Politics

A high-stakes meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump deteriorated into a heated confrontation Friday, raising doubts about future American support for Ukraine. The Oval Office encounter, which included Vice President JD Vance, began awkwardly with Trump commenting on Zelenskyy's attire. Tensions quickly escalated over a proposed minerals deal that would grant the US access to Ukraine's rare earths as repayment for military aid. The situation worsened when Trump highlighted his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and suggested Zelenskyy's animosity toward Putin was impeding peace. The exchange became openly hostile when Vance accused Zelenskyy of being "disrespectful," asking if he had said "thank you" for US assistance. The meeting ended prematurely with the Ukrainian delegation escorted out. An anonymous White House official told Reuters that Trump is no longer interested in pursuing the minerals agreement, […]

North Korea has conducted test launches of strategic cruise missiles as a demonstration of its counterattack capabilities aimed at "enemies," according to state media reports. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally oversaw the missile drills in the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announced on Friday. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff later confirmed they had detected and tracked these launches. KCNA reported that Pyongyang conducted the drills to warn "enemies, who are seriously violating the security environment of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and fostering and escalating the confrontation environment," while demonstrating the "readiness of its various nuke operation means." The state news agency claimed the missiles accurately "hit the targets" after flying for 130 minutes along a 1,587km (986-mile) trajectory. "Expressing satisfaction over the result of the launching drill, Kim Jong Un […]

International Development Minister Anneliese Dodds has resigned following Prime Minister Keir Starmer's decision to cut the foreign aid budget. In her resignation letter, Dodds criticized the recently announced reductions to international aid, which will fund increased defense spending. She warned the cuts would "remove food and healthcare from desperate people - deeply harming the UK's reputation." Dodds revealed she deliberately delayed her resignation until after Starmer met with President Trump, stating it was "imperative that you had a united cabinet behind you as you set off for Washington." The minister expressed "sadness" about resigning and acknowledged that Starmer was not "ideologically opposed" to international development. Prior to his Washington visit, Starmer announced plans to reduce aid funding from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% by 2027, redirecting those resources toward defense spending. Defending this decision, the prime minister stated […]