Rain is drizzling as we gather on the runway at the Stuttgart army airfield in southern Germany. It's 2:30 a.m., time for takeoff. A Dash 8 airliner is ready for boarding. The military plane will take us to Sirte in Libya.
Whether it be at the airport in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, or along the roads connecting cities nationwide, the face of Bulgaria's former president is everywhere right now. Billboards and banners for Rumen Radev and his newly founded Progressive Bulgaria party dominate the visual landscape across the country.
An Australian court ordered on Friday bail with travel restrictions for Ben Roberts-Smith, the country's most-decorated living war veteran. The decision comes 10 days after he was charged with war crimes in the killings of five people while deployed in Afghanistan. Roberts-Smith has denied the accusations. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank announced Thursday that they had resumed dealings with Venezuela after a seven-year pause over government recognition issues. The Latin American country's relations with the financial institutions collapsed in 2019 when the IMF recognized the opposition, which controlled the parliament, as the legitimate government.
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Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Thursday said, "We don't want that [confrontation] but it is our duty to be ready to avoid it… and if it were unavoidable, to win it."
Skip next section Trump says pope must understand Iran threat April 17, 2026 Trump says pope must understand Iran threat US President Donald Trump continued to rail against Pope Leo XIV, telling reporters that Leo could say what he likes about world issues, but that the Pontiff needs to understand the realities of a "nasty world."
As Pope Leo XIV continues his Africa tour, he has remained steadfast in his condemnation of war. On Thursday, the head of the Roman Catholic Church renewed his message of peace in Cameroon, presiding over a meeting designed to foster dialogue in a place that has been experiencing simmering violence for nearly a decade.