Deceptichum

A Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber crashed in the Irkutsk region of southeastern Siberia due to a technical malfunction, local governor Igor Kobzev said on Wednesday.

The plane went down during a routine flight near the village of Buret in the Usolsk district, causing no damage to civilian structures, Kobzev wrote on his Telegram channel.

The Trump administration, which has pledged to reprioritise capital punishment for serious criminals, is seeking the death penalty for Luigi Mangione.

Mr Mangione is accused of killing health insurance CEO Brian Thompson in New York in December.

He said this assessment was well-founded, citing Russian plans and military capabilities that are being developed and deployed in close proximity to NATO borders. He added that Russia had invested in these capabilities over decades and was clearly preparing for a long-term confrontation with NATO.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Hungary this week, his office said on Sunday, defying an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court issued over allegations of war crimes in Gaza.

During the visit, due to begin on Wednesday and run until Sunday, Netanyahu will meet his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban, who invited him in November, soon after the ICC issued the arrest warrant.

President Donald Trump threatened Iran with bombings and secondary tariffs if the country does not come to an agreement with his administration about its nuclear program.

“If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing,” Trump said during a phone call with NBC News’ Kristen Welker on Sunday.

Turkish president called for Israel’s destruction during a mosque visit marking the end of Ramadan: 'May Allah destroy Zionist Israel. We must see everything happening in Palestine, unite and be strong'

According to a high-level Ecuadorian official familiar with the planning, construction of a new naval facility in the coastal city of Manta is part of that preparation, with barracks-style housing and administration offices designed to support sustained operations and US military personnel. The official requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

“The expectation is that these will be eventually occupied by US troops,” the official told CNN.

Israel’s military admitted on Saturday it had fired on ambulances in the Gaza Strip after identifying them as “suspicious vehicles”, with Hamas condemning it as a “war crime” that killed at least one person.

The incident took place last Sunday in the Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood in the southern city of Rafah, close to the Egyptian border.

Israeli troops launched an offensive there on 20 March, two days after the army resumed aerial bombardments of Gaza after an almost two-month-long truce. Attacks on medical staff, hospitals and ambulances are potential war crimes.

"We need Greenland for national security and international security," Trump said, taking reporters' questions in the Oval Office.

At least 27 people have died in what have grown into the largest wildfires in South Korea's history. Most of those who have lost their lives were in their 60s and 70s - in other words, those who struggled to escape the fast-moving infernos.

European Union countries renewed the bloc’s two sanctions frameworks on Russia for another six months at the end of January and earlier this month. Any changes to sanctions require unanimity among its 27 member states.

“The end of the Russian unprovoked and unjustified aggression in Ukraine and unconditional withdrawal of all Russian military forces from the entire territory of Ukraine would be one of the main preconditions to amend or lift sanctions,” the spokesperson said.

One in five Americans (20 per cent) polled by Leger this week say they would like their state to join Canada, more than double the proportion of Canadians who said they would like their country to become the 51st state of the United States. Article content

“Only 9 per cent of Canadians believe it is likely that Canada will become the 51st U.S. state. By contrast, 20 per cent of Americans would like their state to join Canada and become a Canadian province, a proportion that is higher among respondents aged 18 to 34 (30 per cent),” reads the new Léger report.