Global News

By Sonia Rolley PARIS (Reuters) -An M23 rebel attack on farmers and other civilians in east Democratic Republic of Congo killed 169 people earlier this month, a U.N. body told Reuters, in what would be one of the deadliest incidents since the Rwanda-backed group’s resurgence. M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa told Reuters it would investigate but the report could be a “smear campaign”. The U.N. rights body’s account has not been previously reported and emerged as U.S. President  Donald Trump ‘s administration pushes for peace between Congo and Rwanda that it hopes will unlock billions in mineral investments. Reuters has not been able to independently confirm the killings but a local activist cited witnesses as describing M23 combatants using guns and machetes to kill scores of civilians. The M23 and Congolese government have pledged to work towards peace by August 18 after the rebels this year seized more territory than ever before in fighting that has killed thousands and displaced...

Violence that erupted during protests this week in  Angola  sparked by the government’s decision to raise the price of fuel killed at least 22 people while more than 1,200 have been arrested, the president’s office said Wednesday. The office of Angolan President  Joao Lourenco  released the death toll in a statement and said that 197 people were also injured in the two days of violence that began on Monday and spread from the capital, Luanda, to at least six other provinces in the southern African nation. Authorities have often been accused of clamping down harshly on protests to silence dissent in Angola, an oil-rich nation on Africa’s Atlantic coast where the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola party has been in power for 50 years — since independence from Portugal in 1975. Earlier this month, the government said it was removing subsidies on diesel and raising the price by more than 30%. That prompted minibus taxis, a common method of transport for An...

Tsunamis hit parts of Russia’s Far East and Japan on Wednesday after a huge magnitude 8.8 earthquake, with warnings in place around the Pacific of waves of over three metres (10 feet) in places. A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula triggered tsunami waves of up to 5 metres (16 feet) and sparked evacuation orders in Hawaii and across the Pacific on Wednesday. The shallow earthquake damaged buildings and injured several people in the remote Russian region, while much of Japan’s eastern seaboard – devastated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011 – was ordered to evacuate. A resident in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky said the shaking rumbled for several minutes. “I decided to leave the building,” said Yaroslav, 25. “It felt like the walls could collapse any moment. The shaking lasted continuously for at least 3 minutes.” Tsunami waves struck parts of Kamchatka, partially flooding the port and a fish processing plant in the ...

By Michelle Nichols and Olivia Le Poidevin Reuters Famine is “playing out” in the Gaza Strip, a global hunger monitor said in an alert issued on Tuesday as international criticism of Israel intensifies over rapidly worsening conditions in the Palestinian enclave. “The worst-case scenario of Famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip,” said the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) alert. “Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths.” The IPC alert does not formally classify Gaza as being in famine. Such a classification can only be made through an analysis, which the IPC said it would now conduct “without delay.” The IPC is a global initiative that partners with 21 aid groups, international organizations, and U.N. agencies, and assesses the extent of hunger suffered by a population. War has raged in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas for the past 22 months. Facing gl...

Torrential rains lashed southern Taiwan for a second day on Tuesday forcing some 3,000 people to evacuate and businesses and schools to close, as authorities warned of “intense” rainfall of up to 90 centimetres (35.4 inches) in the coming days. Flooding triggered by a depression has submerged streets and buildings in several towns and villages across southern Taiwan this week. Nine people have been injured and 88 rescued from inundated buildings and cars so far, according to official data. The Central Weather Administration forecast up to 0.9 metres of rainfall in mountainous areas of the south over the coming days and warned that “intense” rainfall could trigger more flooding and landslides. Taiwan is still recovering from Typhoon Danas, which struck the island’s densely-populated west coast with record winds and brought widespread damage to its electricity grid and some houses. In the southern city of Tainan, dozens of people were evacuated from houses damaged by Danas, while Tai...

Firefighters battled wildfires at nearly 100 locations across Bulgaria on Sunday, with houses burned and residents evacuated, local media reported. A fire at the foot of the Pirin mountain in southwestern Bulgaria was spreading across thousands of acres of forest, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reported. Another fire in the town of Simitli destroyed several houses as it spread towards the Maleshevo Mountain. More than 200 firefighters sent to the area on Saturday were pulled out because high winds were putting their lives in danger, authorities said, adding they expected air support from other EU countries. In western Bulgaria, a fire which broke out on Saturday and quickly spread across the border into Serbia on Sunday along the Miloslavska mountain range, almost burned the village Rani Lug to the ground, Nova television reported. “It’s a merciless tragedy,” emergency volunteer Zvezdelin Vlaykov said as huge clouds of smoke rose over the hills. “In all my years of firefighting, I...

By  WAFAA SHURAFA, TIA GOLDENBERG and SAMY MAGDY ,Associated Press  The Israeli military on Sunday began a limited pause in fighting in three populated areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day, part of a series of steps launched as concerns over surging hunger in the territory mount and as Israel faces a wave of international criticism over its conduct in the 21-month war. The military said it would begin a daily “tactical pause” in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Muwasi, three areas of the territory with large populations, to “increase the scale of humanitarian aid” entering the territory. The pause begins every day at 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. local time until further notice, starting Sunday. In a sign of how precarious the situation remained for people in Gaza, shortly after the pause began, Gaza health officials said an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in Gaza City killed a woman and her four children. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. Food experts have warned for mon...

By Katerina NIKOLOPOULOU AFP Greece battled wildfires that have ravaged homes and sparked evacuations for a second day on Sunday, with the help of Czech firefighters and Italian aircraft expected to arrive later. Five fires were still raging Sunday morning in the Peloponnese area west of the capital, as well as on the islands of Evia, Kythera and Crete, with aircraft and helicopters resuming their work in several parts of the country at dawn. “Today is expected to be a difficult day with a very high risk of fire, almost throughout the territory,” fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said Sunday, though he added that the situation was improving. Forecasters predicted the strong winds that have fanned the flames would die down on Sunday in most areas but warned that Kythera, an popular tourist island with 3,600 inhabitants, continued to face “worrying” windy conditions. Evacuation messages were sent to people on the island, which lies off the south-eastern tip of the Pelo...

By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY AP Israeli airstrikes and gunshots overnight killed at least 25 people, according to Palestinian health officials and the ambulance service on Saturday, as ceasefire talks appear to have stalled and Gaza faces famine. The majority of victims were killed by gunfire as they waited for aid trucks close to the Zikim crossing with Israel, said staff at Shifa hospital, where the bodies were brought. Israel’s army didn’t respond to a request for comments about the latest shootings. Those killed in strikes include four people in an apartment building in Gaza City, among others, hospital staff and the ambulance service said. The strikes come as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have hit a standstill after the U.S and Israel  recalled their negotiating teams  on Thursday, throwing the future of the talks into further uncertainty. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  said Friday his government was considering “alternative options” t...

Over five years after the COVID-19 outbreak, Honduras has reinstated mandatory mask wearing in public spaces amid a spike in respiratory illnesses and as a variant of the virus spreads through the Central American country. Honduras’ health ministry confirmed two deaths from the virus this week, among patients with underlying health conditions, bringing the country’s total in 2025 to six. “We have already surpassed last year’s infection limit; there are currently five people admitted to Hospital Escuela with suspected COVID-19,” said the head of Health Surveillance, Lorenzo Pavon. Official data showed that from January to July last year, 596 COVID-19 cases were reported, while this year 654 cases have been recorded in the same period. The temporary measures, which took effect on Thursday, make masks obligatory in hospitals, airports, shopping centers, banks, schools, public transport, and other enclosed or crowded spaces. The government also ordered temporary work-from-home for stat...

By Valérie LEROUX AFP French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday his country would formally recognise a Palestinian state during a UN meeting in September, the most powerful European nation to announce such a move. At least 142 countries now recognise or plan to recognise Palestinian statehood, according to an AFP tally — though Israel and the United States strongly oppose the move. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it a “reckless decision (that) only serves Hamas propaganda”. “It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th,” he wrote on X, alluding to the Islamist militant group’s attack on Israel in 2023 that triggered the war in Gaza. Several countries have announced plans to recognise statehood for the Palestinians since Israel launched a bombardment of Gaza nearly two years ago in response to the Hamas attacks. Macron’s announcement drew immediate anger from Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying it “rewards terror” and poses an existent...

An Antonov An-24 passenger plane carrying about 50 people crashed in Russia’s far east on Thursday and initial information suggested that everyone on board was killed, Russian emergency services officials said. The burning fuselage of the plane, which was from the Soviet era and was nearly 50 years old, was spotted on the ground by a helicopter and rescue crews were rushing to the scene. Unverified video, shot from a helicopter and posted on social media, appeared to show that the plane had come down in a densely forested area. The plane, whose tail number showed it was built in 1976, was operated by a Siberia-based airline called Angara. It was en route from the city of Blagoveshchensk to Tynda and dropped off radar screens while approaching Tynda, a remote town in the Amur region bordering China. There were 43 passengers, including five children, and six crew members on board according to preliminary data, Vasily Orlov, the regional governor said. The emergencies ministry put t...

By Montira Rungjirajittranon with Suy Se in Phnom Penh AFP Thailand launched air strikes on Cambodian military targets on Thursday as Cambodia fired rockets and artillery, killing a civilian, in a dramatic escalation of a long-running border row between the two neighbours. The neighbours are locked in a bitter spat over an area known as the Emerald Triangle, where the borders of both countries and Laos meet, and which is home to several ancient temples. The squabble has dragged on for decades, flaring into bloody military clashes more than 15 years ago and again in May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a firefight. The conflict blazed up on Thursday, with Cambodia firing rockets and artillery shells into Thailand and the Thai military scrambling F-16 jets to carry out air strikes. Six jets were deployed from Ubon Ratchathani province, hitting two “Cambodian military targets on the ground”, according to Thai military deputy spokesperson Ritcha Suksuwanon. The Thai prime mini...

More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food in the Gaza Strip, mostly near aid sites run by an American contractor, the U.N. human rights office said Tuesday. Meanwhile, Israeli strikes killed 25 people across Gaza, according to local health officials. Desperation is mounting in the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts say is at risk of famine because of Israel’s blockade and nearly two-year offensive. A breakdown of law and order has led to widespread looting and contributed to chaos and violence around aid deliveries. Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid — without providing evidence of widespread diversion — and blames U.N. agencies for failing to deliver food it has allowed in. The military says it has only fired warning shots near aid sites. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American contractor, rejected what it said were “false and exaggerated statistics” from the United Nations...

China is “clearly” trying to interfere in Taiwan’s democracy and it is up to Taiwan’s people to decide who should be removed from or stay in office, the island’s government said on Wednesday ahead of a recall vote for around one-fifth of lawmakers. On Saturday, Taiwan voters will decide on the fate of 24 lawmakers from Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), in a recall campaign started by civic groups who accuse the lawmakers of cozying up to Beijing, which views the island as its own territory. The KMT denies being pro-Beijing, but says it needs to keep lines of communication with China open, and has denounced the recalls as a “malicious” attack on democracy that does not respect the results of last year’s parliamentary election. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office and Chinese state media have repeatedly commented on the recall vote and used some of the same talking points as the Kuomintang, Reuters reported this week. In a post on Facebook citing the Reuters report an...

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL, Associated Press Tropical Storm Wipha made landfall in northern Vietnam on Tuesday, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to parts of the country’s north and central regions. The storm came ashore at 10 a.m. with sustained winds of 64–102 kilometers per hour (40–63 mph), and gusts up to 138 kph (86 mph), according to local weather officials. After landfall, it began moving southwest. Wipha was classified as a typhoon on Monday while over open water, but weakened overnight and was downgraded to a tropical storm before reaching land. The storm knocked out power in parts of Hung Yen Province, east of Hanoi. Residents rushed to gas stations to buy fuel for generators, state media reported. The streets of capital city, Hanoi, were nearly empty as the storm moved inland. Most businesses were closed and the city government has advised residents to stay home and evacuate buildings that are unstable or in flood-prone areas. “If the storm is serious, people shouldn’t go...

The Israeli military attacked Houthi targets in Yemen’s Hodeidah port on Monday in its latest assault on the Iran-backed militants, who have been striking ships bound for Israel and launching missiles against it. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the army was “forcefully countering any attempt to restore the terror infrastructure previously attacked”. The Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said on Monday that a series of attacks on the port was under way, without providing any details. In a statement, the Israeli military said the port it attacked had been used “among other things, to transfer weapons from the Iranian regime, which are then used by the Houthi to execute terrorist attacks against the State of Israel and its allies.” Since Israel’s  war in Gaza  against the Palestinian militant group Hamas began in October 2023, the Iran-aligned Houthis have been attacking vessels in the Red Sea in what they say are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians. Israel  has r...

Storms drenched southern parts of the Chinese mainland on Monday, triggering warnings of flash floods and landslides, a day after Typhoon Wipha pounded Hong Kong. Heavy rain lashed the cities of Yangjiang, Zhanjiang and Maoming in China’s southern province Guangdong after the storm system made landfall on Sunday evening. On Sunday it brushed past Hong Kong where it felled trees and scaffolding, grounded flights and sent nearly 280 people into shelters. China’s national forecaster said it had weakened to a tropical storm upon landfall, and forecast it to skirt the coast of Guangdong and move southwesterly towards Vietnam. Heavy rain is forecast for mainland Chinese coastal regions such as Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and Fujian until Tuesday morning, with warnings of flash floods, landslides and wind hazards. The system will move into the Gulf of Tonkin late Monday morning, over which it will gather intensity before hitting Vietnam’s northern coast on Tuesday, the forecaster said. S...

By WAFAA SHURAFA, FATMA KHALED, and MELANIE LIDMAN, Associated Press At least 73 people were killed while attempting to access aid at locations across Gaza on Sunday, the health ministry in the Palestinian territory said. The largest toll was in northern Gaza, where at least 67 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach aid entering northern Gaza through the Zikim crossing with Israel, according to the ministry and local hospitals. More than 150 people were wounded, with some of them critical condition, hospitals said. It wasn’t immediately clear whether they were killed by the Israeli army or armed gangs or both. But some witnesses said that the Israeli military shot at the crowd. The killings in northern Gaza didn’t take place near aid distribution points associated with the Gaza Humanitarian Fund, or GHF, a U.S.- and Israel-backed group that hands out food packages to Palestinians. Witnesses and health workers say hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli fire while tr...

At least two people were killed during heavy downpours in South Korea Sunday, the interior ministry said, bringing the death toll to 14 from torrential rains this week. The toll could rise, with 12 people still unaccounted for after five days of heavy rain. Close to 170 millimetres (6.7 inches) of rain hit Gapyeong county in Gyeonggi province — 70 kilometres (40 miles) east of Seoul — early Sunday, leaving at least two dead and four missing. A woman in her 70s was killed when her house collapsed in a landslide while body of a man in his 40s was found near a bridge after he drowned, Yonhap news agency reported. The total number of deaths from the five-day deluge now stands at at least 14, according to official data. Most of the deaths occurred in the southern county of Sancheong, which has seen nearly 800 millimetres of rain since Wednesday. Two bodies were found there early Sunday during search and rescue operations, raising the number of deaths in the rural county of 33,000 to e...

Gaza’s civil defence agency on Saturday said Israeli gunfire killed 26 people and wounded more than 100 near two aid centres, in the latest deaths of Palestinians seeking food. Deaths of people waiting for handouts in huge crowds near food points in Gaza have become a regular occurrence, with the territory’s authorities frequently blaming Israeli fire. But the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is the main distributor of aid in the territory, has accused militant group Hamas of fomenting unrest and shooting at civilians. The Israeli military said it was “looking into” the latest reports when contacted by AFP. Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the deaths happened near a site southwest of Khan Yunis and another centre northwest of Rafah, both in the south, attributing the deaths to “Israeli gunfire”. One eyewitness said he headed to the Al-Tina area of Khan Yunis before dawn with five of his relatives to try to get food when “Israeli sold...

BY CHINEDU ASADU, Associated Press Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels on Saturday signed a declaration of principles in Qatar to end decadeslong fighting in eastern Congo that commits them to a permanent ceasefire and a comprehensive peace agreement to be signed in one month. A final peace deal is to be signed no later than Aug. 18, and it “shall align with the Peace Agreement between Congo and Rwanda” facilitated by the U.S. in June, according to a copy of the declaration seen by The Associated Press. The agreement of principles touches on most of the highlights of the peace deal Congo and Rwanda signed June 27. It is the first direct commitment by both side since the rebels seized two key cities in eastern Congo in a major advance. Backed by neighboring Rwanda, the M23 is the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups fighting for control in Congo’s mineral-rich east. With 7 million people displaced in Congo, the U.N. has called the conflict in eastern Congo “one of the most protra...

By GHAITH ALSAYED AP Renewed clashes broke out overnight between Druze armed groups and members of Bedouin clans in southern Syria, and government forces were preparing to deploy again to the area Friday after pulling out under a ceasefire agreement that halted  several days of violence  earlier this week, officials said. Government security forces agreed with some of the Druze factions that they would re-enter the area to impose stability and protect state institutions, according to two Syrian officials who spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Syrian government forces had largely pulled out of the Druze-majority southern province of Sweida after  days of clashes with militias  linked to the Druze religious minority that threatened to unravel the country’s fragile post-war transition. The conflict drew airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel in defense of the Druze minority before most of the fi...

By Duncan Miriri Reuters The world’s oldest multilateral climate fund, the Global Environment Facility, is planning a new wave of wildlife conservation bonds in a bid to help African countries save endangered species and ecosystems. Wildlife bonds, which provide low cost funding in return for cutting poaching or other measures, were pioneered in 2022 with a World Bank-backed rhino bond and have seen a number of other examples since. There was an issue targeting chimpanzee protection in Rwanda last year, and last month the GEF approved one for lemur conservation in Madagascar. Fred Boltz, head of programming at GEF, which is linked to the World Bank, told Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting of African environment ministers that it aims to do one for every one of the 54 countries in Africa. He said such a move would require an investment of $150 million from GEF, which would then be leveraged 10 times to provide a total of $1.5 billion for conservation efforts t...

A massive fire in a hypermarket in al-Kut city in eastern Iraq has left at least 60 people dead and 11 others missing, the city’s health authorities and two police sources told Reuters on Thursday. Videos circulating on social media showed flames engulfing a five-storey building in al-Kut overnight as firefighters tried to contain the blaze. Reuters could not independently verify the videos. “We have compiled a list of 59 victims whose identities have been confirmed, but one body was so badly burned that it has been extremely difficult to identify,” a city health official told Reuters. “We have more bodies that have not been recovered still under fire debris,” city official Ali al-Mayahi told Reuters. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but the province’s governor said initial results from an investigation would be announced within 48 hours, the state news agency (INA)reported. “We have filed lawsuits against the owner of the building and the mall,” INA quoted the go...

By GHAITH ALSAYED and ABBY SEWELL, Associated Press Syria ‘s defense minister announced a ceasefire shortly after government forces entered a key city in southern Sweida province on Tuesday, a day after sectarian clashes killed dozens there. Neighboring Israel again launched strikes on Syrian military forces, saying it was protecting the Druze minority. The latest escalation under Syria’s new leaders began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed factions in the southern province, a center of the Druze community. Syrian government forces, sent to restore order on Monday, also clashed with Druze armed groups. A ceasefire announcement On Tuesday, Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said an agreement was struck with the city’s “notables and dignitaries” and that government forces would “respond only to the sources of fire and deal with any targeting by outlaw groups.” However, scattered clashes continued after his announcement ...

A volcano erupted on Wednesday in southwest Iceland, authorities said, with live media images showing it belched smoke and dramatic flows of glowing hot yellow and orange lava, the latest in a series of outbreaks near the capital in recent years. Often referred to as a land of ice and fire, the North Atlantic island nation with its many glaciers and volcanoes has now experienced a dozen eruptions since geological systems on its Reykjanes peninsula reactivated in 2021. Magma forced through the earth’s crust opened a massive fissure of length between 700 m and 1,000 m (0.4 miles and 0.6 miles), Iceland’s meteorological office said, with the first signs of the eruption giving scant warning. “(It does) not threaten any infrastructure at this time,” the office said in a statement. “Based on GPS measurements and deformation signals, it is likely that this was a relatively small eruption.” Flights at Keflavik airport in the capital of Reykjavik were not affected, its web page showed. Pub...

Russia does not care about U.S. President Donald Trump’s “theatrical ultimatum” about slapping sanctions on buyers of Russian exports unless Moscow agrees to a peace deal in Ukraine, a senior security official said on Tuesday. Trump, sitting beside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, on Monday, announced new weapons for Ukraine and threatened secondary  tariffs  of 100% on the buyers of Russian exports, of which crude makes up a major chunk. The U.S. president also expressed frustration with Vladimir Putin, saying he did not want to call the Russian leader “an assassin, but he’s a tough guy”. “Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin,” former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in a post in English on X. “The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn’t care.” The Kremlin has so far not commented on Trump’s remarks but said on Monday it was clear that the United States had continued to s...

Sudanese activists said on Monday that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed almost 300 people in attacks in North Kordofan state that began on Saturday. The RSF has been fighting the Sudanese army in that area, one of the key frontlines of a civil war that has raged since April 2023. The army has taken firm control of the center and east of the country, while the RSF is working to consolidate its control of western regions, including North Kordofan. The Emergency Lawyers human rights group said in a statement on Monday that the RSF had attacked several villages on Saturday around the city of Bara, which the paramilitary controls. In one village, Shag Alnom, more than 200 people were killed via arson or gunshot. Looting raids of the other villages killed 38 civilians, they said, while dozens of others had gone missing. The next day, the group said, the RSF attacked the village of Hilat Hamid killing 46 people, including pregnant women and children. More than 3,400 peop...

At least 30 people were killed and around 100 were injured in sectarian violence that exploded in Syria’s southernmost As-Suwayda Governorate, the Middle Eastern country’s Ministry of Interior said Monday morning. The ministry said the violence had erupted in “recent hours” and the casualty toll was based on preliminary estimates. “These unfortunate armed clashes broke out between local armed groups and tribes in the Al-Maqous neighborhood of As-Suwayda city, stemming from accumulated tensions in previous periods,” the ministry said in a statement. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the death toll at 37. The violence is the latest between tribes and other minority groups since the former dictator government of President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December, and rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa was named interim president. The ministry said it confirmed the that Ministry of Defense forces will begin “a direct intervention in the region to end...

By Steve Holland and Trevor Hunnicutt Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he will send Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine, saying they are necessary to defend the country because Russian President Vladimir Putin “talks nice but then he bombs everybody in the evening.” Trump did not give a number of Patriots he plans to send to Ukraine, but he said the United States would be reimbursed for their cost by the European Union.The U.S. president has grown increasingly disenchanted with Putin because the Russian leader has resisted Trump’s attempts to negotiate a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Trump is expected to announce a new plan to arm Ukraine with offensive weapons in a sharp departure from his earlier stance, Axios reported on Sunday, citing two sources familiar with the matter. The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters couldn’t immediately verify the report. Ukrainian President ...