There have been emotional scenes in Cuba where 2,000 prisoners are being pardoned and released from jail. Authorities say it’s a “humanitarian gesture” for Holy Week, but it comes as the Trump administration intensifies pressure on Cuba over political prisoners.
Published On 3 Apr 20263 Apr 2026
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WASHINGTON — TMZ built its brand tracking celebrities. Now it’s turning its attention to Congress, chasing down paparazzi-style shots of lawmakers on break from Washington during a record-long partial government shutdown.
Videos and photos posted by the tabloid website showing lawmakers in airports, Las Vegas and even Disney World have racked up millions of views and fueled a growing backlash. With travel disruptions persisting and some federal workers going without pay, pressure is mounting on Congress to cut short its regularly scheduled recess.
Beyond TMZ, President Trump also wants lawmakers to come back, even hinting he might invoke rarely used powers to call Congress into session.
Still, it’s not clear what a return would accomplish, with the 45-day partial government shutdown at a deeper impasse than ever. The Senate reached a bipartisan funding deal last week, but House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected it, and House Republicans passed their own version before heading for the exits.
“I’m not sure that we’d come,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons said Monday when asked about members being called back. “And I’m not sure that there would be any difference from what’s happened so far.”
As lawmakers headed out of Washington last week, the celebrity-gossip outlet TMZ put out a call.
“TMZ is on the hunt for photos of politicians on vacay as TSA officers suffer!” the outlet said in a social media post.
The focus from TMZ — an outlet known more for capturing unflattering footage of celebrities than digging into the nuances of federal policy — was the latest example of how politics is being fueled by viral images and populist sentiment.
Videos quickly followed, showing senators moving through airports — often attempting to shield themselves from cameras — with provocative headlines layered on top. The clips racked up millions of views.
The outlet didn’t stop there. Photos of lawmakers on vacation soon followed, including viral images of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham at Disney World with captions such as: “Lindsey Graham lives it up at Disney World during the partial government shutdown!”
Graham said that he had been in Florida for a meeting with Trump administration officials and had made a stop at Disney World with a friend. He also blamed Democrats for the shutdown.
Another widely shared post showed Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia in Las Vegas.
“Actually I don’t mind what TMZ is doing here,” Garcia posted in response, adding that he was visiting his father. “Like I said a few days ago, Speaker Mike Johnson should have never sent us all home.”
The effort grew out of frustration, said TMZ executive producer Harvey Levin, after the outlet interviewed a TSA worker struggling due to missed paychecks during the shutdown.
“It outraged us so much we wanted to use our platforms to show how Congress — Dems AND Republicans — have betrayed us,” Levin said in a statement.
He added that lawmakers shouldn’t expect the coverage to end anytime soon.
“Several months ago we decided to amp up our presence and our voice,” Levin said. “We now have a producer and a photog circulating in the Capitol, showing the intersection between politics and pop culture.”
The backlash playing out online is fueling other pressure as well. Trump has called on Congress to return. He spoke with Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Sunday and Monday, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said he has urged leadership to cancel recess “repeatedly.”
“He’ll host a big Easter dinner here at the White House if Congress will come back,” she added.
So far, Republican leadership has not blinked, raising questions about how much pressure Trump will ultimately apply — and whether he would be willing to concede ground to Democrats to end the shutdown.
Unions are adding to that pressure.
“To leave Washington while tens of thousands of workers are going without pay shows a clear lack of respect for the essential employees tasked with keeping our nation safe,” said Hydrick Thomas, president of the American Federation of Government Employees TSA Council 100.
Although vacation snapshots have stirred outrage, recess is also an opportunity for lawmakers to reconnect with constituents back home. Some hold town hall events. Others go on trips abroad, such as joining a delegation to Taiwan.
Even if lawmakers return to Washington, there isn’t an easy way out of the funding impasse.
Senators already labored for weeks to try to find agreement on Democrats’ demand that any funding for the Department of Homeland Security come with restrictions on how federal immigration agents conduct enforcement. In vote after failed vote, Democrats showed they wouldn’t budge.
As the partial government shutdown extended to the longest in U.S. history, the Senate settled on a last-ditch effort to fund most of DHS while leaving out money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol.
But that deal was rejected by Johnson in the House, who instead pushed through a bill to extend DHS funding on a party-line vote. The collapse of the bipartisan agreement has soured the mood for negotiations and left lawmakers pointing fingers.
“There’s no point in calling us back because that was the result of a conscious choice by the Republican majority,” said Coons, a Delaware Democrat.
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told Fox News on Tuesday that the House can come back “on a moment’s notice,” but “the Senate has to do their job and help us on this heavy lift.”
But Thune, a South Dakota Republican, has been clear that he sees no way to get a DHS funding bill through the Senate with its 60-vote threshold for advancing legislation, known as the filibuster.
Still, Thune is coming under renewed pressure to find a way past the funding impasse — with calls from Trump and some conservatives to get rid of the filibuster.
That’s unlikely to work either because of a handful of Republican senators who have made it clear they won’t vote to change the Senate’s rules. Still, Trump told reporters Sunday night that, “They should terminate the filibuster and they should vote.”
Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, agreed. He said on social media that he thinks one of the only options for the Senate is to “nuke the filibuster and pass everything.”
“Inaction is unacceptable,” he added.
Cappelletti and Groves write for the Associated Press. AP writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
This photo shows moments before a boat suspected of carrying narcotics is struck in the Eastern Pacific on March 8. Photo by U.S. Southern Command
March 31 (UPI) — Increased military pressure by the United States on drug trafficking routes in the Pacific Ocean has forced criminal groups to sharply raise payments to those willing to transport narcotics by sea, a police official said.
In Ecuador’s coastal provinces of Manabí and Santa Elena, recruitment costs for local fishermen tasked with moving cocaine to Central America on speedboats have surged to unprecedented levels.
According to Ecuadorian outlet Primicias, in 2023 and 2024 criminal organizations paid up to $20,000 per trip to boat operators and about $5,000 to their assistants.
However, a large-scale deployment of U.S. and Ecuadorian forces under Operation Southern Spear, launched in October, has increased the risks of these journeys and driven up payments offered by traffickers.
Col. William Calle, head of Ecuador’s National Police in Zone 4, said operators piloting speedboats or semi-submersibles can now earn around $40,000 per trip. Assistants receive about $20,000, while those handling mid-sea refueling earn roughly $15,000.
Local reports, including from El Diario de Manabí, indicate payments can reach as high as $90,000 for high-risk missions or large shipments.
Since 2024, U.S. and Ecuadorian maritime authorities have conducted patrol flights and interdiction operations to monitor and intercept drug trafficking vessels in Ecuadorian waters.
President Daniel Noboa ratified two military cooperation agreements in February. The risk for traffickers has shifted from capture to potential airstrikes in international waters if vessels fail to stop.
Despite arrests and international warnings, criminal groups continue to rely on fishing vessels to transport drugs.
According to El Diario, fishermen detained after operations in Manta and Salinas on Thursday told courts that successful trips carrying one to two tons of drugs can yield payments of up to $90,000. Military intelligence has described these sums as the “price of silence” and compensation for the risk of attack.
Ecuador’s Navy said traffickers increasingly use so-called “mother ships” to extend range and cargo capacity, while smaller fiberglass boats serve as logistical support or for transfers at sea. This tactic complicates interdiction efforts, though shared intelligence has enabled several recent seizures.
Ecuador has become a primary departure point for cocaine produced in the region, with about 80% of shipments moving through the Pacific corridor.
For artisanal fishermen facing economic hardship due to declining catches and piracy targeting boat engines, a $40,000 payment can equal up to a decade of legal earnings.
However, many fishermen say participation is not voluntary but enforced under threats. Organized crime groups such as Los Lobos and Los Choneros control ports, extorting and forcibly recruiting experienced navigators whose knowledge of ocean currents helps evade detection.
The escalation of U.S. military actions under Operation Southern Spear has included at least 47 airstrikes against suspected vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. These operations, described President Donald Trump‘s administration as part of a fight against “narco-terrorism,” have resulted in at least 150 deaths.
Authorities have also reported significant seizures, including more than 2.9 tons of drugs near the Galápagos Islands and an additional 2 tons intercepted at sea in March
This month, the U.S. government also launched military and intelligence operations in Ecuadorian territory with authorization from Noboa.
The White House said the operations are aimed at dismantling Los Lobos and Los Choneros, which the U.S. State Department designated as foreign terrorist organizations in late 2025.
According to U.S. Southern Command, these groups are no longer treated solely as criminal organizations, but as threats to hemispheric national security.
US President Donald Trump has released a series of posts attacking NATO countries including France, Spain and the UK over their role in securing the Strait of Hormuz. Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher explains what Trump’s latest criticism of US allies means.
Published On 31 Mar 202631 Mar 2026
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WASHINGTON — President Trump said Thursday he would sign an order instructing the Homeland Security secretary to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration agents as Congress struggled to reach a deal to end a budget impasse that has jammed airports and left workers without paychecks.
Trump announced his decision in a social media post saying he wanted to quickly stop the “Chaos at the Airports.”
“It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it!” the president posted.
With pressure mounting, the White House had floated the extraordinary move of invoking a national emergency to pay TSA agents, while senators were reviewing a “last and final” offer from Republicans to Democrats to end the funding impasse at the Department of Homeland Security.
Details of the president’s plan were not immediately available, but a national emergency declaration would be politically fraught and almost certain to face legal challenges. Instead, the president may simply be shifting money from other sources.
Democrats have been refusing to fund Homeland Security as they seek changes to rein in Trump’s immigration enforcement operations. The Senate came to a standstill and senators, ready to leave town for their own spring break, had prepared to stay all night to reach a deal.
“The president is doing absolutely the right thing,” said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the GOP whip. “The TSA agents are going to be paid.”
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the chair of the Appropriations Committee, has said there is funding elsewhere that can be legally used to pay the TSA as well as the Coast Guard without declaring a national emergency.
The funding shutdown, now in its 41st day, has resulted in travel delays, missed paychecks and even warnings of airport closures. TSA workers are coming up on their second missed payday Friday, with thousands refusing to show up for work.
Multiple airports are experiencing greater than 40% callout rates of TSA workers and nearly 500 of its nearly 50,000 transportation security officers have now quit during the shutdown. Nationwide on Wednesday, more than 11% of the TSA employees on the schedule missed work, according to DHS. That is more than 3,120 callouts.
Trump, who has largely left the issue to Congress to resolve, had warned he was ready to take action, even threatening to send the National Guard to airports, in addition to his deployment of ICE agents who are now checking travelers’ IDs — a development drawing concerns. The White House has been considering a menu of options.
“They need to end this shutdown immediately or we’ll have to take drastic measures,” Trump said during a morning Cabinet meeting at the White House.
At George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Melissa Gates said she would not make her flight to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after waiting more than 2½ hours and still not reaching the security checkpoint. She said no other flights were available until Friday.
“I should have just driven, right?” Gates said. “Five hours would have been hilarious next to this.”
Earlier Thursday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) announced he had given the final offer to Democrats.
Thune did not disclose details of the new framework, but he said that it picked up on what had been the Republican offer over the weekend, before talks with the White House and Democrats had broken off.
“Enough is enough,” he said.
But as senators retreated to privately discuss the new plan, the action stalled out.
Democrats argue the GOP proposals have not gone far enough at putting guardrails on officers from ICE, Customs and Border Protection and other federal agencies that are engaged in the immigration sweeps, particularly after the deaths of two Americans protesting the actions in Minneapolis.
They want federal agents to wear identification, remove their face masks and refrain from conducting raids around schools, churches or other sensitive places. Democrats have also pushed for an end of administrative warrants, insisting that judges sign off before agents search people’s homes or private spaces.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said they needed to see real changes. “We’ve been talking about ICE reforms from day one,” he said.
Any deal will almost certainly need to involve a compromise as lawmakers on the left and right flanks revolt. Conservative Republicans have panned their own GOP proposals, demanding full funding for immigration operations and skeptical of the promise from leaders that they would address Trump’s proof-of-citizenship voting bill in a subsequent legislative package.
Republicans said after a private lunch meeting that there were other options to shift money than invoking the national emergency.
The GOP’s big tax cuts bill that Trump signed into law last year funneled billions to DHS, including $75 billion for ICE operations, ensuring the money is flowing for his immigration and deportation agenda even with the funding shutdown. ICE and other immigration officers are still being paid.
Republicans say the Trump administration has already made strides to meet Democrats’ demands, particularly after swearing in former Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin as the new homeland security secretary to replace Kristi Noem. He has given a nod to the need for the judicial warrants for searches.
“This is a dire situation,” the acting TSA administrator, Ha Nguyen McNeill, testified at a House hearing Wednesday.
She described the multiple hardships facing unpaid TSA workers — piling-up bills and eviction notices, even plasma donations to make ends meet — and warned of potential airport closures if more employees refuse to come to work.
“At this point, we have to look at all options on the table,” she said.
McNeil also said TSA officers working at the nation’s airports had experienced a more than 500% increase in the frequency of assaults since the shutdown began.
“This is unacceptable,” McNeill said.
WASHINGTON — Pressure is mounting on Congress to end the funding shutdown that has resulted in travel disruptions, missed paychecks and even warnings of airport closures, but lawmakers have yet to resolve the underlying issue of reining in President Trump’s immigration enforcement operations.
Senators intend to vote Thursday on a Republican proposal that would fund the Transportation Security Administration and much of the Department of Homeland Security, except the enforcement and removal operations conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That plan is expected to fail.
Democrats argue it does not go far enough at putting guardrails on officers from ICE, Customs and Border Protection and other federal agencies who are engaged in the immigration sweeps, particularly after the deaths of two Americans protesting the actions in Minneapolis.
Trump, who has largely left the issue to Congress to resolve, threatened to send the National Guard to airports, in addition his deployment of ICE agents who are now checking travelers IDs — a development drawing concerns.
“They need to end this shutdown immediately or we’ll have to take drastic measures,” Trump said Thursday during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
With Congress set to leave town by week’s end for its own spring break recess, calls are intensifying for an end to the 41-day stalemate that’s put the livelihoods of TSA officers at risk as they provide airport security without pay.
Multiple airports are experiencing greater than 40% callout rates of TSA workers and more than 480 of its nearly 50,000 transportation security officers have now quit during the shutdown. Nationwide, nearly 11% of TSA workers — more than 3,200 on a single day — missed work.
The Republican president initially signed off on the plan the GOP senators brought to him late Monday. By Tuesday, he said he would not be happy with any deal.
Trump did not directly address the status of negotiations late Wednesday evening during an annual fundraising dinner for the House Republicans’ campaign committee as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., works to keep majority control of the chamber in the November elections.
But Trump criticized Democrats for refusing to settle their demands on immigration changes. On Thursday, he revived his campaign for senators to end the filibuster as a way to overpower opposition to GOP policies, something most Republican senators do not want to do.
The GOP’s big tax cuts bill that Trump signed into law last year funneled billions to DHS, including $75 billion for ICE operations, ensuring the money is flowing for his immigration and deportation agenda even with the funding shutdown. ICE and other immigration officers are still being paid.
The situation is partly of Trump’s making, a strategy the president put in place last fall when he cut a deal with Democrats to end a previous federal shutdown. At that time, Trump agreed to fund the federal government, except for DHS, which was then put on temporary funding that has expired.
The Republican offer added one new restraint on immigration officers, funding the use of body cameras that had previously been agreed to. It excluded other policies that Democrats have demanded, such as that federal agents wear identification, remove their face masks and refrain from conducting raids around schools, churches or other sensitive places.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said they needed to see real changes. “We’ve been talking about ICE reforms from day one,” he said.
Democrats had been in several days of talks with the White House, including with border czar Tom Homan, that appeared to be making progress toward a deal. The White House presented its own offer with several items Democrats had been demanding, including officer IDs and training.
But those negotiations broke down over the weekend.
Republicans say Democrats are putting the country at risk. They say the Trump administration has already made strides to meet Democrats’ demands and has shown a new approach to its immigration operations, swearing in Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin as the new homeland security secretary to replace Kristi Noem.
But conservative Republicans also panned the proposal, demanding full funding for immigration operations and skeptical of the promise from GOP leaders that they would address Trump’s proof-of-citizenship voting bill in a subsequent legislative package.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said late Wednesday that if Democrats put a “more realistic offer on the table, we’ll be back in business.”
Asked if Congress would consider a stopgap measure to temporarily fund the department, Thune said: “We’ll see.”
Passengers are facing more four-hour waits to clear security at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.
The airport’s website said Thursday morning that travelers should expect to wait two hours, 30 minutes in the security line at one of its open terminals and four hours at the other.
Lines and wait times are expected to grow Thursday and Friday because of “significantly higher passenger traffic,” according to an update on the airport’s website.
“This is a dire situation,” the acting TSA administrator, Ha Nguyen McNeill, testified at a House hearing Wednesday.
She described the multiple hardships facing unpaid TSA workers — piling up bills and eviction notices, even plasma donations to make ends meet — and warned of potential airport closures if more employees refuse to come to work.
“At this point, we have to look at all options on the table,” she said. “And that does require us to, at some point, make very difficult choices as to which airports we might try to keep open and which ones we might have to shut down as our callout rates increase.”
She cited the growing financial strain on the TSA workforce.
“Some are sleeping in their cars, selling their blood and plasma, and taking on second jobs to make ends meet,” she said.
McNeil also said TSA officers working at the nation’s airports have experienced a more than 500% increase in the frequency of assaults since the shutdown began.
“This is unacceptable, and it will not be tolerated,” McNeill said.
Mascaro and Freking write for the Associated Press. AP writers Rebecca Santana and Ben Finley in Washington; Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York; Rio Yamat in Las Vegas; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Ga., and Gabriela Aoun Angueira in San Diego contributed to this report.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum praises services from Cuban doctors, who often work in underserved rural areas.
Published On 25 Mar 202625 Mar 2026
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has confirmed that her country will continue receiving Cuban medical workers, as part of a longstanding programme meant to build goodwill between the island and other Latin American countries.
Her remarks on Wednesday come as the United States pressures Latin American countries to sever their ties to Cuba’s medical programme.
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Sheinbaum, however, told reporters during a news conference that the agreement was a benefit to Mexico. Thousands of Cuban medical workers have deployed there since 2022 to work largely in poor, rural areas.
“We have a very good agreement that’s also been a great help to us. It’s a bilateral agreement that’s been very beneficial for Mexico,” said Sheinbaum.
“It’s hard to get Mexican doctors and specialists to go out to many rural areas where we need medical specialists, and the Cubans are willing to work there.”
In February, the US passed a law that opens the door to sanctions on countries that continue to participate in the programme.
It called for the US secretary of state to issue a report within 90 days about which countries continue to pay the government of Cuba for the “coerced and trafficked labour of Cuban medical professionals”.
The move comes amid a wider push to further isolate Cuba and topple the government in Havana, a longtime target of US ire. So far, countries including the Bahamas, Honduras, Guatemala, Jamaica and Guyana have ended their participation in the Cuban medical exchange programme.
Cuba has long depicted the decades-old programme as a means of signalling solidarity with other countries. It has also become an important source of foreign revenue for the island nation, which has been under a restrictive US economic embargo since 1960.
The administration of US President Donald Trump, however, has depicted the programme as akin to forced labour.
“Basically, it’s human trafficking,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in February.
“I mean, they’re barely even being paid. Their freedom of movement is tightly restricted. And we want these countries to understand that’s what they’re participating in.”
Experts at the United Nations have also raised similar concerns, including about the confiscation of passports, which the Cuban government justifies as a means of preventing trained doctors from fleeing the country after their state-sponsored studies.
The pressure on the Cuban medical missions is part of a broader push under Trump’s second term to seek regime change on the island.
By threatening tariffs on Cuba’s trading partners, Trump has largely cut the island off from accessing the foreign oil necessary to power its electrical grid.
Trump has also said that he hopes to “take” Cuba and install a new government that will be more pliant to US demands.
The Mexican government has tried to balance its friendly relations with Cuba with the US’s demands.
In the absence of energy shipments, Sheinbaum’s government has sent vessels with humanitarian aid to the island.
The first 45 minutes was the epitome of two teams cancelling each other out – but once the second half began the landscape was set for City’s win.
They were the more progressive, aggressive side. Their attacking intent started to overwhelm Arsenal, the pressure became impossible to resist. Smoother on the ball and more cohesive than an Arsenal side based on organisation, the traffic only flowed one way.
Arrizabalaga already had Arsenal’s nerves on edge with an injudicious dash from goal which resulted in a yellow card for a panicked foul on Jeremy Doku.
Much, much worse was to come for Arsenal and their goalkeeper.
It remains six years since Arteta won his one and only trophy as Arsenal manager, and the way in which his team went into their shell here will be a concern that he must hope is not repeated as the pressure mounts in the closing weeks of the season.
Former Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart told BBC Sport: “Manchester City played to win. I think that’s what they’re bred to do over ten, 15 years. I think now they’re very much bred to win. I think they’ve been really disappointed with the FA Cup final at the end of last season [when they lost to Crystal Palace].
“A lot will be read into it putting a marker down or whatever, but I don’t think so. I think it was just about Manchester City winning trophies, which is what they’ve done so regularly recently – and this is another big one.
“It is also a huge day for Pep Guardiola, who’s won everything, but now stands alone in terms of managers winning the League Cup. He’s won it five times, going one clear of Sir Alex Ferguson. How much of a testament is that to his ability, his special touch and what he’s done over the years with Manchester City?”
Arteta is braced for the battle to recover from this setback and focus on three trophies, saying: “We had eight amazing months with this team. Today is a disappointment. We need to use that fire in the belly for the next two months to have an incredible season.”
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “It’s painful, especially for our players and supporters, because we really wanted to lift that trophy. It was two very different halves, especially the first half when I think we were better than them and had the best two chances of the game.
“We didn’t capitalise on that. Credit to them for what they have done. A really sad day.”
He must hope it is the last sad day of what has been an outstanding season so far – for Guardiola, he will hope City’s win, and the manner in which it was achieved, will play on Arsenal’s nerves.
With US-Ukraine talks set to resume in Florida, Volodymyr Zelenskyy warns that Russia is increasing its oil revenues through shadow fleets.
Published On 22 Mar 202622 Mar 2026
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged allies to keep up sanctions pressure on Russia’s economy ahead of a second day of talks between Ukraine and United States officials on ways to end the more-than-four-year Russia-Ukraine war.
Russia’s representatives were not present at the talks, which opened on Saturday in Florida. They were originally expected to attend the negotiations, which had been due to take place in the United Arab Emirates, before the US-Israeli war on Iran.
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The US delegation is being led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
In a post on X on Sunday, Zelenskyy called for tougher action against Moscow’s so-called shadow fleet of tankers and for it to be denied oil revenues.
“Over the past week, Russia launched nearly 1,550 attack drones against Ukraine, more than 1,260 guided aerial bombs, and two missiles. Over that same week, due to the easing of sanctions, Russia increased its crude oil sales to finance its war,” Zelenskyy wrote.
“Revenues give Russia a sense of impunity and the ability to continue the war. That is why pressure must continue, and sanctions must work. Russia’s shadow fleet must not feel safe in European waters or anywhere else,” he said.
The Ukrainian president added that tankers that “serve the war budget can and must be stopped and blocked, not just let go”.
The so-called shadow fleet is a network of vessels that continue to export oil and gas despite Western sanctions due to the ongoing war with Ukraine.
Last week, the French Navy seized an oil tanker in the Western Mediterranean, which France’s President Emmanuel Macron said was part of Russia’s shadow fleet, a network of vessels used to export oil despite Western sanctions.
The shadow fleet, which has grown following Western sanctions on Russia aimed at curbing Moscow’s oil revenues, has helped to keep Russian oil exports flowing.
The last time the Ukrainian and Russian delegations met was in February in the Swiss city of Geneva, but no progress was made, as key issues surrounding territory remain unresolved.
Moscow has repeatedly said it will not agree to a peace deal that gives up the Ukrainian territory it has captured during the war. In contrast, Kyiv has said it will not agree to a deal that does not lead to the return of its territory.
Elements of the peace plan being promoted by the US include a presidential election in Ukraine, alongside territorial concessions.
Zelenskyy, whose term has already expired, is under renewed pressure from Trump to hold a vote as Washington pushes Kyiv towards a peace deal.
Ukrainian law bars wartime elections, but Zelenskyy has said Ukraine would be ready to hold democratic elections if the US secured a two-month ceasefire to allow time to prepare infrastructure and put security guarantees in place.
Coast Guard officials inspect the area in the aftermath of a fire at the POSCO steel factory in the city of Pohang, South Korea. Photo by YONHAP / EPA
March 20 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s steel industry faces mounting pressure as Britain moves to tighten import restrictions, adding to growing trade barriers in the United States and Europe. Britain said it plans to cut steel import quotas by 60% and raise the tariff on volumes above the quota to 50% from 25%, with the new measures set to take effect July 1.
The tougher British measures have raised concerns about weaker exports and shrinking profitability for South Korean steelmakers. South Korea exported 640,000 metric tons of steel to Britain last year, accounting for 2.3% of its total steel exports, according to the industry ministry.
South Korean companies including POSCO and Hyundai Steel have shipped products such as heavy steel plate to Britain. POSCO said it is reviewing the situation and plans to respond after Britain releases more details on the affected products and volumes. The industry ministry said the move could violate World Trade Organization rules and the Korea-Britain free trade agreement, which provides for tariff-free steel trade, and pledged to work with London to limit damage to Korean companies.
The British action comes as other major markets also harden their trade defenses. The United States raised tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50% in June 2025. The European Union is also pursuing a tougher steel regime that would cut tariff-free import volumes by 47% and double out-of-quota duties to 50%.
The broader protectionist shift has already hurt Korean producers. Industry officials say companies are increasingly reliant on government trade talks as barriers rise across major export markets.
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.
Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260320010006218
PARIS — We’ve long had your back, now it’s our turn. That is how the famously transactional President Trump is framing his demands that allies help him with the Iran war. He wants to call in IOUs for decades of U.S. security guarantees.
The string of refusals indicates his stock of European goodwill is low. He has put allies through the wringer since returning to the White House, bullying them over tariffs, Greenland and other issues, and disparaging the sacrifices their soldiers made alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Now he’s demanding — not just requesting — that they send warships to help the U.S. unblock the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes — essentially mop up behind the conflagration that he and Israel ignited in the Middle East.
The reply has been a “global raspberry.”
That’s how a veteran French defense analyst, François Heisbourg, described allied responses.
No close ally has come forward with immediate help. Britain is flat-out refusing to be drawn into the war. France says the fighting would have to die down first. Others are non-committal. China, which is not an ally but was also asked to help, is ignoring Trump’s call.
“This is not Europe’s war. We didn’t start the war. We were not consulted,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Tuesday.
Trump has singled out the refusal from the United Kingdom. Prime Minister Keir Starmer cultivated ties with Trump and reached an early trade deal with the administration, but is now among allies who refuse to join a regional war with no clear endgame.
The U.K. “was sort of considered the Rolls-Royce of allies,” Trump said Monday, adding that he’d asked for British minesweeping ships.
“I was not happy with the U.K,” Trump said. “They should be involved enthusiastically. We’ve been protecting these countries for years.”
Starmer said Britain “will not be drawn into the wider war” and that British troops require the backing of international law and “a proper thought-through plan” — suggesting those were not in place.
He initially refused to let U.S. bombers attack Iran from British bases before accepting their use for strikes on Iran’s ballistic missile program.
Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, former commanding general of the U.S. Army in Europe, said allies are “looking at the United States in a way that they never have before. And this is bad for the United States.”
Having previously appeased Trump, some European leaders are “starting to realize that there’s no benefit or value in using flattery,” he said.
Going to war without consulting allies was in keeping with Trump’s America-first outlook.
“My attitude is: We don’t need anybody. We’re the strongest nation in the world,” he said Monday.
But failing to get an international mandate, as the U.S. did before intervening in the 1990 Gulf War, is boomeranging.
“It is not our war; we did not start it,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said. “We want diplomatic solutions and a swift end to the conflict. Sending more warships to the region will certainly not contribute to that.”
French President Emmanuel Macron envisions possible naval escorts in the Strait of Hormuz — but only once fighting has died down.
“France didn’t choose this war. We’re not taking part,” he said.
After bruising tariff battles with Trump last year, the first months of 2026 have further strained alliances. Trump’s renewed pressure for U.S. control of Greenland, including a tariff threat against eight European nations, and his false assertion that allied troops avoided front-line fighting in the Afghanistan War, upset partners in the NATO military alliance.
“Allies, or at least the Europeans, aren’t willing to be at the beck and call of a demand from Donald Trump,” said Sylvie Bermann, a French former ambassador to China, the U.K. and Russia.
“And even in asking for a helping hand, he is doing so in a brutal manner, saying: ‘You’re useless, we’re the strongest, we don’t need you, but come,’” she said.
Retired naval officers say that unblocking the Strait of Hormuz with military escorts while the war rages and without Iran’s consent would be dangerous.
France, which has rushed its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean, is working with other countries to prepare such a mission once the air war has subsided. French military spokesman Col. Guillaume Vernet said any escorting would be conditional on talks with Iran, and Macron has publicized two calls in eight days with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
That has won points with Trump.
“On a scale of zero to 10, I’d say he’s been an eight,” Trump said Monday. “Not perfect, but it’s France. We don’t expect perfect.”
But he’s fuming at other allies.
“We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said Tuesday.
Allies in Europe and Asia need oil, gas and other products from the Middle East to flow again. That gives Trump some leverage.
Allies also know from experience that resisting Trump carries risks of retaliation.
“It really could be anything. Are the Europeans prepared for that?” asked Ed Arnold, a former British army officer and now a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, a London think tank.
European allies need Trump’s continued blessing for U.S. weaponry, intelligence, and other support for Ukraine, as well as financial pressure on Russia. The U.S. has started to chip away at some sanctions on Moscow by temporarily allowing shipments of Russian oil to ease shortages stemming from the Iran war. Allies also want him to reengage in talks to end the war.
“That was what kept European leaders quiet for a lot of last year in the face of the rhetoric and actions,” said Amanda Sloat, a former U.S. national security adviser who now teaches at Spain’s IE University.
“It is also the thing that is making them a little bit nervous now.”
Leicester and Burrows write for the Associated Press. Burrows reported from London. AP journalists Jill Lawless in London, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Suman Naishadham in Madrid, Geir Moulson and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, Simina Mistreanu in Taipei, Taiwan, and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Washington continues to block fuel to island nation, as Trump floats ‘doing something with Cuba very soon’.
Published On 17 Mar 202617 Mar 2026
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that Cuba “has to get new people in charge,” and the administration of US President Donald Trump continues to heap pressure on the island nation.
Rubio made the comment on Tuesday during an Oval Office event, saying Cuba “has an economy that doesn’t work in a political and governmental system”.
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He spoke as the US has continued to impose a de facto fuel embargo on Cuba since the abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. The threat of sanctions against any country that delivers fuel to the island has worsened a years-long economic crisis and stoked humanitarian fallout.
Rubio said that Cuba’s decision announced this week to let citizens living in exile invest and own businesses in the country did not go far enough.
“What they announced yesterday is not dramatic enough. It’s not going to fix it. So they’ve got some big decisions to make,” he said.
Rubio further said Cuba has survived “on subsidies” since the Cuban revolution in the 1950s, adding “the people in charge, they don’t know how to fix it”.
“So they have to get new people in charge,” he said.
For his part, Trump, who on Monday said he could “take” Cuba, and has previously floated a “friendly takeover” of the country, said on Tuesday that a new action was imminent.
“We’ll be doing something with Cuba very soon,” he said.
Last week, the US and Cuba announced they had entered into talks to end the pressure campaign.
Several US media outlets have since reported that the Trump administration is calling for President Miguel Diaz-Canel to step down, although no details have emerged about his possible replacement.
The US has maintained a decades-long trade embargo against Cuba and its communist government.
On Monday, a national power outage further underscored the dire situation on the island, where periodic blackouts have long been common.
By early Tuesday, power had been restored to two-thirds of the country, including to 45 percent of the capital Havana, which is home to 1.7 million people.
Federico Valverde scores his fifth goal in three games as Real Madrid beat Elche to move one point behind Barcelona.
Published On 14 Mar 202614 Mar 2026
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Federico Valverde hit the back of the net, and the headlines, once again for Real Madrid as they beat Elche 4-1 in La Liga, but it was Arda Guler’s last-gasp strike from inside his own half that captured imaginations.
Midfielder Valvrder netted his fifth goal in three games for Los Blancos, having scored a hat-trick in midweek against Manchester City, with a curling effort from the edge of the box just before half-time on Saturday.
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It doubled his side’s lead after Antonio Rudiger volleyed home the opener in the 39th minute, following a scramble in the box from a Real corner.
Dean Huijsen was the unlikely player furthest forward to head home Real’s third in the 66th minute, but the defender was left unmarked in the box, where he remained after another corner that Elche had effectively failed to clear.
Even a late own goal by Manuel Angel could not dampen Los Blancos’ spirits, especially when Arda Guler went on to net what will surely be the goal of the season from inside his own half.
The 21-year-old Turkey midfielder spotted Elche goalkeeper Matías Dituro off his line and didn’t hesitate to launch a long lob with his left foot that sailed over the hapless ’keeper and bounced once before settling into the net.
The Santiago Bernabeu stadium erupted in applause for the memorable goal that came with the victory beyond doubt in the 89th minute.
Güler joined Madrid from Fenerbache in 2023. He has scored four goals this season, when he has gained more playing time after the exit of veteran Luka Modric.
The win moves Real to within a point of leaders Barcelona, who can restore their four-point advantage when they play Sevilla on Sunday.
The game had been a nervy affair at Bernabeu Stadium until Rudiger’s opener settled the Madrid crowd.
The victory marks a third straight win for Real, who had lost two on the bounce in the league prior to the current run, and parted company with their coach Xabi Alonso in January.
Interim coach Alvaro Arbeloa, also a former Real player, could not have asked for a better week, with one of the best performances of the season produced in Wednesday’s win against City in the UEFA Champions League.
Arbeloa’s side take a 3-0 advantage to Manchester for the return leg on Tuesday, and with the La Liga race tightening, what was looking like a nightmare season could still end with the two most coveted titles for Madrid.
Elche, who were promoted to La Liga last season, remain mired in a relegation scrap, just a point above third-bottom Mallorca, who entertain Espanyol on Sunday.
WASHINGTON — Cuba’s top diplomat in Washington says Havana is prepared to enter diplomatic talks with the United States, reiterating the country’s willingness to engage even as tensions escalate with President Trump asserting that the island nation’s government could soon collapse.
“We are ready to engage with the U.S. on the issues that are important for the bilateral relation, and to talk about those in which we have differences,” Ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera, who leads Cuba’s mission in Washington, told The Times on Wednesday.
Any dialogue would need to respect Cuba’s sovereignty and its “right to self-determination,” the ambassador said.
“We are sure that it is possible to find a solution,” she said.
Her comments in a wide-ranging interview come at a particularly volatile moment for Cuba, which is under mounting economic pressure after the Trump administration imposed an oil blockade that has choked off the island’s energy supplies.
The measures have deepened a humanitarian crisis and prompted Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel to call for an “urgent” overhaul to the country’s economic model.
The situation in Cuba worsened after U.S. forces removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, allowing Washington to later cut off oil shipments from Venezuela to its longtime ally. The Trump administration later pressured other suppliers, including Mexico, to reduce deliveries.
“We are doing our best, and we are being very creative, but it has a serious impact,” Torres Rivera said of the blockade. “It is a collective punishment against the Cuban people.”
The White House this week framed Cuba’s worsening economic and humanitarian conditions as a potential opening to pressure Havana into negotiations.
“The country is obviously in a very weak place, economically speaking, the people are crying out for help, and the president believes and knows the Cuban regime wants a deal,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a news briefing Tuesday.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Florida) told the Miami Herald on Wednesday that the Trump administration had been having secret, high-level conversations with several people in former President Raul Castro’s inner circle, a similar approach that was taken in Venezuela before Maduro’s capture. (The operation to seize Maduro killed 32 Cuban officers stationed in the country.)
Cuban President Miguel Díaz -Canel, fourth from right, holds up a Cuban flag during a rally in Havana on Jan. 16, 2026, to protest the killing of Cuban officers during the U.S. operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
(Ramon Espinosa / Associated Press)
Another report by the USA Today this week said the Trump administration was close to announcing an economic deal with Cuba that would ease travel restrictions, among other things. A representative with the Cuban government declined to comment on the report.
The White House has not specified what a deal may look like. But Trump has said the United States is interested in a “friendly takeover” and has suggested that the move would allow Cubans to visit the island, a place that many Cuban exiles have worried about returning to while the current regime is in place.
“It is just a question of time before a lot of unbelievable people are going back to Cuba,” Trump said at an event last week.
Several news outlets have reported that the Justice Department is examining possible federal charges against officials within Cuba’s government, a move that could prompt a change in the island’s government.
Torres Rivera said she is aware of the reports but said the “judicial accusations” are an “instrument of political coercion without any legitimacy.”
“It is not something we are losing sleep over,” she said.
As for the potential negotiations, Torres Rivera did not provide specifics but talked about restoring diplomatic ties somewhat to how they existed during the Obama administration.
“We are neighbors,” she said. “We have common challenges, common threats, and we can speak about all that, and we can speak on the basis of respect for each other’s sovereignty and each other’s right of self-determination. We are ready for that.”
President Trump has approached diplomacy with Cuba with a harsher tone.
“As we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we’re also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to Cuba,” Trump said Saturday, one week after U.S. and Israeli forces attacked Iran and killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
He added: “Cuba’s at the end of the line. They’re very much at the end of the line. They have no money. They have no oil. They have a bad philosophy. They have a bad regime that has been bad for a very long time.”
Trump said that he has put Secretary of State Marco Rubio in charge of leading the talks with Cuba and that he believes a “deal would be made very easily with Cuba.”
Torres Rivera did not offer an opinion on Rubio being tapped to lead the negotiations. Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants who came to Florida three years before Castro’s brother, revolutionary Fidel Castro, rose to power in 1959. She reiterated that Cuba is “ready to engage” in talks regardless of who is leading them.
“We are not talking about persons, we are talking about the government and we are ready to engage with the U.S. to talk about the very important issues that we have in bilateral relations,” she said.
The armed wing of Hamas, Al-Qassam Brigades, released a video message on Wednesday afternoon showing an Israeli captive currently held in Gaza, the Palestinian Information Centre has reported. The footage shows Omri Miran lighting a candle on what he described as his “second birthday” in captivity.
“This is my second birthday here. I can’t say I’m celebrating; it’s just another day in captivity,” said Miran. “I made this cake for the occasion, but there is no joy. It’s been a year and a half. I miss my daughters and my wife terribly.”
He addressed the Israeli public directly, including his family and friends. “Conditions here are extremely tough. Thank you to everyone demonstrating to bring us home safely.”
The captive also urged Israelis to stage a mass protest outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence. “Bring my daughters so I can see them on TV. Do everything you can now to get us home. Netanyahu’s supporters don’t care about us, they’d rather see us dead.”
Screengrab from footage shows Israeli captive Omri Miran
He asked captives released in previous prisoner exchange deals to protest and speak to the media. “Let the people know how bad it is for us. We live in constant fear of bombings. A deal must be reached soon before we return home in coffins.
Miran urged demonstrators to appeal to US President Donald Trump to put pressure on Netanyahu: “Do not believe Netanyahu. Military pressure is only killing us. A deal — only a deal — will bring us home. Turn to Trump. He seems to be the only powerful person in the world who could push Netanyahu to agree to a deal.”
He also mentioned the worsening humanitarian situation: “The captors told me the crossings are closed; no food or supplies are coming in. As a result, we’re receiving even less food than before.”
In conclusion, the captive sent a pointed message to the Israeli leadership: “Netanyahu, Dermer, Smotrich, Ben Gvir — you are the reason for 7 October. Because of you, I am here. Because of you, we’re all here. You’re bringing the state to collapse.”
“I respect there’s lots of discussion around our tactical plans – when you look at the end point, look at the result and you the number of tries scored, that’s completely understandable,” said Borthwick
“I think it’s more about improving that incisiveness with our attack and getting over the try line rather than necessarily any major overhaul.
“You have an overview, a structure of ‘this is how we want to approach the different aspects of the game’, and then talk about the players bringing their points of difference.”
The day after defeat by Italy in Rome on Saturday, Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney released a statement backing Borthwick, saying he was confident that the coach and his staff would “do everything they can to deliver”.
Borthwick says that he speaks with Sweeney “at least once or twice a week” and Conor O’Shea, the RFU’s director of performance rugby, “pretty much on a daily basis”.
“Ever since I started this role back in late 2022, we have always worked very, very closely together,” Borthwick added.
“I think that I’ve always been very clear on the vision of the team, initially going very quickly into that 2023 Rugby World Cup which was just around the corner, and ever since then building through each of these competition windows since.
“We are all disappointed and frustrated.
“We came to this tournament with really high aspirations, as did the players, and we’ve been unable to meet those targets we set for ourselves.”