A bulk carrier was attacked by small craft and a tanker was hit by projectiles hours apart, the UKMTO says
Two cargo ships were attacked near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
The strategic waterway, which handles around one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows, is currently under a dual blockade, with Iran restricting access to “hostile vessels” and US naval forces b
A bulk carrier was attacked by small craft and a tanker was hit by projectiles hours apart, the UKMTO says
Two cargo ships were attacked near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
The strategic waterway, which handles around one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows, is currently under a dual blockade, with Iran restricting access to “hostile vessels” and US naval forces blocking ships entering or leaving Iranian ports.
The first alert followed reports from several ships near the Emirati city of Ras Al Khaimah, which said they had been ordered via radio to leave anchorage and move toward Dubai.
Shortly afterward, a northbound bulk carrier was attacked by small craft around 11 nautical miles west of Sirik, Iran. Hours later, a tanker was struck by unidentified projectiles around 78 nautical miles north of Fujairah in the UAE.
All crew were reported safe, and no environmental impact was recorded, according to UKMTO.
On Sunday, President Donald Trump said the US would begin guiding ships from neutral countries through the strait starting Monday. An estimated 2,000 vessels have been trapped in and around Hormuz since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28.
According to Axios, the US would provide commercial ships with information about safe lanes free of Iranian mines, while US Navy vessels would remain ready to prevent Iran from targeting ships passing through the strait. Iran has warned that any intervention would constitute a violation of the ceasefire reached nearly a month ago.
Iran maintains that it has a “natural right” to control the strait, with Deputy Parliament Speaker Ali Nikzad saying on Sunday that Tehran will not back down from its position regardless of the outcome of peace talks with the US.
Commercial buildings and a vehicle were targeted by kamikaze drones in Belgorod Region
Two civilians were killed and four injured in Ukrainian drone strikes in Belgorod Region, Russia on Sunday, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
A drone struck a car carrying a married couple and their son in the village of Nechyaevka, the governor said on Telegram. The father and son were killed at the scene; the man’s wife was hospitalized.
A young man and a tee
Commercial buildings and a vehicle were targeted by kamikaze drones in Belgorod Region
Two civilians were killed and four injured in Ukrainian drone strikes in Belgorod Region, Russia on Sunday, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
A drone struck a car carrying a married couple and their son in the village of Nechyaevka, the governor said on Telegram. The father and son were killed at the scene; the man’s wife was hospitalized.
A young man and a teenage girl were injured in an attack on a commercial building in the city of Gubkin. Both were sitting in a car parked outside. The girl was hospitalized with a brain injury and remains in critical condition. Another woman was injured in a separate strike in the regional capital, Belgorod. According to the governor, nearly a dozen residential buildings were damaged.
Ukraine has stepped up attacks deep inside Russia in recent weeks, launching more than 600 drones from Friday to Saturday. On Monday, a kamikaze drone hit a residential skyscraper in Moscow, not far from the capital’s business district.
Russia has accused Ukraine of deliberately targeting civilians with Western-supplied weapons. Last month, the Russian Defense Ministry published what it said was a list of addresses of European companies involved in manufacturing drones for Ukraine and warned Kiev’s backers that this could lead to further escalation.
The initiative – Project Freedom – aims to rescue neutral vessels stranded since the start of the war with Iran
The US will guide third-party ships through the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump has said, describing the move as a humanitarian effort to help stranded crews.
An estimated 2,000 vessels have been trapped in and around the strait since Iran closed the waterway to most traffic in response to the US-Israeli bombing campaign launch
The initiative – Project Freedom – aims to rescue neutral vessels stranded since the start of the war with Iran
The US will guide third-party ships through the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump has said, describing the move as a humanitarian effort to help stranded crews.
An estimated 2,000 vessels have been trapped in and around the strait since Iran closed the waterway to most traffic in response to the US-Israeli bombing campaign launched on February 28. The US has since imposed its own naval blockade on Iranian ports.
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said the initiative – Project Freedom, which is set to begin on Monday – is aimed at helping countries that are “neutral and innocent bystanders” in the conflict.
“For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these countries that we will guide their ships safely out of these restricted waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business,” Trump wrote.
“The ship movement is merely meant to free up people, companies, and countries that have done absolutely nothing wrong – they are victims of circumstance.”
The Wall Street Journal, citing a senior US official, described the initiative as a process through which countries, insurance companies, and shipping organizations can coordinate traffic through Hormuz. The official said it would not involve US warships escorting vessels.
Axios, also citing US officials, said US Navy ships would be “in the vicinity” in case they need to prevent Iran from attacking commercial vessels crossing the strait. The official added that the Navy would provide merchant ships with information about lanes that have not been mined by Iran.
Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, dismissed Trump’s “delusional posts,” saying any intervention in the strait would constitute a violation of the ceasefire.
At least 175 people, mostly students, were killed in an attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school on February 28
Iranian media has released previously unseen footage showing the immediate aftermath of a strike on a girls’ elementary school in Minab that killed at least 175 people, most of them children.
The Shajareh Tayyebeh school in southern Iran was hit on February 28 in the early days of the US-Israeli bombing campaign. The bui
At least 175 people, mostly students, were killed in an attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school on February 28
Iranian media has released previously unseen footage showing the immediate aftermath of a strike on a girls’ elementary school in Minab that killed at least 175 people, most of them children.
The Shajareh Tayyebeh school in southern Iran was hit on February 28 in the early days of the US-Israeli bombing campaign. The building was located near a naval base but separated from military facilities by a fence visible in satellite imagery.
A disturbing video shared by SNN TV on Sunday shows two frightened young girls in what appear to be dust-covered school uniforms. One girl has bloodstains on her face and headscarf. Several people are seen running toward a building engulfed in smoke.
A video taken immediately after the explosion at Shajareh Taybeh Minab School in Iran has emerged. pic.twitter.com/e07UMRS1e8
US President Donald Trump has denied that US forces were responsible. However, investigations by media outlets and analysts have concluded that the school was likely hit by a US-made missile, with evidence pointing to a Tomahawk strike.
The UAV struck a 52-story building near the Russian capital’s business district
A Ukrainian drone has struck a high-rise residential building near Moscow’s business district, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said.
The UAV struck the 52-story residential building known as the House on Mosfilmovskaya, a modernist landmark built in the early 2010s. The impact reportedly occurred around the 36th floor. Sobyanin said there were no casualties.
Photos and videos f
The UAV struck a 52-story building near the Russian capital’s business district
A Ukrainian drone has struck a high-rise residential building near Moscow’s business district, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said.
The UAV struck the 52-story residential building known as the House on Mosfilmovskaya, a modernist landmark built in the early 2010s. The impact reportedly occurred around the 36th floor. Sobyanin said there were no casualties.
Photos and videos from the scene show damage to the facade and debris scattered on the street.
The attack took place ahead of Victory Day on May 9, one of Russia’s most important public holidays, marked by a military parade on Red Square.
Dozens of police cars and ambulances are at the scene.
Eyewitnesses told RT they heard a powerful explosion. Some said they saw a flash in the sky and smoke rising from the building.
Ukraine has stepped up strikes deep inside Russia in recent weeks, launching hundreds of kamikaze drones a day. Although successful strikes in Moscow are rare, Ukrainian drones damaged high-rise buildings in Moscow City, the capital’s iconic business district, in 2023.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman accuses the State Department of pressuring diplomats’ children
The US State Department has quietly revived Biden-era tactics of imposing American birthright citizenship on the children of Russian diplomats, in violation of international norms, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote in an op-ed on Monday.
RT is republishing the official English version of the op-ed:
While President Trum
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman accuses the State Department of pressuring diplomats’ children
The US State Department has quietly revived Biden-era tactics of imposing American birthright citizenship on the children of Russian diplomats, in violation of international norms, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote in an op-ed on Monday.
RT is republishing the official English version of the op-ed:
While President Trump is trying to bring order to the American migration mess cooked up by his predecessors, his own staff are, behind his back, engaging in intrigue and are further damaging already ailing Russia-US relations in the sphere of migration.
One of Trump’s central campaign promises was that there would be no legalization of illegal migrants.
Said and done. The only difference is that thanks to the deep state, which is clearly walking in the opposite direction from its current president towards a new one, things have turned out exactly the other way around.
Picture the following.
A Russian diplomat working in the United States receives a phone call from the State Department. It would appear that a contact has been established. Contact has indeed been established, but not of a working kind:
“Mr […]?” goes a State Department employee.
“Yes,” the Russian diplomat replies.
“Do you have a son named Ivan?”
“Yes.”
Sitting at his desk, with his child at school a couple of kilometers away from his office, the man felt his heart drop into a bottomless abyss.
“The US State Department informs you that your son is a citizen of the United States,” the voice – whether a bureaucrat or perhaps already an AI embedded within one – tells him.
What follows is a dialogue that the finest surrealist dystopian writers might envy:
“My son is a citizen of Russia and holds no other citizenship. The US State Department has repeatedly issued my son, as a member of a diplomat’s family, US visas. This contradicts common sense and US law, which combined create a uniquely unambiguous interpretation,” the Russian diplomat responds, instantly recalling his [Moscow State Institute of International Relations] MGIMO studies, Lavrov, and international law in its entirety.
“Your son has been granted US citizenship without his consent by virtue of being born on American soil. The fact that neither he nor you were ever informed of this, and that visas were issued to him as to a foreign national, is a technical error,” the voice reads from a document.
“But we do not need US citizenship; we never asked for it and will never accept it,” the Russian diplomat is practically yelling in the receiver.
“Be on notice that your child is our citizen with all the ensuing consequences, and you cannot renounce this!”
The line goes dead, and so does the logic of whatever the United States is doing domestically and abroad.
No, there is no need to look for fault on the part of Russian diplomats here. There is none. Our colleagues do their work, process all documents in accordance with Russian legislation and the requirements of the Vienna Conventions, and respect US laws. When children are born on US territory, they promptly file papers to Russian citizenship knowing full well that there will be no issues with US citizenship, since diplomats are not automatically subject to the right of the soil under local law – no one can be forced to become a citizen of a foreign country.
However, the law in the United States is reminiscent of a mad tea party with the Mad Hatter.
Let’s go over it once again, but this time seriously.
The deep state in the United States has created a new problem to exert pressure on Russian diplomats, disregarding the fact that this has become a stark example of the decline of the much-vaunted American democracy. Now the State Department – or those behind the facade of American diplomacy – have begun to extend US citizenship to children of Russian consular staff born under American jurisdiction until they reach adulthood, effectively by force, under the pretext of the constitutionally enshrined right of the soil and the supposedly limited nature of consular immunity.
It’s absurd and violates every rule in the book, and delivers a blow to their own president, but who cares when yet another act of Russophobia, so carefully cultivated by the Democratic Party, is at stake?
The Americans began applying this discriminatory practice against Russian personnel in 2023, as if deliberately laying a mine under Trump in order to present him in the most ridiculous light before everyone, such as the Latin American workers invited to the United States, who during the pandemic quite literally carried the country out of hell on their shoulders; the voters; the international community, which watches with astonishment as their compatriots are denied US citizenship and sent home in disgrace at a time when it is forced upon Russian diplomats. It looks like a scene from the Spider Man comic in which he becomes entangled in his own web.
To reiterate, the supreme law of the United States was not amended during this period, nor were bilateral conventions on diplomatic and consular relations revised.
The exemption concerning children of foreign diplomats is spelled out in virtually all internal regulations. An entire chapter of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services policy manual and a provision in the Code of Federal Regulations are devoted to this matter. Both documents clearly state that children of foreign diplomats do not acquire US citizenship by the right of the soil, as they enjoy diplomatic immunity and are not fully subject to the jurisdiction of the host country.
Moreover, this legal norm was re-affirmed by the US Supreme Court back in 1898 in the case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark. Here is a direct quotation from the court ruling:
“The requirement that a person be subject to the jurisdiction of the United States excludes the application of this rule to children born of diplomatic representatives of a foreign state, children born of enemy aliens during occupation, and children of members of Indian tribes owing direct allegiance to their several tribes.”
The US side has always taken pride in its system of case law, so the complete disregard of this well-known ruling provides a very clear characterization of the actions of the US foreign policy establishment.
It is symptomatic that the stepped up activity by the US State Department in the matter of unlawfully granting US citizenship to the children of employees of Russian diplomatic missions – citizenship they neither need nor are allowed by local authorities to refuse – is taking place precisely now, when, on the basis of agreements between the leaders of Russia and the United States, attempts are being made to remove such irritants.
Not merely irritants, because thousands of people who spent years trying to naturalize, pleading to be granted citizenship or at least some form of papers are being deported from the United States. They did not violate local laws; they worked honestly for what they believed to be the good of their new homeland, trusting the previous administration in the White House.
Judge for yourself. US President Trump is pursuing a policy aimed at ending the automatic granting of citizenship to children of foreign nationals born under American jurisdiction. The White House, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland Security have launched a large-scale, unprecedented anti-immigration campaign designed to reduce the flow of migrants. They stop at nothing, including rechecking data submitted during the naturalization process. The media report monthly quotas for investigations into potential revocation of US citizenship. Information is being circulated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement back in 2025 received a green light to use spyware for remote installation on the mobile devices of illegal immigrants and activists among US citizens who oppose mass deportation policies.
At the same time, the United States is systematically violating its host country agreement with the UN by failing to issue visas to foreign diplomats planning to attend relevant events at UN headquarters. One recent example is the disruption of the participation of the Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry in the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly’s Committee on Information on April 27, 2026.
Against this backdrop, such demonstrative targeted interest by US authorities in the children of employees of Russian foreign institutions is causing genuine concern. Not for our diplomats, but for the mental health of American officials.
The inconsistency in Washington’s actions on this track borders on the bipolar and calls into question the possibility of reaching agreements with US authorities on this extremely important and sensitive issue for us.
Coercive actions against the personnel of our diplomatic missions contradict the norms of international law and bilateral agreements, which guarantee immunity from the jurisdiction of the host country. With regard to consular staff, the State Department is obliged to be guided by the provisions of the 1964 bilateral Consular Convention, which grants this category of Russian citizens a broader scope of immunities than the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
According to Article 24 of the 1964 Convention, consular officers or employees, as well as members of their families, are exempt from all forms of compulsory obligations. For more than 60 years since the conclusion of the 1964 Consular Convention, it has been interpreted and applied by the parties as excluding the possibility of forcibly extending the citizenship of the host state to the children of consular officers and employees of the sending state. And it is not only a matter of the letter of the law.
The arbitrary granting of US citizenship to such children potentially provides Washington with a lever for improper pressure on our personnel – what if a child were to be abducted under the pretext, for example, of juvenile law or the need to verify gender compliance as part of another wave of the new normal? We have seen many such examples.
The Russian side does not recognize the imposition of US citizenship on Russian citizens born into the families of our diplomatic, administrative-technical, and consular personnel in the United States. We will demand from the Americans confirmation in each specific case that the newborn is not subject to US jurisdiction and enjoys all the immunities and privileges provided for by the Vienna Conventions on diplomatic and consular relations, as well as by bilateral agreements.
Washington is violating both its own laws and international norms, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says
The US State Department is flouting both US federal law and diplomatic immunity in forcing American citizenship on children of Russian consular staff, with no option given to refuse, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an op-ed on Monday.
These moves by the “deep state” are undermining US President Donald Trump
Washington is violating both its own laws and international norms, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says
The US State Department is flouting both US federal law and diplomatic immunity in forcing American citizenship on children of Russian consular staff, with no option given to refuse, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an op-ed on Monday.
These moves by the “deep state” are undermining US President Donald Trump’s unprecedented anti-immigration policy and his aim of ending birthright citizenship in the country, she said.
“It’s absurd and violates every rule in the book, and delivers a blow to their own president,” Zakharova wrote.
The US began the practice in 2023 under former President Joe Biden, “as if deliberately laying a mine under Trump in order to present him in the most ridiculous light,” she said, adding that neither federal law nor diplomatic agreements have been amended since.
Currently, children born of “foreign diplomatic officers” are exempted from US birthright citizenship under the Code of Federal Regulations and US Citizenship and Immigration Services policy, although they are considered lawful permanent residents.
Coercive naturalization also violates Russia-US agreements and international norms, which grant diplomats immunity from the laws of the host country, the spokeswoman said.
Zakharova also warned that the situation gives Washington potential leverage over Russian diplomats.
What if a child were to be abducted under the pretext, for example, of juvenile law or the need to verify gender compliance as part of another wave of the new normal?
Moscow banned LGBTQ-related content in 2022, years after passing laws protecting minors from “LGBTQ propaganda.” In 2024, Russia also banned the adoption of children by countries that allow gender-reassignment surgeries and procedures.
Israel encouraged the US president to attack the Islamic Republic during both of his terms, John Bolton has said
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu encouraged US President Donald Trump to carry out a regime change operation in Iran for many years, former US National Security Adviser John Bolton has told Afshin Rattansi, the host of New World.
West Jerusalem wanted Trump to launch an attack against Iran during his first presidential term an
Israel encouraged the US president to attack the Islamic Republic during both of his terms, John Bolton has said
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu encouraged US President Donald Trump to carry out a regime change operation in Iran for many years, former US National Security Adviser John Bolton has told Afshin Rattansi, the host of New World.
West Jerusalem wanted Trump to launch an attack against Iran during his first presidential term and continued lobbying for it during his second term, Bolton said, who served as national security adviser from 2018 to 2019.
“I urged that our objective be regime change, so did Netanyahu,” he told Rattansi, explaining that “There is no change in what Trump has been hearing from” the Israeli prime minister over the years. He nevertheless denied that Trump’s decision to launch the attack in late February was influenced by Israel.
Bolton criticized the president for what he called the lack of a clear goal in his campaign against the Islamic Republic and said Trump failed to “make the case to the American people” about “why regime change in Iran is necessary” – despite being a “very compelling one.”
Known for his hawkish foreign policy views, Bolton maintained that the US should continue to pursue regime change in Iran and claimed that the government in Tehran is “crumbling” from within. However, the former White House official came up short on specific strategies the US could use to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping remains severely disrupted by the conflict.
The US president has vowed to reduce the American military footprint on the continent after feuding with European leaders over the Iran war
The Pentagon has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 troops from Germany, with US President Donald Trump warning that the pullout could only be the beginning.
The move comes amid a sharp divide between the Trump administration and European NATO members over the Iran war, Washington’s calls to increa
The US president has vowed to reduce the American military footprint on the continent after feuding with European leaders over the Iran war
The Pentagon has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 troops from Germany, with US President Donald Trump warning that the pullout could only be the beginning.
The move comes amid a sharp divide between the Trump administration and European NATO members over the Iran war, Washington’s calls to increase defense spending, and a bitter aftertaste from the dispute over Greenland.
‘Cutting a lot further’
The withdrawal was announced on Friday, with the Pentagon signaling that the process would be over within the next six to 12 months. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said that the “decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground.”
However, Trump – who has for years been toying with the idea of a US withdrawal from the bloc – signaled that the figure could be even higher. “We're going to cut way down, and we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000,” he said on Saturday. He also suggested that he could pull troops out of Spain and Italy – nations he said were unhelpful in the Iran war.
In addition, Reuters reported that the US dropped a Biden-era plan to deploy a US battalion with long-range Tomahawk missiles to Germany.
Germany is home to America’s largest military presence in Europe, currently hosting more than 36,000 active-duty US personnel. It is also home to critical training, logistics, and medical infrastructure, including Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the largest US military hospital abroad. In total, there are over 80,000 US troops in Europe, with many having been redeployed to the continent by the Biden administration after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
Iran war looms over the decision
The announcement came days after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz once again criticized the US-Israel war on Iran, saying that Washington “obviously has no strategy,” adding, referring to the US, that “an entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership.”
It did not take Trump long to fire a broadside in response. He declared that Merz “doesn't know what he’s talking about,” advising the chancellor to “spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine” and “fixing his broken Country.” He also suggested that Merz was “doing a terrible job. He’s got immigration problems, he’s got energy problems, he’s got problems of all kind[s].”
According to Reuters, the current transatlantic rift has also been exacerbated by Trump’s simmering anger over European pushback to his attempt to annex Greenland this winter.
US ‘schizophrenic’
According to an AP source, the US military was not been warned of the decision to pull troops from Germany and learned about it “in real time,” though the Pentagon disagreed, saying that the move “follows a comprehensive, multilayered process” with input from the European command and other top officials.
In addition, an unnamed European insider told Reuters that Trump’s decision was another sign of an “increasingly unpredictable and sometimes ‘schizophrenic’ dynamic.” He noted that Trump’s shock announcement came as uninformed US military commanders in Europe had been talking up commitment and cooperation, just as their counterparts in Washington were doing the opposite.
US lawmakers have also protested the withdrawal announcement, with Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services committees saying they were “very concerned” by the drawdown.
Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama urged the Pentagon to redeploy the troops eastward rather than send them home – to countries that “have made substantial investments to host US troops” on NATO’s front line – warning the decision risked “undermining deterrence and sending the wrong signal” to Russia.
Military buildup as planned
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius played down the news, calling the drawdown “foreseeable.” The Defense Ministry spokesperson also said the development showed “we must strengthen the European pillar within NATO.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was blunter, saying that the greatest threat to NATO is not its external enemies, but rather its “ongoing disintegration[...] We must all do what it takes to reverse this disastrous trend.”
Still, the overall trend of the US detachment from Europe barely comes as a shock, with European NATO members looking to ramp up military spending. The rearmament drive was partly driven by Trump himself, who pushed other NATO members to invest 5% of GDP annually in core defense and defense-related spending by 2035.
On top of that, the European Commission unveiled its Readiness 2030 plan, which aims to provide more than €800 billion ($938 billion) in defense spending across the EU. Germany alone has embarked on a historic military buildup, committing to spend more than €500 billion on defense by 2029.
Moscow has consistently rejected speculation that it could attack NATO as “nonsense,” suggesting that European nations are using “propaganda” to portray Russia as an enemy to mask its own crises.
One screenwriter has called the series of gatherings with creatives a case of “clear propaganda”
NATO is holding closed-door consultations with TV and film industry professionals across Europe and the US, The Guardian reported on Sunday. The move has prompted accusations that the bloc is working to leverage the arts for “fear mongering” and “propaganda,” it added.
The military bloc has held three private meetings with directors, producers and scr
One screenwriter has called the series of gatherings with creatives a case of “clear propaganda”
NATO is holding closed-door consultations with TV and film industry professionals across Europe and the US, The Guardian reported on Sunday. The move has prompted accusations that the bloc is working to leverage the arts for “fear mongering” and “propaganda,” it added.
The military bloc has held three private meetings with directors, producers and screenwriters in Los Angeles, Brussels and Paris, and is planning to convene with members of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) in London next month, the newspaper wrote.
The upcoming meeting will be overseen by the British think tank Chatham House and will discuss the “evolving security situation in Europe and beyond,” according to the report. NATO cyber and innovation technology deputy head James Appathurai is expected to attend, among other officials, the newspaper added.
So far, the conversations have partly “inspired” at least “three separate projects,” The Guardian wrote, citing an internal WGGB e-mail.
The military bloc’s move has reportedly sparked concern in the film and TV industry. The planned meeting is “clearly propaganda,” Irish film writer Alan O’Gorman said, as cited by The Guardian.
“I think there’s fearmongering throughout Europe at the moment that our defenses are down,” he reportedly said, adding that he has seen a media and government push in Ireland “to present NATO in a positive light and align ourselves with them.”
Other screenwriters were “pretty offended that art would be used in a way that was supporting war” and believed they were being asked to “contribute towards propaganda for NATO,” he said, according to the newspaper.
The Washington-led military bloc has been undergoing a growing internal rift, with US President Donald Trump again describing NATO as a “paper tiger” after multiple member states refused to join his war on Iran in recent months. Tensions between European NATO countries and the US had already been heightened by Trump’s threats in preceding months to annex Denmark’s autonomous territory of Greenland.
The greatest threat the bloc currently faces emanates not from “external enemies,” but rather its “ongoing disintegration,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday.
Spirit Airlines announced it was shutting down immediately following a failed Washington bailout bid and a surge in oil prices
Spirit Airlines, a US-based low-cost carrier, has succumbed to the unprecedented energy crisis, Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev has said, commenting on the company’s recent shutdown.
The airline announced on Saturday that it has begun an orderly suspension of operations, effective immediately, citing the recent surge in fue
Spirit Airlines announced it was shutting down immediately following a failed Washington bailout bid and a surge in oil prices
Spirit Airlines, a US-based low-cost carrier, has succumbed to the unprecedented energy crisis, Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev has said, commenting on the company’s recent shutdown.
The airline announced on Saturday that it has begun an orderly suspension of operations, effective immediately, citing the recent surge in fuel costs and other pressures that have significantly impacted its financial outlook.
“Spirit Airlines collapsed – the first airline victim of the historic energy crisis, as jet fuel prices jumped from $2.5 to $4 per gallon. 17,000 laid off,” Dmitriev, who serves as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, said later that day in a post on X.
Spirit’s bondholders reportedly turned down a last-minute rescue proposal from the Trump administration that could have provided up to $500 million to sustain the struggling airline. The plan would have placed the government ahead of other creditors and granted it a stake of up to 90% in the company.
The shutdown is set to leave around 17,000 people without work, including about 14,000 Spirit employees as well as thousands of contractors and others whose jobs rely on the airline. The elimination of the flights is also expected to result in higher fares across the industry.
The sudden and sustained rise in fuel prices in recent weeks ultimately left the company with no alternative but to pursue an orderly wind-down despite a restructuring plan agreed upon with bondholders in March, Spirit’s President and CEO, Dave Davis, said in a statement.
A mounting jet fuel crunch is hitting airlines worldwide as disruption in the Strait of Hormuz – a key energy chokepoint handling nearly a fifth of the global oil supply – amid the US-Israeli war on Iran has sharply reduced tanker traffic, delaying shipments and raising fears of the worst energy crisis in history, the International Energy Agency has warned.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly downplayed the impact of the Strait of Hormuz energy shock, arguing that the American economy would remain strong, and that energy disruptions would be temporary rather than economically damaging.
The participants of the procession through the US capital carried photos of relatives who fought Nazi Germany in WWII
Several hundred people have taken part in an ‘Immortal Regiment’ march in Washington, commemorating those who fought for the Soviet Union in the Second World War, the Russian Embassy in DC has said.
The marches were first held in the Siberian city of Tomsk in 2012. In the past, WWII veterans had been honored guests at Victory Day
The participants of the procession through the US capital carried photos of relatives who fought Nazi Germany in WWII
Several hundred people have taken part in an ‘Immortal Regiment’ march in Washington, commemorating those who fought for the Soviet Union in the Second World War, the Russian Embassy in DC has said.
The marches were first held in the Siberian city of Tomsk in 2012. In the past, WWII veterans had been honored guests at Victory Day parades commemorating Hitler’s defeat, but their numbers had dwindled, so local organizers came up with the idea of inviting their loved ones to march instead, holding their portraits. Since then, the idea has spread across Russia and to other nations.
The marches are traditionally held on May 9 in Russia, when the country celebrates Victory Day. In Washington, however, it was staged on Saturday, a week before the 81st anniversary of the end of the bloodiest conflict in history.
The demonstrators walked past the White House carrying portraits and red Victory Banners, and made their way towards the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, where they laid flowers, the embassy said in a statement.
The Russian diplomats thanked the organizers of the ‘Immortal Regiment’ march and all those who participated in what they described as an “important initiative, aimed at countering attempts to rewrite history and whitewash the Nazis and their collaborators, who are now being honored in some countries.”
Last year’s procession in the US capitol was marred by provocations from pro-Ukrainian activists. No incidents have been reported during the current event.
An ‘Immortal Regiment’ march also took place in New York City on Saturday, with several dozen people gathering outside the office of the Russian Permanent Mission to the UN.
The previous administration of US President Joe Biden had refused to permit the processions, citing coronavirus restrictions and a difficult political situation. But the ‘Immortal Regiment’ marches resumed after Donald Trump’s return to office.
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