new policy, “Our Country will finally be treated fairly and our citizens Healthcare Costs will be reduced by numbers never even thought of before.”
He said the United States will save trillions of dollars.
In April, Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Health and Human Services to standardize Medicare payments to reduce the price of prescription drugs.
The 2025 TV BAFTAs crowed some surprise winners – but fans of the hit BBC game show The Traitors were less than impressed when the series lost in all its categories
Fans of Claudia Winkleman and The Traitors were fuming when the BBC show failed to win at the 2025 TV BAFTAs(Image: Getty Images for BAFTA)
Fans of The Traitors were up in arms on Sunday night when the hit BBC show failed to win a single award at the 2025 TV BAFTAs. The reality game show sees contestants competing for a cash prize while trying to avoid being eliminated by non faithful members of the group.
On Sunday night, the show was nominated for three gongs – standing to win the Best Reality award, Best Entertainment Performance award, and the public-voted Memorable Moment award. But – to the outrage of devoted fans – the series failed to win a single gong.
Channel 4’s The Jury: Murder Trial proved triumphant in the Best Reality category – while show host Claudia Winkleman failed to bring home the Best Entertainment Performance award, losing out to Joe Lycett for his Channel 4 show Late Night Lycett.
Despite having a loyal fanbase, the series also failed to win the public voted Memorable Moment award – and Strictly Come Dancing waltzed off with it instead for a powerful dance performed by Dianne Buswell and Chris McCausland. After realising that the Traitors had not managed to secure any wins, fans took to social media to complain – and plot a revolt.
Over on X, the fan page The Traitors HQ was quick to realise that betrayal had taken place at the hands of the voting experts. Unleashing a post over the failure to secure one of the top gongs, they raged: “The Traitors just LOST the award for Best Reality Show at the 2025 #BAFTATVAwards. We ride at dawn.”
Joe Lycett won the Best Entertainment Performance award – but didn’t even attend the ceremony(Image: Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
The message spurned motivated other fans to express disappointment – with one asking “HOW” in response, while another raged: “Robbed , absolutely robbed . Never heard of the winner.”
There soon followed complaints over the fact Diane’s “iconic” line “Paul isn’t my son… but Ross is!” was overlooked in the memorable moment category – with one fan blasting: “RIGGED” in protest.
And then when Claudia lost the Best Entertainment Performance award to Joe Lycett – who did not even attend the awards – anger reached volcanic levels. One fan exclaimed: “Oh man! The Traitors are the best! You still a winner in my eyes!”
With the final results unveiled, The Traitors HQ recapped the unfortunate affair, typing: “Despite being the most watched and most talked about reality TV show of the past year, The Traitors UK walked away with ZERO awards at the 2025 #BAFTATVAwards. Thoughts?”
The fans did not hold back, with one writing: “ROBBED & UNDESERVED… Claudia deserved Best Presenter at the very least!” And another branded the outcome as: “Absolutely ridiculous”.
Other fans were more considered, however, with one reasoning: “They can’t allow one show to win everything every year.” While another pondered: “If the viewers don’t vote in the public votes it doesn’t help. Also sometimes super popular programmes don’t get voted for by the panel.”
Fans of The Traitors will have more devious episodes to watch over the coming year as the show will return for a fourth season – while the first ever UK celebrity version of the show began filming last month. A string of stars signed up to stab each other in the back on camera.
Comedy cutie Alan Carr, sports expert Clare Balding, national treasure Stephen Fry, and actor Nick Mohammed are among those taking part in the series – with the celeb edition expected to air at some point later this year.
Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff at a gaggle with National Security Advisor Michael Waltz at the Stakeout Location in front of the White House in Washington, DC, in February. File photo by Annabelle Gordon/UPI | License Photo
May 11 (UPI) — A fourth round of nuclear talks between the United States and Oman have produced encouraging results for the Trump administration, a senior official told reporters Sunday.
White House envoy Steve Witkoff met with Iranian foreign ministries Accas Araghchi for three hours Sunday in Muscat. The talks were mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi.
“The discussions were again both direct and indirect,” Axios reported the official said.
The news comes just days before President Donald Trump‘s scheduled trip to the Middle East this week.
The two sides are reportedly working through the technical elements of a potential nuclear pact.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the talks as “difficult but useful.” Both sides were guarded in their comments.
“We are encouraged by today’s outcome and look forward to our next meeting, which will happen in the near future,” the United States official said.
El-Busaidi said on X that the two sides discussed “useful and original ideas reflecting a shared wish to reach an honorable agreement.”
There is some question over how enforceable the current deal being discussed would be as Araghachi said before the meeting that civilian enrichment of uranium would not be subject to the new rules.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on Iran to import enriched uranium instead, but Iranian officials pushed back and said the country’s investment in creating it runs deep.
“Enrichment is one of the achievements and honors of the Iranian nation,” Araghchi has said. “We have paid a heavy price for enrichment. The blood of out nuclear scientists has been spilled for this achievement.”
He was referring to Iranian scientists who have been killed during the course of the country’s enrichment program.
Many of Monday’s papers are leading on the government’s new plans to control the levels of migration into the UK. The Guardian says the prime minister is toughening rules in what it calls a “challenge to Reform [UK]”, which inflicted losses on Labour in the recent local elections. It states that adults such as spouses, siblings, parents and grown-up children who accompany foreign workers to the UK will be expected to pass an English language test, while care homes will be prevented from recruiting staff from abroad.
“Migrants must earn right to stay… and improve their English,” headlines the i Paper as it quotes Sir Keir Starmer saying new immigrants have to earn the “privilege, not right” to settle in the UK. The paper analyses this as the government “seeking to seize [the] narrative from surging Reform UK”.
The Times also goes with migrants needing to “earn their right to remain”, with those who pay their taxes on time, work in the public sector or have high-skilled jobs, or volunteer in the community, being “prioritised for residency rights”. Shadow home secretary Chris Philip says it is a “joke” to say the plans will be tough on criminal migrants.
“Migrants must wait ten years to become British”, the Daily Express says under what it calls a “crackdown”. It explains that automatic settlement and citizenship for anyone living in the UK for five years will also end. The paper hears from the Conservatives who accuse the government of “pretending to be tough” on the issue.
The Conservative response is also highlighted by the Daily Mail. It says the Tories have called the plans “laughable” for not including a cap on numbers and the paper adds that critics “immediately questioned” how success would be measured. The prime minister vows that “migration numbers will fall”, the paper adds, as it puts the other side of the political argument.
The Daily Telegraph focuses on another part of the wide-ranging proposals with the headline “Starmer to shut ECHR migrant loophole”. It says the white paper will “tighten legislation” that currently allow courts to grant asylum to what it calls “foreign criminals and illegal migrants” under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The Sun leads on an exclusive which claims that while Starmer is announcing his crackdown on foreign criminals being granted asylum, Trinidadian rapper Bang Em Smurf – real name Daniel Calliste – is staying at a taxpayer-funded hotel while seeking asylum in the UK. The paper reports that the rapper – who is a “pal” of 50 Cent – has previously been jailed in the US “following a shootout”.
The Financial Times says Chinese companies are “accelerating a purge of foreign components” from their supply chains, and were “increasing efforts to source domestic inputs” to replace them with. This follows the “steep tariffs” slapped on China by the US. An analyst for research provider Rhodium Group says the tariffs increase Beijing’s desire to become self-sufficient – something Chinese President Xi Jinping pushed for in policies called “Made in China 2025”.
“I’ll face Putin to get peace”, reads Metro’s headline on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreeing to hold “direct negotiations” with his Russian counterpart. The paper says Zelensky accepted President Vladimir Putin’s peace talks offer after pressure from the US president – and hours after saying there would be no talks without a ceasefire first.
The Daily Mirror claims “weight-loss jabs ‘cut cancer risk'”, according to new research that suggests they could cut the risk by nearly half. One expert says it could “herald a new era of preventative cancer medicine”, the paper reports.
And finally, the Daily Star- keen as ever on a weather-related story – splashes a Photoshopped image of beach-ready seagulls – towel, sunnies and hat in tow – and the sub-headline “27C hotter than Malta”. It says a “two-week heatwave starts” is starting today and that Britain will be warmer than Mediterranean resorts including Malta. “Grab an ice cream!” it adds.
TheBridgertonicon, 32, packed on the PDA with the gorgeous model, 24,making a loving public appearance just two days after going Instagram official reported The Mail.
Luke, who plays Colin Bridgerton on the show, opted for a classic black suit and an unbuttoned matching shirt.
Antonia shimmered beside him in a sculpted mono-shoulder purple long length gown.
The Netflix icon appeared in very happy spirits as he was snapped and spoke to TV fans on his way inside the event.
Much like her famous boyfriend, Antonia is also in the entertainment industry.
The talented star is in fact a dancer, who has worked on some top TV shows, she has performed on both Dancing on Ice and Greece’s Got Talent.
Antonia is also an Influencer and boasts nearly 16K followers and she was first linked to Luke last year.
During tonight’s awards ceremony, the Bafta reality prize went to Channel 4‘s The Jury: Murder Trial, beating the hit BBC psychological series The Traitors.
Luke Newton’s girlfriend Antonia Roumelioti looks super hot as she shows off her dance moves
Ariyon Bakare has won the best supporting actor gong at the Bafta TV Awards for his role playing Morris De La Roux in BBC drama Mr Loverman.
The BBC also won the sport award for its coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympics and an award in the live coverage category for Glastonbury Festival.
Best specialist factual went to BBC Two‘s Atomic People, which heard from those who witnessed the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
May 11 (UPI) — The United States was added to an international human rights watchlist on Sunday over Trump administration attacks targeting civic freedoms.
CIVICUS, an international human rights monitor, said it added the United States due to “the Trump administration’s assault on democratic norms and global cooperation.”
As reason, it listed President Donald Trump‘s “unprecedented executive orders designed to unravel democratic institutions, rule of law and global cooperation” as well as its slashing of federal funding for organizations supporting those in need, the dismantling of USAID and reversals on justice, inclusion and diversity.
It also highlighted the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestine protests through arbitrary arrests and student visa cancelations
“This is an unparalleled attack on the rule of law in the United States, not seen since the days of McCarthyism in the 20th century,” Mandeep Tiwana, interim co-secretary general of CIVICUS, said in a statement.
“Restrictive orders, unjustifiable institutional cutbacks and intimidation tactics through threatening pronouncements by senior officials in the administration are creating an atmosphere to chill democratic dissent, a cherished American ideal.”
The United States being added to the watchlist comes as the Trump administration has come under mounting criticism over its attacks on American democratic institutions.
It has been accused of ignoring due process rights in arresting and shipping hundreds of migrants to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador and has been condemned for its repeated attacks of the judicial system — from calling for judges who rule against it to be impeached to arresting another on allegations of impeding an immigration-related arrest.
CIVICUS also highlight the Trump administration’s attacks on press freedom as reason for its inclusion the list.
It pointed to the White House now determining which media outlets have access to presidential briefings and banning reporters covering political sensitive topics as proof.
“The Trump administration seems hellbent on dismantling the system of checks and balances, which are the pillars of a democratic society,” Tiwana said.
Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir — On Saturday morning at Fateh Kadal, a densely packed neighbourhood on the sloping embankment of the Jhelum river in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir’s largest city, 62-year-old Hajira wrapped a cotton scarf with a brown paisley design around her shoulders.
With her face muscles tense and sweat beading across her upper lip, she sat on the cement floor of a government-run grains store.
“Can you make it quick?” she called to the person manning the store.
Hajira comes to the store every month to submit her biometric details, as required by the government to secure the release of her monthly quota of subsidised grains, which her family of four depends on.
But this time was different. The past few days have been unprecedented for residents of Indian-administered Kashmir. Drones hovered overhead, airports were shut down, explosions rang out, people were killed in cross-border fire and the region prepared for the possibility of an all-out war.
“He made me stand in the queue,” she said, flinching from knee pain, referring to the store operator. “But there’s uncertainty around. I just want my share of rice so I can quickly return. A war is coming.”
Then, on Saturday evening, Hajira breathed a sigh of relief. United States President Donald Trump announced that he had succeeded in mediating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
“I thank Allah for this,” Hajira said, smiling sheepishly. “Perhaps he understood that I didn’t have the means to endure the financial hardship that a war-like situation would have caused.”
On Sunday morning, Trump went a step further, saying in a post on his Truth Social platform that would try to work with India and Pakistan to resolve their longstanding dispute over Kashmir, a region both countries partly control, but where they each claim the part the other administers.
Political analyst Zafar Choudhary, based in the city of Jammu in southern Indian-administered Kashmir, told Al Jazeera that New Delhi would not be happy about Trump’s statement. India has long argued that Pakistan-sponsored “terrorism” is the primary reason for tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
However, “Trump’s offer underlines the fact that Kashmir remains central to India-Pakistan confrontations”, Choudhary said.
And for Kashmiris, the hope stemming from the fragile pause in fighting between India and Pakistan, and Trump’s offer to mediate talks on Kashmir, is tempered by scepticism borne from a decades-long, desperate wait for peace.
A Kashmiri family watches as projectiles fly over the sky in Indian-administered Kashmir, Saturday, May 10, 2025 [Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo]
‘Never been more frightened’
Hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris stood in the direct line of fire between India and Pakistan in recent days.
As the neighbouring nations launched missiles and drones at each other, communities in Indian-administered Kashmir near the de-facto border with Pakistan also witnessed cross-border shelling on a scale unseen in decades, triggering an exodus of people towards safer locations.
The shadow of conflict has stalked their lives for nearly four decades, since an armed rebellion first erupted against the Indian government in the late 1980s. Then, in 2019, the government scrapped Indian-administered Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status amid a huge security crackdown – thousands of people were imprisoned.
On April 22, a brutal attack by gunmen on tourists at Pahalgam left 26 civilians dead, shattering the normalcy critics had accused India of projecting in the disputed region.
Since then, in addition to a diplomatic tit-for-tat and missile exchanges with Pakistan, the Indian government has intensified its crackdown on Indian-administered Kashmir.
It has demolished the homes of rebels accused of links to the Pahalgam attack, raided other homes across the region and detained approximately 2,800 people, 90 of whom have been booked under the Public Safety Act, a draconian preventive detention law. The police also summoned many journalists and detained at least one for “promoting secessionist ideology”.
By Sunday, while a sense of jubilation swept through the region over the ceasefire, many people were still cautious, doubtful even, about whether the truce brokered by Trump would hold.
Just hours after both countries declared a cessation of hostilities, loud explosions rang out in major urban centres across Indian-administered Kashmir as a swarm of kamikaze drones from Pakistan raced across the airspace.
Many residents raced to the terraces of their apartments and homes to capture videos of the drones being brought down by India’s defence systems, a trail of bright red dots arcing across the night sky before exploding in midair.
As part of the emergency protocols, the authorities turned off the electricity supply. Fearing that the debris from drones would fall on them, residents ran for safety. The surge of drones through the night skies also touched off sirens, triggering a sense of dread.
“I don’t think I have ever been more frightened before,” said Hasnain Shabir, a 24-year-old business graduate from Srinagar. “The streets have been robbed of all their life. If the prelude to war looks like this, I don’t know what war will look like.”
A group of Kashmiri women wait for transportation to leave the area after overnight shelling from Pakistan at Gingal village in the Uri district, Indian-administered Kashmir, Friday, May 9, 2025 [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]
A fragile ceasefire
Hours after the ceasefire was announced on Saturday, India accused Pakistan of violating the truce by shelling border regions. Residents across major towns in Kashmir were on their toes, once again, after drones reappeared in the skies.
One of the worst-affected places in Kashmir these days is Uri, a picturesque town of pear orchards and walnut groves close to India’s contested border with Pakistan.
The village is surrounded by majestic mountains through which the Jhelum river flows. It is the final frontier on the Indian-administered side before the hills pave the way to Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Parts of Uri saw intense shelling, forcing the residents to leave their homes and look for safety. On May 8, officials told Al Jazeera that a woman, Nargis Bashir, was killed in her car as she and her family tried to flee the border region, like thousands of others, after flying shrapnel tore through the vehicle. Three of her family members were wounded.
Muhammad Naseer Khan, 60, a former army serviceman, was huddling in his room when Pakistani artillery fire hit a nearby military post, with metal shrapnel shards blasting through the walls of his house. “The blast has damaged one side of my home,” Khan said, wearing a traditional blue shirt and a tweed coat.
“I don’t know if this place is even liveable,” he said, his bright blue eyes betraying a sense of fear.
Despite the ceasefire, his two daughters and many others in his family who had left for a relative’s house, away from the disputed border, are sceptical about returning. “My children are refusing to return. They have no guarantee that guns won’t roar again,” he said.
Suleman Sheikh, a 28-year-old resident in Uri, recalled his childhood years when his grandfather would talk about the Bofors artillery gun stationed inside a military garrison in the nearby village of Mohra.
“He told us that the last time this gun had roared was in 1999, when India and Pakistan clashed on the icy peaks of Kargil. It is a conventional belief here that if this gun roared again, things are going to get too bad,” he said.
That’s what happened at 2am on May 8. As the Bofors gun in Mohra prepared to fire ammunition across the mountains into Pakistan, Sheikh felt the ground shaking beneath him. An hour and a half later, a shell fired from the other side hit an Indian paramilitary installation nearby, making a long hissing noise before striking with a thud.
Hours after Sheikh spoke to Al Jazeera for this report, another shell landed on his home. The rooms and the portico of his house collapsed, according to a video he shared with Al Jazeera.
He had refused to leave his home despite his family’s pleas to join them. “I was here to protect our livestock,” Sheikh said. “I didn’t want to leave them alone.”
Unlike the rest of the Kashmir Valley, where apple cultivation brings millions of dollars in income for the region, Uri is relatively poor. Villagers mostly work odd jobs for the Indian Army, which maintains large garrisons there, or farm walnuts and pears. Livestock rearing has turned into a popular vocation for many in the town.
“We have seen the firsthand experience of what war feels like. It is good that the ceasefire has taken place. But I don’t know if it will hold or not,” Sheikh said, his face downcast. “I pray that it does.”
People walk at a open market, a day after the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in Srinagar, in Indian-administered Kashmir, Sunday, May 11, 2025 [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
‘How long must this continue?’
Back in Srinagar, residents are slowly returning to the rhythm of their daily lives. Schools and colleges continue to remain closed, and people are avoiding unnecessary travel.
The scenes of racing drone fleets in the skies and the accompanying blasts are seared into public memory. “Only in the evening will we come to know whether this ceasefire has held on,” said Muskaan Wani, a student of medicine at Government Medical College, Srinagar, said on Sunday.
It did, overnight, but the tension over whether it will last remains.
Political experts attribute the general scepticism about the ceasefire to the unresolved political issues in the region – a point that was echoed in Trump’s statement on Sunday, in which he referred to a possible “solution concerning Kashmir”.
“The problem to begin with is the political alienation [of Kashmiris],” said Noor Ahmad Baba, a former professor and head of the political science department at the University of Kashmir.
“People in Kashmir feel humiliated for what has happened to them in the last few years, and there haven’t been any significant efforts to win them over. When there’s humiliation, there is suspicion.”
Others in Indian-administered Kashmir expressed their anger at both countries for ruining their lives.
“I doubt that our feelings as Kashmiris even matter,” said Furqan, a software engineer in Srinagar who only gave his first name. “Two nuclear powers fought, caused damage and casualties at the borders, gave their respective nations a spectacle to watch, their goals were achieved, and then they stopped the war.
“But the question is, who suffered the most? It’s us. For the world, we are nothing but collateral damage.”
Furqan said his friends were sceptical about the ceasefire when the two countries resumed shelling on the evening of May 10.
“We all already were like, ‘It is not gonna last,’” he said, “And then we heard the explosions again.”
Muneeb Mehraj, a 26-year-old resident of Srinagar who studies management in the northern Indian state of Punjab, echoed Furqan.
“For others, the war may be over. A ceasefire has been declared. But once again, it’s Kashmiris who have paid the price – lives lost, homes destroyed, peace shattered,” he said. “How long must this cycle continue?”
“We are exhausted,” Mehraj continued. “We don’t want another temporary pause. We want a lasting, permanent solution.”
Just as Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Dina (Isabela Merced) find themselves cornered by numerous infected inside an abandoned warehouse in the latest episode of “The Last of Us,” their reliable friend Jesse arrives in the nick of time to save them.
But mutant fungal zombies are not the only roaming threat in the world in HBO’s postapocalyptic thriller, and the trio immediately find themselves trying to evade attacks from the local militia as well as a mysterious cult.
Over a couple of video calls — including one in which he was surrounded by what looked like the lush natural world of the show — actor Young Mazino discussed his character Jesse’s rescue mission to Seattle as well as how “The Last of Us” has further propelled his rising profile in Hollywood. As for what happens in Episode 5, Mazino sums up the usually laid-back Jesse’s feelings as Ellie and Dina pepper him with questions about his unexpected arrival: “He’s pissed.”
“He’s really pissed off that they’re there to begin with,” Mazino says in a video call. “He knows the stakes. He knows how serious it can get. There’s a lot of s— on his mind but … for him, it’s about getting everyone to safety, surviving and then the emotions come later. Then we can hash it out.”
A patrol coordinator in their Jackson, Wyo., settlement, Jesse has an on again, off again relationship with Dina — “a situationship,” as Mazino calls it. After the horde of infected attacked Jackson, he became a member of the council that leads the community.
Jesse has come to the rescue, but “he’s pissed,” says Young Mazino.
(Liane Hentscher / HBO)
Mazino describes Jesse as “a pretty happy-go-lucky guy” in the earlier episodes of the season, as well as “a bit of a Boy Scout.” But as audiences see in Episode 5, he’s also a capable fighter proficient in firearms and equipped with key survival skills. Mazino says co-star Gabriel Luna (who plays Tommy) joked that Jesse is a “gentle monster.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” says Mazino. “For these people to survive up to that point, you do have to have a bit of that savagery and be able to turn that on. It’s just a matter of being able to switch it back off.”
Much like Jesse, Mazino exudes a quiet, gentle spirit through the screen of a video call. He references the stories of Anton Chekhov, the artistic philosophy of Pablo Picasso and anime like “Jujutsu Kaisen.” (“If ‘Vinland Saga’ existed in this world, Jesse would really f— with that manga” because of its themes, Mazino says.) He’s as game to discuss a dream blunt rotation among the Jackson community members as he is to contemplate the Asian diaspora in a postapocalyptic world.
“He’s so chill and mellow,” Ramsey says of her castmate. “I got to know him quite well and he’s so perceptive and so thoughtful about everything. I feel really lucky to have gotten to know him more than just the chill, mellow guy that everyone sees on the surface.”
The respect is mutual. Mazino calls Ramsey “an extraordinary individual” whose work ethic is No. 1 on the call sheet. One vivid memory: standing underneath some PVC pipes with Ramsey on set and enjoying a moment in artificial rain together.
“I was soggy and wet every day for hours on end,” Mazino says of filming the show’s Seattle-set episodes. “And as soon as you’re about to dry, they wet you down again. What helps is having someone like Bella Ramsey, who maintains this levity. So despite being wet and soggy and miserable all day, being miserable with someone that’s just as miserable and wet as you really helps.”
“The Last of Us” marks Mazino’s highest-profile project yet. After years of trying to make it as an actor, Mazino got his breakout role in the 2023 limited series “Beef,” where he portrays a slacker who falls for his older brother’s road-rage nemesis. His performance earned him an Emmy nomination.
His familiarity with “The Last of Us” initially stemmed from watching YouTube videos of the game’s story scenes. But before meeting showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann for the project, Mazino bought a used PlayStation 4 to play through the key moments of Jesse’s story.
Young Mazino calls “The Last of Us” a rare opportunity.
(Jennifer McCord / For The Times)
“When I told Craig I played through the game hoping he would be pleasantly surprised, he was like, ‘I wish you actually didn’t play the game at all,’” Mazino says.
Preparation for the role included going “crazy at the gym for a few months,” Mazino says. He also received weapons training and learned to ride a horse.
“I’ve been on many sets in the last 10 years and I’m aware of how rare this kind of opportunity is,” Mazino says. “My expectation for writing and storytelling became very high after ‘Beef,’ and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find something to match that. But ‘The Last of Us’ came my way and I love getting to explore different facets of myself through character.”
Jesse has a soft spot for Ellie, whom he initially meets as a prickly outsider cut from similar cloth, Mazino says. Both are loners who’d rather avoid the spotlight — particularly at parties. But Jesse also recognizes Ellie’s inner fire and potential.
“Jesse finds Ellie so interesting and amusing and endearing,” Mazino says. “To be this small, petite girl and have so much vitriol and fire and angst. I think Jesse wants to help Ellie harness all that intense energy that she has and put it to good use.”
The pair also share an attraction to Dina, who is a bit more social and warm and seemingly carefree. And though Jesse did not seem to mind Ellie and Dina sharing a drunken kiss at a party in an earlier episode, the couple’s relationship has since grown more romantic and intimate.
Mazino believes Jesse has been fully aware that Ellie and Dina have been dancing around their feelings for each other.
“I think Jesse’s the type of person that understands that love is love, and it’s not something you can cage or latch on to,” Mazino says. “I think the healthy form of love is to allow it to flourish. .… Love is a spectrum … and maybe he recognizes that Dina is not somebody he may necessarily want to be exclusively with forever together. But there is love.”
Mazino insists that Jesse cares less about Ellie and Dina’s developing romance than he does the fact that Dina has followed her lover into a war zone.
“Love eludes common sense and rationality a lot so he’s just trying to be the level-headed one through and through,” says Mazino.
Jesse (Young Mazino) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) have different opinions about revenge.
(Liane Hentscher / HBO)
Jesse clearly opposes the Ellie revenge tour that has brought them to Seattle, and Mazino says their differing philosophies stem from Jesse’s appreciation for the community of Jackson. Because he was able to find a home in Jackson, Jesse’s response to loss is to grab onto what remains.
“I think he serves as a perfect reflector off of [Ellie for] how one copes with death and murder and violence,” Mazino says. “Some people, all they see is red and they want the revenge. But the other side of that choice is savoring what’s remaining and what’s precious to you.”
Ellie, he adds, is “all about revenge, revenge, revenge for someone she lost. But Jesse wants the opposite of that. He wants to maintain what they still have, knowing how fleeting it is to be alive in this world.”
While the world of “The Last of Us” is bleak, Mazino and his castmates found ways between takes to escape the heaviness. One form of relief: a shared love of music. Mazino, Luna, Merced and Ramsey all play guitar.
“We all brought a guitar without even telling each other,” Mazino says. “There was always a guitar on set or we would steal one from the set and get in trouble. We’d have jam sessions. Somebody would be playing some tune or a song, and if we knew it, we join in [or] we’d learn it.”
Mazino says that they all had eclectic tastes and traded songs “like Pokémon.” (Mazino’s contributions included Daniel Caesar, Frank Ocean and “some R&B stuff.”)
“It’s so difficult to maintain a heavy energy for 12 to 16 hours a day,” he says. “It really helps to have people that are able to laugh and crack jokes and be light and to play music … so a guitar is a lifesaver on a set like that.”
Young Mazino says Jesse is a “person that understands love is love.”
May 11 (UPI) — The Qatari Royal Family has planned to gift a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet to President Donald Trump to be used for Air Force One and for his own private use when his presidency ends, reports said Sunday.
The gift is expected to be formally announced when Trump visits Qatar next week, according to the reports. Trump toured the plane when it was parked at the West Palm Beach International Airport in February.
A Qatari representative, however, told Axios that while reports of Trump being gifted a jet were “inaccurate,” Qatar’s Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense are discussing the possible temporary use of an aircraft as Air Force One.
If it is gifted, the jet could become the most valuable gift ever from a foreign government to the United States, ABC News reported. Its $400 million estimated price tag surpasses the estimated $250,000 cost of constructing the Statue of Liberty — which was gifted to the United States from France.
But the expected acceptance of the gift by Trump raises questions of its legality, raising the possibility that the president could face scrutiny for bribery or violating the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The Emoluments Clause prohibits federal officials from accepting gifts, payments or other benefits from foreign governments without the consent of Congress but there is debate as to whether it applies to elected officials. According to Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, the interpretation of the clause has never been litigated before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Lawyers for the White House reportedly expect accepting the gift to draw scrutiny and have drafted an analysis for U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which concludes that it is legal for the U.S. Defense Department to accept the gift and then to later hand it over to Trump’s presidential library for his private use when he leaves office.
The Trump administration is looking to the precedent set by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in handling the ethical considerations of accepting a retired presidential aircraft.
The Reagan Library boasts a 90,000-square-foot exhibit hangar that permanently displays a Boeing VC-137C aircraft with the tail letters SAM 27000, which entered service as Air Force One under President Richard Nixon.
Though the plane was used by each president until George W. Bush, it is best known in relation to Reagan and was gifted to his library when it was decommissioned in 2001. Reagan died in 2004.
The difference between the use of the two gifts that could pose a challenge for Trump is that the Reagan Library immediately installed it for permanent display while Trump is reported to be planning to continue using it for personal travel.
Trump currently owns a Boeing 757 that dates to the early 1990s. The jet was originally operated by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen before Trump purchased it in 2011.
Two new Air Force One planes have been in the works since at least 2018 when the Air Force awarded a $3.9 billion contract for two modified Boeing 747-8 planes that were expected for delivery by 2024.
Trump told ABC News in 2019 that he wanted to change up the traditional baby blue and white pattern chosen by former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the 1960s to a new color scheme that resembled that of his private jet.
Boeing started modifying the first of the two aircraft in February 2020 and the second in June 2020. According to a 2022 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the company had completed major structural modifications on the first aircraft and is now preparing it for wiring installations.
However, at the time, Boeing struggled to find workers to complete the modifications because of a “competitive labor market” and “lower-than-planned security clearance approval rates.” The Air Force later lowered security clearance standards to make it easier to find workers.
Last week, Defense One reported that Boeing has told the Air Force it can deliver the new jets by 2027 if the government loosens some requirements.
Speaking on ITV’s The Assembly, Gary Lineker opened up about his son George’s cancer battle as a baby and reflected on feeling ‘lucky’ that he survived
Gary Lineker on ITV’s The Assembly
Gary Lineker has candidly opened up about his son’s cancer battle, revealing he initially “wasn’t given much chance”, during an interview on ITV’s The Assembly.
The ex-footballer, 64, is one of the celebrities appearing in the new four-part series of The Assembly, which sees stars quizzed by a group of interviewers who are autistic, neurodivergent or learning disabled, with no topics off the table.
Gary was asked about how he felt when his eldest son George was diagnosed with cancer as a baby, with the dad-of-four becoming emotional as he reflected on the extremely difficult time.
“That was really tough – it changes you,” he admitted. “He was only two months old. We got told he had leukaemia, he wasn’t given much chance.”
Gary Lineker appears on ITV’s The Assembly
“It was really awful. We were in the hospital for around seven months with him,” Gary went on to add. “But we were the lucky ones, because there were other parents in there that lost their kids so we felt quite fortunate in the end. It was really scary.”
Gary shares four sons, George, Tobias, Harry and Angus, with his ex-wife Michelle, who he split from in 2006 after 20 years of marriage.
The pundit reflected on the ways in which he and ex Michelle coped with George’s cancer diagnosis, also adding: “I felt I needed to talk about it. Michelle, she would bottle things up. But ultimately we got a good ending.”
Elsewhere in The Assembly, Gary spoke about his suspension from the BBC in 2023, admitting that the media frenzy that followed “upset” him at the time, but the support he received from colleagues was “beautiful”.
Gary’s son George had cancer as a baby
“It was a crazy week and it upset me,” he added. “I had all the press outside my house every minute of the day, for about five/six days. It got a bit silly but it was actually also lovely because the backing I got from the people I work with was beautiful.”
Gary was temporarily removed from Match of The Day in 2023 after being accused of breaching BBC impartiality guidelines, due to a tweet he shared criticising the UK government’s immigration policy.
Fellow pundits including Ian Wright, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards all stood in solidarity with Gary and said they would not be appearing on MOTD in the wake of his suspension.
After several days, the dispute was resolved with Gary back on MOTD. Tim Davie, BBC’s Director General, released a public statement at the time, saying the BBC has a “commitment to impartiality” as well as “freedom of expression”.
The Assembly: Gary Lineker airs Sunday 11th May at 10pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player
May 11 (UPI) — One person was killed and dozens more were injured Sunday in a collision between a tour bus and a stalled SUV on a Los Angeles County freeway, police said.
The tour bus was carrying 63 passengers when it collided with a disabled Nissan Pathfinder on State Route 60 near Hacienda Heights, an unincorporated area east of Los Angeles, according to a statement from the California Highway Patrol.
The Nissan erupted into flames after it was hit by the bus shortly after 5 a.m. EDT Sunday. The driver died at the scene, police said.
“As a result of the impact, the Nissan Pathfinder became fully engulfed in flames, trapping the occupant,” the CHP statement said.
The CHP statement said the bus was heading to Koreatown in downtown Los Angeles from Morongo Valley, about 110 miles east of the city when the collision occurred. The driver of the bus was identified as Sui Sheng Du.
Following the collision, the bus careened across multiple lanes of the freeway and crashed into a raised metal and wood guardrail on the shoulder of the highway.
Local media showed images and video of the crash. CHP said neither alcohol or drugs appeared to be a factor in the crash.
These are the key events on day 1,172 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Here is where things stand on Sunday, May 11:
Fighting:
Politics and diplomacy:
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, Turkiye, on Thursday “without preconditions” to achieve “lasting peace” and “eliminate the root causes” of the three-year conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Russia to confirm an unconditional 30-day ceasefire beginning on Monday, saying Ukraine would then be ready to meet for direct talks with Russia.
United States President Donald Trump described the talks offer as a “potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine”.
On Saturday, Zelenskyy received the backing of Europe’s major powers and Trump for the unconditional 30-day ceasefire beginning on Monday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian and French counterparts that a “historic turning point” has been reached in efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war and Ankara was ready to host talks between the two warring parties, his office said.
Macron said Putin’s offer to start direct talks with Ukraine is “a first step but not enough”, arguing that an unconditional ceasefire that Kyiv and its allies have called for should happen first. Macron accused Putin of “looking for a way out, but he still wants to buy time”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called Putin’s proposal for direct talks with Kyiv a “serious proposal” that is a step towards “lasting peace”.
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said the US and Europe are collectively ramping up pressure on Russia to push through a ceasefire. “I think the American administration is also getting a little bit impatient with these Russian games,” Michal said, accusing Russia of dragging its feet in implementing a truce.
A POPULAR Amazon gadget has been urgently recalled over fears it could give users a deadly electric shock.
A universal power supply, sold under the Wefomey brand, has been banned from entering the UK.
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A power supply sold on Amazon under the Wefomey brand has urgently been recalledCredit: Getty
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The Wefomey Universal Power Supply fails to meet UK legal safety standardsCredit: Amazon
The dodgy device, model LGY-363000, was flagged by border officials and stopped from reaching British customers.
The plug-in gadget is advertised on Amazon as a “universal power adapter” that “fits almost all DC input sockets”.
The product is made in China and was being shipped to UK buyers.
However, it was found to be “inadequately earthed”, according to an advisory issued by the UK government.
The advisory reads: “The product presents a serious risk of electric shock due to a lack of protection from access to its live parts.”
It adds: “The insulation may break down during normal use, meaning the metal parts accessible to the consumer may be live.
“If a consumer were to touch the product during use, they may receive an electric shock.”
Officials confirmed that the product breaches the UK’s Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016.
As a corrective measure, the import was rejected at the border to prevent it from entering the UK.
Owners have been urged to stop using the product immediately.
Supermarkets urgently recall iconic Scottish snack over health risk
It comes as Amazon has issued an urgent product recall over fears an item of clothing could catch fire.
Customers have been urged to return the iHEAT Heated Jacket for Women.
According to an advisory issued by the UK government, the product presents a serious risk of fire as the lithium-ion battery pack is poorly constructed and does not provide sufficient protection to prevent thermal runaway.
The advisory reads: “Additionally, the power supply is fitted with a non-compliant plug, with the plug pins too close to the edge of the plug face, exposing the user to live parts.
“The product does not meet the requirements of the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 or the Plugs & Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994.”
Owners have been urged to stop using the product immediately and contact the distributor you purchased from to request redress.
Meanwhile, a bedroom lamp sold on Amazon has been urgently recalled over fears it could spark a house fire.
The Murcher Bedside Table Lamp, sold under models WDF-YW-02 and WDF-FX01, poses a high fire risk due to a critical design fault, according to a new safety alert.
The issue lies in the lack of proper cord anchorage inside the lamp.
Over time, the power cord can shift and place dangerous strain on the lamp’s internal connections.
This can cause wires to detach, short-circuit and overheat – which could trigger a fire.
Your product recall rights
Chief consumer reporter James Flanders reveals all you need to know.
Product recalls are an important means of protecting consumers from dangerous goods.
As a general rule, if a recall involves a branded product, the manufacturer would usually have lead responsibility for the recall action.
But it’s often left up to supermarkets to notify customers when products could put them at risk.
If you are concerned about the safety of a product you own, always check the manufacturer’s website to see if a safety notice has been issued.
When it comes to appliances, rather than just food items, the onus is usually on you – the customer – to register the appliance with the manufacturer as if you don’t there is no way of contacting you to tell you about a fault.
If you become aware that an item you own has been recalled or has any safety noticed issued against it, make sure you follow the instructions given to you by the manufacturer.
They should usually provide you with more information and a contact number on its safety notice.
In some cases, the manufacturer might ask you to return the item for a full refund or arrange for the faulty product to be collected.
You should not be charged for any recall work – such as a repair, replacement or collection of the recalled item
Leo XIV, the first American pope, voted in past Republican primaries but is not formally registered with any party.
By Grace Abels and Amy Sherman | PolitiFact
Published On 11 May 202511 May 2025
Hours after Robert Prevost became the first United States-born pontiff on May 8, social media discussions in the US speculated whether Pope Leo XIV, as he is known after the election, was a “registered Republican”.
“SCOOP: Our Turning Point Action team pulled the voting history for Pope Leo XIV,” conservative influencer Charlie Kirk wrote on social media platform X on May 8. “He’s a registered Republican who has voted in Republican primaries when not living abroad. Our data shows he’s a strong Republican, and he’s pro-life.”
Many other X posts called Prevost a “registered Republican”.
Prevost, 69, is a registered voter in Will County, Illinois, and has cast ballots there over the past 13 years. In Illinois, voters do not register by party affiliation. But they declare a party when voting in a primary, according to an April video by the Illinois State Board of Elections.
“However, you are not tied down or formally registered to this party and are free to vote for another party at a subsequent election,” the video says.
The Illinois voter registration application does not ask people to provide a party affiliation.
The Will County clerk’s office sent PolitiFact Prevost’s voter information, which lists his party affiliation as “undeclared”. It shows that he voted in the 2012, 2014 and 2016 Republican primaries. He voted absentee in the 2024 general election, with an undeclared party affiliation.
The viral screenshots Kirk and others shared on X are from L2, a paywalled database that aggregates consumer and voter data. L2’s profile of Prevost lists “Republican” in its “party” field.
It is unclear how L2 determines a party affiliation for people who live in states such as Illinois, where this information is not included in voter registration. L2 did not respond to PolitiFact’s request for comment.
Born in 1955, Prevost grew up in Dolton, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. He was ordained as a priest in 1982, then moved to Peru, where he lived from 1988 through 1998. In 1999, he returned to Chicago to serve as the prior provincial of the Augustinian province of “Mother of Good Counsel”, which covers the Midwest and Canada.
Prevost’s voter file lists his address to a house owned by his brother, John Prevost. We were unable to determine Robert Prevost’s address or where he was registered to vote before 2012. In 2014, he returned to Peru and served as the bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023. He then moved to Rome, where he has lived since.
US citizens who live overseas and meet certain criteria can vote absentee while abroad.
We contacted the clerk’s office in Cook County, Illinois, where Chicago is located, to ask whether Prevost has a voter file in the county. The clerk’s office directed us to submit a Freedom of Information Act request for that information; we did so, but did not receive an immediate response.
Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, chair of religious studies and political science professor at Northwestern University in the Chicago suburbs, said Prevost’s voting history does not tell the public “much about his views or positions other than that in that particular primary he was inclined toward one or more of the Republican candidates”.
Our ruling
X posts said Prevost is a “registered Republican”.
Prevost is registered to vote in Illinois, where voters do not register with a party affiliation. However, they declare a party affiliation when voting in a primary. County records show Prevost voted in three Republican primaries from 2012 through 2016, the most recent records we obtained.
Still, the Illinois State Board of Elections says when voters participate in primaries, they are not formally registered to a party.
No one is registered by party affiliation in Illinois, and evidence is scant about Prevost’s voting history over his lifetime.
The statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts. We rate it Mostly False.
PolitiFact researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this fact-check.
The first head-to-head trial of two blockbuster weight-loss drugs has shown Mounjaro is more effective than rival Wegovy.
Both drugs led to substantial weight loss, but Mounjaro’s 20% weight reduction, after 72 weeks of treatment, exceeded the 14% from Wegovy, according to the trial’s findings.
Researchers who led the trial said both drugs had a role, but Mounjaro may help those with the most weight to lose.
Both drugs trick the brain into making you feel full so you eat less and instead burn fat stored in the body – but subtle differences in how they work to explain the difference in effectiveness.
Wegovy, also known as semaglutide, mimics a hormone released by the body after a meal to flip one appetite switch in the brain. Mounjaro, or tirzepatide, flips two.
The trial, which was paid for by Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of Mounjaro, involved 750 obese people, with an average weight of 113kg (nearly 18 stone).
They were asked to take the highest dose they could tolerate of one of the two drugs.
32% of people lost a quarter of their body weight on Mounjaro compared to 16% on Wegovy
Those on Mounjaro lost an average of 18cm from their waistlines compared with 13cm on Wegovy.
Those on Mounjaro had better blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
Both had similar levels of side-effects.
Women tended to lose more weight than men.
Dr Louis Aronne, who conducted the trial at the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, said: “The majority of people with obesity will do just fine with semaglatide (Wegovy), those at the higher end may ultimately do better with tirzepatide (Mounjaro).”
Private tirzepatide sales ‘well ahead of semaglutide’
In the UK, the two medicines are available from specialist weight-management services, but can also be bought privately.
Prof Naveed Sattar, from the University of Glasgow, said the drugs were “good options” for patients, but while “many will be satisfied with 15% weight loss… many want as much weight loss as possible”.
“In the UK, tirzepatide sales privately are now well ahead of semaglutide – that’s just a reality – and this paper will accelerate that I imagine,” he added.
However, Wegovy is also licensed for other conditions – such as preventing heart attacks – while the equivalent trials with Mounjaro have not been completed.
A huge amount of research into weight-loss drugs is still taking place. Higher doses of current drugs are being tested, as are new ways of taking them such as oral pills and new medicines that act on the body in different ways are being investigated.
It means the final winner in this field has yet to be determined.
Prof Sattar says the amount of research taking place means we may be approaching the point where “obesity prevention may also be possible soon”, but argues “it would be far better” to make our society healthier to prevent people becoming obese.
