Scott Bessent claims he received assurance in a personal call with company's chief executive A spokesperson for Walmart said the company would not comment on conversations between its executives and administration officials. Walmart said this week it had no alternative to raising prices for consumers beginning later this month because it could not absorb the cost of the president's tariffs on international trade, which have caused turmoil in international markets. The statement provoked an angry response from Trump, who posted a rant to his Truth Social network on Saturday saying the company should “eat the tariffs and not charge valued customers anything”. And Walmart is, in fact, going to, as you describe it, eat some of the tariffs, just as they did in ‘18, ‘19, and ‘20,” Bessent said after host Kristen Welker asked if the president was asking American companies to be less profitable. On Thursday, McMillon said in the earnings call that his company, a bellwether of US consumer health, was moving to protect itself against the impacts of Trump's tariffs, despite the president's administration announcing a pause in its trade war with China that analysts called “capitulation day”. Walmart's chief financial officer, John Rainey, told CNBC that the company, which has thousands of stores across the US, was “wired for everyday low prices”. But he said the tariffs were “more than any retailer can absorb” – and that consumers would begin to see higher prices towards the end of May and “certainly much more in June”. Trump announced plans for an unprecedented barrage of tariffs against numerous countries on 2 April, a date he called “liberation day”. He has since attempted to walk back many of the excesses of the policy, including this week's announcement that, for an initial 90-day period, tariffs on China – a dominant supplier to Walmart and myriad other US companies – would be cut from 145% to 30%. The White House called it a “total reset” in trade relations and followed up on Friday by announcing that it would not, after all, negotiate with many of the countries, but instead unilaterally impose new tariff rates. “[It is] not possible to meet the number of people that want to see us,” Trump told a meeting of business leaders in the United Arab Emirates during his tour of Gulf states. Bessent told CNN's State of the Union in a later appearance on Sunday that the US was focused on its “18 most important trading relationships” – and that he expected trade talks to continue with a number of countries leading to a series of regional deals.

Two dead and several badly injured after sailors left dangling in the air Two naval cadets were killed and several badly injured when a Mexican tall ship crashed into Brooklyn Bridge at the end of a goodwill visit to New York. Authorities blamed “mechanical issues”, and said the ship had lost power before the crash, at about 8.20pm on Saturday evening. But some experts have speculated that the ship's engines may have been stuck in reverse after tug boats pushed it into position to set sail. Questions have been raised about whether a tug boat should have been tethered to the ship to avoid it drifting. He said he had seen “lots of screaming, some sailors hanging from the masts, it looked like panic happening on the ship”. “I didn't see anyone fall into the water but lots of people up top. Authorities said no one had fallen overboard and all 277 crew were accounted for. Our solidarity and support go out to their families.” The vessel arrived last week as part of a promotional tour and had been moored facing the shore at South Street Seaport in Manhattan only a few hundred yards below the Brooklyn Bridge. Dozens of sailors were positioned on the mast and rigging, attached by safety lines, in a tradition known as manning the yards. They were due to return next summer for a maritime parade to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the declaration of independence. The vessel would have taken on a docking pilot to depart, said John Konrad, a US merchant marine captain and editor of the gCaptain maritime blog. Instead of heading south, the vessel instead appeared to drift towards the bridge, where its masts that reach up to 160ft hit the crossing which has a clearance of 127ft. Mr Konrad said key early questions included why the tugboat had not been tied to the ship, in what he said was normal practice. He said it was also unclear why the manoeuvrer had used one tug and not two. It was also not immediately clear why, or at what point, the ship's engines had failed. The bridge itself sustained only minor damage and was quickly reopened to traffic. Several of the ship's crew were taken off with bandages, or on stretchers, while the damaged vessel was later docked at the city's Pier 36 behind a city sanitation depot. The Cuauhtémoc is a steel-hulled barque built in 1982, used to train seamen at Mexico's Heroic Naval Military School. The vessel was scheduled to visit 22 ports in 15 nations, including Jamaica, Cuba, Mexico and New York. It had planned to visit Reykjavik, Bordeaux, Saint Malo, Dunkirk and Aberdeen among other cities for a total of 254 days – 170 at sea and 84 in port.

A resident says the army is firing deadly missiles into crowded neighborhoods without warning or evacuation notice. Israeli airstrikes hit Khan Younis, Deir al-Balah, several parts of Gaza City, and Jabalia. A resident of the Shati' refugee camp in Gaza City told Mondoweiss that “the occupation army had issued orders to evacuate Shati' camp, but they called off the orders — and then they called for an evacuation again, keeping residents in constant anxiety.” The renewed wave of bombings comes a few days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged last week to “enter Gaza with full force” in implementation of a new expanded ground offensive approved by the Israeli war cabinet nearly a month ago, dubbed “Gideon's Chariots.” “It is a bloody and difficult day for the northern Gaza Strip,” he stated on Telegram. Hundreds of thousands of displaced families from eastern Gaza City, having evacuated their homes over a month ago due to the Israeli invasion of the Shuja'iyya neighborhood, have crammed into the city's western areas. They have established new displacement centers in Gaza City's parks, stadiums, and universities, including the Yarmouk Stadium and the Islamic University. On May 16, large numbers of people were displaced from areas in north Gaza, where the escalating ground invasion has intensified, prompting some residents to leave their homes for Gaza City. Sulaiman Abu Sultan, 41, originally from Beit Lahia, says that the intensity of the bombardment in north Gaza forced him to leave his home. He tells Mondoweiss that the Israeli army is firing deadly missiles into crowded neighborhoods without warning or evacuation notice. “The time for warnings through messages and phone calls is over. Now, they are killing hundreds to warn those who remain,” he adds. “They are sending deadly missiles that tear our bodies apart.” “We thought Gaza City would be less terrifying, but we found the same situation: terrifying sounds and planes flying over us.” “Is all this horror for us?” Abu Sultan muses. “It's hard to believe that all this firepower in the sky is reserved for civilian families whose only concern is to save their children from bombardment and feed them so they don't die of hunger.” The all-out Israeli assault was preceded by over a week of intensified bombardment of the Strip following Hamas's release of Israeli-American captive soldier Edan Alexander as a “goodwill gesture” to Donald Trump, who was due to arrive in the Middle East on his planned tour of Arab Gulf countries. According to a Drop Site News interview with Hamas official Basem Naim, Alexander's release was part of a deal Hamas struck with U.S. envoy to the region, Steve Witkoff, who was supposed to compel Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza and let humanitarian aid into the Strip. Naim also said that Witkoff “personally committed” to ending the blockade and that Trump was supposed to publicly call for a ceasefire. Naim told Drop Site that there was “zero” progress in talks for a ceasefire, while Witkoff reportedly told Arab mediators that the U.S. would not be pressuring Israel to end the war on Gaza. Meanwhile, Netanyahu appears as unmovable as ever, speaking to Israeli daily Maariv last week about how the Israeli army is “destroying more and more houses [in Gaza], and they [the Palestinians] have nowhere to return to,” adding that “the logical result will be the desire of Gaza residents to leave.” Netanyahu also remarked that half of Gazans already want to leave, and that “the difficulty is in finding countries that would accept to receive them.” In line with this Israeli plan, NBC reported on Friday that the Trump administration was working on a plan to permanently relocate 1 million Palestinians to Libya in exchange for lifting sanctions imposed on the Arab country over a decade ago. NBC spoke to five unnamed sources “with knowledge of the effort.” According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the UN-affiliated famine monitoring body, 96 percent of Gazans face “high levels of acute food insecurity,” with 22 percent facing “catastrophic levels.” The Trump administration is cracking down on political dissent. Under pressure from an array of McCarthy-style tactics, academics, activists and nonprofits face significant threats for speaking out or organizing in resistance. Truthout is appealing for your support to weather this storm of censorship. We've launched a fundraising campaign to find 340 new monthly donors in the next 4 days. Your support during our fundraiser (4 days left) will help us continue our nonprofit movement journalism in the face of right-wing authoritarianism. Get the news you want, delivered to your inbox every day. We've set a goal to add 340 new monthly donors in the next 4 days – will you be one of them?

These people didn't work there — they were employees from museums in occupied Crimea who, on the instructions of the Russian leadership, had come to remove Scythian and Sarmatian gold jewellery, valuable collections of weapons and coins, and thousands of other historical artifacts from then-occupied Kherson. "Some of them did the packing, others grabbed what they liked," a museum guard recalled in an interview with the Kyiv independent. They then shifted their focus to the nearby Kherson Museum of Local Lore. What was unfolding was just part of what would amount to the looting of nearly 33,000 items from the two museums — the largest such theft in Europe since World War II. A two-year investigation by Ukrainian authorities has made little progress. To dupe those responsible into revealing previously secret details of the theft, investigative journalist Yevheniia Motorevska would have to take on the roles of a naive producer of a Russian TV channel, and a tough and inquisitive investigator of the Russian Federation. The city of Kherson was occupied by Russian forces in the early days of March, 2022, until being liberated by Ukraine's lightning counteroffensive later that year. Today this area is a red zone which suffers constant shelling — just a couple of kilometers away, on the other bank of the Dnipro river, Russian forces fire artillery, and launch drones that systematically target civilians in what has been dubbed a "human safari." Today all that remains are the paper descriptions where they used to be displayed. "In Russia, they always spoke of themselves as a cultural nation. But no, only vandals could have done that." "It was a real act of vandalism. In Russia, they always spoke of themselves as a cultural nation. But no, only vandals could have done that," she said. "A very expensive item that was in this hall was the saber of the Emir of Bukhara. It cost, according to some estimates, more than $150,000," she added while walking around the empty halls. Her predecessor, Tetiana Bratchenko, collaborated with the occupation regime and is now, according to the Kyiv Independent's investigation, hiding in Russia. Witnesses to the theft were two of the museum's guards who continued to work when the city was occupied, but refused to cooperate with Russian forces. They claim that during the looting, some 70 specialists from occupied Crimea selected exhibits, kept records, and packed items in the museum. The guards also pointed to a mysterious commandant who personally supervised the removal of valuables — but the details they provided were not sufficient on their own to identify him. Before Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian Artem Lagoysky was a Kherson blogger known as "Bydlo." When the Russians arrived, he eagerly accepted a post in the occupying regime as deputy minister of culture. The Kyiv Independent knew he had information about the theft but in order to speak to him and get him to open up, had to pose as Russian journalists making a film about culture in the "territories liberated by Russia." Believing he was speaking to a "TV producer in Moscow," Lagoysky, speaking from the occupied Ukrainian city of Henichesk, Kherson Oblast, freely admitted that he "personally carried the exhibits from museums during the evacuation." Both are Russian citizens who moved to Crimea to take up positions there after the peninsula was occupied in 2014. To obtain more evidence of their involvement in the museum theft, it was necessary to contact another defector, Oleksandr Kuzmenko, who at the time of the looting was the "minister of culture" in Kherson Oblast. Kuzmenko no longer holds a minister position and was unlikely to want to speak to Russian journalists, so a different approach was needed — Motorevska called him under the guise of an "investigator from Moscow" looking into how several objects that were supposed to be taken to Russian-controlled territories had appeared on the black market. During the conversation, Kuzmenko confirmed that both Morozova and Smorodkin were present in Kherson, claiming it was they who decided which exhibits should be taken out of the Local History Museum and which should stay. Using the same cover story, Motorevska called another Kherson defector, Andriy Khodchenko, the Local History Museum's former deputy director, who, after the liberation of Kherson fled to Russia's Krasnodar Krai, a region that shares a border with Ukraine. Khodchenko also fell for the ruse and confirmed Morozova's presence, also sharing details about another Crimean official, Mikhail Smorodkin, the Sevastopol Defense Museum's director, claiming at one point he tried to put some of the museum's exhibits into his own car. This was confirmation that directors of two museums — the Chersonesos Museum and Sevastopol Defense Museum — were present during the theft. "As I remember, the commandant was limping, he walked with a cane... I don't know his last name, but I saw him during the evacuation," Kuzmenko said. There were clues to his identity — the museum guards said he was wearing the uniform of a colonel, and it was already known he walked with a limp. Lagoysky said in addition to looting the museums, he and the commandant personally took the remains of Russian military leader Grigory Potemkin from his tomb in St. Catherine's Cathedral in Kherson. Fortunately, Kuzmenko had another photograph which clearly showed the commandant's face, which he sent to the Kyiv Independent via Telegram. With the help of facial recognition software, he was swiftly identified — Dmitry Lipov, a Russian naval officer with the rank equivalent to a colonel. Khodchenko reported that FSB officers held meetings in Kherson with museum employees and occupation authorities in Kherson Oblast, and helped organize the theft. The Kyiv Independent team discovered the FSB officer who led this process was called Vasily, but could not fully identify him. According to Kuzmenko, FSB officers also supervised the removal of valuables from the Art Museum where more than 10,000 works of art, including three paintings by the famous Ukrainian painter Ivan Aivazovsky, were looted. "(The Russians) were mainly focused on taking paintings, they took those away. They left artworks that were not in very good condition, or that they simply didn't like," the current deputy director Ihor Rusol said. At least part of the Art Museum's collection is now located in occupied Crimea, at the Taurida Central Museum. Vitalii Tytych is a lawyer and military serviceman. In the first two years of the full-scale war, he documented crimes against cultural heritage as part of a special Territorial Defence Forces unit. Due to the fact Ukraine does not have a unified state register of museum values, this process is complex. Vitalii Tytych sees the looting of museums as part of Russia's state policy to destroy Ukrainian culture, which has been ongoing since tsarist times. We're working hard to show the world the truth of Russia's brutal war — and we're keeping it free for everyone, because reliable information should be available to all. Our goal: reach 20,000 members to prove independent journalism can survive without paywalls, billionaires, or compromise.

She would limit her travels to what was strictly necessary, forgoing professional, educational and leisure opportunities. “I felt persecuted and had too much fear,” she told Truthout in Spanish. In the rural part of western Massachusetts where she lives, driving is essential. But until recently, only those with valid work permits could get their licenses. It also affects residents who have applied for a new status and are waiting for their applications to be approved. That's why she supported the Massachusetts 2022 referendum to change the law, bringing food and drinks to campaigners and helping with collecting signatures. In July 2023, access to driver's licenses was expanded to all in Massachusetts, joining neighboring New York State and now 18 other jurisdictions. Other states like Wyoming and Florida have attempted to invalidate these out-of-state licenses, with Tennessee and Florida passing similar laws. Half a dozen other Republican states have considered similar legislation this year. Other states don't invalidate licenses but still criminalize those unable to obtain one. On May 6, Ximena Arias Cristobal, a 19-year-old Georgia resident who arrived in the U.S. the year after Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) cutoff, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after a mistaken traffic stop. Despite dropped charges, Arias-Cristobal is still in ICE custody, facing deportation. On February 12, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi sued New York State for its 2019 Driver's License Access and Privacy Act (or “Green Light Law”), which makes driver's licenses available to New Yorkers regardless of their immigration status. This type of legislation has helped immigrants access jobs, participate in their children's education, make medical appointments, and more. Giving all immigrants legal access to driver's licenses also means there are fewer untrained, untested, uninsured drivers on the road. Driver's licenses are part of state jurisdiction, and between 1980 and 2015, 122 pieces of legislation were enacted in different legislatures, according to a Research & Policy Brief by the UCLA's Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. Before the 1990s, anyone could get a driver's license from their state of residence. But the 9/11 commission did not specifically discuss access to driver's licenses for undocumented people. In 2005, the federal REAL ID Act created national standards for driver's licenses. Still, states continued to pass legislation restricting driving. By 2011, only New Mexico, Utah and Washington State allowed all residents to obtain licenses. That trend shifted in the early 2010s, when officials in 17 states confirmed that people who held DACA status could apply for a driver's license. Nine states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada and Vermont — also enacted laws expanding driving rights, along with D.C. The next decade, seven more states — Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Virginia — changed their laws too, bringing the count to 19 states and D.C. Researchers and governments have studied the positive effects of these laws, finding that crashes went down by 5 percent; babies' birth weight improved; undocumented women became more likely to work; hit-and-runs decreased by 20 to 50 percent; insured drivers increased; consumers bought more large items like cars, household appliances and houses, benefiting the local economy; revenue was generated for states via license fees; and the number of organ donors increased. It also disincentivized undocumented people from having a fake license or from falsely claiming they live in a state that does have driver license access. All 20 jurisdictions passed different versions of their laws, with crucial differences. Some were more flexible with the documents they required, others traded that accessibility for requiring fingerprinting by the state's Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Some states clearly differentiate between licenses given only to undocumented immigrants and licenses given to the rest, thereby “outing” undocumented people. In Massachusetts, for example, a driver's license is accessible to anyone. A REAL ID is only accessible to citizens and permanent residents. But both citizens and permanent residents can still have a regular license. Finally, some states have more protections against sharing data with federal agencies. DMV records are “the only comprehensive internal security database,” argued a 2005 issue of Bender's Immigration Bulletin. Some states give full access to their DMV records, other states require a court order or arrest warrant and some jurisdictions explicitly prohibit their DMV from sharing information. At least seven states had shared personal information from drivers with the ICE since 2020, according to a 2021 investigation by the Center for Public Integrity. New York State's Green Light NY privacy protections are at the center of Trump's administration lawsuit, Jose Perez, general counsel at the national nonprofit LatinoJustice PRLDEF, told Truthout. On April 2, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, together with Rural and Migrant Ministry, INC., New York Immigrant Coalition, Hispanic Federation and Make the Road New York filed an amicus curiae brief in support of New York State's motion to dismiss the complaint. Until 2001, New York State residents applied for driver's licenses without having to provide social security numbers (SSN). Eliot Spitzer issued an executive order restoring driver's license access. At the time, Hochul was Erie County's county clerk, an elected official who administers the DMV in New York State. A decade later, 2018 New York State election results created another window of opportunity. A lot of those active in the campaign were from outside of New York City, where public transportation is unreliable. “It was an issue propelled forward by immigrant community members in areas of the state where you hadn't traditionally seen a lot of immigrant organizing,” she said. “You had rural farm workers from Wyoming County, six hours from New York City, coming to Albany, and you had a lot of folks from the suburbs in Long Island, places that were not always seen as politically progressive.” Perez is optimistic that the 16-page lawsuit will be dismissed in the same way that a previous challenge in 2019 was. Perez argues that criminalizing immigrants is part of a political project, rather than an adherence to existing laws. Western Massachusetts resident Marina said she has been more cautious under the new administration. The Trump administration is cracking down on political dissent. Under pressure from an array of McCarthy-style tactics, academics, activists and nonprofits face significant threats for speaking out or organizing in resistance. Truthout is appealing for your support to weather this storm of censorship. We've launched a fundraising campaign to find 340 new monthly donors in the next 4 days. As independent media with no corporate backing or billionaire ownership, Truthout is uniquely able to push back against the right-wing narrative and expose the shocking extent of political repression under the new McCarthyism. Your support during our fundraiser (4 days left) will help us continue our nonprofit movement journalism in the face of right-wing authoritarianism. Get the news you want, delivered to your inbox every day. We've set a goal to add 340 new monthly donors in the next 4 days – will you be one of them?

Proposed rule change could pave way for president to fire economists whose figures prove politically inconvenient The acerbic phrase later become so deeply embedded in popular consciousness that it once formed the title to an episode of The West Wing, NBC's portrayal of a fictitious US president played by Martin Sheen. Now professional economists and number-crunchers fear the aphorism could become a White House theme in real life. Buffeted by global markets and public opinion – both of which show a wary skepticism of Donald Trump's affinity for trade wars – the president may be about to turn his renowned hostility to truths at odds with what he believes towards public servants charged with producing accurate information. Statistics released by agencies such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) are used by the Federal Reserve Bank to set inflation policy and interest rates. They also form the basis on which businesses and investors take decisions. But with Trump under pressure to explain shrinking gross domestic product (GDP) figures amid economists' warnings that tariffs could trigger a recession, the administration could use new employment rules to pressure workers into “cooking the books”. While acknowledging that there is as yet “no evidence” the Trump administration has done so, Groshen, a former commissioner at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), fears a new rule proposed last month by the White House's office of personnel management threatens the future integrity of federal agencies' figures. The change, based on an executive order signed by Trump on 20 January immediately after his inauguration, would reclassify about 50,000 as-yet-unspecified permanent civil servant positions to “policy/career” category, thus enabling their removal for “poor performance or misconduct”. “Bureau of Labor Statistics' leaders could be fired for releasing or planning to release jobs or inflation statistics unfavorable to the president's policy agenda,” she wrote in a briefing paper that urges organizations dependent on BLS figures to submit comments criticizing the proposal. “By making it easier to remove employees if a president determines that they are interfering with his or her policies, it increases the potential for passivity or political loyalty to be prioritized over expertise and experience.” Trump regularly cast doubt on the accuracy of economic data when in opposition – calling positive BLS jobs figures during the Obama and Biden administrations “fake” but hailing them as accurate when they painted a rosy picture of the economy during his first presidency. Last month, when GDP figures showed an economic contraction during the first 100 days – partly fueled by tariffs – Trump put the blame on Biden. The commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick – who has direct responsibility over many of the statistical agencies – has suggested changing the way GDP is calculated in a way that might provide more upbeat figures but which would mark a departure from established practice and international standards. Groshen cited Argentina, whose official inflation figures were rejected as false by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Greece, where government statisticians were said to have miraculously made inflation and disqualifyingly high budget deficits “disappear” to enable it to join the European Union's single currency, the euro, in the late 1990s. That loan, followed by another in 2022, failed to stabilise the country's economy and in 2023, Javier Milei, a far-right candidate and professed admirer of Trump, was elected president pledging drastic spending cuts to address its chronic economic problems. Last month saw the fund agree to another $20bn bailout for Milei's government. “I would say that there's definitely an incentive to cook the books, but I don't think that it is going to be very easy or feasible to do,” he said, citing the US's long tradition of producing accurate economic figures. “The Bureau of Economic Analysis would essentially need to be silenced or defunded and replaced with some other statistical agency, which would then result in different figures. Accurate and unbiased figures are crucial in helping the Federal Reserve form sound policy, Kersting said. Kitty Richards, a former treasury and White House official under the Biden and Obama administrations, said data collection had been impaired by Elon Musk's attacks on federal agencies under the auspices of the unofficial “department of government efficiency,” or Doge. “We should view attacks on government data collection as hand in glove with attacks on journalism,” said Richards, now a senior fellow at Groundwork Collaborative, a thinktank. “Undermining data collection and casting doubt on data that is released is part of a program of undermining the public's ability to learn the truth.” If you have a data series stretching back 50 years, then it gets cut for two or three years, you no longer have that 50-year data series. Greshen, who is calling on users of government statistics to object to the proposed civil service changes before a 30-day window expires on 23 May, said the fate of US democracy could hinge on the continued production of accurate figures.

Los Angeles announced May 15 that air taxis will be available for visitors and Team USA at the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games by Archer Aviation Inc. Mayor Karen Bass pledged last year that the Olympics would be a “no-car Games” and that people would need to use public transportation to access venues. The LA28 Games are projected to attract more than 15 million visitors and be watched by billions of viewers worldwide. Archer said its Midnight aircraft emits less noise and emissions than traditional helicopters. The company hopes to begin commercial operations in 2026, assuming it receives Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification approval. The aircraft is manufactured at facilities in San Jose, California, and Covington, Georgia. Archer's aircraft will pick up and drop off passengers at vertiports at key LA28 venues, such as SoFi Stadium in Inglewood and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, as well as major hubs like Los Angeles International Airport, Hollywood, Orange County, and Santa Monica. “At LA28, we're building a platform for constant innovation and creativity, which is why we've partnered with forward-thinking companies like Archer,” LA28 Chairperson and President Casey Wasserman said in a statement. LA28 and Archer Aviation did not return a request for comment by publication time. Archer's future depends on FAA certification, which is still in progress. Despite the lack of certification, Archer has forged plans with SoFi Stadium and the University of Southern California, facilitating vertiport development, according to Nikhil Goel, Archer's chief commercial officer.

The pilgrims were joined by more than 150 dignitaries, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Notably absent was U.S. President Donald Trump, who had come to Rome earlier this month to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, who died at age 88 on April 21. Pope Leo XIV, history's first American pope, vowed Sunday to work for unity so that the Catholic Church becomes a sign of peace in the world, offering a message of communion during an inaugural Mass in St. Peter's Square before an estimated 200,000 pilgrims, presidents, patriarchs and princes. In a message on X, Mr. Carney he “underscored Canada's strong support for Ukraine – today, tomorrow, and every day until there is true freedom, peace and security for all Ukrainians.' Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met at Pope Leo's inaugural mass.ISABELLA BONOTTO/AFP/Getty Images The 267th pope's arrival mixed modern statecraft with ritual that has barely changed in centuries. Leo, 69, the former Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, arrived in an electric, open-back Mercedes. At one point, the “popemobile” stopped briefly so he could kiss a child. The mass started when Leo entered St. Peter's Basilica alongside a procession of cardinals. Inside, he received two gifts that symbolize the papacy. Pope Leo greeted the crowd from his "popemobile": an electric, open-back Mercedes.Domenico Stinellis/The Associated Press The first was a gold signet fisherman's ring, which is named in honour of St. Peter, a fisherman who became the first pope 2000 years ago. It was placed over his shoulders and worn during the mass. When he was elected pope after a remarkably fast, 25-hour conclave that finished on May 8, his first words from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica were “Peace be with you all.” “In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth's resources and marginalizes the poorest,” he said. The pilgrims and tourists had flooded into St. Peter's Square well before dawn to ensure they could see Leo mark his official debut as the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics. By 7 a.m., three hours before the start of his inaugural mass, some had fallen asleep on their chairs in the warm morning Roman sun as visitors from all over the world held their positions for fear of losing their chairs. She wore a cap with the city of Chicago flag on it. And he is someone who roots for the White Sox!” “Why did Trump not come?” asked Pino Cavuoti, 64, a radio journalist who is a member of Catholic charity fraternity in the region of Abruzzo, in central Italy. “He probably wanted to make more money during his tour of Gulf states. But from what I have read, he and Leo would not get along anyway.” How much will Mark Carney's Catholic faith inform the way he governs Canada? Mr. Carney, who had missed Francis's funeral because of the election, arrived in Rome on Saturday and met his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni the same day. They discussed the G7 summit, which Canada will host June 15-17 in Kananaskis, Alta. World dignitaries including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and U.S. Vice-President JD Vance sat with dignitaries at Saint Peter's Square for them ass.VINCENZO LIVIERI/Reuters An estimated 150,000 pilgrims and dozens of world leaders attended the mass. Among the heads of state or government were Britain's Prince Edward, Argentinian President Javier Milei, Anthony Albanese, the newly re-elected prime minister of Australia, and Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz. After his meeting with Mr. Carney in Rome, Mr. Zelensky said on X that he was “grateful for Canada's support” in its defence against Russia. Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Long-lasting peace and protection of rights of the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine must be the core result of Russia's special military operation, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin. Putin stressed that Russia has ample forces to complete the special military operation and reach the designated objectives. The president added that it also goes "for people residing on these territories and considering the Russian language to be their native tongue and Russia as their homeland." Putin has repeatedly called for resolving the Ukraine conflict, highlighting the need to take Russia's interests into account when addressing the root causes of the crisis. According to him, this is the only way to establish long-term peace, which is what Moscow wants. The Russian Foreign Ministry reported earlier that on March 17, a phone conversation between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was held at the initiative of the American side. The top Russian diplomat "acknowledged the constructive role played by the United States in encouraging Kiev to finally accept President Vladimir Putin's proposal to resume negotiations in Istanbul" and "reiterated Moscow's willingness to continue working with US colleagues in this context." On May 16, talks were held between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey's Istanbul. Following the meeting, Moscow and Kiev agreed to swap the prisoners of war under a "1,000 for 1,000" formula, present their concept of the potential future ceasefire, outlining it in detail, as well as continue the negotiation process. Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky who led the Russian delegation at the Istanbul talks said that the Russian side was satisfied with the negotiations' outcome.

Stand behind Ukrainian independent journalism when it's needed most. Russia carried out its largest single drone attack since the start of its full-scale invasion, launching 273 drones overnight on May 18, Ukraine's Air Force reported. The attack comes just two days after Ukraine and Russia held their first direct peace talks since 2022, and one day ahead of a planned call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kyiv Oblast Governor Mykola Kalashnyk reported that the attack killed one person and injured three others. Actual casualties from the attack are still being clarified, he said. Ukraine's Air Force said it intercepted 88 drones, while 128 others vanished from radars, likely used as decoys to overwhelm air defenses. Despite increasing international pressure for an unconditional ceasefire, Moscow has intensified its assaults, displaying ongoing resistance and distain to diplomatic efforts. President Volodymyr Zelensky had called on Putin to attend personally, saying only the Russian leader could authorize a ceasefire. Russian negotiators reiterated sweeping demands: that Ukraine abandon NATO aspirations, renounce foreign military support, drop reparations claims, and accept Russian control over Crimea and four occupied regions — demands Kyiv has categorically rejected. Trump has pushed to broker a deal but has yet to impose new sanctions on Moscow despite mounting frustration from U.S. allies over Russia's refusal to halt its attacks. We're working hard to show the world the truth of Russia's brutal war — and we're keeping it free for everyone, because reliable information should be available to all. Our goal: reach 20,000 members to prove independent journalism can survive without paywalls, billionaires, or compromise.

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