Trump reiterates, US will defend non-malicious Nato allies. Russian 007: France ready to send 2,000 soldiers to Ukraine. Paris: fake news

"It is crucial for the European Union to set a date for the start of negotiations" for the entry of Ukraine and Moldova "at the European Council this week". This was emphasised by the Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis during a hearing at the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Eurochamber devoted to the enlargement issue. Present at the meeting were the foreign ministers of Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia and the deputy ministers or state secretaries of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece and Hungary.

The leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh accused Israel of "sabotaging" the ongoing negotiations on a truce in the Gaza Strip with the operation launched against the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. The action by Israeli forces "demonstrates their efforts to sow chaos and perpetuate violence. It also reveals their desire to sabotage the ongoing negotiations in Doha," Haniyeh said in a note.

Political turmoil and turbulence in Bulgaria where the new government is being formed. A few hours after former EU commissioner Mariya Gabriel, of the conservative Gerb party, had today handed over to President Rumen Radev the list with the composition of the new government she would lead - a team linked to the principle of alternation agreed after last year's vote between the country's two largest political forces - the leadership of 'Let's continue the change' (Pp) stated at a press conference in the evening that the list of the new government had not been agreed with Pp. The outgoing premier himself, Nikolay Denkov (Pp), said he would not accept the post of deputy prime minister for European affairs. Moreover, several Pp ministers on Gabriel's list have surprisingly declared that they do not intend to be part of his government. A situation as unexpected as it is chaotic, considering that President Radev had already issued a decree to submit the approval of the new government to parliament.

This afternoon the rescue plan of the airline Sas , the former flag carrier of the three Scandinavian countries, was approved. Judge Michael E. Wiles of New York gave the green light to the plan devised by the company. "It was a very complex process. We have a lot of work ahead of us,' Sas CEO Anko van der Werff said after the manoeuvre was approved, as reported by the Norwegian newspaper E24. The new buyers include the Air France-Klm group, the Castlelake investment fund, the Danish state, and Danish businessman Henrik Lind. It is now up to the European Commission to make a competition ruling on the new ownership of the Scandinavian airline.

After breaking the historical series record with almost 2 million infections recorded in less than three months in 2024, concern about the spread of dengue - according to some, the new pandemic - goes beyond Brazil's borders and is also growing abroad, where Italy is already at the forefront of prevention efforts. The Brazilian health authorities are relying on experience and early diagnosis to try to prove that (despite the 561 deaths, half of the entire 2023) the country's mortality rate has fallen from 10% in 2016 to 0.2%.

But the reasons that have caused the surge are to be found in those climatic changes that in Brazil favour the faster reproduction of the mosquito, and that in southern Europe have led to tropicalisation, creating the conditions for the Aedes aegypti mosquito responsible for the contagion to adapt to the new environment, generating a viral mix of dengue, but also zika, yellow fever and chikungunya: all diseases transmitted by the tiger mosquito. In recent years, cases of these diseases in Italy have risen from a few dozen to a few hundred, with a considerable increase in autochthonous contagions.

Disinformation and provocation: this is how the French Defence Ministry has dismissed remarks by Russian foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin that Paris is preparing to send 2,000 soldiers to Ukraine . "The manoeuvre orchestrated by Sergei Naryshkin, director of Russian foreign intelligence, illustrates once again Russia's systematic use of disinformation," the French ministry said on X. "We consider this kind of provocation irresponsible." Naryshkin said this morning that Russia was aware that France was "preparing a military contingent of 2,000 men" to be sent to Ukraine, adding that if French troops arrived in the invaded country, they would become "a legitimate priority target for attacks by the Russian armed forces".

The mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, met at Palazzo Marino, the seat of the municipality, with two Israeli women who were for a time kidnapped and held hostage by Hamas . The meeting was made public by municipal councillor and member of the Jewish community, Daniele Nahum, who recently left the PD in controversy with the use of the word genocide to describe what is happening in Gaza. "Today, together with Rav Igal Hazan and Rav Avraham Hazan, I accompanied our mayor Beppe Sala, Sapir Cohen and Elena Trufandov who were kidnapped and held hostage by Hamas," explained Nahum. During the meeting, they recounted their poor conditions of captivity and their tragic experience. I thank Beppe for the humanity he has shown as always'.

"As far as European defence is concerned, we must go further and extend what we have done for ammunition to all defence equipment". This was said by the EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton , speaking to the Defence Committee of the Eurochamber. "As far as ammunition is concerned, we need to arrive at producing two million howitzers of 155 calibre or more per year. Today we have come to produce one million, in less than 10 months we have gone from 500,000 to one million, so we have doubled our capacity,' explained Breton. "The logic of peace dividends is behind us, what is happening is a strong and brutal call to order and there is a need for many EU governments to use defence funds in a war economy manner," he concluded.

"The European Commission has called for unhindered access for humanitarian aid from day one of this escalation in the Middle East and continues to do so. Recently, again in the joint statement issued together with the High Representative Borrell , we again called for the opening of additional land access routes to Gaza. This is the most efficient and fastest way to tackle the looming famine in Gaza'. This was said by the European Commissioner for Emergencies, Janez Lenarcic, at a press conference at the end of the European Humanitarian Forum.

"We are in contact with our Israeli counterparts and are emphasising the need to radically increase aid deliveries to Gaza without delay," she added. "We are witnessing the starvation of a huge number of people in a man-made catastrophe," explained Belgian Minister for Development Cooperation Caroline Gennez, in her capacity as EU President-in-Office. That is why, she said, 'the international community must be firm and must ensure that Israel allows more humanitarian aid' into the Gaza Strip, 'otherwise we are all accomplices'.

"In order to continue the fighting and at the request of President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Netanyahu will send Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Chief Tzachi Hanegbi to the US." The premier's office announced this, adding that a representative of the IDF will also be there. The premier - the note reiterates - "made it clear that he is determined to act in Rafah to permanently eliminate the rest of the Hamas battalions, while providing humanitarian solutions to the civilian population". Biden had requested the presence of an Israeli team in Washington to discuss Rafah.

The IOC has announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes competing at this summer's Paris Games under a neutral flag will not be allowed to take part in the opening ceremony. Neutral athletes from both countries "will not participate in the parade of delegations and teams during the opening ceremony because they are individual athletes," said International Olympic Committee director James McCloud after an executive council meeting in Lausanne.

The US demands that 'Israel let the head of UNRWA into Gaza'. This was said by the deputy spokesman of the State Department, Vedant Patel, in a point with the press.

US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu that he is not trying to weaken him politically and that he has no intention of intervening in Israeli domestic politics. Axios reports, citing sources familiar with the contents of the latest phone call between the two leaders. Netanyahu in the course of the conversation reportedly complained to Biden about the words of Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who called him an 'obstacle to peace', and said that the public attacks on him were political interference.

"The current leadership of France does not care about the death of ordinary Frenchmen and the concerns of the generals. According to information received from the Russian foreign intelligence service, a contingent is already being prepared to be sent to Ukraine. In the initial phase, it will amount to about 2,000 people'. This is according to the director of the Russian foreign intelligence service (SVR), Sergei Naryshkin. This was reported by the Tass news agency. According to the SVR director, the French military fears that such an important unit cannot be discreetly transferred to Ukraine and stationed there. "Thus it will become a legitimate and priority target for attacks by the Russian armed forces," Naryshkin explained.

Peter Navarro is the first former White House executive to go to prison for contempt of Congress. The former 74-year-old advisor to Donald Trump, who was sentenced to four months in prison for refusing to cooperate with the congressional committee on the 6 January 2021 Capitol Hill assault, is expected to be held in a Miami jail today, US media report. Yesterday, the last of his appeals to the Supreme Court, where he had invoked executive privilege immunity, had also been rejected.

The deputies of the Russian Duma have approved in the second and third reading two laws to cancel the criminal liability of those who sign a contract with the Russian army. This was reported by Ria Novosti and the independent website Meduza. The new laws incorporate into the Criminal Code the provisional measures adopted in 2023 to allow Wagner to recruit prisoners to be sent to fight in Ukraine. Their entry into force still needs the green light from the upper house and the signature of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The approved regulations allow those who have been convicted or are on trial to enlist in the army. Ongoing proceedings will be suspended and convictions will be turned into suspended sentences. Criminal records will then be expunged at the conclusion of the contract, but the military authorities will exercise control over the behaviour of ex-combatants. Excluded are those convicted of extremism, terrorism, calls for violation of territorial integrity, treason and cooperation with an 'undesirable organisation'.

"We need more protection, in particular an entirely realistic number of air defence systems in the possession of our partners. Patriots and other systems must do what they were designed to do: protect human lives, not gather dust in warehouses." This is what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky writes in a post on social media. "And I want to thank all those in the world who understand this and help us save lives," he adds, "Russian terror must lose."

EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell announced that tomorrow he will present to the Council my proposal on the use of frozen Russian assets and hopes that EU leaders will approve it at the European Council on Thursday and Friday. The EU holds around EUR 200 billion in Russian Central Bank assets, most of which are frozen in Belgium. The EU estimates that the interest on that money could provide about 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) each year. "The Russians will not be very happy. The amount of money, 3 billion a year, is not extraordinary, but it is not negligible,' Borrell told reporters. A small group of member countries, notably Hungary, refuses to supply arms to Ukraine, so these profits would be divided. About 90% of the money would be invested in a special fund that many EU countries already use to get reimbursements for arms and ammunition they send. The remaining 10% would be put into the EU budget to help strengthen the Ukrainian defence industry. Countries that oppose sending arms could then claim that they are not arming the country, Borrell said.

"We disagree with the Americans on the need to enter Rafah". This is what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee. "We do not see a way to militarily eliminate Hamas without destroying the remaining battalions," Netanyahu added, as reported by the Times of Israel, "we are determined to do so." "In our conversation, I made it clear to the US president(Joe Biden, ed.), in the clearest way, that we are determined to complete the elimination of these battalions in Rafah," he continued, and "there is no way to do it except by going overland."

A Houthi military spokesman said they had targeted a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, the Mado, in the Red Sea with missiles and the Israeli region of Eilat with cruise missiles. Yesterday, the Israeli army reported that a 'suspected air target' had entered Israeli airspace from the Red Sea and hit an open area in the Eilat area, without doing any damage. It is unclear whether this is the same incident.

The British police have formally opened an investigation into suspicions of attempted 'fraud' in connection with the primary vote to choose Labour's candidate for the general election expected in the second half of 2024 in the constituency of Croydon East, on the outskirts of London: a seat considered to be protected by the current Labour opposition of Keir Starmer. Rupert Murdoch's Times, which has been following the affair for months, makes this clear. The Labour primary procedure in the constituency in question has been suspended by the party since last autumn, in the wake of the revelations of an investigative journalist.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh sent a congratulatory message to Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election. Hamas made this known on its Telegram channel. Haniyeh praised the "Russian position in support of the Palestinian cause in light of the battle to defend our people against the Israeli occupation, one of the most important arms of US hegemony in the Middle East". (

Antony Blinken leaves tomorrow for his sixth trip to the Middle East since the 7 October Hamas attack. The US Secretary of State will meet with top leaders of both Saudi Arabia and Egypt, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. The Washington Post writes this, pointing out that this may be the first visit to the region without a stop in Israel, at a time when relations between the two countries are frosty

"Everything will be decided this summer. This summer will be critical. Russia is hitting the Ukrainians' position every day, to weaken them, and when spring comes Moscow will certainly increase its military activity". EU High Representative Josep Borrell said this when meeting the European press. "It is impossible to penetrate Russian lines without strong support. When will the F-16s arrive? Will we give the long-range missiles or not? For now Germany says no but who knows, it has said no at every step, Leopard, Patriot.... I have to work on support for the next few months'.

"The Kremlin has denied its citizens a transparent and free democratic process," said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, calling the elections in Russia "undemocratic" because they "took place against a backdrop of intense repression of independent voices and the imprisonment, death, or exile of all genuine political opposition." Vladimir Putin,' he continued, 'is depriving Russian citizens of access to information and political participation. Regardless of the predetermined outcome of these elections, the United States will continue to stand with those who pursue a better future for Russia'.

At a meeting of the Russian security service (FSB) council, President Vladimir Putin ordered the agency's employees "not to forget the traitors who joined the Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups: do not forget who they are, identify them by name. We will punish them without prescription, wherever they are,' he said. Russian media reported this.

Hong Kong's parliament approved in 11 days the national security law under Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city's mini-Constitution, targeting five offences: treason, insurrection, sabotage, foreign interference, theft of state secrets and espionage with penalties of up to life imprisonment. The green light came at a brisk pace as the deputies are all pro-Beijing, despite Western criticism that the rule, which complements the June 2020 rule imposed by China on the former colony after mass protests in 2019, would further restrict the city's freedoms.

'If we want to strengthen European defence, we have to finance it together', this is 'something very important for the very future of the EU'. European Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said this to Bloomberg microphones on the sidelines of Euronext's annual conference in Paris. In the new rules of the Stability Pact 'there is already a form of incentive for defence spending', but 'I am talking about something more: I think we need common funding to incentivise European defence procurement', Gentiloni stressed, reiterating that 'the use of common funding could be crucial'.

In their advance, Russian forces have captured another population centre in the Ukrainian Donbass, that of Orlovka, near Avdiivka. This was reported by the Ministry of Defence, quoted by Russian agencies.

The European Commission will submit a proposal to the Council in the coming days to use the proceeds of frozen Russian assets "to support Ukraine". European Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said this to Bloomberg microphones on the sidelines of Euronext's annual conference in Paris. "We must strengthen our economic support" to Kiev, Gentiloni stressed, pointing out that "more or less 250 billion euros of frozen Russian assets are in the Union" and the proceeds "are around 3-3.5 billion a year".

The authorities of the Russian region of Belgorod have decided to evacuate some 9,000 children to other regions due to the continuous shelling from Ukraine. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced this, quoted by Tass, adding that in the last week alone 16 people were killed in the attacks and 98 wounded, including a girl who lost an arm. Gladkov said a hospital and a school were hit today, with no deaths or injuries reported.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin pledged that the US will not let Ukraine fail, even if further aid remains blocked in Congress and Kiev forces face an ammunition shortage. The United States will not let Ukraine fail,' Austin told reporters at the opening of a meeting at the Remstein Base in Germany of international supporters of Ukraine.

The removal of Navy Commander Nikolai Yevmenov has been confirmed in Russia after a series of Ukrainian drone attacks against Russian ships in the Black Sea. Admiral Alexander Moiseev was presented today as the new interim commander during a ceremony at a submarine base in Kronstadt, Tass reported.

The Foreign Ministry of the Palestinian Authority accused Israel on social media of starting "to destroy Rafah without announcing it, to avoid international reactions and without waiting for anyone's permission". The Guardian reported this after tonight's Israeli raid that, according to Wafa, hit two houses and a flat in Rafah, southern Gaza, killing at least 14 people.

The number of Palestinians who have been killed during the Israeli military offensive inside the Gaza Strip since 7 October has risen to 31,819. This was stated by the Hamas-ruled Health Ministry, adding that 73,934 Palestinians were injured in the retaliation. In addition, some 93 Palestinians were killed and 142 wounded in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.

Chinese envoy Wang Kejian met with Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. This was reported by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which said that the first known meeting since 7 October between a Chinese official and a Hamas official recognised by Beijing took place on Sunday in Qatar. Wang and Haniyeh "exchanged views on the Gaza conflict and other issues", the ministry reported. According to a Hamas press office statement, Haniyeh emphasised 'the need to quickly stop the aggression and massacres', to withdraw the Israeli army from Gaza, and to 'achieve the political goals and aspiration of an independent Palestinian state'.

- In less than three months, Brazil has broken the record for the number of dengue cases in a year, and is on its way to 2 million. So far, the South American giant has recorded 1,889,206 probable cases, the Ministry of Health reported, the highest number since 2000. The figure is four times the number of dengue cases reported in the same period in 2023. The previous record number of cases was in 2015 (1,688,688 in the year), while 2023 was the third worst year (1,658,816 cases). As for deaths, there are 561 confirmed deaths (1,094 in the whole of 2023). Ten Brazilian states have already declared a state of emergency, São Paulo among them.

The US "has no right to interfere in the South China Sea": that was the comment made by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian just hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US was maintaining "ironclad" commitments on the defence of the Philippines from armed attacks in the South China Sea. "The US is not a party on the South China Sea issue and has no right to interfere in maritime matters affecting China and the Philippines," Lin added in the daily briefing

Iran's ambassador to the UN, Saeed Iravani, called the US and UK accusations of Iran's alleged involvement in Yemeni Houthi attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea 'baseless'. Irna reports that. "Tehran sees these accusations as an excuse that Washington and London use to advance their short-sighted political agenda, as well as to justify and legitimise their illegal actions and military aggression against Yemen," Iravani wrote in a letter to the Security Council chairman, in response to the accusations made by US and British representatives during the Council meeting on Yemen on 14 March.

Supporter Houthi in una manifestazione contro Usa e Israele

The entire population of Gaza is experiencing 'severe levels of acute food insecurity': this is the alarm raised by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, emphasising the urgency of increasing the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory. "By the most respected measure of these things, 100 per cent of the population of Gaza is at severe levels of acute food insecurity. This is the first time an entire population has been classified in this way," Blinken said at a press conference in the Philippines where he is on an official visit, before leaving for Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The US maintains its 'ironclad' commitments on the defence of the Philippines from armed attacks in the South China Sea. "These waterways are critical to the Philippines, to its security, to its economy, but they are also critical to the interests of the region, the United States and the world," said Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was engaged in a joint press conference in Manila with his Philippine counterpart Enrique Manalo. "That is why we stand by the Philippines and maintain our armoured defence commitments, including under the Mutual Defence Treaty," Blinken added.

Il segretario di stato Usa Antony Blinken con l’omologo delle Filippine Enrique Manalo a Manila REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool

Israeli armed forces shelled a house in Jabalia, northern Gaza, killing at least eight Palestinians. This was reported by the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Among the victims were children and there were also some wounded. The house - which belonged to a single family - was completely destroyed. The attack in Jabalia took place in the same hours as a bombing in Rafah that left at least 14 people dead.

"The impending famine in northern Gaza is an entirely man-made disaster. I reiterate my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. We must act now to prevent the unthinkable, the unacceptable, the unjustifiable'. So writes UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a post on X regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza

Israeli air strikes hit two houses and a flat in Rafah, southern Gaza, killing at least 14 people, including women and children, and wounding many more. This was reported by the Palestinian news agency Wafa. In detail, the raid targeted the neighbourhoods of Musabah, Khirbet Al-Adas and Al-Jeneina.