Mexican president vows to pursue energy independence, cut reliance on US
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Monday that Mexico is exploring ways to reduce its reliance on US natural gas and strengthen energy self-sufficiency.
Speaking at her daily press conference, Sheinbaum acknowledged that the country currently depends on “very cheap” US gas, but noted that long-term import contracts—some lasting up to 20 years—cannot be immediately canceled, Xinhua reported.
She said state-owned oil company Pemex has formed a working group, coordinated with the Mexican Petroleum Institute, to study less environmentally harmful options and alternative methane sources, including landfills and biomass.
First group of Gaza children to be brought to UK 'in coming weeks'
A group of between 30 and 50 critically ill and injured Palestinian children will be evacuated from Gaza to the UK for medical treatment in the coming weeks, the BBC understands.
They would be the first children brought to the UK for treatment as part of a government operation being coordinated by the Foreign Office, Home Office and Department of Health.
The children will be selected according to need by doctors working for the Hamas-run health ministry, before the World Health Organization coordinates travel, according to BBC.
It comes after some MPs wrote a letter to the government urging them to bring sick and injured children from Gaza to the UK "without delay".
Zelensky leaves White House unscathed as he buys more time
The optics could not have been more different this time.
Unlike the shockingly ill-tempered previous meeting in February, US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky seemed determined not to look confrontational - despite their remaining differences.
Zelensky wore a collared suit (although not of the classical variety), and Trump complimented his attire. The Ukrainian president also repeatedly said "thank you", which must have pleased his host, too, BBC reported.
At his opening appearance in the Oval Office, Zelensky spoke little - or maybe he was not keen to, fearing that what he had to say was different from what Trump wanted to hear.
Differences showed later, when the US and Ukrainian presidents appeared before journalists together with European leaders.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron both said a ceasefire in Ukraine should be the next step, even though Trump had argued that it was not necessary before a more permanent solution is found, according to BBC.
Zelensky remained conspicuously quiet on the issue.
A record 383 aid workers were killed in global hotspots in 2024, nearly half in Gaza, UN says
A record 383 aid workers were killed in global hotspots in 2024, nearly half of them in Gaza during the warbetween Israel and Hamas, the U.N. humanitarian office said Tuesday on the annual day honoring the thousands of people who step into crises to help others, Associated Press reported.
U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said the record number of killings must be a wake-up call to protect civilians caught in conflict and all those trying to help them.
“Attacks on this scale, with zero accountability, are a shameful indictment of international inaction and apathy,” Fletcher said in a statement on World Humanitarian Day. “As the humanitarian community, we demand — again — that those with power and influence act for humanity, protect civilians and aid workers and hold perpetrators to account.”
The Aid Worker Security Database, which has compiled reports since 1997, said the number of killings rose from 293 in 2023 to 383 in 2024, including over 180 in Gaza, according to Associated Press.
