Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday that Pope Leo XIV should be defended from “powerful people” who have recently criticized him. The leftist leader’s comments come amid a tense exchange of attacks between the pontiff and U.S. President Donald Trump. Earlier Wednesday, during his trip to Cameroon, the first U.S.-born pope insisted that “the message the world needs to hear today” is one of peace and dialogue. In recent days, Trump has doubled down on his criticism of Leo’s comments against the war in Iran. The 80-year-old Lula, who is running for reelection in October, spoke...

The Iran war had greatly complicated the global strategic landscape, Defense Minister Richard Marles said Thursday as he announced a major increase in Australian military spending. Marles released the latest two-year update of Australia’s defense strategy and said an additional 53 billion Australian dollars ($38 billion) in spending on defense was planned over the next decade. Australia’s defense budget would grow from 2.8% of GDP this year to 3% by 2033 as “Australia faces its most complex and threatening strategic circumstances since the end of World War II,” Marles said. Asked how much more complex and threatening Australia’s circumstances were...

Elon musk: “The South African laws are literally super racist, plain and simple. “It’s not complicated: imagine if the law was called “White Empowerment”, instead of “Black Empowerment”! People would have a seizure 😂 “South Africa now has more anti-White laws than Apartheid had anti-Black laws. Think about that for a second … “The current South African government has objectively implemented Apartheid 2.0. Shame on them.” Video Credit: Newzroom Africa

An Australian judge on Thursday rejected an appeal by former U.S. Marine Corps pilot Daniel Duggan to avoid extradition to the United States over allegations that he illegally trained Chinese military aviators more than a decade ago. Duggan is accused of training Chinese military pilots while working as an instructor for the Test Flying Academy of South Africa. Duggan has denied the allegations, contending they were political posturing and that the U.S. was unfairly singling him out. Federal Court Justice James Stellios ruled in dismissing the appeal that no jurisdiction error was made in 2024 by the then Attorney-General Mark...

An American YouTuber who sparked national outrage in South Korea for provocative stunts, including dancing on a statue honoring victims of wartime sexual slavery, was sentenced to six months in prison Wednesday. The Seoul Western District Court found Ramsey Khalid Ismael, a self-proclaimed internet “troll” known online as Johnny Somali, guilty of multiple charges, including obstruction of business and distributing fabricated sexually explicit content. Prosecutors had sought a three-year term for Ismael, who also faced accusations of harassing staff and visitors at an amusement park, disrupting a convenience store by blasting music and upending noodles onto a table, causing similar...