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US President Donald Trump’s attack on Pope Leo was “unacceptable”, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Monday, joining forces with politicians of all colours in springing to the Pontiff’s defence. The statement represented an extremely rare public rebuke of Trump from Meloni, who has cultivated particularly close ties with the US president, underscoring widespread anger in Italy over his broadside on Pope Leo. Trump set off the furore by calling Leo “terrible” in a long tirade on Sunday. He subsequently posted an artificial intelligence (AI) image depicting himself as a Messiah-like figure, sparking further outrage among Christians who saw the image. Meloni issued an initial statement backing Leo as he flew off on an ambitious four-nation visit to Africa, but made no specific mention of Trump’s broadside. Opposition politicians accused her of lacking the courage to directly challenge Trump, prompting her to issue a second statement later in the day to clarify her position. “I thought the meaning of my statement this morning was clear, but I will restate it more explicitly. I find President Trump’s words about the Holy Father unacceptable,” Meloni said. “The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal for him to call for peace and to condemn every form of war.” Meloni was the only European leader to attend Trump’s inauguration in 2025 and she had hoped their friendship would boost her standing at home and abroad. However, Trump risks becoming a liability, with 66% of Italians having a negative view of the US leader. Pollsters say that Meloni’s ties to the White House might have been a factor in her defeat last month in a referendum on judicial reform. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who has also in the past associated himself closely with Trump, also distanced himself from the US leader Monday, highlighting how Europe’s far-right is trying to draw back from the MAGA (Make America Great Again) orbit. “Pope Leo is a spiritual leader for billions of Catholics, but beyond that, if there is one person striving for peace, it is Pope Leo, and so attacking him does not seem either wise or helpful,” he said in a statement. The Pope is the bishop of Rome and spiritual leader to millions of Italian Catholics, making politicians of all stripes wary about taking him on. “It has been centuries since such a blatant act of aggression against the Roman pontiff was seen,” said former centre-left prime minister Matteo Renzi, adding that it was vital for Catholics and non-believers alike to defend Leo. “He is, after all, a ‘builder of bridges,’ unlike Trump, a destroyer of relationships and of civilisation. The only advantage is this: Trumps come and go, popes remain,” he said. The comment echoed an Italian saying, “chi mangia papa crepa” which roughly means, “whoever tries to devour the pope dies” – a proverb born of centuries of tension between successive papacies and temporal rulers. “Trump has made the mistake of the century, because ‘chi mangia papa crepa’ has been borne out repeatedly,” said church historian Alberto Melloni, pointing to Italy’s royal family, the House of Savoy, which clashed repeatedly with the Vatican during the 19th century only to be swept away while the papacy lived on. Antonio Spadaro, a Roman Catholic priest and undersecretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, said Trump’s attack revealed his own weakness. “If Leo were irrelevant, he would not merit any comment. Instead, he is invoked, named, opposed – a sign that his words matter,” Spadaro wrote on X. “This is where the church’s moral force emerges. Not as a counter-power, but as a space in which power is judged by a standard it does not control.” Source link
Firefighters work at the site of a building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Monday. (Reuters) Two people were killed and one injured by Russian troops in Ukraine’s frontline eastern Donetsk region before the expiry of a ceasefire to mark Orthodox Easter, a local official said Monday. One person was killed in the city of Kramatorsk and one in Druzhkivka on Sunday, regional governor Vadym Filashkin said on the Telegram messaging app, without giving more details. Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of breaching the 32-hour ceasefire from Saturday afternoon to midnight on Sunday. Ukraine’s Co-ordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, citing a spokesperson of the 14th Army Corps, said Monday that during “the so-called ‘Easter ceasefire’” Russian servicemen also shot dead four Ukrainian prisoners of war in the Kharkiv region. It did not give more details, adding that Russia was preparing a campaign to deny it. There was no immediate comment from Russia and Reuters could not verify the information independently. The General Staff of Ukraine’s military said Monday it had compiled a total of 10,721 Russian violations over the course of the truce. It said the violations included 1,567 artillery shelling incidents, 119 assault operations and 9,035 strikes by attack drones. It said no air strikes had been recorded. The Russian defence ministry has said it recorded 1,971 ceasefire violations by Ukraine overnight into Sunday. Related Story…
President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy on Sunday to block the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, furious with Iran's refusal to surrender its nuclear ambitions after peace talks in Pakistan broke down without an agreement.In response to Trump's announcement, Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned they had traffic in the strategic waterway under their full control and would trap any enemy who tried to challenge it ‘in a deadly vortex’.In a lengthy declaration on his social media platform, Trump said his eventual goal was to clear the strait of mines and reopen it to all shipping, but that in the meantime Iran must not be allowed to profit from its control of the waterway.’Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,’ Trump said. ‘Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!’Iran has itself been restricting traffic through the strait — a key route for global shipments of oil, gas and fertiliser — while allowing vessels deemed to be working for friendly countries, such as China, to pass. There have been unconfirmed reports that Tehran plans to charge tolls.’THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION,’ Trump said. ‘I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas. We will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the Straits.’The US military had said Saturday that two Navy warships transited through the strait to begin clearing it of mines and ensure it was a ‘safe pathway’ for tankers, a claim denied by Tehran.Iran's Fars news agency reported on Sunday that two Pakistani-flagged oil tankers heading for the strait had turned around.Fears of renewed fighting rattled an already tense region after the US-Iran talks collapsed.’I am worried about the continuation of the situation and the return of attacks again,’ said Imam, an Egyptian housewife living in UAE capital Abu Dhabi.’I was making a great effort not to pass my tension on to the children.’'Act of extortion' Trump later in a Fox News interview again threatened Iran's energy infrastructure, before warning he would impose a 50 percent tariff on Chinese imports if Beijing tried to help the Iranian military.’I could take out Iran in one day. I could have their entire energy everything, every one of their plants, their electric generating plants, which is a big deal,’ he said.The president's latest ultimatum appeared to have been triggered by the failure of talks to secure a deal to end the six-week-old war, which began when the US and Israel launched strikes on Tehran and killed Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.Iran's refusal to give up its right to a nuclear programme frustrated the US delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.’I have always said, right from the beginning, and many years ago, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!’ Trump said.’The Blockade will begin shortly. Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade,’ he added, without specifying.Experts said blocking the crucial waterway in the middle of a two-week ceasefire, after the Islamabad negotiations, would further erode America's global credibility.’Imposing a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz right now — even if it's implementable, which remains an open question — is bewildering and seems self-defeating,’ said Shibley Telhami, a professor of peace and development at the University of Maryland.Vance left Pakistan after the talks — the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution — and warned that Washington had made Tehran its ‘final and best offer’ for a deal, adding: ‘We'll see if the Iranians accept it.’Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the head of his country's negotiating team, said he had ‘put forward constructive initiatives’ but the US team did not win Iran's trust.Ceasefire efforts The failure of the talks will raise concerns that a return to fighting could drive world energy prices higher and further damage shipping and oil and gas facilities.Pakistan, which hosted the talks, urged both countries to continue respecting the temporary truce.UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, and both leaders agreed it ‘was vital there was a continuation of the ceasefire, and that all parties avoided any further escalation’.An EU spokesman said diplomacy would be ‘essential’ to securing peace and hailed Pakistan's mediation efforts, while Russia's President Vladimir Putin called Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to offer his services to the diplomatic effort.’Vladimir Putin emphasised his readiness to further facilitate the search for a political and diplomatic settlement to the conflict, and to mediate efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace in the Middle East,’ the Kremlin said, in its readout of the call. 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South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said Monday that South Korea aims to expand its free trade agreement (FTA) network with emerging markets, such as Latin America and Africa, in its latest effort to diversify supply chains.”Rather than simply responding to trade issues, the government will expand its FTA network to support export growth,” Yonhap News Agency quoted the finance minister as saying.He noted that the global trade environment is undergoing a structural change due to the weakening of multilateral trade norms and increasing competition among major countries.In response, the government sees a need to continuously expand and strategically upgrade its FTA network.”In the future, we will broaden our FTA map to emerging markets, such as Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa, to diversify global supply chains,” he said.South Korea has signed 21 free trade deals covering 59 countries, the finance ministry said. Source link
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday called for the resumption of peace negotiations between the United States and Iran, and for an end to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.The call by Albanese came during a television interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), where he expressed hope for achieving lasting peace, comprehensive de-escalation, and ending the tragedy of civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure – most importantly, reopening the Strait of Hormuz to ensure freedom of navigation.The Australian Prime Minister reaffirmed that his country has not received any request to participate in the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, emphasizing the need to restore freedom of navigation in this vital trade route. Source link
Turkiye’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan has expressed concern over emerging proposals by Iran and the United States to introduce new rules governing passage through the Strait of Hormuz, warning of significant challenges surrounding efforts to secure the vital shipping route.Speaking to Anadolu Agency on Monday, Fidan said reopening the strait should be achieved through diplomacy, following the failure of weekend talks between Washington and Tehran to reach an agreement on ending the ongoing conflict.He suggested that progress could still be made within weeks if negotiations move in a constructive direction, noting that Tehran is expected to review and respond to a US proposal. However, he cautioned that disagreements over uranium enrichment remain a key obstacle.If the issue of uranium enrichment becomes an all-or-nothing matter, we may face serious difficulties, Fidan said, adding that both sides appear committed to securing a ceasefire and recognize its urgency.The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most critical oil shipping routes, and any disruption has far-reaching implications for global energy markets.Fidan also warned that broader regional tensions risk escalating further. He described the situation in Lebanon as part of what he called expansionist policies by Israel, cautioning that the crisis could draw the region into a wider conflict.He emphasized the need for a regional security framework, calling for the establishment of a new alliance aimed at building trust among neighboring states and preventing further instability. Source link
The member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) called for a final agreement between the US and Iran, welcoming the two-week ceasefire announced on April 8, 2026, affirming the need to build on it to reduce escalation in the region.ASEAN stressed in a statement the importance of maintaining maritime safety and security and preserving freedom of navigation and overflight over international straits, in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the standards adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), calling for the restoration of safe and unimpeded passage for ships and aircraft in the Strait of Hormuz, and ensuring the safety of seafarers and ships in accordance with relevant international agreements.The member states also urged Washington and Tehran to continue negotiations leading to a permanent end to the conflict and stability in the region, praising the efforts of Pakistan and the parties concerned in facilitating dialogue between the two sides.ASEAN affirmed the need for the full and effective implementation of the ceasefire, which would contribute to reducing human losses, ensure the safety of navigation and freedom of passage for civilian ships and aircraft, reduce disruptions in energy and commodity supplies, and mitigate their impact on the global economy.It also called on all parties to strictly adhere to the terms of the ceasefire, exercise maximum restraint, cease hostilities, avoid any steps that would escalate tensions, and work collectively to reach a comprehensive and sustainable solution in accordance with international law, the UN Charter and UN Security Council resolutions.ASEAN reaffirmed the importance of maintaining regional peace, stability and prosperity, and promoting dialogue and diplomacy as a key means of addressing conflicts.It also reaffirmed the commitment of states to resolve their disputes by peaceful means, respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and ensure the safety of peacekeeping forces and humanitarian workers, in accordance with international law and the UN Charter. Related Story Source link
Japan hopes a “final agreement” will be concluded swiftly between the US and Iran to de-escalate the Middle East situation, after Washington-Tehran weekend peace talks failed to reach a deal.”What is most important is that de-escalation, including securing the safety of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, is actually achieved,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said in a press conference Monday, adding that Tokyo is closely watching developments and will continue to work with the international community.Kihara also said no decision has been made about whether Japan plans to send its Self-Defense Forces for minesweeping operations in the strait, a chokepoint for global energy transportation.Japan relies on the Middle East for more than 90% of its crude oil imports. Most transit the strait, which Iran has effectively closed since the US and Israel began attacking the country in late February. Source link
Singapore has flatly rejected any suggestion it would pay transit fees to Iran for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, with Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan telling parliament the right of free navigation is enshrined in international law — not a toll concession for Tehran to extract. Responding to a parliamentary question, Balakrishnan said Singapore would continue engaging Iran diplomatically but ruled out any negotiation over safe passage fees. “It is not a privilege to be granted by the bordering state, it’s not a licence to be supplicated for, it is not a toll to be paid,” he said. The remarks come as Iran has imposed what shipping sources describe as a de facto toll system — administered by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps — in the wake of US and Israeli strikes on Iranian infrastructure. Reports suggest demands of up to $2mn per vessel, payable in cryptocurrency or yuan, ostensibly to fund reconstruction. Traffic through the strait plummeted by an estimated 90% during peak hostilities, with only partial recovery following a tentative ceasefire. Tehran, which signed but never ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), maintains it is not bound by its transit passage provisions and retains the right to regulate movement through its territorial waters on security grounds. Balakrishnan dismissed that argument, saying non-ratification was not a “get-out-of-jail-free card” and that the principle of free transit applied universally as customary international law. Singapore’s hard line is rooted as much in strategic interest as legal principle. Balakrishnan drew an explicit parallel with the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Singapore — chokepoints that carry roughly a quarter to two-fifths of global seaborne trade, including nearly half of China’s oil imports. Were Hormuz tolls to go unchallenged, he warned, similar demands could follow on the very waterways Singapore depends on for its economic existence. The shipping industry has broadly backed Singapore’s stance, with insurers and major operators advised against payment to avoid legitimising the practice. A clip of Balakrishnan’s remarks, posted to social media on April 11, drew more than 3mn views and sharp debate over the tension between legal norms and geopolitical realities. Related Story Source link
Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan. (Reuters file photo) Singapore has flatly rejected any suggestion it would pay transit fees to Iran for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, with Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan telling parliament the right of free navigation is enshrined in international law — not a toll concession for Tehran to extract.Responding to a parliamentary question, Balakrishnan said Singapore would continue engaging Iran diplomatically but ruled out any negotiation over safe passage fees. “It is not a privilege to be granted by the bordering state, it’s not a licence to be supplicated for, it is not a toll to be paid,” he said.The remarks come as Iran has imposed what shipping sources describe as a de facto toll system — administered by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps — in the wake of US and Israeli strikes on Iranian infrastructure. Reports suggest demands of up to $2mn per vessel, payable in cryptocurrency or yuan, ostensibly to fund reconstruction. Traffic through the strait plummeted by an estimated 90% during peak hostilities, with only partial recovery following a tentative ceasefire.Tehran, which signed but never ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), maintains it is not bound by its transit passage provisions and retains the right to regulate movement through its territorial waters on security grounds. Balakrishnan dismissed that argument, saying non-ratification was not a “get-out-of-jail-free card” and that the principle of free transit applied universally as customary international law.Singapore’s hard line is rooted as much in strategic interest as legal principle. Balakrishnan drew an explicit parallel with the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Singapore — chokepoints that carry roughly a quarter to two-fifths of global seaborne trade, including nearly half of China’s oil imports. Were Hormuz tolls to go unchallenged, he warned, similar demands could follow on the very waterways Singapore depends on for its economic existence.The shipping industry has broadly backed Singapore’s stance, with insurers and major operators advised against payment to avoid legitimising the practice. A clip of Balakrishnan’s remarks, posted to social media on April 11, drew more than 3mn views and sharp debate over the tension between legal norms and geopolitical realities. Source link