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KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pored over a once-classified map of vast deposits of rare earths and other critical minerals during an interview with Reuters on Friday, part of a push to appeal to Donald Trump’s penchant for a deal. The U.S. president, whose administration is pressing for a rapid end to Ukraine’s war with Russia, said on Monday he wanted Ukraine to supply the U.S. with rare earths and other minerals in return for financially supporting its war effort. “If we are talking about a deal, then let’s do a deal, we are only for it,” Zelenskyy said, emphasizing Ukraine’s need for security guarantees from its allies as part of any settlement. Source link

Deir el-Balah, Palestinian Territories – Hamas militants handed over three Israeli hostages on Saturday as part of the fifth exchange under a fragile Gaza ceasefire, with 183 prisoners held by Israel due to be released later in the day. The swap comes after U.S. President Donald Trump proposed clearing out the Gaza Strip of its inhabitants and for the United States to take over the Palestinian territory — a plan that has sparked global uproar and been rejected by Hamas. Jubilant crowds in Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv cheered as they watched live footage of the three hostages, flanked by masked gunmen, brought on stage in Deir el-Balah before being handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Source link

London/New York – International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane expressed deep regret Friday over U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order authorizing sanctions on ICC staff. In a statement, she condemned the order, signed Thursday, saying that the move is part of actions constituting “serious attacks against the Court’s States Parties, the rule of law-based international order and millions of victims (of crimes).” The order allows the U.S. government to impose sanctions such as an asset freeze and a travel ban on ICC staff and their families. It comes as a retaliation for the ICC’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November 2024. “We firmly reject any attempt to influence the independence and the impartiality of the Court or to politicize our judicial function,” Akane said in the statement. Of the 125 ICC members, 79 issued a joint statement that measures to sanction the ICC “increase the risk of impunity for the most serious crimes.” The joint statement said that such sanctions could not only obstruct ongoing investigations but threaten the safety of ICC staff and people related to crime cases. Although major countries including Britain, France, Germany and Canada joined the statement, Japan did not. Source link

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping assertions of executive power during his first weeks back in office appear headed toward U.S. Supreme Court showdowns, but it remains an open question whether or how much the justices might act to check his authority. Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump’s views of presidential authority appear far less restrained than those of his White House predecessors, according to legal scholars, citing actions such as seeking to restrict birthright citizenship, withholding funding appropriated by Congress and removing heads of independent federal agencies. “The unifying theme is an extreme view of presidential power unlike anything we have seen before,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California Berkeley School of Law. Source link

WASHINGTON – Shortly after President Donald Trump mused Friday over imposing tariffs on Japan while sitting alongside the country’s prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, the Japanese leader was asked by a reporter to reflect on his first meeting with Trump. It was a prime opportunity to respond to Trump’s economic threat. Instead, Ishiba took a different tack — becoming the latest foreign leader to fawn over, rather than flout, the American president. “I was so excited to see such a celebrity on television,” Ishiba said, prompting Trump to turn to him and smile from ear to ear. “On television he is frightening, and he has a very strong personality, but when I met with him, actually, he was very sincere and very powerful, and with strong will for the United States.” Source link

The Hague – U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to slap sanctions on the International Criminal Court, set up to rule on humanity’s worst crimes, sent shock waves around the world. Experts say the sanctions announced by Trump, angered by the ICC investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, will have a wide-reaching impact on the court. What impact will the sanctions have? Source link

seoul – North Korea said on Saturday its nuclear weapons are not meant for negotiations but are intended for combat use against enemies that threaten its people and world peace, its state media reported. The statement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House on Friday. The two leaders expressed their commitment to ensuring North Korea ends its nuclear weapons program. KCNA did not mention the meeting between the U.S. and Japanese leaders but instead cited reported comments by officials of NATO and the EU that reiterated demands for a complete denuclearization of North Korea. Source link

A coalition of mostly Democratic-led U.S. states filed a lawsuit on Friday to stop a Trump administration panel led by billionaire Elon Musk from accessing government systems used to process trillions of dollars in payments. The 19 states led by the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, claim Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has no legal power to access the U.S. Department of Treasury systems that contain personal information on millions of Americans. The lawsuit in Manhattan federal court says Musk and his team could disrupt federal funding for health clinics, preschools, climate initiatives, and other programs, and that Republican President Donald Trump could use the information to further his political agenda. Source link

Rom-coms are by definition movies about comical miscues in the game of love, usually ending with the protagonist winning through to happiness, even if their first object of affection escaped them. In her debut feature, “Kisspeptin Chronicles,” Shiika Okada doesn’t completely toss out this formula — she finds humor in her central character’s disastrous love life — but she also shows the darker side of bad romantic decisions and their devastating results, as well as the lasting pain that comes from experiencing sexual harassment. Co-scripted by Okada with her elder brother, Kazune, who is also a director, the film has an autobiographical feel — watching it, I was reminded of the confessional music of Taylor Swift. However, whether or not the story has a basis in the Okada siblings’ own lives, it has the ring of lived truth, directed with a quirky originality. Source link

Washington – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel would take the form of an investment instead of a purchase, even as two sources familiar with the matter said the Japanese steel company had not withdrawn its bid. Nippon’s pursuit of U.S. Steel has stretched on for more than a year, with Trump vociferously condemning the proposal on numerous occasions, before Friday’s more tempered remarks at the Oval Office with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at his side. U.S. Steel did not respond to a request for comment, while Nippon Steel declined to comment late Friday. It was unclear if the investment referred to a new deal structure and what the details of the transaction would be, but Trump said he would meet with the head of Nippon Steel next week and he would be involved “to mediate and arbitrate.” Source link