WORLD

  According to Archbishop Diego Ravelli, Master of Apostolic Ceremonies, the late Pope Francis had requested that the funeral rites be simplified and focused on expressing the faith of the Church in the Risen Body of Christ. Vatican, ROME | THE INDEPENDENT |  Vatican News has this morning reported that, …

COMMENT | NANCY QIAN |  With little economic or political rationale, US President Donald Trump has introduced some of the highest tariffs in more than a century, and imposed them on nearly every economy in the world. Then, suddenly, despite his insistence that the tariffs were here to stay, he paused the …

SACRAMENTO, the United States | Xinhua | Foreign travel to the United States saw a sharp drop in March, according to the latest data released Thursday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The agency reported an 11 percent fall in inbound visitors compared to the same month last year, marking …

  MOSCOW | Xinhua | Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday declared a unilateral Easter truce for the ongoing conflict with Ukraine. The truce will start from 6:00 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) on Saturday and last until midnight on Sunday into Monday (2100 GMT on Sunday). “I have ordered a …

Washington, the United States | THE INDEPENDENT | Donald Trump’s  administration is advancing major efforts to continue cutting US foreign aid and dismantling USAID. A draft Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposes cutting the State Department by nearly 50%—over $30 billion—with foreign aid reduced by up to 75%, including the closure …

  How Xi Jinping promotes China-Malaysia friendship BEIJING | Zhao Bochao – Xinhua | Over three decades ago, when Xi Jinping, then the top official of China’s southeastern city of Fuzhou, visited Malaysia on an investment promotion trip, he found himself deeply impressed by two symbolic sites. One is the …

Putin lauds Qatar’s efforts to help resolve Israel-Palestine conflict DOHA | TASS | Russian President Vladimir Putin commended efforts being made by Qatar toward resolving the conflict between Palestine and Israel at a meeting with Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Moscow. “It would be vital to discuss issues surrounding …

🏁 Real Madrid 1-2 Arsenal ⚽ 65′ Saka ⚽ 67′ ViniJr ⚽ 90′ + 3′ Martinelli Madrid, Spain | REAL MADRID MEDIA | This time it wasn’t to be as the European champions were eliminated from the  Champions League on Wednesday. With the crowd behind the team and a belief in the …

BUENOS AIRES | Xinhua |  Argentina received 12 billion U.S. dollars from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday, the first disbursement under a new loan agreement aimed at stabilizing the economy and rebuilding foreign reserves. The payment raises the country’s gross international reserves to 36.8 billion dollars, according to …

NEW YORK |  Xinhua | Ford CEO Jim Farley warned at a recent investor conference in New York that levying steep tariffs on imported goods “would blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we’ve never seen.” For years, the U.S. auto supply chains have been deeply integrated with its …