World
Ukraine, North Korean troops clash for first time; Zelenskyy warns of escalation
Ukraine has engaged militarily for the first time with North Korean troops deployed to support Russia in its ongoing war with its neighbor, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday in a nightly address.
Zelenskyy did not go into detail about the engagement but warned of what he says is Russia’s intention to escalate the war that has raged for nearly 1,000 days.
A Kyiv official said Ukraine’s army fired artillery at North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk border region.
ZELENSKYY WARNS NORTH KOREA, RUSSIA ALLIANCE COULD SPELL TROUBLE FOR ASIA: CHINA’S ‘SILENCE IS STRIKING’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images, left | Korean Central News Agency, right)
“Terror, unfortunately, can spread like a virus when it does not meet sufficient counteraction. Now our counteraction must be sufficient, strong enough. The first battles with North Korean soldiers have opened a new chapter of instability in the world,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address as he thanked Ukraine’s allies around the world.
“Together with the world, we must do everything so that this Russian step to expand the war with real escalation fails. Both for Russia and North Korea.”
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that more than 10,000 North Korean troops arrived in Russia, with a “significant number” in the frontline areas, including the Kursk region where Ukrainian forces staged an incursion in August.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told South Korean state television there had been a “small engagement” with the North Korean troops, per Reuters. The report, with excerpts from the interview, quoted Umerov as saying the engagement was small and not yet systematic in terms of mobilizing soldiers.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is shown during artillery drills on March 7, 2024. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
Umerov reportedly said he expects five North Korean units, each consisting of about 3,000 soldiers, zto be deployed to the Kursk area. North Korean soldiers are mixed with Russian troops and are misidentified on their uniforms, Umerov was quoted as saying, according to the Associated Press.
DOCUMENTS REVEAL RUSSIA’S INITIAL ‘PEACE DEAL’ EQUATED TO THE SURRENDER OF UKRAINE: REPORT
Russia is reported to have 1.3 million active-duty soldiers with another 2 million in reserve. Russia is now seeing its highest number of casualties than at any other time since the war began, with some 1,200 casualties reported a day, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week. Despite the high number of casualties, there does not appear to be any end in sight to the war, validating early concerns that this would be a war of attrition.
Zelenskyy has been sounding the alarm that the recent deployment of North Korean troops in Russia not only spells trouble for Ukraine but also draws into question the stability and security of nations in Asia that are allied with the West.
“North Korea’s actions aren’t random,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with South Korea’s public broadcasting network KBS on Thursday. “They have strategic goals.”
“Their actions aren’t coincidental. They want Russia’s support in return,” he added in comments also posted to his social media account on X.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Christoph Soeder/Pool via AP/File)
Zelenskyy has called on South Korea to take a bigger role in the conflict and has said that South Korea has already pledged to send a team of specialists to Ukraine, where they will collaborate on defensive capabilities, including air defense, as North Korea also provides Russian with artillery and missiles.
“If South Korea wants to understand the real capabilities of North Korea and its soldiers, it would benefit them to be here to see and analyze the reality firsthand,” he said. “Consider how close North Korea is to [the South Korean capital] Seoul [25-30 miles], the range of modern artillery, not even missiles.
“Air defenses can’t counter artillery strikes. Our own towns were obliterated by artillery. I hope South Korea never faces this, but preparation is critical,” Zelenskyy added.
Soldiers march in a parade on the 70th anniversary of North Korea’s founding day in Pyongyang on Sept. 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan/File)
Zelenskyy also called into question China’s “silence” with regard to the North’s recent involvement in the war.
Meanwhile, North Korea was reported to have fired a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Tuesday.
The launch came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a flight test of the country’s newest intercontinental ballistic missile designed to reach the U.S. mainland. In response to that launch, the United States flew a long-range B-1B bomber in a trilateral drill with South Korea and Japan on Sunday in a show of force.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
World
Trump evacuated from White House correspondents’ dinner after shots fired
BREAKINGBREAKING,
The US president was escorted out from the event at a Washington DC hotel by his secret service agents.
Published On 26 Apr 2026
United States President Donald Trump has been evacuated from the White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington, DC, after shots were fired outside the event.
The evacuation on Saturday evening came after gun shots were heard outside the hotel ballroom where Trump and the first lady had been sitting ahead of the annual media event.
Trump hailed the United States Secret Service and local enforcement after the incident in a post on Truth Social.
“They acted quickly and bravely,” Trump said.
“The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we “LET THE SHOW GO ON” but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement. They will make a decision shortly. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again.”
Footage from the scene showed Trump and attendees taking cover behind their table after shots rang out, as people yelled “Get down!” and “Stay down!”
Trump was then rushed away from the scene by Secret Service agents, after which heavily armed agents surrounded the table.
Al Jazeera producer Chris Sheridan said he heard what he believed to be five gun shots outside the ballroom.
“We could smell the powder. We immediately dove to the ground. It was directly behind me,” Sheridan said.
Weijia Jiang, the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, told the media that the programme would resume and that more details will be provided soon.
More to come…
World
Trump hosts crypto contest winners at Mar-a-Lago as his coin languishes
World
Latin American leftists met in Spain, signaling push against US influence on continent
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MEXICO CITY: The recent high-profile gathering of leftist leaders in Barcelona, convened by Spain’s socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, is drawing increasing attention for what analysts describe as a broader geopolitical positioning that could challenge U.S. influence across Latin America and beyond.
The summit brought together Brazil president Lula da Silva, Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum. Framed as a platform for addressing inequality, climate change and the rise of right-wing political movements, yet the rhetoric coming from it has raised questions in Washington and across the region about whether a more coordinated political counterweight to the United States is taking shape.
Without naming the Trump administration, Sánchez warned of the “normalization of the use of force” and “attempts to undermine international law”, as criticism of U.S. foreign policy. He also pushed for reforms to global institutions, arguing that the current system no longer reflects today’s geopolitical realities, a position that implicitly challenges long-standing U.S. leadership in those bodies.
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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez take part in the 4th Meeting in Defense of Democracy, held at Fira Barcelona Gran Via in LâHospitalet de Llobregat, where he welcomed the attending delegations and underscored the need to strengthen international cooperation in defense of democratic values in Barcelona, Spain on April 18, 2026. The event included the greeting of heads of delegation and the traditional family photo, ahead of the start of the leadersâ meeting. Among those attending were South African President Cyril Ramaphosa; Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum; Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva; former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet; and Colombian President Gustavo Petro. (Lorena Sopena Lopez/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“The Barcelona summit reflects a deliberate effort by Pedro Sánchez to position himself as a leading figure within an emerging progressive bloc that is increasingly critical of U.S. foreign policy under President Trump,” Juan Angel Soto, founder and CEO of Fortius Consulting told Fox News Digital.
“This positioning is particularly complex given Spain’s structural anchoring in both the European Union and NATO, which traditionally align it closely with Washington. However, Sánchez has simultaneously deepened ties with the Global South, evident in his growing proximity to China, as well as to leaders such as Lula, Sheinbaum, and Petro, suggesting a dual-track foreign policy that seeks greater autonomy from U.S. influence,” Soto said.
The Colombian leader tied global tensions directly to economic and energy systems, arguing that fossil fuel dependence has fueled conflict and inequality, an argument that aligns with broader criticism of Western-led economic models.
Roberto Salinas León, Director of International Affairs at Universidad de la Libertad in Mexico City, told Fox News Digital: “The ill-named summit “In Defense of Democracy” held in Barcelona brought together notable “progressives” with an aim to bring together a global contingent opposed to, well, Trump 2.0. How convenient.”
TRUMP CRITICIZES SPAIN AMID IRAN, NATO RIFT AS PM SANCHEZ FACES QUESTIONS OVER POLITICAL MOTIVES
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez shake hands before their meeting in Beijing, China September 9, 2024 (China Daily via Reuters)
“Petro stated that ‘Latin American progressivism is a ray of hope for a humanity in crisis.’ Yet these would-be spokespersons for democracy have supported such inhumane brutal dictatorships like Cuba, Nicaragua, Maduro’s Venezuela, Iran, and others. This gathering is more aptly characterized as a political mascara of electoral autocracies, each leader undermining the institutional checks and balances of open liberal democracies,” he said.
Brazil’s Lula criticized what he described as interventionist policies by major powers and called for a rebalancing of global governance, including changes to the U.N. Security Council. At one point, he characterized recent U.S. leadership as contributing to global instability, reinforcing a central theme of the summit: that the current international order needs to be redefined.
President Donald Trump, center, Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader, second from left, Argentina’s President Javier Milei, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, Guyana’s President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Costa Rica’s President Rodrigo Chaves Robles, Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz and Chile’s President-elect Jose Antonio Kast pose for a family photo during the Shield of the Americas” Summit in Doral, Fla., on Saturday, March 7, 2026. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
“The new Cold War is being waged between China and the United States; it is this very rivalry that is at stake in every country participating in the summit. Lula’s concern regarding the resurgence of the right has become patently obvious, particularly when observing Argentina and Chile, where the victories of Milei and Kast have ushered in ‘winds of change.’ We are, quite literally, living through times reminiscent of the fall of the Berlin Wall, specifically, the collapse of ‘21st-century socialism’ across Hispanic America, and this is precisely what has them so worried,” Brazilian political analyst Sandra Bronzina told Fox News Digital
“When the global progressive left rails against the United States, talking about sovereignty and peace, or speaking out against war, they are not doing so out of mere altruism or good intentions. Rather, they are driven by a shadowy self-interest: ensuring that China continues to colonize our nations, a process that is, evidently, already well underway.”
‘AMERICAS COUNTER CARTEL COALITION’: INSIDE THE US STRATEGY TO COMBAT NARCO TERROR, CONFRONT CHINA, OTHER FOES
Mexico’s Sheinbaum underscored the principle of national sovereignty, reiterating Latin America’s longstanding emphasis on non-intervention. She joined other leaders in opposing sanctions on countries such as Cuba, signaling a willingness to coordinate positions that diverge sharply from U.S. policy in the region.
Taken together, analysts say the messaging out of Barcelona suggests the early stages of a loosely aligned bloc, one that is increasingly willing to challenge U.S. positions on global governance, regional policy and economic strategy.
Chile elected right wing leader Jose Kast as president. (Juan Gonzalez/Reuters)
Yet even as leaders in Barcelona warn of a rising right-wing threat, political realities across the Americas tell a different story, one that may resonate more directly with U.S. audiences.
In Argentina, sweeping economic reforms focused on deregulation and fiscal discipline have captured global attention as an alternative to state-led models. In El Salvador, aggressive security policies have dramatically reduced violence. And in Ecuador, a renewed focus on law-and-order and institutional control is emerging as a response to escalating cartel violence.
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Analysts say these examples highlight a counter to the Barcelona narrative in that a significant portion of the region is moving toward policies centered on security, market reforms and stronger state authority — priorities that often align more closely with U.S. strategic interests.
Experts say the contrast is striking. On one side, a group of leaders in Barcelona is calling for a rethinking of global systems long associated with U.S. leadership. On the other, governments across the hemisphere are experimenting with approaches that emphasize economic liberalization and strong security measures.
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