World News

The Boeing 747-8 being offered to Donald Trump by Qatar once served the Qatari royal family and has been sitting unsold for years.

The jet, a lavishly configured version of Boeing's largest passenger aircraft, has been lingering without a buyer since being put up for sale in 2020, according to aircraft listings and aviation analysts.

John Goglia, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, told Forbes that giving the 747-8 to the U.S. would allow the Qataris to avoid maintenance costs that were only getting higher—with the 747 fleet shrinking worldwide and fewer mechanics available who know how to work on them.

LONDON -- The Israel Defense Forces issued evacuation warnings for three ports in Houthi-controlled Yemen after intercepting two of three ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-backed group in the past 24 hours. The IDF said one Houthi missile misfired on Tuesday.

The IDF said in a post to X that the third missile launched toward Israel on Wednesday was intercepted just before 8 a.m. local time. Air raid sirens rang out from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, sending several million Israelis rushing for cover. About two hours later, IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee ordered those present at the Red Sea ports of Ras Isa, al-Hudaydah and al-Salif ports to evacuate the area.

A lodging facility in Kyoto has drawn a protest from the Israeli Embassy in Tokyo for asking an Israeli man to sign a pledge that he had never been involved in war crimes.

Donald Trump's claim that India has offered to drop all tariffs on goods imported from his country has been swiftly disputed by Delhi. In a statement to local news agencies India's foreign minister S Jaishankar countered the claim saying talks are still going on and "nothing is decided till everything is".

The statement is in stark contrast to comments by Trump to reporters earlier in the day, when he declared Delhi had "offered us a deal where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariff".

India and the US are currently in talks to negotiate a trade agreement. Jaishankar said on Thursday that any trade deal has to be mutually beneficial and work for both countries.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Delegations from Ukraine and Russia traveled to Turkey Thursday for peace talks, but while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was present, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin stayed away, prompting criticism from Western officials that the Kremlin isn’t serious about the efforts to end the war.

Zelenskyy said the Russian delegation appeared to be merely “decorative.” Speaking at the airport in the Turkish capital, Ankara, he said the next steps for talks would be decided after his upcoming meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Putin, will lead the Russian team that will also include three other senior officials, the Kremlin said. Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as “experts” for the talks in Istanbul.

Prime Minister Kier Starmer said on a visit to Albania that the return hub concept was a “pretty important innovation” that could more effectively tackle migrant inflows. He did not name the countries he was in discussions with or offer more details.

Albania already has a five-year agreement with Italy to shelter up to 36,000 migrants annually while Rome fast-tracks their asylum requests. Under the deal, Italy would take back any migrants whose requests have been rejected, and they will likely be repatriated. Children and pregnant women aren’t covered by the plan.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said the agreement with Italy was a “one off” issue and that Tirana had turned down several requests for the same deals with other countries.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/64017712

Summary

South African officials and agricultural leaders reject U.S. claims of genocide against white farmers, calling them unfounded and politically motivated.

Trump granted refugee status to 59 white South Africans, citing "brutal killings" and land seizures under South Africa’s 2023 Expropriation Act.

However, experts argue rural crime affects all races equally and lacks racial motivation. Data shows farm deaths impact both white and Black individuals.

Critics view Trump’s claims and Elon Musk’s support as misinformed.

Israeli authorities, who have blocked the entry of aid, food, fuel, and medical supplies into Gaza for 75 days, have reportedly decided on a plan that would include “flatten[ing]” buildings and displacing Gaza’s entire population into a single “humanitarian area” if no “deal” with Hamas is reached by mid-May 2025. The dire humanitarian situation stemming from the unlawful blockade and plans to escalate forced displacement and widespread destruction demand a more robust response from other governments and institutions, especially the United States, France, Germany, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. Human Rights Watch called on all parties to the Genocide Convention to do more to prevent further atrocities, including ending weapons sales, military assistance, and diplomatic support to Israel, imposing targeted sanctions on Israeli officials, and reviewing and considering suspending bilateral agreements.

"(The) Russian Federation is ready to protect the 'shadow fleet'... The situation is really serious".

The Israeli army said on Monday that it had uncovered a terror tunnel at the European Hospital in Khan Yunis following an assassination attempt on senior Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar, but aerial footage released by the military shows a tunnel located beneath a nearby school.

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit responded by saying that the tunnel extended beneath both the hospital and the adjacent area highlighted in the footage. However, no evidence has been presented to substantiate this claim.

The IDF released the footage on Tuesday, just hours after the strike, under the title "The European Hospital." The video shows a building marked with signs of what is described as exposed underground infrastructure following the attack. In the statement accompanying the footage, the army claimed that "the IDF and Shin Bet security service destroyed a Hamas underground terror infrastructure located beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip."

However, a review of the maps and aerial footage reveals that the structure is not the hospital but the nearby Jenin School. The school's Facebook page features numerous photos of its courtyard, which is the exact location where the IDF claims the tunnel was dug.

In November, AP published an investigation reviewing the evidence the IDF presented regarding three hospitals in northern Gaza – Al-Shifa, Al-Awda and the Indonesian Hospital. The report said that Israel provided minimal, if any, evidence of a significant Hamas presence in these hospitals.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s right-wing President Javier Milei issued a decree on Wednesday curbing immigration to the South American nation, a move coinciding with the immigration restrictions put in place by the Trump administration.

The world's largest power polluter, China, made its biggest cut to power emissions since 2020 so far this year, but global power emissions have still held largely flat due to higher fossil fuel power generation in the United States and Europe.

Power producers in both the United States and Europe boosted generation from fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas during the opening months of 2025 from the year before.

Denmark is reconsidering its 40-year ban on nuclear power in a major policy shift for the renewables-heavy country.

The Danish government will analyse the potential benefits of a new generation of nuclear power technologies after banning traditional nuclear reactors in 1985, its energy minister said.

The Scandinavian country is one of Europe’s most renewables-rich energy markets and home to Ørsted, the world’s biggest offshore wind company. More than 80% of its electricity is generated from renewables, including wind, biofuels and solar, according to the International Energy Agency.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/63986816

Both major political parties in Taiwan eventually agreed to adopt a nuclear-free policy.