World
Austin warns 'no silver bullet' to defeat Putin as US aid hangs in balance ahead of elections
In his fourth and likely final trip to Ukraine ahead of the U.S. election next month, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin championed Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russian President Vladimir Putin’s deadly years-long assault but warned there is “no silver bullet” to end the war.
“There is no silver bullet. No single capability will turn the tide. No one system will end Putin’s assault,” Austin said, speaking from Ukraine’s Diplomatic Academy in Kyiv.
“What matters is the way that Ukraine fights back,” he added. “What matters is the combined effects of your military capabilities, and what matters is staying focused on what works.”
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks at the Hennadii Udovenko Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on Oct. 21, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Viktor Kovalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
ZELENSKYY VICTORY PLAN: REPLACE US TROOPS AT OUTPOSTS IN EUROPE WITH BATTLE-HARDENED UKRAINIANS
Austin applauded the bilateral efforts by the U.S. and its international allies to aid Ukraine in its fight against the Kremlin and warned Ukraine’s security is a matter of not only European security, but the U.S.’s.
International concern has mounted in recent months as the U.S. stares down a presidential election in just over two weeks and questions remain over whether a second Donald Trump White House would continue to back Kyiv should he win.
In a continued show of solidarity, Austin announced another $400 million arms package for Ukraine, and argued the cost of aiding Kyiv is less costly than abandoning it to Putin.
People stand near the building of one of the largest children’s hospitals of Ukraine, “Okhmatdyt”, partially destroyed by a Russian missile strike on July 8, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Oleksandr Gusev/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
“Consider the price of American retreat. In the face of aggression, the price of principle is always dwarfed by the cost of capitulation,” Austin said. “We face a hinge in history.
“We can continue to insist that cross-border invasion is the cardinal sin of world politics, and we can continue to stand firm against Putin’s aggression. Or we can let Putin have his way, and we can condemn our children and grandchildren to live in a far bloodier and more dangerous world,” he continued.
“If Ukraine falls under Putin’s boot, all of Europe will fall under Putin’s shadow.”
US TO PROVIDE UKRAINE WITH ANOTHER $425M WORTH OF SUPPLIES TO HELP DEFEND ITSELF AGAINST RUSSIA
Ukrainian servicemen of the 1st Independent Tank Brigade ride a BREM-1 evacuation tank as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, near the frontline of Vuhledar, in Donetsk region, Ukraine March 6, 2023. (Lisi Niesner/Reuters)
Austin argued Putin has yet to achieve a single objective of his “special military operation” when he invaded Ukraine nearly a thousand days ago, including his inability to take Kyiv or force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to step aside.
The secretary pointed to the more than 600,000 casualties Russia has incurred since February 2022, and the 11,000 Ukrainian civilians, including 600 children, that have been killed, according to figures by the United Nations.
Zelenskyy in a message posted to X, thanked Austin for his visit and the defense package, and said the pair discussed not only defense priorities and winterizing against Russia’s promised assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, but also “the expansion of long-range weapon use against Russian military targets.”
The Ukrainian president has long pushed the U.S. to enable it to use long-range weapons to hit military sites deeper in Russia in a move to stop its deadly aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities.
The U.S. has remained largely opposed to this tactic, and Austin did not mention any long-range strike capabilities during his address Monday.
Austin pledged to continue driving international efforts to back Ukraine with the military aid it needs to battle Russian troops on its eastern front.
A Ukrainian prisoner of war (POW) stands with his relatives after a swap, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in an undisclosed location in Ukraine, in this handout picture obtained on Oct. 19, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
“When a dictator puts his imperial fantasies ahead of the rights of a free people, the whole international system feels the outrage,” he said. “And so that’s why nations of goodwill from every corner of the planet have risen to Ukraine’s defense.
“And that’s why the United States and our allies and partners have proudly become the arsenal of Ukrainian democracy,” Austin added.
Pope Leo XIV left the Canary Islands for Rome on Friday in a Falcon plane offered by Spanish King Felipe VI after his original aircraft suffered a technical glitch, according to reporters at the scene.
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The flight took off just after 6:00 pm and is expected to arrive in Rome at around 11:00 pm. The pope wrapped up a week-long visit to Spain on Friday.
The pontiff’s departure from Tenerife was delayed earlier on Friday by a technical problem with the plane which led him to disembark, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
Spain’s King Felipe VI, who had just said goodbye to the pontiff on the runway, boarded the Iberia airline plane and both disembarked and returned to the terminal.
About 80 journalists remained on the jet, along with Vatican officials and members of the clergy.
“The departure of the papal flight has been delayed by half an hour due to a technical problem with the aircraft,” the communications service for the papal trip in Spain said in a brief statement.
The pilot initially told passengers there was a technical fault but later specified a “startup failure of the engine,” which he said was likely caused by wind conditions.
“Our maintenance team suggests towing the aircraft, positioning it into the wind, and attempting a new engine start,” the pilot told those on board.
“We will try this. If it is successful, we can depart.”
The glitch marked an unusual end to an otherwise successful trip to Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands.
Pope Leo XIV pressed his migration message and also inaugurated the new tower of the Sagrada Familia basilica.
It was the first time in decades that a papal flight had experienced a problem so serious that it required the pope to change planes.
Veteran Vatican reporters, some of whom were on the Iberia plane, recalled a few plane-related incidents during the pontificate of St. John Paul II.
During a 1986 return trip from India, John Paul II’s plane was forced to land in Naples because of a snowstorm in Rome. The passengers and pope took a special train back to Rome.
In 1988 en route to Lesotho, bad weather forced the late pope’s plane to land in South Africa, a country he had excluded from his African trip at the time because of apartheid. He was later driven into the kingdom.
Typically on papal trips, the Italian national carrier ITA Airways brings the pope to his destination and that country’s national carrier brings him home, with ITA sometimes doing the round trip if the voyage is particularly long or to a place that doesn’t have the capacity.
The flights are charters, with the pope, Vatican delegation and security occupying the front of the plane and the 70 or so journalists seated in coach.
Iberia had proudly provided video earlier in the trip of Pope Leo XIV seated in the cockpit, smiling broadly as the plane carried him from Madrid to Barcelona and then Barcelona to the Canary Islands.
In both cases, Spanish military aircraft provided an airborne escort, a sign of respect for visiting dignitaries and in one clip of the video the pope is seen waving to the escorting pilot.
Additional sources • AP, AFP
World
War, latest news. Trump: agreement with Iran to be signed soon. Tehran media: approval likely from top officials
Oxfam: ‘Over 540 settler attacks in the West Bank in the first few months of 2026’
A new analysis by Oxfam highlights the exponential rise in attacks by Israeli settlers and military forces in the occupied West Bank: in the first few months of 2026 alone, there were over 540 incidents and “in three years, the number of Palestinian civilians killed has exceeded that of the previous 17 years”, mainly children. According to the report, based on an analysis of data provided by the United Nations, “it is clear that Israel’s annexation plan is accelerating, with mass forced displacements, increased restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement and an unprecedented escalation of violence by settlers and the army”. A plan of ethnic cleansing and annexation that, since 2023, has caused over 46,000 people to be displaced, the construction of over 925 barriers that impede the movement of 3 million people, and an unprecedented wave of violence that has claimed over 1,200 lives, including nearly 270 children. In particular, between 2006 and 2022, Oxfam points out, there were 1,036 victims, including 225 children, whilst since 2023 alone, 1,244 have been recorded, with 268 children killed. This means that, over the last 20 years, one in five killings involved a child, around 22 per cent. By contrast, in the first 17 years under review, 86 Israeli settlers were killed by Palestinians, including 12 children, whilst there were 43 victims, including 10 children, between 2023 and 2025. “The massacre of civilians we are witnessing is painful and disturbing,” said Paolo Pezzati, spokesperson for humanitarian crises at Oxfam Italia – “Whilst the eyes of the world were rightly focused on the genocide committed by Israel in Gaza, following the atrocities committed by Hamas and other armed groups in 2023, an unprecedented wave of violence was unfolding across the West Bank, which has now escalated into a systematic plan of ethnic cleansing. In this context, we are therefore launching an urgent appeal for all necessary diplomatic pressure to be brought to bear on Israel to halt the ongoing annexation plan,” concludes Pezzati.
US: third Iranian oil tanker breaching the blockade neutralised
The US Central Command stated on X that it had intercepted an oil tanker, the third in a week, accused of violating the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command says it struck the M/T Jalveer, flying the flag of Guinea-Bissau, “as it attempted to transport oil from Iran through the Gulf of Oman”. “A US aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles at the ship’s engine room after the crew repeatedly refused to obey orders from US forces,” Centcom said.
Meloni: the Council should reflect on the direction of relations between the EU and Israel
“Not only because of what is happening in Lebanon, but also given the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, it is clear that the European Council will need to reflect on the direction of relations between the European Union and Israel.” This was stated by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Chamber of Deputies, in her address ahead of the EU Council meeting. “On this,” she added, “I would like, for once, to see a debate here that goes beyond the emphasis on facile polemics, which certainly yields an immediate return in terms of visibility, but does not reflect the strategic importance that the issue holds for Italia.”
World
Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol sentenced to 30 years over North Korea drone flights
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A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison Friday in a case that accused him of ordering drone flights over North Korea in an effort to justify his declaration of martial law.
Yoon, 65, was sentenced alongside former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun by the Seoul Central District Court.
The ousted president was previously sentenced to life in prison for leading an insurrection following his declaration of martial law in December 2024.
North Korea accused South Korea of flying drones over Pyongyang to drop propaganda leaflets on three occasions in October 2024.
SOUTH KOREAN LAWMAKERS SUPPORT SUSPENDING PRESIDENT’S POWERS AFTER SHORT-LIVED MARTIAL LAW DECLARATION
South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Feb. 11, 2025. (Lee Jin-man/AP)
Then-Defense Minister Kim initially issued a vague denial before South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it could neither confirm nor deny the allegations.
Although tensions between the two Koreas escalated following the incident, the drone flights did not lead to any military clashes.
Prosecutors accused Yoon of attempting to create a crisis with North Korea while plotting an authoritarian power grab aimed at removing political opponents and consolidating control.
SOUTH KOREAN COURT RULES EX‑PRESIDENT YOON SUK YEOL GUILTY IN INSURRECTION TRIAL
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stage a rally outside the Seoul High Court in Seoul on April 29, 2026. (Ahn Young-joon/AP)
Before declaring martial law, Yoon delivered a televised address accusing liberal lawmakers of sympathizing with North Korea.
Yoon has argued that he possessed the constitutional authority to declare martial law and said the move was intended to draw attention to what he viewed as obstruction by opposition parties.
His attempt to impose martial law lasted roughly six hours before lawmakers voted to overturn it amid mass public protests.
Yoon was arrested in July 2025 and continues to face multiple criminal proceedings.
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South Korea’s ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at Seoul Central District Court in Seoul to attend his trial on charges related to declaring martial law on Dec. 3, 2025. (Ahn Young-joon/AP)
The insurrection verdict has been appealed by both Yoon and prosecutors, who had sought the death penalty.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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