🇺🇸Trump's national security team's chat app leak stuns Washington
There are few US presidential actions more sensitive, more fraught with peril, than when and where to use American military force.
If such information were obtained by American adversaries in advance, it could put lives – and national foreign policy objectives - at risk.
Fortunately for the Trump administration, a group chat with information about an impending US strike in Yemen among senior national security officials on the encrypted chat app Signal did not fall into the wrong hands.
Unfortunately for the Trump administration, the message thread was observed by an influential political journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇹🇷Sixth night of protests in Turkey as Erdogan hits out at unrest
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed opposition parties for provoking a "movement of violence" as protests in the country continued for a sixth night.
Unrest began in Istanbul last Wednesday when the city's mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan's main presidential rival, was detained on corruption charges.
Imamoglu said the allegations against him were politically motivated, a claim denied by Erdogan.
Turkey's main opposition party, the Republican People's Party's (CHP), said the demonstrations will end on Tuesday, without saying what the next steps would be.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇨🇦Trump looms over Canada's election as campaign begins
Canada's newly appointed Prime Minister Mark Carney has called a snap election, sending the country to the polls on 28 April.
The election comes as Canada faces a trade war with the US and calls from President Donald Trump for it to become the 51st American state, issues which are expected to be top of mind for voters.
It also comes nine days after Carney, a Liberal, was sworn in as Canada's prime minister following Justin Trudeau's resignation.
Carney must now face Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, whose party had been leading in national polls since mid-2023, though recent polls suggest the race is now neck-and-neck.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇺🇸Trump revokes security clearance for Harris, Clinton, and critics
US President Donald Trump revoked security clearances from his previously defeated Democratic election rivals, Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton, as well as a number of other former officials and critics.
Trump said in February he was revoking security clearance for his predecessor Joe Biden. His order confirmed that decision, adding that he was also revoking the security clearance of "any other member" of the Biden family.
"I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information," Trump's memorandum read.
Former US presidents and top security officials usually keep their security clearance as a courtesy.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇮🇱Netanyahu calls strikes on Gaza 'only the beginning' as hundreds reported killed
Israel has "resumed combat in full force" against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday night.
In a defiant video statement, he warned that "negotiations will continue only under fire" and that "this is just the beginning".
His comments came after Israeli aircraft launched massive airstrikes against what the military said were Hamas targets in Gaza.
More than 400 people have been killed in the attacks, the Hamas-run health ministry said, and hundreds more injured.
The wave of strikes was the heaviest since a ceasefire began on 19 January.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇺🇸🇷🇺Trump and Putin to hold call on ceasefire deal soon, US envoy says
US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will speak in coming days, as talks continue over a possible ceasefire in the three-year war in Ukraine.
US envoy Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin on Thursday in Moscow, told CNN that he expected that "there will be a call with both presidents this week".
"We're also continuing to engage and have conversation with the Ukrainians," he added. "We're advising them on everything we're thinking about."
Last week, the US and Ukraine agreed to propose a 30-day ceasefire to Russia. While Putin said that he supported a ceasefire, he also set out a list of tough conditions for achieving peace.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇺🇸Trump blocked from using wartime law for deportations
A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump from using a 227-year-old law meant to protect the US during wartime to carry out mass deportations of Venezuelans.
Trump on Saturday proclaimed immigrants belonging to the Venezuelan crime gang Tren de Aragua were "conducting irregular warfare" against the US and that he would deport them under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
But US District Judge James Boasberg on Saturday evening ordered a halt to deportations covered by the proclamation that will last for 14 days, according to media reports.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇺🇸US arrests second pro-Palestinian Columbia University protester
US immigration authorities have announced the arrest of a second activist who participated in pro-Palestinian protests last spring at Columbia University in New York City.
Leqaa Kordia, who is a Palestinian and from the West Bank, was arrested in New Jersey, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement on Friday.
The statement said another student, Ranjani Srinivasani, who has Indian citizenship, chose to "self-deport" by leaving the US earlier this week.
This follows the arrest of Columbia campus activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained on Saturday in New York before being flown to a jail in Louisiana.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇨🇦Watch: Mark Carney's first hours as Canada's new prime minister
Mark Carney has been sworn in as Canada's new prime minister, succeeding Justin Trudeau.
The former governor of the Canadian central bank and Bank of England took time during his first news conference to comment on the current political climate with the US.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇵🇭Duterte's first night in a jail cell is a pivotal moment for the ICC
Outside the International Criminal Court's (ICC) detention centre, where former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte was taken on Wednesday, his supporters gathered, waving national flags and shouting, "Bring him back!" as he was driven through the imposing iron gates at speed.
Shortly before he landed in the Netherlands, the 79-year-old unapologetically defended his bloody "war on drugs" for which the ICC says there are "reasonable grounds" to charge him with murder as a crime against humanity.
Small-time drug dealers, users and others were killed without trial on his watch as mayor and, later, as president.
The official toll stands at 6,000, though activists believe the real figure could run into the tens of thousands.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇮🇷Iran rejects nuclear talks as UAE delivers Trump's letter
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected the idea of negotiations with the US over its nuclear programme, as Tehran confirmed receiving a letter from President Donald Trump.
Last week, Trump said the letter proposed talks on a deal that would prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons and avert possible military action.
Although Khamenei said he had not seen the letter, which was delivered by an official from the United Arab Emirates, he dismissed it as a "deception of public opinion".
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇬🇱Greenland's opposition wins election dominated by independence and Trump
Greenland's centre-right opposition has won a surprise general election victory - in a vote dominated by independence and US President Donald Trump's pledge to take over the semi-autonomous territory.
The centre-right Demokraatit party - which favours a gradual approach to independence from Denmark - achieved around 30% of the vote, near-complete results show.
"Greenland needs us to stand together in a time of great interest from outside," party leader Jens Frederik Nielsen told local media. "There is a need for unity, so we will enter into negotiations with everyone."
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇨🇦Ontario says it will slap a 25% surcharge on US-bound electricity
Canada's most populous province Ontario is slapping a retaliatory 25% surcharge on electricity it sends to US states in response to President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canadian goods.
Ontario leader Doug Ford confirmed the move in a news conference on Monday morning, saying it will increase costs about $10 (£7.75) per megawatt-hour for US customers.
Roughly 1.5 million American homes in the northern border states of New York, Michigan and Minnesota will be impacted.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇵🇭Philippines ex-leader Duterte arrested on ICC warrant over drug killings
Philippine police have arrested former President Rodrigo Duterte after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity over his deadly "war on drugs".
The 79-year-old was taken into police custody shortly after his arrival at Manila airport from Hong Kong.
He has offered no apologies for his brutal anti-drugs crackdown, which saw thousands of people killed when he was president of the South East Asian nation from 2016 to 2022, and mayor of Davao city before that.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇮🇱Israel cuts off electricity supply to Gaza, minister says
Israel ordered all of Gaza's electricity supply to be cut off on Sunday in an effort to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining Israeli hostages held in the territory.
Energy minister Eli Cohen's announcement came a week after Israel cut off all aid supplies to the territory, which has a population of more than two million people.
In a video statement on Sunday, Cohen said: "We will use all the tools at our disposal to bring back the hostages and ensure that Hamas is no longer in Gaza the day after [the war]."
The decision to cut electricity is expected to primarily affect the operation of desalination plants, which are crucial for providing clean drinking water.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇺🇸🇻🇪Trump threatens tariffs on buyers of Venezuelan oil
President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of 25% on US imports from countries that purchase oil from Venezuela.
Trump described the move as a "secondary tariff" aimed at punishing the Latin American country "for numerous reasons", including allegedly "purposefully" sending gang members to the US.
Separately, Trump suggested he was softening his plans for tariffs on imports from other countries, saying he "may give a lot of countries breaks".
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇰🇷South Korea court reinstates PM as acting leader
South Korea's constitutional court has dismissed the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, reinstating him as the country's acting president.
Han took over as acting leader last December when President Yoon Suk Yeol was suspended from duties and impeached by parliament after he attempted to declare martial law.
However, Han only lasted two weeks in power before lawmakers voted to impeach him as well. Since then, South Korea has been led by deputy prime minister Choi Sang-mok.
South Korea has been roiled by political chaos since Yoon's botched attempt to impose martial law.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇹🇷Istanbul mayor arrested ahead of selection to run against Erdogan
The mayor of the Turkish city of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, has been formally arrested and charged with corruption.
Imamoglu, a rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was detained on Wednesday, days before he was due to be selected as a 2028 presidential candidate.
Imamoglu denies the allegations, and protests against his detention - some of the largest the country has seen in more than a decade - have raged on for four nights.
Erdogan has condemned the unrest and accused Imamoglu's opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) of trying to "disturb the peace and polarise our people".
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇨🇦Canada can win trade war with US, foreign affairs minister Mélanie Joly says
Canada's Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly has told the BBC she believes Canada can win the trade war which was sparked by a series of tariffs ordered by US President Donald Trump.
"We are the biggest customer of the US," Joly told the BBC's World Service Weekend programme. "We buy more from the Americans than China, Japan, the UK and France combined."
Joly said tariffs and increased prices are a priority for Canadians as voters prepare to head to the polls to elect a new prime minister later this year.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇺🇸🇷🇺Putin agrees in Trump call to pause Ukraine energy attacks but no full ceasefire
Vladimir Putin has rejected an immediate and full ceasefire in Ukraine, agreeing only to halt attacks on energy infrastructure, following a call with US President Donald Trump.
The Russian president declined to sign up to the comprehensive month-long ceasefire that Trump's team recently worked out with Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia.
He said a comprehensive truce could only work if foreign military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine came to an end. Ukraine's European allies have previously rejected such conditions.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇿🇦South Africa should not be 'bullied' by US in ambassador row, opposition says
Opposition parties in South Africa have called on its president not to be "bullied" by the US after Washington expelled Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, giving him just 72 hours to leave the country.
Rasool was declared an unwelcome person after US State Secretary Marco Rubio called him a "race-baiting politician who hates America" on Friday.
Tensions between South African and the US have been on a downward spiral since US President Donald Trump came into office.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇷🇸Serbia's largest-ever rally sees 325,000 protest against government
Hundreds of thousands of people descended on Serbia's capital on Saturday to protest over the deaths of 15 people in a railway station collapse.
While the government put attendance at 107,000 across Belgrade, an independent monitor said 325,000 - if not more - had gathered, making it Serbia's largest protest ever.
The Novi Sad collapse last November has galvanised anger towards the government and President Aleksandar Vucic. Demonstrators blame corruption and corner-cutting for the loss of life.
They believe the disaster reflects more than a decade of governing by the Progressive Party of Vucic - who closely associated himself with the station's recent renovation.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇿🇦South African ambassador 'no longer welcome' in US, Rubio says
The US is expelling South Africa's ambassador to Washington, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying he is "no longer welcome in our great country".
In a post on X, Rubio accused Ebrahim Rasool of hating America and President Donald Trump and described him as a "race-baiting politician".
The office for South Africa's president on Saturday called the decision "regrettable", adding that the country remained committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship with America.
The rare move by the US marks the latest development in rising tensions between the two countries.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇬🇱Greenland's politicians unite against Trump
Greenland's leading political parties have issued a joint statement to condemn Donald Trump's "unacceptable behaviour", after the US president seemed to escalate his campaign to take over the island.
The show of unity saw all leaders of parties in the Inatsisartut - the parliament - release a joint message saying they "cannot accept the repeated statements about annexation and control of Greenland".
It follows a meeting between Trump and Nato's secretary general Mark Rutte on Thursday, where the president seemed to double down on his annexation plan.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇩🇪US tariffs could deepen Germany's recession, says bank
Tariffs on goods being imported into the US could tip Europe's largest economy into another recession, according to the president of Germany's central bank.
Germany's economy has contracted for the past two years and with tariffs, the country "could expect a recession for this year" too, Joachim Nagel, the head of the Deutsche Bundesbank, told the BBC World Service in an exclusive interview.
Without tariffs, the bank forecasts the German economy will stagnate but still grow, by about 0.2%, he added.
He said "there are only losers" when imposing tariffs, and supported the EU's retaliatory measures against US President Donald Trump's 25% tariff on all steel imports from overseas.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇮🇳India's Jio and Airtel ink deals to bring in Musk's Starlink
India's largest telecoms company Reliance Jio and its rival Bharti Airtel have signed separate deals with Elon Musk's SpaceX to bring the Starlink internet service to the country.
The move has caught most analysts by surprise, as Musk has publicly clashed with both companies recently.
It comes as Indian and US officials discuss a trade deal. US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs on 2 April.
The agreements, touted to expand satellite internet coverage across India, are still conditional upon SpaceX obtaining the Indian government's approval to begin operations.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇺🇸Trade war escalates as Trump metal tariffs take effect
Tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on imports of steel and aluminium have taken effect in a move that will likely escalate tensions with some of America's largest trading partners.
It sparked an immediate response from the European Union which said it will impose counter tariffs on billions of euros of US goods.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇺🇸Stocks fall in US and Asia over Trump tariffs concerns
Stocks markets fell sharply in the US on Monday over concerns about the negative economic impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs. In Asia, losses seen early in Tuesday's trading eased by the afternoon.
It followed the president saying in a TV interview that the world's biggest economy was in a "period of transition", when asked about suggestions of a potential recession.
Since those remarks were broadcast on Sunday, top Trump officials and advisers have sought to calm investor fears.
"The previous notion of Trump being a stock market president is being re-evaluated," Charu Chanana, an investment strategist at investment bank Saxo, told the BBC.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇸🇾Kurdish-led SDF agrees to integrate with Syrian government forces
A Kurdish-led militia alliance which controls north-eastern Syria has agreed a deal to integrate all military and civilian institutions into the Syrian state, the country's presidency says.
The agreement says the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will cease hostilities and hand over control of the region's border posts, airport, and vital oil and gas fields.
It also recognises the Kurdish minority as "an integral part of the Syrian state" and guarantees "the rights of all Syrians to representation and participation in the political process".
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
🇰🇵North Korean hackers cash out hundreds of millions from $1.5bn ByBit hack
Hackers thought to be working for the North Korean regime have successfully cashed out at least $300m (£232m) of their record-breaking $1.5bn crypto heist.
The criminals, known as Lazarus Group, swiped the huge haul of digital tokens in a hack on crypto exchange ByBit two weeks ago.
Since then, it's been a cat-and-mouse game to track and block the hackers from successfully converting the crypto into usable cash.
Experts say the infamous hacking team is working nearly 24 hours a day - potentially funnelling the money into the regime's military development.
✅@virals ⭐️Boosts
