Welcome to Mazzaltov World News. Your daily source for comprehensive, timely, accurate, and engaging content, keeping you informed about the world around you. We have the latest global news headlines and insights into all the latest Current Affairs, Sports, Health, Weather, Entertainment, Business and Travel News from around the world.
UAE denies supplying Sudan paramilitaries with Chinese arms
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has denied supplying Chinese-made weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is locked in a brutal conflict with Sudan’s military government.
Salem Aljaberi, the UAE’s assistant minister for security and military affairs, said on social media on Friday that the allegations, contained in an Amnesty International report released the previous day, are “baseless” and “lack substantiated evidence”.
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Continuity the key for Pope seen as unifier in the Church
The fact that the conclave was over quickly suggests that from the outset, a significant number of the voting cardinals felt Robert Prevost was the one amongst them best equipped to take on the challenges a pope faces.
In the lead up to the election – during the formal meetings of cardinals, and the informal dinners and coffees they had to discuss the type of person they were looking for – it was apparent that two words kept coming up, “continuity” and “unity”.
There was a recognition among many that Pope Francis had started something hugely impactful, through reaching out to the those living on the margins of society, to those on the peripheries of the Catholic world and also to those outside the faith.
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Chinese export hike reported as tariff talks with US set to start
China reported that its exports rose more than expected in April as it prepares for weekend talks over tariffs with the United States.
Outbound shipments from the world’s second-largest economy registered a year-on-year rise of 8.1 percent last month, according to government data published on Friday. The result was substantially higher than the 2 percent predicted by economists amid the trade war with the US started by President Donald Trump.
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Putin hosts Victory Day parade with tight security and a short ceasefire
Vladimir Putin is leading Russia’s Victory Day commemorations with a parade in Red Square and heightened security after days of Ukrainian strikes targeting the capital.
Chinese President Xi Jingping is among more than 20 international leaders who have made the journey to Moscow.
A unilateral, three-day ceasefire was announced by Russia to coincide with the lavish 80th anniversary event, which Ukraine has rejected as a “theatrical show” designed to protect the parade.
Ukraine’s military said it has come under thousands of attacks since the ceasefire came into force on 8 May. Russia has insisted the ceasefire is being observed and accused Ukraine of hundreds of violations.
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After minerals deal, Trump approves arms to Ukraine, plays down peace plan
The Donald Trump administration last week approved its first sale of weapons to Ukraine after signing a memorandum of intent to exploit Ukrainian mineral wealth, suggesting that US foreign and defence policy under its current president will be driven by economic policy.
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on May 2 that the Trump administration had approved the sale of parts, maintenance and training for F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine worth $310m.
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‘There is no truce’: Ukraine’s soldiers and civilians on Russia’s ceasefire
Hours into the ceasefire Russia had called for, we drove into the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine to see what, if any, impact it was having.
The Ukrainian military escorted us to an artillery position, south-west of the fiercely contested city of Pokrovsk.
Overcast skies made the drive through mud tracks running past wide open fields slightly less vulnerable to attacks from drones.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had proposed a three-day ceasefire starting at midnight local time on 8 May, to coincide with the anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe – a public holiday in Russia on Friday known as Victory Day.
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Moon dust ‘rarer than gold’ arrives in UK from China
The first samples of Moon rock brought back to Earth in nearly 50 years have arrived in the UK – on loan from China.
The tiny grains of dust are now locked inside a safe in a high security facility in Milton Keynes – we were given the first look at them.
Professor Mahesh Anand is the only scientist in the UK to have been loaned this extremely rare material, which he describes as “more precious than gold dust”.
“Nobody in the world had access to China’s samples, so this is a great honour and a huge privilege,” he says.
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Trump hints tariffs on China may drop as talks set to begin
US President Donald Trump has hinted that US tariffs on goods from China may come down as top trade officials from the world’s two biggest economies are set to hold talks.
“You can’t get any higher. It’s at 145, so we know it’s coming down,” he said, referring to the new import taxes of up to 145% imposed on China since he returned to the White House.
Trump made the comments during an event to unveil a tariffs deal with the UK – the first such agreement since he hit countries around the world with steep levies in April.
The meeting in Switzerland this weekend is the strongest signal yet that the two sides are ready to deescalate a trade war that has sent shockwaves through financial markets.
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UK to announce fresh sanctions on Putin’s ‘shadow fleet’
A fleet of Russian oil tankers which have been used to avoid existing sanctions on oil and gas exports are set to be hit with new restrictions.
Downing Street has said action will be taken against up to 100 vessels which have carried more than £18 billion worth of cargo since the start of 2024.
Sir Keir Starmer is due to make the announcement at a summit of north European leaders known as the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) in Oslo, Norway.
The PM has vowed the UK will do everything in its power to “destroy” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “shadow fleet operation, starve his war machine of oil revenues and protect the subsea infrastructure”.
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Israeli forces close UN-run schools in East Jerusalem
Armed Israeli security forces have forced the closure of three schools run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem.
Hundreds of Palestinian students were sent home from the schools in Shuafat refugee camp just after classes began on Thursday morning.
Unrwa’s Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, said Israeli authorities were denying children their basic right to learn and accused them of a “blatant disregard of international law”.
An Israeli ban on Unrwa took effect earlier this year and Israel accuses the agency of being infiltrated by Hamas. Unrwa denies this claim and insists on its impartiality.
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Trump names Fox News host as top Washington DC prosecutor
US President Donald Trump has appointed Fox News host and former New York prosecutor Jeanine Pirro as interim US attorney for Washington DC.
The announcement comes after Trump withdrew his first pick for the job after he lost key Republican support in the Senate, which votes on such positions.
After Trump’s 2020 loss to Joe Biden, Pirro made false statements about the election that were part of a lawsuit against Fox News by a company that makes voting machines. The case was settled for more than $787m (£594m).
Trump called Pirro “a powerful crusader for victims of crime” in a social media post announcing his selection.
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How good is the UK trade pact for America?
When President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping taxes on imports from around the world last month, he said the measures aimed to right America’s trade relationships.
In his new pact with the UK, we got a glimpse of the kind of agreements he might seek to negotiate across the globe.
Both the US and UK have so far offered limited details about the new trade deal, which both say is still being worked out in the weeks ahead.
But anyone hoping the White House will either significantly roll back its tariffs – or win major concessions abroad – seem bound for disappointment.
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Trump calls election of first American pope a ‘great honour’
US President Donald Trump has called the election of the first American pope a “great honour” for the country and said he looks forward to meeting him.
Trump is among the many American political figures applauding the historic appointment of Robert Francis Prevost, who will be known as Pope Leo XIV, to lead the Catholic Church.
“To have the Pope from America is a great honour,” Trump said when asked for reaction to the news.
Pope Leo, 69, was born in Chicago and attended university outside Philadelphia, before becoming a missionary in Peru.
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Pay day banking outages hit 1.2m people, banks reveal
About 1.2m people in the UK were affected by banking outages that happened on what was pay day for many earlier this year.
The details have emerged in letters from Lloyds, TSB, Nationwide and HSBC to Dame Meg Hillier, the chair of the Commons Treasury Committee, which is looking into the incident that occurred on Friday, 28 February.
HSBC also revealed that customers had to wait two hours on average that day to reach its online customer service team. Its standard target wait time is five minutes.
In their correspondence, the banks said they had paid compensation to affected customers and also outlined what they were doing to try to prevent similar problems in the future.