Top World News
In Congo, an unconventional Christian movement has existential lessons for the troubled nation
Simon Kimbangu, founder of one of Africa’s largest independent churches, spent 30 years in jail and died a prisoner, banished far from his home by Belgian colonial authorities who judged his activities to be dangerous
Islamabad prepares to host historic negotiations between Iran and the US
In Pakistan’s capital, the army has been deployed, a public holiday has been declared and the streets are eerily emptyMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe streets of Islamabad were on strict lockdown as Pakistan’s capital prepared to play host to historic negotiations between Iran and the US that have dangled the promise of an end to war that has devastated the Middle East.Even as the US-Iran ceasefire looked increasingly precarious, amid Israel’s continued bombardment of Lebanon and disputes over the terms of the talks, Pakistani officials insisted that the make-or-break peace negotiations would be going ahead over the weekend as planned. Continue reading...
Netanyahu says there is no ceasefire in Lebanon as Israel launches fresh strikes
Israeli PM says he will continue to attack Hezbollah ‘with full force’ after attacks that killed more than 300 peopleMiddle East crisis – live updatesBenjamin Netanyahu has said there is “no ceasefire in Lebanon” and Israel would continue “to strike Hezbollah with full force” as the country’s military launched fresh strikes. The Israeli prime minister’s remarks and latest attacks on what the IDF called “Hezbollah launch sites” came shortly after Donald Trump said he had asked Netanyahu to be more “low-key” in Lebanon.Later on Friday, a US state department official said Israel and Lebanon will hold talks in Washington next week. The announcement came as Netanyahu ordered his ministers to seek direct talks with Lebanon focused on disarming Iranian-backed Hezbollah. Continue reading...
Pope's Africa trip takes him to a source of growth for the church, and critical challenges
Pope Leo XIV is making a long and ambitious odyssey across four African countries -- Algeria, Angola, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea
Croatian fishermen feel the strain after Iran war ramps up fuel prices
Croatian fishermen are facing tough times as rising fuel prices, driven by the war in Iran, impact the industry
'This goes way too far': Trump shocks with 'bizarre' endorsement of dictator
President Donald Trump stunned political observers and analysts on Thursday by officially endorsing Hungarian dictator Viktor Orbán for reelection. Trump posted on Truth Social that Orbán is a "truly strong and powerful Leader, with a proven track record of delivering phenomenal results" and urged voters to support him during the April 12 election. Trump's post came at a time when Orbán, who has been in office for the past 16 years, is facing one of his toughest reelection bids yet."Viktor works hard to Protect Hungary, Grow the Economy, Create Jobs, Promote Trade, Stop Illegal Immigration, and Ensure LAW AND ORDER!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Relations between Hungary and the United States have reached new heights of cooperation and spectacular achievement under my Administration, thanks largely to Prime Minister Orbán. I look forward to continuing working closely with him so that both of our Countries can further advance this tremendous path to SUCCESS and cooperation."Political analysts and observers reacted to the endorsement on social media. "Bizarre and inappropriate," writer Zaid Jilani posted on X. "No American president in history has campaigned this hard for a politician in an allied democracy," Matt Welch, editor at large for Reason Magazine, posted on X. "'Be sure to attend the Budapest caucuses,'" journalist Michael McGough quipped on X. "We should not be directly interfering in another country’s election to this extent. It’s fine to have a preference, but this goes way too far. Ironically, though, this may only hurt Orban’s re-election chances as other countries Trump interfered w/ have seen blowback from it," attorney Blake Allen posted on X.
Trump issues cryptic early-morning threat hinting at new ally 'pressure'
Donald Trump kicked off his Thursday morning with a cryptic Truth Social post aimed at NATO that will have people scratching their heads at what is to come.The president has long been critical of the military alliance formed in 1949 as a bulwark against Russia, arguing over funding and now complaining that NATO countries won’t help him with his war on Iran.On Wednesday, the president ranted on Truth Social, "NATO WASN'T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON'T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN."On Thursday morning, he then ramped that up by hinting at a possible “pressure” campaign to come.On Truth Social, he wrote, “None of these people, including our own, very disappointing, NATO, understood anything unless they have pressure placed upon them!!!”The president did not elaborate on who “our own” are, leaving that also open to questions.
White House called on the carpet for risky war on Pope Leo: 'This is preposterous'
A report that Donald Trump’s administration menaced the first American-born pope led the entire panel on MS NOW’s "Morning Joe” to wonder what they could possibly be thinking as they risk alienating millions of Catholics.According to a report from The Free Press, after Pope Leo XIV delivered his State of the World speech where he criticized the Trump administration, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby demanded an audience with Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Vatican’s U.S. representative, and then issued a threat, reportedly telling the pope’s representative, “The United States has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.”After MS NOW host Willie Geist reported on the exchange, contributor Mike Barnicle, a lifelong Catholic, made a compelling case that the president and his underlings created a massive and enduring problem for themselves.“What do you make of what you're hearing here?” Geist prompted his guest. “I make that they are once again clowning the atmosphere up, the Trump administration, the idea that they would try to intimidate Pope Leo, the first American-born pope, is just absurd," the incensed Barnicle replied. “The idea that they would have anything to say critical of the Catholic church or the pope itself, the pope himself is absurd, especially given the Easter morning tweet from the president of the United States, which was so deeply offensive to any breathing, thinking human being that it's outrageous for the Trump administration to pose any problems they allege they have with the Vatican.”“I went to parochial school for eight consecutive years, and I got thrown out nearly every year by the nuns. You know, every grade — you deserve early stuff like that,” he recalled. But the one thing that you get to, to hold on to when you're raised Catholic, born Catholic, raised Catholic, especially by my mother, we used to call her 'my mother, the nun.' The one thing you retain, I would think, is that the theory of the Catholic church is rooted in a simple phrase: the least among us.” “So if you look at the Trump administration's behavior toward the least among us, it is almost criminal,” he accused. “It is certainly a sin because they don't care for the least among us, and that we should all care for the least among us. Because when we care for them, we care for ourselves.”Normally unflappable former diplomat Richard Haass was incredulous at the breach of protocol.“I mean, of all of all the fights to pick,” he exclaimed. “So we give Russia a free pass. We let Iran enhance half the stuff it's doing. We attack Europe and so forth –– I go around the world –– we give China a free pass, and who do we go after? We go after our democratic allies, and then we go after the Catholic church.”“That's our priorities for who we want to pick fights with,” he noted. “This is, this is, Mike used the word ‘absurd.’ This is preposterous that we are doing. And again, we're forfeiting the high ground. There's actually a serious part of this; we are forfeiting the high ground. Why aren't we trying to build support around the world? The idea that you can do everything with bullets and bombs, you can do some things, but this war should have taught us that you can’t do it all.” - YouTube youtu.be
Pete Hegseth's future at risk after 'humiliating' Trump at press conference: MS NOW host
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s continuing over-the-top press conferences about the Iran war are not doing Donald Trump any favors due to his childish behavior, leading MS NOW’s Joe Scarborough to suggest the president may want to put an end to Hegseth's "humiliating" antics.Reacting to the Wednesday Pentagon press conference, where the former Fox News personality boasted about the president’s ceasefire agreement that was already in the process of falling apart, the “Morning Joe” host compared Hegseth repeatedly to a grossly immature elementary school student.Speaking with co-hosts Willie Geist and Mika Brzezinski, Scarborough exclaimed, “To see [Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General] Kaine have to stand there while Pete Hegseth is doing all of this, like third-grade chest thumping, like he's out on the back on the playground –– and then General Kaine having to say, ‘Well, you know, we're still still basically at war and Americans could still die here,’ it's just, again, I just, I'm just shocked.”“I really am, that Donald Trump, at this late stage with Pete Hegseth humiliating him and the administration every day with his stupid routine,” he added. “Third-grade routine; I'm just shocked he's still allowed to go out there in front of a microphone because he just embarrasses himself and he sets Donald Trump and this administration and this country up for continued humiliation at the hands of the Iranians.”“Yeah, I mean, he's talking yesterday, and we carried it live, about a great military victory, effectively suggesting the war is all but won,” Geist pointed out. “And because of this great military victory he's describing, it forced Iran to the negotiating table, which is not quite how it played out, as we explained yesterday.” - YouTube youtu.be
Morning Joe co-host pounces on JD Vance's comment about his wife: 'So messed up'
Vice President JD Vance’s use of his relationship with his wife Usha to explain differing opinions about Donald Trump’s ceasefire chaos set off a tirade by MS NOW host Mika Brzezinski on Thursday morning as she could not contain her disgust.Speaking with reporters at the end of his overseas trip, Vance was asked about Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf of the Iranian Parliament who stated that his country’s 10-point proposal to end the war included “Iran’s right to enrichment.”Standing on the airport tarmac, Vance glibly replied, “I thought to myself, you know what? My wife has the right to skydive, but she doesn’t jump out of an airplane because she and I have an agreement that she’s not going to do that because I don’t want my wife jumping out of an airplane.”After watching the clip, Brzezinski blurted, “I'm just –– I really don't want to hear about women's rights, and rights and women from JD Vance.” “If that's your takeaway,” Joe Scarborough dryly joked.“Don't start the morning that way,” his “Morning Joe” co-host shot back before adding, “So messed up.”“That was such a confusing analogy, my teeth hurt right now. I'm still trying to figure it out,” Scarborough offered.“Yeah,” co-host Willie Geist interjected. “I also didn't know you were allowed to give your wife rules of things she can't do. I need to write a few down now how we operate.”“Women across America have rules that I never grew up with that kill them, so that's where we are,” the fuming Brzezinski bitterly stated. - YouTube youtu.be
Trump's ceasefire may be a 'windup' for the nuclear option: ex-GOP operative
Former Republican operative Rick Wilson suggested that President Donald Trump's ceasefire with Iran could lead to an even more dangerous situation. Wilson, the co-founder of the anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project, described in his Substack on Wednesday how the current halt on military action could reveal what might come next after the president reversed course on his serious threats against Iran. "Every TACO in Trump’s career has been followed by a larger escalation, because the reversal itself becomes a wound he has to cauterize," Wilson wrote. "The pause is never the end. The pause is the windup. And the windup on an Iran war, a war he chose, a war he cannot define victory in, a war where the adversary gets a vote and the adversary is furious, is going to arrive inside a man who has spent his whole life believing that the answer to any problem is to hit it harder than anyone expected."Wilson also cited another lingering fear. "I’ve been thinking about the most consequential, most dangerous change that could come from this doomed and deranged war with Iran, not from where it is tonight, but from where it will be two weeks from now, when the ceasefire is rubble and Trump is cornered worse than he’s ever been in his life, by markets, by allies, by his own collapsing story, by the mirror," Wilson wrote. He argued that Trump wouldn't just stop at the ceasefire."A 'demonstration.' That’s the word they’d use," Wilson added. "A clinical, bloodless word. A focus-group word. The kind of word that sounds like it belongs in a McKinsey PowerPoint deck, not attached to a mushroom cloud clawing its way into the stratosphere.Donald Trump, cornered by a collapsing strategic position in Iran, boxed in by markets in revolt, oil spiking, allies fleeing, by his increasingly obvious mental infirmities, a domestic political environment turning from brittle to shattered, decides to send a message."
Iranian leader declares ceasefire 'unreasonable' after 'violations' of agreement
MB Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's Parliament, declared a ceasefire and upcoming negotiations "unreasonable" after he accused the U.S. of violating a newly minted agreement.On Wednesday, Iran reportedly again shut down the Strait of Hormuz after Israel attacked Lebanon. For his part, President Donald Trump insisted that Lebanon had never been part of the ceasefire agreement. The U.S. president also said he had not agreed to a 10-point Iranian plan for peace as a framework for further negotiations.Ghalibaf posted a statement to X accusing the U.S. of violating the 10-point plan."As the President of the United States has clearly stated in his Truth, the Islamic Republic of Iran's 10-Point Proposal is a 'workable basis on which to negotiate' and the main framework for these talks," the statement said. "However, 3 clauses of this proposal have been violated so far."The speaker pointed to attacks on Lebanon, an alleged drone intrusion into Iran's airspace, and a denial of Iran's "right" to nuclear enrichment."Now, the very 'workable basis on which to negotiate' has been openly and clearly violated, even before the negotiations began," Ghalibaf wrote. "In such situation, a bilateral ceasefire or negotiations is unreasonable."
