A top adviser to Tulsi Gabbard, the U.S. director of national intelligence, acknowledged in a March 24 email that the Venezuelan government may not have specifically directed the activities of a gang that the Trump administration has used to justify fast-tracking deportation of immigrants, but argued that a link between Venezuela and the gang was “common sense.”

Japanese farm minister Taku Eto resigned on Wednesday after remarks he made this week about rice triggered a firestorm of criticism from voters and lawmakers, posing a fresh challenge to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s embattled government.

President Donald Trump’s use of the Guantanamo Bay naval base to house migrants appears to cost $100,000 per day for each detainee, U.S. Senator Gary Peters said during a hearing on Tuesday, decrying what he described as a prime example of wasteful government spending.

The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday that circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) had been detected in stool specimens of two healthy children in Papua New Guinea on May 9.

El Salvador’s Congress passed a law on Tuesday that levies a 30% tax on transactions from foreign donors to local organizations in a crackdown on “foreign agents” that critics say will boost state control over non-governmental organizations.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said U.S. demands that Tehran stop enriching uranium are “excessive and outrageous“, state media reported, voicing doubts whether talks on a new nuclear deal will succeed.

China, Qatar, Switzerland, and others pledged over $170 million for the World Health Organization at its assembly on Tuesday, the agency said, and countries also accepted higher fees to help offset the expected loss of the U.S., the top donor.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a statement on Tuesday that Pope Leo had confirmed during a phone call with her his willingness to host in the Vatican the next round of negotiations to try to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Israeli forces killed at least 55 Palestinians in airstrikes in Gaza on Tuesday, local medics said, continuing to bombard the enclave despite mounting international pressure to halt military operations and allow unimpeded deliveries of aid.

The EU adopted four sets of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, including a 17th package targeting Moscow’s shadow fleet, and measures related to chemical weapons, human rights and hybrid threats, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong has pledged to keep tariff-free access for Pacific Island goods, after Fiji was hit by a 32% U.S. tariff, in a speech positioning Australia as a reliable partner to the region amid global aid cuts.

Donald Trump said after his call on Monday with President Vladimir Putin that Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations for a ceasefire, but the Kremlin said the process would take time and the U.S. president indicated he was not ready to join Europe with fresh sanctions to pressure Moscow.