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Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last year, you’ve no doubt heard about Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour. A reference to the various “eras,” or phases, of the singer’s life, the Eras Tour features a 44 -song set list spanning hits from every album of her 17-year-career. Time magazine reported that “[by] the end of 2023—less than halfway through the tour’s scheduled 152-show…

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Many Catholics are familiar with the words of today’s saint, Catherine of Siena: “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” Her call to become holy and live a life that is purposefully Christian has impacted generations since her death in 1380. In so many ways, her life was about being set on fire. This can be viewed in her profound commitment to a life of prayer and to…

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Today's news: Xinjiang authorities block demolition order in old city of Kashgar, heart of Uyghur culture;Schools reopen in Bangladesh despite exceptional heatwave;Thai foreign minister resigns, negotiations with Myanmar at risk;India and Oman aim to strengthen trade agreements.

Moscow has reportedly taken the decision to replace him due to his increasingly precarious health, about which there is no clarity or documentation. In his place would be Apti Alaudinov, the commander of the bloody Akhmat battalion that co-fought in Syria and Ukraine. But many pretenders aspire to the succession in Grozny, not counting Kadyrov's twelve sons.

Ex-mortuary worker Candace Chapman Scott was part of a nationwide scheme trading in human remains

A former mortuary worker in the US state of Arkansas has pleaded guilty to charges that she stole body parts from medical school cadavers, the local attorney’s office has announced in a press release.

According to prosecutors, 37-year-old Candace Chapman Scott committed the crimes while working at Arkansas Central Mortuary Service from October 2021 to 15 July 2022. The company handled human and fetal remains donated to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Scott’s job was to transport, embalm, and cremate the remains in question.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), during her tenure, Scott “stole human body parts and fetal remains” and later sold them to a Pennsylvania resident she met on Facebook, Jeremy Pauley. According to a report by AP which cited court documents, she sold a total of 24 boxes of stolen body parts to Pauley for nearly $11,000.

On Thursday, Scott pleaded guilty to “transporting stolen body parts across state lines and conspiracy to commit mail fraud,” the attorney’s office for Eastern District of Arkansas said in the press release. Judge Brian S. Miller said he would sentence Scott at a later date. She faces a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.

Read more Funeral home owners sentenced over body chop shop

Scott’s indictment is part of a nationwide investigation into trafficking of stolen human remains linked with Harvard Medical School, which made headlines across the US last year. A longtime manager of the school’s morgue for the Anatomical Gifts Program, Cedric Lodge, was indicted on conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods charges for selling body parts out of the famed school in April last year. The scheme came to light in mid-2022, when the estranged wife of Jeremy Pauley, who was buying body parts from both Lodge and Scott, asked police to check her husband’s basement, saying that she suspected him of trading in cadavers on Facebook.

A total of seven people have been indicted so far. Pauley pleaded guilty to conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property back in September, and was sentenced last month to two years of supervised probation. Trials are still pending for the other defendants, including Lodge.

The desecration of the Muslim holy book has reportedly once again taken place in Sweden

A woman professing to be a Christian activist has staged a Quran-burning in the Swedish capital, the Turkish news outlet A Haber reported on X (former Twitter) on Sunday.

According to the report, the incident took place on April 26 in Stockholm. In a video posted online by the outlet, a person identified as 48-year-old Jade Sandberg is seen torching the Muslim holy book while waving a Christian cross over it and screaming “Islam out of Sweden!” The protest is believed to have been sanctioned by the local authorities, as police officers on site do not appear to have attempted to stop it.

Sandberg also posted footage and photos from the demonstration on her own X account, where she claims to be a “priest, exorcist and demonologist,” as well as an “activist and crusader against the devil’s religion of Islam.” This week’s Quran-torching is at least her second this year.

There have been a slew of such protests across Sweden since 2023, when Danish right-wing politician Rasmus Paludan, who also holds Swedish citizenship, burned the Islamic text in front of the Turkish embassy in January 2023.

İSVEÇ’TE BİR ALÇAK EYLEM DAHA

İsveç’in başkenti Stockholm’de Jade Sandberg isimli İslam karşıtı bir kadın, polis korumasında Kur’an-ı Kerim yaktı. pic.twitter.com/XoIAKwYhT5

— A Haber (@ahaber) April 28, 2024

Swedish authorities have condemned such acts, but still largely allowed them to go ahead, citing the country’s laws guaranteeing the right to freedom of expression. Under the country’s Public Order Act, a person must apply for a permit from the police to stage a protest, but can only be refused on safety grounds.

Many Muslim-majority countries have condemned the burnings as Islamophobic, and Türkiye even told Sweden that it would block its NATO accession plans as long as it allowed the desecration of the Quran. Ankara later ratified the bid however, and the Nordic state was formally admitted to the US-led military bloc last month.

READ MORE: EU country bans Quran-burning

Stockholm said last year it planned to amend the Public Order Act in order to prevent Quran-burning incidents in the future. Swedish regulators are expected to finalize their review of the draft law by early summer.

Earlier this month, Swedish television channel SVT reported that police had received another request to hold a Quran-burning demonstration on May 3, the day before the start of the Eurovision song contest, which this year takes place in the southern Swedish city of Malmö.

The desecration of the Muslim holy book has reportedly once again taken place in Sweden

A woman professing to be a Christian activist has staged a Quran-burning in the Swedish capital, the Turkish news outlet A Haber reported on X (former Twitter) on Sunday.

According to the report, the incident took place on April 26 in Stockholm. In a video posted online by the outlet, a person identified as 48-year-old Jade Sandberg is seen torching the Muslim holy book while waving a Christian cross over it and screaming “Islam out of Sweden!” The protest is believed to have been sanctioned by the local authorities, as police officers on site do not appear to have attempted to stop it.

Sandberg also posted footage and photos from the demonstration on her own X account, where she claims to be a “priest, exorcist and demonologist,” as well as an “activist and crusader against the devil’s religion of Islam.” This week’s Quran-torching is at least her second this year.

There have been a slew of such protests across Sweden since 2023, when Danish right-wing politician Rasmus Paludan, who also holds Swedish citizenship, burned the Islamic text in front of the Turkish embassy in January 2023.

İSVEÇ’TE BİR ALÇAK EYLEM DAHA

İsveç’in başkenti Stockholm’de Jade Sandberg isimli İslam karşıtı bir kadın, polis korumasında Kur’an-ı Kerim yaktı. pic.twitter.com/XoIAKwYhT5

— A Haber (@ahaber) April 28, 2024

Swedish authorities have condemned such acts, but still largely allowed them to go ahead, citing the country’s laws guaranteeing the right to freedom of expression. Under the country’s Public Order Act, a person must apply for a permit from the police to stage a protest, but can only be refused on safety grounds.

Many Muslim-majority countries have condemned the burnings as Islamophobic, and Türkiye even told Sweden that it would block its NATO accession plans as long as it allowed the desecration of the Quran. Ankara later ratified the bid however, and the Nordic state was formally admitted to the US-led military bloc last month.

READ MORE: EU country bans Quran-burning

Stockholm said last year it planned to amend the Public Order Act in order to prevent Quran-burning incidents in the future. Swedish regulators are expected to finalize their review of the draft law by early summer.

Earlier this month, Swedish television channel SVT reported that police had received another request to hold a Quran-burning demonstration on May 3, the day before the start of the Eurovision song contest, which this year takes place in the southern Swedish city of Malmö.

The desecration of the Muslim holy book has reportedly once again taken place in Sweden

A woman professing to be a Christian activist has staged a Quran-burning in the Swedish capital, the Turkish news outlet A Haber reported on X (former Twitter) on Sunday.

According to the report, the incident took place on April 26 in Stockholm. In a video posted online by the outlet, a person identified as 48-year-old Jade Sandberg is seen torching the Muslim holy book while waving a Christian cross over it and screaming “Islam out of Sweden!” The protest is believed to have been sanctioned by the local authorities, as police officers on site do not appear to have attempted to stop it.

Sandberg also posted footage and photos from the demonstration on her own X account, where she claims to be a “priest, exorcist and demonologist,” as well as an “activist and crusader against the devil’s religion of Islam.” This week’s Quran-torching is at least her second this year.

There have been a slew of such protests across Sweden since 2023, when Danish right-wing politician Rasmus Paludan, who also holds Swedish citizenship, burned the Islamic text in front of the Turkish embassy in January 2023.

İSVEÇ’TE BİR ALÇAK EYLEM DAHA

İsveç’in başkenti Stockholm’de Jade Sandberg isimli İslam karşıtı bir kadın, polis korumasında Kur’an-ı Kerim yaktı. pic.twitter.com/XoIAKwYhT5

— A Haber (@ahaber) April 28, 2024

Swedish authorities have condemned such acts, but still largely allowed them to go ahead, citing the country’s laws guaranteeing the right to freedom of expression. Under the country’s Public Order Act, a person must apply for a permit from the police to stage a protest, but can only be refused on safety grounds.

Many Muslim-majority countries have condemned the burnings as Islamophobic, and Türkiye even told Sweden that it would block its NATO accession plans as long as it allowed the desecration of the Quran. Ankara later ratified the bid however, and the Nordic state was formally admitted to the US-led military bloc last month.

READ MORE: EU country bans Quran-burning

Stockholm said last year it planned to amend the Public Order Act in order to prevent Quran-burning incidents in the future. Swedish regulators are expected to finalize their review of the draft law by early summer.

Earlier this month, Swedish television channel SVT reported that police had received another request to hold a Quran-burning demonstration on May 3, the day before the start of the Eurovision song contest, which this year takes place in the southern Swedish city of Malmö.

The seizure of Moscow’s frozen assets by the US and EU would set “a dangerous precedent,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has warned 

Confiscating Russia’s frozen assets would undermine the trust of international investors in the Western financial system, which would be very difficult to restore, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has said.  

The US and its allies have blocked around $300 billion in Russian central bank assets as part of the sanctions imposed on Moscow over the Ukraine conflict. Most of the funds are being held in the EU. Washington has been insisting for months that international law allows for the appropriation of the funds, but Germany and France have expressed concerns that such a move could have negative consequences for the Western financial system. 

Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden signed a bill permitting the seizure of some $6 billion in Russian state assets that are sitting in American banks.  

Peskov told the TV channel Russia 1 on Sunday that it is too early to speak about all $300 billion being confiscated by the US and EU. However, he offered the reminder that “Russia has Western money from various structures. Our country can take retaliatory steps.”  

Read more Russia assesses impact of possible US seizure of assets

But if Washington and European capitals do decide to seize Russian assets, “a dangerous precedent will be created; it will be a solid nail in the future coffin of the entire Western economic system of axes.”  

If this happens, foreign countries and investors who currently keep or are willing to keep their money in Western banks will start “thinking ten times” before entrusting their funds to those institutions, the spokesman warned.  

According to Peskov, the reliability of the Western financial systems will be destroyed. “Reliability can be lost overnight through one stupid, ill-considered decision, while restoring it takes decades or even longer,” he explained.  

The Russian authorities would also have ample grounds to challenge the seizure of its funds in international courts, the spokesman stressed. Moscow “will endlessly defend its interests” through legal means, he said.  

The head of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, said on Friday that the possible seizure of the assets by the US and the EU “will not have any impact on financial stability [in the country], as we have halted operations with them long ago, we do not use them.”  

READ MORE: US seizure of Russian assets would accelerate de-dollarization – ex-IMF official 

Moscow previously said that the confiscation of its funds would amount to theft and warned that it could downgrade diplomatic relations with Washington if it resorts to such an illegal move.

The UK will build its own Mach 5 missile, but the project will reportedly take six years

Britain aims to develop and field its first hypersonic cruise missile by 2030, The Telegraph reported on Saturday. However, the project is reportedly in its early stages, and even if London sticks to its schedule, the weapon will be deployed more than a decade after Russia’s first hypersonic missile entered service.

The British Defense Ministry aims to design and build a missile capable of reaching speeds of Mach 5 entirely domestically, and to have it enter service before the end of the decade, the newspaper reported, citing anonymous sources.

The project will be one of several funded by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s planned £75 billion ($95 billion) hike in military spending, which was announced earlier this week and will be implemented over the next six years, the sources said.

“Cutting-edge projects like this are only possible because of the massive new investment the government has made this week in defense innovation,” a ministry official told the newspaper, adding that “continuing this project would be impossible” if the Labour Party took power and “refused to match our investment.”

Read more Hypersonic weapons promised six years ago now in service – Putin

It is unclear whether the government revealed the project to The Telegraph to score political points against the Labour Party, or whether any concrete plans to develop the missile have been set in motion. According to the newspaper, the ministry has yet to decide whether it wants the missile to be launched from land, air, or sea, and sources involved in the project said that the weapon could be built from materials that do not yet exist.

The government has been soliciting bids from defense contractors since last December, according to a publicly viewable tender.

Both the UK and US are currently lagging behind Russia and China in the development of hypersonic weapons. Russia’s first hypersonic missile – the air-launched Kh-47 Kinzhal – entered service in 2017, while China’s DF-ZF was deployed two years later. Russia’s Avangard strategic range glide vehicles – which can fly at 25 times the speed of sound – have been fielded since 2019, and its Zircon anti-ship cruise missiles have been deployed since last year. Kinzhal and Zircon missiles have both been used in Ukraine, making Russia the only world power to use hypersonic missiles in combat.

Less than a month into the Ukraine conflict, US President Joe Biden admitted that Russia’s Kinzhal missiles are “almost impossible to stop.”

READ MORE: US cancels hypersonic missile test – Pentagon

The US carried out its first successful hypersonic missile test in 2017, but after a series of aborted tests and scrapped projects in the years since, has yet to actually field such a weapon. After several years of delays, the US Army plans to deploy a long-range hypersonic missile known as ‘Dark Eagle’ next year.

West Jerusalem will suspend the controversial operation if the militant group frees some hostages, the finance minister has said

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has warned that an invasion of the city of Rafah will go ahead unless Hamas agrees to release some of the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. Hamas is expected to comment on an Israeli truce proposal imminently.

Israeli officials have been threatening to launch a ground operation in Rafah for several months now, despite strong opposition from the US and UN. Located in southern Gaza near the Egyptian border, Rafah is currently home to around 1.4 million displaced Palestinians from the northern reaches of the enclave, and an invasion of the city would have “terrible consequences” for the civilians living there, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned earlier this month.

“If there is a deal, we will suspend the operation,” Katz told Israel’s Channel 12 on Saturday. “The release of the hostages is a deep priority for us,” he continued, adding: “If there is an option to make a deal, we will do it.”

Hamas captured around 250 hostages during its October 7 assault on Israel, of whom 130 are believed to still be held in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under intense pressure from the hostages’ families to cut a deal with the militants to release their loved ones, with weekly protests taking place in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Read more Hamas releases new hostage video

In a proof-of-life video released by Hamas on Saturday, Israeli-American hostage Kieth Siegel urges Netanyahu to “be more flexible in negotiations to reach an exchange deal soon.”

Hamas presented Israel with ceasefire terms earlier this month, and received Israel’s counter-proposal on Friday, the group said in a statement on Saturday. Hamas said that it is studying the proposal, and Israeli officials anticipate a response by the end of the weekend, Channel 12 reported.

Israel and Hamas agreed to a week-long truce in November, during which 80 Israeli hostages were exchanged for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Despite the efforts of Egyptian and Qatari mediators, subsequent efforts to broker a ceasefire have failed, with Netanyahu refusing to consider Hamas’ demands that any ceasefire deal be permanent and include an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. 

Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel led a delegation to Israel on Friday to discuss an alternate deal that would see Hamas release some hostages in exchange for Israel freeing a significant number of Palestinian prisoners and allowing displaced Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza “with minimal restrictions,” an anonymous Egyptian official told the Associated Press.

READ MORE: Netanyahu reacts to possible ICC arrest warrant

This deal has already been rejected by hardliners within Netanyahu’s cabinet. “Agreeing to the Egyptian deal is a humiliating surrender, and it grants victory to the Nazis on the backs of the hundreds of heroic [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers who fell in battle,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday. “It imposes a death sentence on the hostages who are not included in the deal, and above all, it poses an immediate existential danger to the state of Israel.”

During the historic visit to the city on the lagoon, the pontiff met with 80 inmates at the Giudecca Women's Prison, 'a harsh reality, but a place of moral and material rebirth.' At the Holy See's pavillion for the 2024 Biennale 'With My Eyes', Francis addressed the artists, stressing the 'contribution of women'. He also said: 'There is joy and suffering that come together in a unique form in women.'

The Portuguese government has rejected the president’s call for reparations to be paid

Portugal will not pay reparations for atrocities committed during the transatlantic slave trade and the colonial era, the government said on Saturday.

The statement was in response to remarks made earlier in the week by Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who said his nation should “assume full responsibility” for the colonial-era and find a way to pay compensation.

Local media reported the statement as indicating there were no plans for a “process or program of specific actions” to provide restitution.

Portugal’s colonial era lasted more than five centuries. The decolonization of some African countries only occurred in 1974 after the ‘Carnation Revolution’ led to the fall of the authoritarian Estado Novo regime.

The territory of the Portuguese Empire in Africa included present-day Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and the island nations of Cape Verde, and Sao Tome and Principe.

The country is widely thought to have been the first European state to play a major role in the African slave trade. Between the 15th and the 19th centuries, almost six million Africans were forcibly transported across the Atlantic by Portuguese vessels and sold into servitude. Most went to Brazil, which was a Portuguese colony until 1822.

READ MORE: EU state seeks to provide compensation for slavery

In September, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is also a former Portuguese prime minister, urged former colonial states to consider financial reparations among measures to compensate for the enslavement of Africans. In a report, he said that up to 30 million people were violently uprooted from Africa over a span of more than 400 years.

“Under international human rights law, compensation for any economically assessable damage, as appropriate and proportional to the gravity of the violation and the circumstances of each case, may also constitute a form of reparations,” Guterres said.

In the Indian state of West Bengal, two PIME Fathers and two Sisters of the Immaculate accompany a Christian tribal community that is very poor but proud of its roots.

Israel will never accept attempts to undermine its right to self-defense, the prime minister has said

Arrest warrants or any other steps taken by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli officials will not affect the country’s military operation in Gaza, but will set “a dangerous precedent,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned.

Earlier this week, British journalist Douglas Murray published an article in the New York Post claiming that the ICC, which is investigating Hamas’ incursion into Israel on October 7 and the Jewish state’s response to it, is planning to bring individual war-crimes cases against Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and one of the country’s top military commanders, most likely the chief of the general staff.

On Friday, Netanyahu shared Murray’s article on X (formerly Twitter), insisting that as long as he is in power, “Israel will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defense.”

“The threat to seize the soldiers and officials of the Middle East’s only democracy and the world’s only Jewish state is outrageous. We will not bow to it,” he said.

Read more Israel struck zones in Gaza it had declared ‘safe’ – NBC

Israel’s military operation in Gaza is a “just war against genocidal terrorists,” which will continue until victory is achieved, the prime minister insisted.

“While the ICC will not affect Israel’s actions, it would set a dangerous precedent that threatens the soldiers and officials of all democracies fighting savage terrorism and wanton aggression,” he warned.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the death toll from Israel’s airstrikes and ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave has already reached 34,388 people, with 77,437 others wounded. The campaign was launched in response to an incursion into Israel by Palestinian armed group Hamas on October 7, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.

The ICC launched an investigation into alleged war crimes by the Israeli military and Palestinian armed groups in the occupied West Bank and Gaza back in 2021. The probe covers the events since 2014. The Hague-based court insists that violations committed during the Israeli-Palestinian escalation which followed the October 7 attack are also within the jurisdiction of its investigation.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported last week that Netanyahu’s government had known about the possible ICC warrants even before Murray’s article and held an “emergency discussion” on the issue at the prime minister’s office involving several ministers and legal experts.

READ MORE: Israel rejects US call to probe Gaza mass graves – Politico

Israel is not a member of the ICC and does not recognize its jurisdiction, but the Palestinians joined the organization in 2015. If warrants against Netanyahu and other Israeli officials are issued, the 124 ICC member-states would be obliged to arrest them if they set foot in their countries.

The French president has previously called to show that the EU is not a “vassal” of the US

France must open a debate on building up a pan-European defense capability, to include rethinking its own nuclear potential, French President Emmanuel Macron has said.

Speaking to a group of young people at the European School in Strasbourg on Friday, Macron stressed that while France is already protected by NATO, it “must now go further” to ensure its security and “build a credible European defense.”

He noted that guaranteeing that security “may mean deploying anti-missile shields” to be able to deter the use of nuclear weapons. “Being credible also means having long-range missiles that would deter the Russians,” he added.

Numerous Western leaders have insisted on boosting defense capabilities amid the Ukraine conflict, citing fears that Russia could attack NATO within a few years.

Read more ‘Our Europe’ could die – Macron

Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, has dismissed such speculation as “nonsense,” pointing to the fact that the US, NATO’s largest contributor, spends ten times more on defense than Moscow. He has also stated that current geopolitical tensions are largely due to NATO’s decision to ignore Russian security interests.

Explaining his stance on nuclear weapons, Macron went on to say that while France would use its arsenal only if its vital interests were threatened, those interests also have a wider dimension. This means that French nuclear doctrine should contribute to the credibility of the EU’s defense, he said.

“I am in favor of opening this debate, which must therefore include anti-missile defense, long-range weapon firing, nuclear weapons for those who have them or who have American nuclear weapons on their soil,” the president stated.

For several years, Macron has also advocated creating a “true, European army” to be able to independently strengthen continental security. This month, he also warned that “our Europe today is mortal and it can die” while calling for a “strategic autonomy” for the EU, particularly in terms of military production. The bloc “must show that it is never a vassal of the United States,” he said.

The idea of creating a joint EU army, however, has met strong pushback both in Brussels and in EU capitals. EU top diplomat Josep Borrell suggested last month that while the bloc should aspire to boost the military capabilities of its individual members, that does not mean it should create a common army.

Several EU states, including Denmark and Poland, have similarly signaled that they want their security guaranteed within the existing NATO framework.

The French president has previously called to show that the EU is not a “vassal” of the US

France must open a debate on building up a pan-European defense capability, to include rethinking its own nuclear potential, French President Emmanuel Macron has said.

Speaking to a group of young people at the European School in Strasbourg on Friday, Macron stressed that while France is already protected by NATO, it “must now go further” to ensure its security and “build a credible European defense.”

He noted that guaranteeing that security “may mean deploying anti-missile shields” to be able to deter the use of nuclear weapons. “Being credible also means having long-range missiles that would deter the Russians,” he added.

Numerous Western leaders have insisted on boosting defense capabilities amid the Ukraine conflict, citing fears that Russia could attack NATO within a few years.

Read more ‘Our Europe’ could die – Macron

Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, has dismissed such speculation as “nonsense,” pointing to the fact that the US, NATO’s largest contributor, spends ten times more on defense than Moscow. He has also stated that current geopolitical tensions are largely due to NATO’s decision to ignore Russian security interests.

Explaining his stance on nuclear weapons, Macron went on to say that while France would use its arsenal only if its vital interests were threatened, those interests also have a wider dimension. This means that French nuclear doctrine should contribute to the credibility of the EU’s defense, he said.

“I am in favor of opening this debate, which must therefore include anti-missile defense, long-range weapon firing, nuclear weapons for those who have them or who have American nuclear weapons on their soil,” the president stated.

For several years, Macron has also advocated creating a “true, European army” to be able to independently strengthen continental security. This month, he also warned that “our Europe today is mortal and it can die” while calling for a “strategic autonomy” for the EU, particularly in terms of military production. The bloc “must show that it is never a vassal of the United States,” he said.

The idea of creating a joint EU army, however, has met strong pushback both in Brussels and in EU capitals. EU top diplomat Josep Borrell suggested last month that while the bloc should aspire to boost the military capabilities of its individual members, that does not mean it should create a common army.

Several EU states, including Denmark and Poland, have similarly signaled that they want their security guaranteed within the existing NATO framework.

British forces would reportedly be tasked with driving aid trucks to the Palestinian enclave

The UK Defense Ministry is considering deploying forces to Gaza to assist the US in delivering humanitarian aid via a new sea route, state broadcaster BBC reported on Saturday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden announced that the US military had begun construction of a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave from Cyprus. The aid would be delivered on large ships before being transferred into trucks and other vehicles to be driven along a floating causeway onto the beach. The system is expected to be completed in early May and would enable up to 150 truckloads of international aid to enter the embattled region. 

At the time of the announcement, Biden stated that “no US boots will be on the ground of Gaza as part of the operation,” with a senior US military official saying the trucks would be driven by a “significant partner.” He also confirmed that the operation would be carried out by another nation, rather than a private military company. 

Read more Netanyahu should resign – ex-US House speaker

British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said on Friday that the UK will continue to take “a leading role in the delivery of support in coordination with the US and other international allies.”

According to the BBC, British troops would be tasked with driving trucks off landing craft onto the temporary causeway and delivering aid to a secure distribution area ashore. The BBC’s sources at Whitehall said the plan is in the preliminary stages, with no final decision being made at the moment. 

Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war last October, 1.4 million people have been displaced in Gaza and live in dire conditions, with little or no access to basic supplies, according to UNICEF. The organization states that the delivery of aid is a matter of life and death for children living in the enclave. 

Earlier this month, Israel attacked a convoy of the World Central Kitchen humanitarian organization, which caused an uproar in the international community. While the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described the strikes, which killed seven aid workers, as a tragic mistake, more than 30 US Congress members signed a letter urging Biden to halt weapons transfers to Israel. 

 

The militant group claims it retaliated to IDF strikes on southern Lebanon

Hezbollah militants reportedly targeted several Israeli military installations, including a critical air surveillance base, with a barrage of rockets and drones on Saturday, after a series of Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon earlier in the day.

Dozens of missiles struck Mount Meron, the highest peak in Israel outside the Golan Heights, late Saturday night, according to videos circulating online. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that all of the rockets were “either intercepted or fell in open areas” with no damage or casualties reported, according to the Times of Israel and Jerusalem Post.

The Lebanese militant group claimed responsibility for the strike, saying in a statement early Sunday that “in response to the Israeli enemy’s attacks on the steadfast southern villages and civilian homes,” it targeted the “Meron settlement and the surrounding settlements with dozens of Katyusha rockets.”

⚡️⭕️#LEBANON, Hezbollah :

The Israeli Meron air base and its surroundings are being subjected to the strongest targeting operation so far.

Iron dome seems to be absent, rockets are landing and there are reports of precise targeting on the base (probably ATGMS). pic.twitter.com/EvnavJ6BZP

— Middle East Observer (@ME_Observer_) April 27, 2024

The group said it also “launched a complex attack using explosive drones and guided missiles on the headquarters of the Al Manara military command and a gathering of forces from the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade,” earlier on Saturday. The IDF said it intercepted the incoming projectiles and “struck the sources of fire” in the Lebanese border area.

⚡️⭕️ #LEBANON, Hezbollah:

Scenes from the operation targeting the command headquarters and the positioning of forces of the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade in the #Israeli enemy army in the Al-Manara settlement in northern occupied Palestine. pic.twitter.com/dpEOM66WEf

— Middle East Observer (@ME_Observer_) April 28, 2024

On Saturday, the Israeli Air Force conducted a series of strikes in the villages of Al-Quzah, Markaba, and Sarbin in southern Lebanon with airstrikes, reportedly targeting Hezbollah’s “terrorist and military infrastructure.” On Friday, the IDF also struck several structures in Kfarkela and Kfarchouba.

Read more Here’s why Iran decided not to attack Israel again

The Israeli strikes reportedly killed at least three people, including two Hezbollah fighters who the group mourned in separate statements on Saturday. Lebanese media reported that a further 11 people, including Syrian citizens, were injured in the attacks.

Hezbollah has repeatedly bombarded its southern neighbor since the military conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out last October.

The critical Israeli air surveillance base on Mount Meron also came under attacks on several occasions. The group has described the base as “the sole center for administration, monitoring, and air control in the north of the usurping entity [Israel],” without which Israel has “no viable alternative.”