MicroWave

Latest denial of disaster funding comes as Trump has repeatedly stated he wants to eliminate FEMA

Donald Trump has denied federal disaster relief funds to the people of Arkansas, which saw dozens of people die from a series of deadly tornados last month, so legislators are pleading for him to reconsider.

More than 40 people have been found dead after a series of tornados and severe storms hit Arkansas and neighboring states Mississippi and Missouri in March, according to CNN.

Given the scale of the disaster, the state’s Republican governor, Sarah Huckabee, requested federal disaster aid as a part of an emergency declaration. That request was later denied by the Trump administration.

Summary

Donald Trump pleaded with Vladimir Putin to stop attacking Ukraine after another set of deadly strikes rocked Ukrainian capital Kyiv, urging him to secure a peace deal.

"I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying..."

The Trump team has repportedly proposed a deal that would essentially grant Russia all the territory it has gained since 2014, and block Ukraine joining NATO.

Zelensky has ruled out recognizing Russia's 2014 takeover of Crimea, a region of Ukraine, in any peace deal, warning the proposal "violated our Constitution."

Research council launches 100m kroner fund as Norwegian government calls for the protection of academic freedom

Norway has launched a new scheme to lure top international researchers amid growing pressure on academic freedom in the US under the Trump administration.

Following in the footsteps of multiple institutions across Europe, the Research Council of Norway on Wednesday launched a 100m kroner (£7.2m) fund to make it easier to recruit researchers from other countries.

The initiative is open to researchers from around the world, but it was expanded and accelerated after the Trump administration announced substantial cuts last month.

Allegations come days after Japanese authorities increased efforts to deter crimes by US servicemen on island

Two US marines based on the Japanese island of Okinawa are being investigated for alleged rape, days after local authorities stepped up efforts to deter sexual and other crimes by US service personnel.

A marine in his 20s is suspected of raping a Japanese woman in a bathroom at a US military base last month, while a second man, also a marine in his 20s, allegedly raped a woman at a base in January, according to media reports.

The men, who were not named publicly, had been referred to Japanese prosecutors, the Kyodo news agency said.

Tuesday's bloodshed in Pahalgam - where at least 26 tourists were killed in a hail of gunfire - marks the deadliest militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir since 2019.

The victims weren't soldiers or officials, but civilians on holiday in one of India's most picturesque valleys. That alone makes this strike both brutal and symbolic: a calculated assault not just on lives, but on a fragile sense of normalcy the Indian state has worked hard to project in the disputed region.

Given the fraught history of Kashmir - claimed in full by both India and Pakistan but ruled by each only in part - India's response is likely to be shaped as much by precedent as by pressure, say experts.

The European Commission has fined US companies Apple and Meta millions for violations of the Digital Markets Act.

The European Commission on Wednesday found tech giants Apple and Meta in breach of obligations under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), fining the two US companies €500 million ($572 million) and €200 million respectively.

Apple was found to have breached its "anti-steering" obligation under the DMA, while Meta was considered not to have given consumers the choice of a service that uses less of their personal data, another stipulation of the DMA.

However, the EU also closed an investigation of Apple over its user choice obligations after the tech giant complied with the DMA by making it easy to select a default browser and for users to remove pre-installed apps such as Safari.

An ashen pallor and an eerie stillness all that remains where there should fluttering fish and vibrant colours in the reefscape, one conservationist says

The world’s coral reefs have been pushed into “uncharted territory” by the worst global bleaching event on record that has now hit more than 80% of the planet’s reefs, scientists have warned.

Reefs in at least 82 countries and territories have been exposed to enough heat to turn corals white since the global event started in January 2023, the latest data from the US government’s Coral Reef Watch shows.

Coral reefs are known as the rainforests of the sea because of their high concentration of biodiversity that supports about a third of all marine species and a billion people.

But record high ocean temperatures have spread like an underwater wildfire over corals across the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, damaging and killing countless corals.

Summary

London talks aimed at securing a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia have been downgraded and will no longer include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff.

The US state department blamed logistical reasons, but it was clear the decision was last-minute and left the Foreign Office wrongfooted.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out recognising occupied Crimea as Russian territory, after reports suggested this was being considered by the US and the Kremlin. "Ukraine does not legally recognise the occupation of Crimea. There's nothing to talk about," said Zelensky.

Ukraine's ministry of strategic industries said it was "naïve" to expect Ukraine to change its position on "non-negotiable" issues such as Crimea.

The U.S. expects Ukraine's response Wednesday to a peace framework that includes U.S. recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and unofficial recognition of Russian control of nearly all areas occupied since the 2022 invasion, sources with direct knowledge of the proposal tell Axios.

Why it matters: The one-page document the U.S. presented Ukrainian officials in Paris last week describes this as Trump's "final offer." The White House insists it's ready to walk away if the parties don't make a deal soon.

The European Union will never recognize the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula as legally Russian, the bloc's top diplomat Kaja Kallas told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on April 22.

Kallas' comments come in response to reports that the recognition of Crimea as Russian territory is being considered as part of a U.S.-backed proposal to end the war in Ukraine.

"Crimea is Ukraine," Kallas told the AFP.

Summary

A record 7.3 million people have cast their ballots over four days of advanced voting in Canada’s election, marking a 25% increase over the 5.8m advanced ballots cast in the 2021 vote.

There are further indications the election campaign dominated by threats from Donald Trump has galvanized voters, including unusually high ratings for two debates last week.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is the frontrunner, though Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative party is incrementally gaining ground.

This year, polling points to a two-party Liberal-Conservative race.