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Oct 23, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump’s White House credited first lady Melania Trump with diplomacy to secure a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, but critics say Pope Leo XIV got there first.The White House statement came earlier in the day, saying the ceasefire is localized to the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky and would begin Oct. 29 to allow humanitarian aid in and prepare for civilian evacuations.“The situation in Oleshky is dire. Oleshky is a front-line war city on the brink of disaster. Oleshky’s remaining population is comprised primarily of elderly residents who urgently need medical attention, medicine, food, and clean water,” the first lady said. “The people of Oleshky have limited electricity, live amid mined roads, and endure regular military attacks. It was abundantly clear that without my intervention, the possibility to bring humanitarian aid into the city and to evacuate the elderly would be impossible.”Some observers, however, noted that the pope had publicly pushed for the same thing a week earlier.The Vatican said Leo “phoned Putin and asked him to arrange a ceasefire to let aid and food into the town” on Oct. 16, Reuters reported. The Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said the call was the pope’s initiative. The Kremlin said Putin agreed to “cooperate on this matter,” but its statement did not mention a ceasefire. The pope also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Oct. 19.The progressive MeidasTouch network noted on X that the White House announcement came “just one week after Pope Leo personally called Vladimir Putin to push for the SAME THING,” and asked why the White House was “taking credit for an initiative Pope Leo was publicly pursuing a week ago.”“Pope Leo personally called Putin and Zelenskyy, pushing for a ceasefire in Ukraine. Now the Trump White House is trying to give MELANIA TRUMP the credit, completely ignoring the Pope’s efforts!” wrote former Biden aide Chris Jackson.

Oct 23, 2026 - World

A prominent political strategist has called for the “immediate removal” of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law from “every diplomatic assignment” following an explosive report alleging that Jared Kushner secretly had access to roughly $1.75 billion in Gulf money while serving in the White House.“I call it financial treason: the exchange of entrusted American power for concealed foreign financial benefit,” wrote ex-GOP strategist Steve Schmidt in an analysis published Friday on his Substack.“The constitutional crime of treason has a specific definition that prosecutors must satisfy; my accusation concerns the betrayal of allegiance at the heart of this reported bargain. I will not pretend it is a misunderstanding about etiquette.”According to an excerpt from journalist Matthew Cole’s book “Princes and Thieves” published by Vanity Fair, Kushner became a signatory on a roughly $750 million account in the United Arab Emirates held through a charity. Cole reported that Emirati ruler Mohamed bin Zayed separately routed about $1 billion, allegedly intended for Kushner’s personal benefit, through Azerbaijan to Israel’s central bank at the encouragement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.The report also alleged that Dutch intelligence found screenshots from Kushner’s phone on a Russian military intelligence server, indicating Moscow had penetrated the device. Kushner’s counsel has denied that the accounts existed and denied any wrongdoing.Kushner, who holds no official administration title, serves as an informal envoy and has helped lead U.S. negotiations involving Israel and Hamas, Russia and Ukraine, and Iran. Citing Kushner’s enormous influence on U.S. foreign policy, Schmidt called for immediate action from lawmakers not only to remove Kushner from his diplomatic roles, but also to launch a massive criminal probe.“Put Kushner and everyone with relevant knowledge under oath. The alleged transaction must be investigated as a potential crime. Accepting benefits corruptly in exchange for being influenced in official acts is bribery. The agreement, the benefits and the acts must be established,” Schmidt wrote.“There must be no family exemption. No private accommodation. No assumption that the money is too large, the people too powerful, or the implications too disturbing to confront. Americans have been asked to endure years of lies, cruelty, corruption and contempt while the most privileged people in the country explain why accountability must always wait. Enough.”

Oct 23, 2026 - World

Case filed in 2022 by patient unable to afford medicine leads to cap on drug prices for millions who face ruin if diagnosedThe Indian government has moved to reduce the price of cancer drugs after a retired bank clerk took her case to the supreme court.From next month, 137 cancer drugs in India will be cheaper as the government tries to tackle the tragedy of poorer patients either forgoing treatment, selling land or falling into debt to meet the high cost of some medicines, which are making large profits for hospitals and pharmacists. Continue reading...

Oct 22, 2026 - World

Kim Aris says ‘hearing her voice again means more than words can express’ amid loosening of detention restrictionsThe son of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi has been allowed to speak to the detained former democratic leader for the first time in more than five years.“Today, I was finally able to speak with my mother, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, after more than five years. Hearing her voice again means more than words can express,” Kim Aris said in a post on Facebook on Thursday. Continue reading...

Oct 21, 2026 - World

Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka spent a week in jail after defying restrictions on protests in Delhi amid government crackdownAn Indian court has ordered the release of two leaders of India’s Cockroach movement who were jailed last week amid a mounting state crackdown on youth-led protests.The two leaders of the Cockroach Janta party (CJP) movement, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, had spent a week in Delhi’s Tihar jail after being arrested by Delhi police last week. Continue reading...