TV News LIES

A senior State Department delegation traveled to Cuba on April 10 for talks with the government, a State Department official confirmed to USA TODAY. A senior State Department official also had a separate meeting with former Cuban leader Raul Castro's grandson during the visit, the person said.

It was the first time that a U.S. government plane had landed in Cuba since 2016. Axios was the first news outlet to report that the meetings took place.

The officials told the Cuban government that the island's economy is in free fall and its ruling elites had a narrow window to make reforms before circumstances irreversibly worsen, the State Department official said. The person said that Trump is committed to pursuing a diplomatic solution, if one is possible, but will not let allow the island to collapse into what he views as a major national security threat, if Cuba’s leaders are unwilling or unable to act.

At the meeting, the U.S. proposed to bring Starlink's high-speed internet services to Cuba. But the officials said Havana needs to enact reforms that will make Cuba's economy more competitive and attractive to foreign investment. They also pushed for compensation of Americans and American-owned businesses that had their property confiscated and a lifting of constraints on political freedoms.

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On 8 April, Israel's military launched the psychopathically titled Operation Eternal Darkness against Lebanon, with predictably macabre results. In the span of a mere 10 minutes, Israel struck more than 100 sites across the country, killing more than 300 people and wounding at least 1,150.

The killing spree took place amid the regional ceasefire that had ostensibly taken hold after five weeks of cataclysmic war unleashed on Iran by the US and Israel.

Of course, Israel is not much one for ceasefires - and especially not when it comes to Lebanon. In just seven months following the so-called ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon in November 2024, Israel not only continued to occupy territory in southern Lebanon but also kept up regular air strikes on the country, killing no fewer than 250 people. And things only went downhill from there.

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The president of the Palestine Football Association (PFA), as well as two other officials from the organisation, have been denied visas to Canada for the annual Fifa Congress, which is being held in Vancouver on 30 April, The Guardian revealed on Friday.

Canada is one of the hosts of this year's World Cup, alongside the US and Mexico.

The PFA has now urged Fifa - football's governing body - to intervene on its behalf.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has said it would not divulge details on individual cases, but that "applications are considered on a case-by-case basis based on the information presented by the applicant".

Last month, after carrying out an investigation based on a 2024 complaint, Fifa insisted that "the final legal status of the West Bank remains an unresolved and highly complex matter under public international law", and therefore, it would "take no action". 

In February, the groups Irish Sport for Palestine, Scottish Sport for Palestine, Just Peace Advocates, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, and Sport Scholars for Justice in Palestine filed a 120-page complaint with the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court against Fifa's president, The New York Times reported.

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PFA president Jibril Rajoub was reportedly set to address the Fifa Congress on the matter of Israel holding football matches in the West Bank, which is illegally occupied land, according to the United Nations.

A deadly shooting spree in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district ended with the liquidation of the attacker by police special forces after he killed s people and took several hostages in a local supermarket.

President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Saturday, April 18 that the perpetrator was neutralized during a storming operation by elite KORD units.

According to the president, 10 people remain hospitalized with various injuries, and four hostages were successfully rescued during the assault. “The circumstances are being clarified. My condolences to the families and friends of the victims,” Zelensky stated, adding that he has instructed the Interior Ministry and the National Police to provide the public with all verified information.

Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko identified the attacker as a 58-year-old native of Moscow who utilized automatic weapons. Before barricading himself in the Velmart supermarket, the gunman opened fire on civilians and reportedly set fire to the apartment where he was registered.

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Ukraine has called on Israel to arrest a shipment of grain allegedly originating from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories after it arrived at the Port of Haifa aboard the Russian vessel ABINSK, which Kyiv links to Moscow’s so-called “shadow fleet.”

According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the vessel may be involved in operations used by Russia to “illegally export, transport, and sell stolen Ukrainian grain” from occupied territories and finance its war against Ukraine.

Despite Ukraine’s request, the cargo was allowed to be unloaded, a fact corroborated by Kyiv Post’s sources at the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel, which previously called on Jerusalem to thoroughly examine the cargo.

The vessel has since departed.

The shipment – estimated at 43,765 tonnes of wheat – was reportedly loaded at Russia’s Kavkaz port and is believed to originate from Ukrainian regions under Russian occupation.

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A US blockade of Iran’s ports is in place with President Donald Trump warning that any vessels approaching the blockade of Iranian shipping would be “immediately eliminated.”

“Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED… It is quick and brutal,” Trump wrote on social media, referring to Iranian naval vessels.

The US military on Monday began enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports, targeting maritime traffic linked to Tehran after weeks of war involving the United States, Israel, and Iran.

Since the conflict in the Middle East began on Feb. 28, Iran has effectively restricted access to the Strait of Hormuz, allowing passage only under its control and subject to fees. The narrow corridor previously carried nearly 20% of global oil and gas flows.

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