Category: International News

King Charles and Queen Camilla have had a private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican where he wished them a happy 20th wedding anniversary.

In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, the King and Queen said they were “delighted the Pope was well enough to host them – and to have had the opportunity to share their best wishes in person”.

The meeting took place on the third day of their state visit to Italy and ahead of a state banquet in Rome on Wednesday evening.

It is understood the meeting was only confirmed on Wednesday morning. It came after previous plans for the couple to meet the pontiff in a state visit to the Vatican were postponed because of the Pope’s ill health.

A still picture of the meeting, which lasted 20 minutes, is due to be released on Thursday morning.

The meeting took place on Wednesday afternoon at the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta, where Pope Francis has been convalescing since being released from Gemelli Hospital.

According to the Vatican, the Pope is showing signs of gradual improvement and he “reciprocated” the King’s “best wishes for a speedy recovery of his health”.

This was a reference to the Pope offering his own best wishes, after the King recently suffered side effects from his cancer treatment.

There was also an exchange of private gifts between Pope Francis and the royal visitors.

The King and Queen have been enjoying a warm welcome on their state visit to Italy, but it was a trip that originally had a significant focus on visiting the Vatican and planned events such as a service at the Sistine Chapel.

That had been no longer been possible after the serious health problems of Pope Francis – but with his health improving the King and Queen had the opportunity for a brief meeting.

After visiting the Pope, King Charles and Queen Camilla spent their wedding anniversary evening at a state banquet in Rome hosted by the President of Italy Sergio Mattarella.

The King joked to his Italian hosts at the Quirinale Palace about laying on such a spectacle for their anniversary.

“I must say it really is very good of you, Mr President, to lay on this small romantic, candle-lit dinner for two..,” the King told the banquet.

There were 150 guests at the dinner, including the singer Andrea Bocelli, chef Giorgio Locatelli, hotelier Rocco Forte and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

Earlier in the day, at the Italian Parliament, Queen Camilla had worn the same outfit she had worn at her civil wedding ceremony in 2005.

The ivory silk dress designed by Anna Valentine had been “repurposed” to wear again for this anniversary day.

The King’s speech at the state banquet, at the Italian presidential palace, touched on a mix of comic and serious themes about the long relationship between the UK and Italy, back to the ancient Romans.

“I for one, have never asked that question, made famous by Monty Python, ‘What have the Romans ever done for us?’,” the King joked.

“We see their imprint on what they knew as Britannia every day – from London to Carmarthen, from York to Hadrian’s Wall.”

But he also warned that “we are living in a very precarious and fragile world” and there was a need to stand up for “values and the liberty we hold so dear”.

“In difficult times, friends stand together,” he told his audience, in a speech that once again referenced the conflict in Ukraine.

The menu for the state banquet, in the splendour of the medieval palace, included bottoni pasta with aubergine caponata, salt encrusted sea bass, fried artichokes and roast potatoes.

That was followed by a fior di latte ice cream cake with raspberries.

This was the King’s second speech of the day, as earlier he had become the first UK monarch to address both houses of the Italian Parliament.

The King received a standing ovation from Italy’s lawmakers, in their ornately-decorated chamber in the Palazzo Montecitorio, with a rallying call to defend shared values and the need to reinforce the military partnership between the UK and Italy.

“We are both European countries,” he said, standing in front of the Italian and European Union flags.

He welcomed that the UK and Italy “stood by Ukraine in her hour of need”, but warned that images of wars were now reverberating across the continent.

“Our younger generations can see in the news every day on their smartphones and tablets that peace is never to be taken for granted,” said the King.

Such threats meant it was important that “Britain and Italy stand today united in defence of the democratic values we share”, he told Parliament.

Delivering some of the speech in Italian, he spoke of the long history between the UK and Italy, going back to the ancient Romans arriving on Britain’s “windswept shores”.

As head of the Commonwealth, he also spoke of the role of Canadian troops in helping to liberate Italy in the Second World War.

The speech went down well with the assembled Parliamentarians – with the applause so long at one point that an Italian official began to thank him, assuming that the King had finished.

The King began the day by meeting Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, receiving a ceremonial red-carpet welcome at the Villa Doria Pamphili, on the outskirts of Rome.

The Italian public has given a warm reception to the royal couple on their trip to Italy, including outside the Colosseum, when the King and Queen posed for photos near the ancient site of the Temple of Venus.

There were calls of “Carlo” – Italian for Charles – from crowds waiting to see the royal visitors and local media also seemed interested by their car, the claret coloured State Bentley.

The Royal Family’s official X account marked the wedding anniversary by posting a video which showed guards playing a version of Madness’s 1981 hit It Must Be Love.

Financial markets across Asia rallied Thursday after US President Donald Trump announced a temporary easing of tariffs on most countries, offering a 90-day pause in enforcement. However, the move did little to cool tensions with China, as the United States imposed a steep 125% tariff on Chinese goods, prompting swift retaliation from Beijing.

The reversal comes after days of financial turmoil triggered by escalating trade tensions. Trump’s 10% universal levy on imports—excluding China—will remain in place, but nations hit by it have been granted a three-month reprieve to renegotiate terms.

In contrast, the trade standoff between the world’s two largest economies took a sharp turn. Citing a “lack of respect” from China, Trump defended the unprecedented 125% tariff hike on Chinese imports. Beijing responded immediately, implementing an 84% retaliatory tariff on all US goods and reaffirming its refusal to “back down to Trump.”

Despite the ongoing tensions, Wall Street surged on Wednesday, with major indices posting historic single-day gains. That optimism spilled over into Asia, where markets in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea clawed back much of their recent losses, buoyed by investor confidence that a wider trade meltdown may yet be avoided.

President Trump, speaking at a Nascar-themed event at the White House, signaled hope for future deals. “What a day, but more great days coming,” he said early Thursday. He vowed that “fair deals” would be reached not only with China, but with every trading partner.

Our North America correspondent reports that the tariff reprieve may signal a tactical shift by the White House, as economic fallout mounts. However, the deepening rift with China suggests that a resolution to the trade war remains far from reach.

Algeria has banned flights to and from Mali for “recurrent violations” of Algerian airspace, a week after it shot down a drone belonging to its neighbour.

State television in Algeria announced the decision on Monday, which came shortly after Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger recalled their ambassadors to Algiers in response to the downing of the Malian drone.

The Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a confederation of the three African nations, accused Algeria of an “irresponsible act” that violated international law as it announced the withdrawals on social media.

The move escalates tension between the trio of allied military governments and Algeria.

The AES said it considers the act “an aggression against the entire confederation” and “contrary to historical relations and fraternal relations between the peoples of the AES confederation and the Algerian people”.

The envoys have been recalled for consultations over the contribution “to destabilisation in the region”, the AES added.

The destruction of the aircraft, which was flying near the Algerian border town of Tin Zaouatine on the night of March 31-April 1, “prevented the neutralization of a terrorist group that was planning terrorist acts against the AES”, an AES statement said.

Separately, Prime Minister General Abdoulaye Maiga, leader of Mali’s military authorities, asserted that the incident proves “that the Algerian regime sponsors international terrorism”.

Algiers claimed earlier in the week that the drone was targeted as it had violated its airspace by more than 2km (1.2 miles), and called it an “armed surveillance drone”.

Bamako said a preliminary investigation has revealed that the drone was flying over Malian territory about 10km (6 miles) from the Algerian border.

Shifting dynamics

The AES was formed last year in the aftermath of several coups and following the exit of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger from the nearly 50-year-old regional bloc known as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The three countries, located in the Sahel region on the southern edge of the Sahara, have been plagued for years by armed groups affiliated with ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda that carry out bloody attacks on civilians and increasingly control territory.

Algeria served for many years as a key mediator as Mali’s government faced off against Tuareg rebels for decades after the country gained independence from France in 1960, but tension has been growing in recent months.

However, two military coups in Mali in 2020 and 2021 shifted dynamics, pushing the two countries away from each other, with Mali and the other AES members moving to cut links with France and strengthen ties with Russia.

Algerian officials have denounced Mali’s use of Russian mercenaries and armed drones near Tin Zaouatine, the border town in the northern part of the country where the drone was found.

At least 98 people have been killed and more than 150 injured after a roof collapsed at a nightclub in the Dominican Republic’s capital Santo Domingo, officials have said.

A provincial governor and former Major League Baseball pitcher Octavio Dotel were among the victims. Dotel, 51, died on the way to hospital after being pulled from the debris.

The incident happened in the early hours of Tuesday at a concert by popular merengue singer Rubby Pérez at the Jet Set nightclub. He was among those killed in the incident, his manager said.

Hundreds of people were inside the venue and some 400 rescuers are still searching for survivors. There are fears the death toll will rise further.

The director of the Emergency Operations Centre (COE), Juan Manuel Méndez, said he was hopeful that many of those buried under the collapsed roof were still alive.

Jet Set is a popular nightclub in Santo Domingo which regularly hosts dance music concerts on Monday evenings. Politicians, athletes and other prominent figures were in attendance.

Also among the victims was Nelsy Cruz, governor of Monte Cristi province, President Luis Abinader said. She was the sister of former baseball player Nelson Cruz, a seven-time Major League Baseball All-Star.

Dotel meanwhile began playing for the New York Mets in 1999 and played for teams including the Houston Astros, Oakland A’s, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers until 2013.

Video footage apparently taken inside the club shows people sitting at tables in front of the stage and some dancing to the music in the back while Rubby Pérez sings.

In a separate mobile phone recording shared on social media, a man standing next to the stage can be heard saying “something fell from the ceiling”, while his finger can be seen pointing towards the roof.

In the footage, singer Rubby Pérez, also seems to be looking towards the area pointed out by the man.

Less than 30 seconds later, a noise can be heard and the recording goes black while a woman is heard shouting “Dad, what’s happened to you?”.

One of Rubby Pérez’s band members told local media that the club had been full when the collapse happened “at around 1am”.

“I thought it was an earthquake,” the musician said.

The daughter of Rubby Pérez said her father was among those trapped in the debris.

President Abinader has expressed his condolences to the families affected.

South Sudan has reversed its decision to deny entry to a man it said was a Congolese national deported by the United States after Washington imposed a blanket visa ban on South Sudanese citizens.

In a dramatic U-turn on Tuesday, South Sudan’s foreign ministry said the government had chosen to admit the deportee, identified as Makula Kintu, “in the spirit of the friendly relations between South Sudan and the United States.”

US President Donald Trump has heavily cracked down on immigration since his return to power in January and has launched a series of deportation actions in recent months.

On Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that visas held by South Sudanese citizens were being revoked and no new visas would be granted to people from the country over their government’s failure to receive deportees “in a timely manner.”

South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation and one of its poorest is already troubled by armed conflict in its northern region that threatens to plunge it back into another civil war.

On Monday, the South Sudanese foreign ministry clarified that Kintu arrived at the Juba International Airport in the country’s capital on Saturday with a travel document that was not his.

According to the ministry, he presented “a South Sudanese travel document under the name Nimeri Garang” to immigration officials.

However, a series of verifications revealed that he was not Garang and instead identified him as Kintu — a citizen of the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

“He (Kintu) was not admitted (into South Sudan) and was subsequently returned to the sending country (the US) for further processing,” it added.

The ministry explained it was awaiting the arrival of the actual Garang, whom it said the South Sudanese embassy in Washington had been notified by the US State Department of his deportation and scheduled arrival in Juba next month.

US authorities are yet to comment on the nationality discrepancy.

The South Sudanese foreign ministry cited information on Kintu’s travel history supplied by the US Department of Homeland Security which stated that he initially arrived in the US in 2003 “and voluntarily departed for the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2009.”

It added that Kintu “re-entered the United States illegally on July 10, 2016” and that while he was being questioned Saturday by immigration officials at the Juba airport, Kintu “stated that he hails from the Ema tribe of the Northern Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo and added that he was brought to South Sudan against his will.”

In its latest communication Tuesday, the ministry noted that Kintu would nonetheless be allowed to enter South Sudan when he arrives again on Wednesday.

“The Government of the Republic of South Sudan remains committed to supporting the return of verified South Sudanese nationals who are scheduled for deportation from the United States,” the foreign ministry said.

Donald Trump has threatened China with an extra 50% tariff on goods imported into the US if it does not withdraw its 34% counter-tariff, as global markets continue to fall.

Beijing retaliated on Sunday, following last week’s decision by Trump to slap a 34% tax on Chinese imports as part of his “Liberation Day” that set a minimum 10% levy on nearly all of America’s trading partners.

In a social media post on Monday, Trump gave China until Tuesday to scrap its countermeasure or face the 50% tax.

In response, the Chinese embassy in the US accused Washington of “economic bullying” and said that Beijing “will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests”.

If Trump acts on his threat, US companies could face a total rate of 104% on Chinese imports- as it comes on top of 20% tariffs already put in place in March and the 34% announced last week.

There are fears that this could deepen a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies and global rivals.

In his post on Truth Social, Trump also warned that “all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us [on tariffs] will be terminated!”

Also on Monday, the US president said he was not considering a pause on the global import tariffs to allow for negotiations with other countries.

“We’re not looking at that. We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us, and there are going to be fair deals,” he said.

Trump said China had introduced its countermeasure “despite my warning that any country that Retaliates against the U.S. by issuing additional Tariffs… will be immediately met with new and substantially higher Tariffs”.

Beijing shot back, saying that “pressuring or threatening China is not a right way to engage”.

“The US hegemonic move in the name of ‘reciprocity’ serves its selfish interests at the expense of other countries’ legitimate interests and puts ‘America first’ over international rules,” Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said in a statement.

“This is a typical move of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying.”

Speaking from the White House, the US president said there could be both permanent tariffs and negotiations.

“We have $36tn (£28tn) debt for a reason,” he said, adding that the US would be talking to China among other countries to make a “fair deal and a good deal”.

“It’s now America first,” Trump said.

The tariffs would come as a major blow to China’s manufacturers, for whom the US is a key market for exports.

China’s top exports to the US include electrical products and other machinery, computers, furniture, toys, vehicles and equipment.

The US’s top exports to China are oilseeds and grains, as well aircraft, machinery and pharmaceuticals.

Uncertainty around the tariffs led to a turbulent day on global stock markets.

Markets worldwide have plunged since Trump announced the global tariffs.

The value of US stock markets dropped sharply again on opening on Monday, while Europe’s biggest markets, including London’s FTSE 100, closed more than 4% down.

Asian share indexes had nosedived on Monday, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index falling by more than 13%, its biggest one-day fall since 1997. However, most showed a slight correction on Tuesday with most bourses opening higher.

The impact on the FTSE 100, America’s S&P 500, Germany’s Dax and Japan’s Nikkei has been wide-ranging.

Negotiations

Trump’s post on Monday also indicated that negotiations on countries’ tariff rates would “begin taking place immediately.”

Trump met Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, on Monday in the White House. Netanyahu said that his country would eliminate the trade imbalance with the US, which he said was the “right thing to do”.

“We intend to do it very quickly… and we’re going to also eliminate trade barriers.”

Israel faces a 17% tariff from April 9 under Trump’s “Liberation Day” policy.

The US president also posted earlier that Japan was sending a negotiation team to discuss tariffs.

And Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, offered Trump a “zero-for-zero tariff” deal – although she previously said that she had not ruled out retaliation.

“We are also prepared to respond through countermeasures and defend our interests,” she said.

Trump said later that the EU had been formed “to really do damage to the United States and trade.”

Tesla sales have plummeted to their lowest level in three years after a backlash against its boss Elon Musk.

The electric car maker delivered almost 337,000 electric vehicles in the first three months of 2025, a 13% drop from a year ago.

Tesla shares tumbled in early trading on Wednesday after the release of the low sales numbers.

The cars face increasing competition from Chinese firm BYD, but experts believe Musk’s controversial role in the Trump administration has had an effect too.

The firm has blamed the sales drop on the transition to a new version of its most popular car.

However some analysts have pointed the finger at Musk himself.

“These numbers suck,” early Tesla investor Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management wrote on X.

“The brand is broken and may not be fixable”, added Mr Gerber, who was once a Musk supporter but has recently called for the board to remove the billionaire as CEO.

‘Tesla takedown’
There have been protests and boycotts around the world prompted by Musk’s outspoken and controversial political involvement.

He has been heading up President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative to cut federal spending and slash the government workforce.

On Wednesday, Politico reported that Trump had told his inner circle Musk would be stepping back from the administration in the coming weeks.

Shortly after the report was published, Tesla’s share price turned positive.

The White House shot down the report as “garbage”. Because he is considered a special government employee, Musk by law can only serve 130 days in the administration this year, which would put his departure closer to June.

The Tesla boss is the world’s richest man and contributed more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help Trump get elected in November.

In recent weeks, he poured millions into a Wisconsin Supreme Court race, supporting former Republican attorney general Brad Schimel who was soundly defeated on Tuesday.

The backlash against Mr Musk has included “Tesla Takedown” protests at Tesla dealerships across the US and in Europe.

Tesla vehicles have also been vandalised, and Trump has said his administration would charge people who deface Teslas with “domestic terrorism.”

Musk’s stewardship of his businesses, including Tesla, has been called into question.

In an recent interview, he admitted he was running his enterprises “with great difficulty,” adding: “Frankly, I can’t believe I’m here doing this.”

Tesla shares have lost more than a quarter of their value since the beginning of this year, as of 13:51 EDT (18:51 BST) on Wednesday.

“We are not going to look at these numbers with rose colored glasses… they were a disaster on every metric,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note on Wednesday.

“The more political [Musk] gets with DOGE the more the brand suffers, there is no debate.”

Tesla did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment, but said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that the numbers released on Wednesday “represent only two measures” of the company’s performance and “should not be relied on as an indicator of quarterly financial results.”

Those results will be made public on April 22 in a full earnings report for the quarter. They will “depend on a variety of factors, including average selling price, cost of sales, foreign exchange movements and others”, Tesla said.

It also noted that it had temporarily suspended production of its Model Y sport utility vehicles in January.

Following the release of Wednesday’s report, Randi Weingarten, president of American Federation of Teachers, one of the most powerful labour unions in the US, wrote to dozens of public pension funds about the state of Tesla, saying the company’s latest sales numbers were “shaping up to be abysmal”.

She urged them to take close looks at their Tesla holdings and at what their money managers are doing to “safeguard retirement assets”.

“These declines seem in part to be driven by Musk spending his time pursuing political activities, some of which appear to be in conflict with Tesla’s brand and business interests, rather than managing Tesla,” Weingarten wrote.

The comptroller for New York City has already announced he is seeking to sue Tesla on behalf of the city’s massive pension systems, saying on Tuesday they had lost more than $300m in three months from the company’s plummeting stock price.

“Elon Musk is so distracted that he’s driving Tesla off a financial cliff,” said Comptroller Brad Lander in a statement.

Heavy rains have triggered severe flooding from a key river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo capital Kinshasa, killing some 30 people and destroying homes and roads.

Provincial Health Minister Patricien Gongo provided the death toll on Sunday but stressed it was “provisional”. Most of the fatalities in the deluge, he added, were caused by collapsing walls.

The Ndjili River, which cuts through the teeming city of nearly 17 million people, burst its banks on Friday night, submerging the main national road. Motorists were left stranded for hours, with some spending the entire night in their cars.

“On the way home from the airport last night to welcome a friend, we spent the night in the car because there was no safe place to park,” Patricia Mikonga, a Kinshasa resident, told Reuters news agency.

Many neighbourhoods were plunged into darkness, while others suffered water shortages.

Kinshasa Governor Daniel Bumba Lubaki said water infrastructure had been damaged but assured residents that supply would be restored within days. Speaking on state television, he blamed illegal housing for some of the deaths and warned that people living in unplanned settlements could face eviction.

Raphael Tshimanga Muamba, a hydrologist, said human activity had worsened the river’s condition over time.

“These are anthropogenic actions where rivers are degraded; their dimensions no longer represent their initial capacity to contain floods,” he told Reuters.

The flooding comes as the country faces mounting instability with conflict in the eastern part of the country. Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have ramped up attacks there since the start of the year, with more than 7,000 people killed and millions displaced in recent months.

US President Donald Trump has revoked security clearances from his previously defeated Democratic election rivals, Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton, as well as a number of other top former officials.

He confirmed that move in the latest announcement, adding that he was also revoking the security clearance of “any other member” of the Biden family.

“I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information,” Trump’s memorandum read.

Former US presidents and top security officials usually keep their security clearance as a courtesy.

Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former Republican lawmakers Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger were also on the list of those who lost their security clearances – as well as Fiona Hill, a former Russian affairs adviser in the first Trump administration.

The other names were: Jake Sullivan, Lisa Monaco, Mark Zaid, Norman Eisen, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Andrew Weissmann and Alexander Vindman.

Trump had earlier pulled security clearances of more than four dozen former intelligence officials whom he accused of meddling in the 2020 election in Biden’s favour without providing evidence.

In 2021, Biden – serving president at the time – barred his defeated rival Trump from having access to intelligence briefings citing his “erratic behaviour”.