Headline

Children Killed As Russia Launches Largest Air Attack On Ukraine

Published

1 month ago

May 25, 2025

Russian strikes killed at least 12 people in Ukraine overnight, officials said Sunday, as Kyiv and Moscow traded fire even as they completed their biggest prisoner exchange since the start of the war.

Ukraine’s emergency services described a night of “terror” as Russia launched a second straight night of massive air strikes, including on the capital Kyiv.

The attacks came even as the two countries completed their biggest prisoner swap since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with 1,000 captured soldiers and civilian prisoners exchanged by each side.

The death toll from the latest Russian strikes included two children, aged eight and 12, and a 17-year-old, killed in the northwestern region of Zhytomyr, officials said.

“Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.

“The silence of America, the silence of others around the world only encourages Putin,” he said, adding: “Sanctions will certainly help.”

The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, called for “the strongest international pressure on Russia to stop this war”.

“Last night’s attacks again show Russia bent on more suffering and the annihilation of Ukraine. Devastating to see children among innocent victims harmed and killed,” she said on social media.

The renewed strikes came after Russia launched 14 ballistic missiles and 250 drones overnight Friday to Saturday, which wounded 15, according to Ukrainian officials.

Ukraine’s military said on Sunday it had shot down a total of 45 Russian missiles and 266 attack drones overnight.

Russia meanwhile said it had brought down 110 Ukrainian drones.

Four people were reported dead in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region, four in the Kyiv region, and one in Mykolaiv in the south.

Emergency services said 16 people were also injured in the Kyiv region, including three children, in the “massive night attack”.

“We saw the whole street was on fire,” a 65-year-old retired woman, Tetiana Iankovska, told AFP in Makhalivka village just southwest of Kyiv.

Another retiree who survived the strikes, Oleskandr, 64, said he had no faith in talks around a ceasefire.

“We don’t need talks, but weapons, a lot of weapons to stop them (the Russians). Because Russia understands only force, nothing else,” he said.

– Major prisoner exchange –

Russia said Sunday it had exchanged another 303 Ukrainian prisoners of war for the same number of Russian soldiers held by Kyiv — the last phase of the prisoner swap agreed during talks between the two sides in Istanbul on May 16.

Russia and Ukraine had over three days “carried out the exchange of 1,000 people for 1,000 people”, the defence ministry said.

Zelensky confirmed the swap was complete.

Both sides received 390 people in the first stage on Friday and 307 in the second stage on Saturday.

Russia has signalled it will send Ukraine its terms for a peace settlement after the exchange, without saying what those terms would be.

– Diplomatic push –

US President Donald Trump on Friday congratulated the two countries for the swap.

“This could lead to something big,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump’s efforts to broker a ceasefire in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II have so far been unsuccessful, despite his pledge to rapidly end the fighting.

An AFP reporter saw some of the formerly captive Ukrainian soldiers arrive at a hospital in the northern Chernigiv region, emaciated but smiling and waving to crowds waiting outside.

“It’s simply crazy. Crazy feelings,” 31-year-old Konstantin Steblev, a soldier, told AFP Friday as he stepped back onto Ukrainian soil after three years in captivity.

One of the soldiers formerly held captive, 58-year-old Viktor Syvak, told AFP it was hard to express his emotional homecoming.

Captured in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, he had been held for 37 months and 12 days.

“It’s impossible to describe. I can’t put it into words. It’s very joyful,” he said.

Headline

Trump Threatens Extra 10% Tariff On BRICS Nations

Published

16 hours ago

July 7, 2025

Editor

US President, Donald Trump has warned that countries supporting BRICS policies that clash with US interests will face an additional 10% tariff.

“Any country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% tariff.

“There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Trump wrote on social media.

Trump, who has long criticised the BRICS alliance—comprising China, Russia, India and other emerging economies—has ramped up trade pressure as part of his economic strategy.

The US had set 9 July as a deadline for countries to finalise trade agreements.

However, according to US officials, tariffs will now kick in from 1 August.

Trump said he would begin sending letters to various countries, notifying them of the tariff rate they will face if no deal is reached.

Since returning to office in January, Trump has introduced multiple import tariffs, arguing they are necessary to protect American manufacturing and jobs.

Back in April, during what he dubbed “Liberation Day,” he rolled out a wave of new tariffs—some reaching as high as 50%—but later paused the more extreme measures to allow for negotiations until 9 July.

During this interim period, a general 10% tariff has been in place on goods entering the US from many of its global trade partners.

So far, Washington has only secured full trade agreements with the UK and Vietnam, alongside a partial deal with China.

Yet, the UK and the US are still at odds over tariffs on British steel.

Asked whether the tariff changes would take effect on 9 July or 1 August, Trump responded vaguely: “They’re going to be tariffs, the tariffs are going to be tariffs.”

He added that between 10 and 15 countries would receive letters on Monday outlining their new tariff rates if they don’t reach an agreement.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick later confirmed that the new tariffs will take effect on 1 August.

Trump also warned Japan last week that it could face a “30% or 35%” tariff if it fails to strike a deal with the US by Wednesday.

In May, the European Union was told it would face tariffs of up to 50% without an agreement in place.

Reports last week suggested the EU was considering a temporary arrangement to maintain a 10% tariff on most goods, while also negotiating to ease existing tariffs—such as the 25% tax on cars and car parts, and the 50% rate on steel and aluminium.

Last year, Brics expanded beyond its founding members—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Together, the bloc represents more than half of the world’s population and aims to elevate its global influence in opposition to Western powers.

In 2024, Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on BRICS countries if they proceeded with plans to launch a rival currency to the US dollar.

Sunday’s fresh threat came after BRICS finance ministers, meeting in Rio de Janeiro, denounced the US tariff strategy and proposed changes to the International Monetary Fund and global currency valuations.

They issued a statement warning that such tariffs pose a risk to the global economy by creating “uncertainty into international economic and trade activities.”

Andrew Wilson, deputy secretary general of the International Chambers of Commerce, said it would not be easy for countries to sever trade ties with China.

“Shifting away from China…in a number of sectors is far more difficult to achieve in the world in practice,” he said.

“You look at the dominance China has in a number of sectors—EVs, batteries [and] particularly rare earths and magnets, there are no viable alternatives to China production.”

(BBC)

Headline

After Fallout With Trump, Elon Musk Says He’s Forming ‘America Party’

Published

2 days ago

July 6, 2025

Editor

Billionaire Tesla owner Elon Musk, has disclosed that he is forming a third political party, which he called the ‘America Party,’ after a dramatic falling out with Donald Trump over a tax and spending bill recently signed into law by the President.

Musk, who was the largest individual donor to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, worked with the current US President as the lead of his cost-cutting government agency—the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—until his recent resignation.

After bowing out of the DOGE role, Tribune Online reports that Musk started criticizing Trump’s “big beautiful bill” because of estimates that he said would add trillions of dollars to the federal deficit.

Speaking via his X social media platform, Musk said, “When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy.”

Musk, a former ‘first buddy’ of the US President, declared that the new party is for freedom: “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”

Meanwhile, Musk’s rift with President Trump last month after intense criticism of the spending bill appeared to have cooled after Musk regretted and deleted the most incendiary posts he made linking Trump with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and calling for the President’s impeachment. According to Musk, those posts ‘went too far.’

However, the world’s richest man reignited the feud over the last several days as the bill neared passage and eventually passed by the House before it was subsequently signed at a White House ceremony.

According to CNN, the extent to which Musk has taken steps to legally form the party is unclear, as party formation requires registering with the Federal Election Commission. The most recent FEC filings showed no indication that this has happened, CNN reports.

The owner of X, who has made threats during the social media scuffle with Trump, had indicated he wants a party that is fiscally conservative and reins in spending, but has offered few other details about what the party’s platform would be.

While Musk and Trump reportedly share similar views on contemporary social issues, the former has argued the Republican policy agenda will increase the debt, calling it “debt slavery.”

The two-party system in the United States has long been criticized by both registered Democrats and registered Republicans, but efforts in the last century to form a third party have shown little success. Billionaire Ross Perot ran for president as an independent in 1992, winning nearly a fifth of the popular vote, but carried no states in the election, which was won by Bill Clinton.

Headline

Australian Actor Julian McMahon Is Dead

Published

3 days ago

July 5, 2025

Editor

Australian actor Julian McMahon, best known for his roles in Nip/Tuck, Charmed, and Fantastic Four, has died at the age of 56.

McMahon passed away in Clearwater, Florida, on Wednesday following a private battle with cancer.

His death was confirmed in a statement released on Friday by his wife, Kelly.

The statement read,”With an open heart, I share with the world that Julian McMahon, my beloved husband, died peacefully this week after a valiant effort to overcome cancer.

“His deepest wish was to bring joy into as many lives as possible.

“We wish all of those to whom Julian brought joy to continue to find joy in life.

“We are grateful for the memories.”

Born into a prominent political family, McMahon was the son of former Australian Prime Minister Sir William McMahon.

In a nod to his family’s legacy, he portrayed an Australian prime minister in the Netflix drama ‘The Residence.’

McMahon’s career spanned decades, earning him international recognition for his roles as Dr. Christian Troy in ‘Nip/Tuck’, Cole Turner in ‘Charmed’, and Victor Von Doom in ‘Fantastic Four’.

He was married three times, including a high-profile marriage to Australian singer and actress Dannii Minogue, sister of pop icon Kylie Minogue.