| On this day: in 1803, the United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation.
QOTD: “”Russia’s presence there is, in fact, due to the need identified by the current government. Russia will continue, including in Mali, to combat extremism, terrorism and other harmful phenomena and will continue to provide assistance to the current government,” said Peskov. […]
Mali’s Russia-trained defence minister, Sadio Camara, was killed in a suicide bombing at the weekend, Russia’s Africa Corps was forced to withdraw from Kidal – an important town that Russian mercenaries helped take in 2023 – and Moscow had to use helicopter gunships and strategic bombers to hold insurgents back.
Political analysts say Russia’s image as a self-styled security guarantor in Africa has been dented by the events and that its strategic and economic interests on the continent are now threatened by the turmoil.
US/UKRAINE/ FALLOUT – US to give $100 million to repair damaged Chornobyl nuclear shelter, Kyiv says
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-give-100-million-repair-damaged-chornobyl-nuclear-shelter-kyiv-says-2026-04-29/
The U.S. will give $100 million towards repairs of the vast radiation containment dome at the Chornobyl plant in northern Ukraine, site of the world’s worst atomic accident in 1986, after the dome was damaged by a Russian drone, Kyiv’s energy minister, Denys Shmyhal, said on Wednesday.
One of Chornobyl’s four reactors exploded in 1986 and is now enclosed by a shelter to contain the lingering radiation. A Russian drone hit that structure in February last year.
In a post on Telegram, Shmyhal said funding for repairs of the dome, at an estimated cost of 500 million euros ($584.95 million), was discussed with international partners at a recent conference about the plant.
US/COALITION OF THE UNWILLING/IRAN/SHIPPING – As Hormuz Traffic Stalls, U.S. Pitches New Coalition to Get Ships Moving Again
https://www.wsj.com/world/as-hormuz-traffic-stalls-u-s-pitches-new-coalition-to-get-ships-moving-again-85c7ea79?mod=world_lead_pos2
Just weeks after President Trump declared the Strait of Hormuz “COMPLETELY OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS” only to see ship traffic stall, the administration is now asking other countries to join a new international coalition that would enable ships to navigate the waterway.
The effort, called the “Maritime Freedom Construct,” was spelled out in an internal State Department cable sent to U.S. embassies on Tuesday that called on U.S. diplomats to press foreign governments into signing up. The U.S.-led coalition would share information, coordinate diplomatically and enforce sanctions, according to the cable.
It is the latest example of the Trump administration trying to restart the flow of commercial traffic through the strait, despite Iran’s efforts to lay mines and attack tankers that transit the chokepoint without Tehran’s approval.
The strait’s future has become a key sticking point in stalled peace talks between the U.S. and Iran, leaving the vital chokepoint in limbo as anxiety climbs over spiking global energy prices. While Iran is targeting vessels that don’t pay transit fees to leave the strait, the U.S. Navy has imposed a sweeping blockade on all ships going to or coming from Iranian ports.
The Trump administration’s request for support shows the U.S. wants other nations involved in the current and potentially future management of the Strait of Hormuz.
US/MEXICO/SEC/POL – U.S. Charges Governor of Mexico’s Sinaloa State With Drug Trafficking
https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/u-s-charges-governor-of-mexicos-sinaloa-state-with-drug-trafficking-784adf08?mod=world_lead_pos4
The U.S. charged the governor of Mexico’s Sinaloa state and other officials with drug trafficking, sparking a diplomatic dispute with the country’s federal government amid rising pressure to fight powerful cartels.
The Justice Department said Wednesday that Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha allegedly partnered with leaders of the country’s powerful Sinaloa cartel to smuggle drugs into the U.S. in exchange for political support and bribes. The U.S. requested his arrest and extradition to the U.S. on Tuesday.
Rocha denied the charges against him, and said it was an attack against Mexico and the ruling Morena party.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said the extradition request lacks sufficient evidence against the accused. It added that the way in which the information was disclosed by the Justice Department breached confidentiality provisions of current treaties, and that the government will send a formal complaint to the U.S. Embassy.
The indictment against Rocha opens a new chapter in the tense relations between the Trump administration and the leftist government of President Claudia Sheinbaum and her Morena party, to which Rocha belongs. Rocha is also seen as a close ally of former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Sheinbaum’s mentor and predecessor.
“It’s a historic moment,” said Sergio Aguayo, a historian and security analyst at the Colegio de Mexico university in Mexico City.
The 76-year-old Rocha is charged with drug smuggling and possession of machine guns, and could face a minimum of 40 years in prison if extradited and convicted in U.S. federal court.
SWITZERLAND/DEMOGRAPHICS – Most Swiss back initiative to cap population at 10 million, poll shows
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/most-swiss-back-initiative-cap-population-10-million-poll-shows-2026-04-29/
A slim majority of Swiss are backing an upcoming referendum proposal to limit Switzerland’s population to 10 million, and support for it is growing, an opinion poll showed on Wednesday.
The government has rejected the initiative backed by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) being put to voters on June 14, saying it will hurt cooperation with the European Union and damage the economy by restricting the labour market.
But concern about rapid population growth and pressure on public infrastructure is encouraging many Swiss to support the proposal, the survey by media group Tamedia with newspaper “20 Minuten” and polling institute Leewas showed.
Switzerland’s population is now more than 9 million, with official data showing foreign nationals accounted for more than 27% by 2024.
The survey, conducted on April 22 and 23 and published in newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, showed 52% of 16,176 respondents in favour of the proposal or leaning that way, while 46% took the opposite view. The rest gave no opinion.
A previous poll from early March had shown 45% backing the initiative and 47% against it, the newspaper said, flagging the latest result as unusual in that Swiss referendum proposals generally lose support as the voting day comes closer.
LEBANON/SEC – Hezbollah adopts a new weapon: Fiber-optic drones, used widely in the war in Ukraine
https://apnews.com/article/hezbollah-israel-drones-fiber-optic-war-00cd07852f49ade04ed0a6fde505d987
Hezbollah has launched a new weapon against northern Israel in the latest round of fighting: small drones controlled with fiber-optic cables the width of dental floss that avoid electronic detection.
These drones — used widely in the war in Ukraine — are small, hard to track and lethal. Drones injured at least a dozen soldiers in northern Israel on Thursday, two seriously, and the Israeli military said it had attempted to intercept multiple drones. In the past week, Hezbollah drones killed an Israeli soldier and defense contractor operating in southern Lebanon.
Many drones are susceptible to electronic jamming by air defenses. Jamming can cause a drone to crash or return to its point of origin.
Fiber-optic drones are not piloted via, for example, GPS signals or radio control. They have a thin cable that connects an operator directly to the drone, making it impossible to electronically jam.
USA/GERMANY/MIL – Trump Weighs Pulling Some U.S. Troops From Germany in Spat With Chancellor
https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/trump-weighs-pulling-some-u-s-troops-from-germany-in-spat-with-chancellor-cf5ce644?mod=world_lead_pos1
President Trump said Wednesday he is considering whether to remove some American troops from Germany after its leader criticized the U.S. campaign in Iran.
“The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” he said on social media.
The president didn’t specify a timeline for reducing troop levels in his Truth Social post.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz drew the president’s ire after he said on Monday that the U.S. didn’t have an effective strategy to end the Iran war. “An entire nation is being humiliated by Iranian leaders and the so-called revolutionary guards,” Merz told students at a school in western Germany, referring to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Trump hit back at the chancellor on Tuesday, saying on social media, “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!”
Germany is a major NATO ally and has been heeding U.S. calls to step up military spending and strengthen its armed forces. It is also an important hub for U.S. military operations in Europe and beyond. The U.S. has major military bases and headquarters in Germany, and the country has substantial training areas for American and allied troops. Germany also hosts the largest U.S. military hospital abroad, which has treated casualties from the Iran conflict.
The U.S. currently has between 30,000 and 35,000 troops stationed in Germany and thousands of Pentagon civilian personnel.
Trump in 2020 ordered around 12,000 troops to be removed from Germany following tensions with the country over military spending and other security issues. Congress blocked that decision. Former President Joe Biden reversed the order after he took office in 2021.
RUSSIA/MIL – Russia to hold a Victory Day parade without military equipment for the 1st time in nearly 2 decades
https://apnews.com/article/russia-victory-day-parade-3c0e2619140194148dd94c730775ee3f
Russia’s traditional parade marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II will take place next week without tanks, missiles and other military equipment, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
It will be the first time in nearly two decades — and in Russia’s 4-year-old war in Ukraine — that no military equipment will rumble through Moscow’s Red Square on May 9, the day Russia celebrates its most important secular holiday. The Kremlin has used it to showcase its military might and global clout, and it is a source of patriotic pride.
Victory Day parades on Red Square have involved military equipment and various weaponry every year since 2008. Smaller parades are held elsewhere across the country, including in cities like St. Petersburg.
The ministry cited the “current operational situation” as a reason for excluding military equipment, as well as cadets, from this year’s parade on the 81st anniversary of the victory. Ukraine has launched drone attacks deep inside Russia to counter Moscow’s more than 4-year-old invasion.
RUSSIA/MALI/SEC – Kremlin says Russian forces will stay in Mali ‘to fight extremism’
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/kremlin-says-russian-forces-will-stay-mali-to-fight-extremism-2026-04-30/
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russian forces would stay in Mali to help the country’s military-led government battle insurgents following a surprise offensive by West Africa’s al Qaeda affiliate and a Tuareg-dominated separatist group.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the statement after being asked by a reporter how Russia responded to a purported statement from the insurgents saying they wanted Russia to leave Mali because they believed the ruling military junta would not survive for long without Russian support.
UAE/KSA/FRENEMIES? – Why the UAE and Saudi Arabia Have Drifted Apart
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-30/uae-quits-opec-how-the-united-arab-emirates-and-saudi-arabia-drifted-apart?srnd=phx-politics
Officials in the United Arab Emirates have framed their decision to quit the OPEC group of oil producing nations as an opportunity to respond more nimbly to the energy crisis caused by the Iran war.
However, the move also follows a steady escalation of tensions between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s dominant member. While the Gulf neighbors are in many ways natural allies, they also have a history of disagreements and are locked in an increasingly overt competition for regional influence.
While Saudi Arabia sees itself as the leader of the Arab and Muslim world, the UAE’s growing economic power has emboldened its leaders to forge a more independent foreign policy. Now the US-Israeli war on Iran has laid bare differences in how best to contain their common adversary and its regional proxies.
AUSTRIA/NUNS ON THE RUN/ITALY – The Austrian nuns who fled their care home are now in Rome and visited the Vatican
https://www.npr.org/2026/04/29/g-s1-119191/austria-nuns-vatican-rome
Three octogenarian Austrian nuns who captured headlines last year when they staged an escape from their care home and broke back into their old convent are in Rome for the very first time.
Sisters Rita, Bernadette and Regina joined tens of thousands of other visitors at St. Peter’s Square for a general audience with Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday morning.
Sisters Rita (R), 81, Regina (L), 86, and Bernadette (C), 88, pray with over a dozen of supporters and former students, at the convent chapel of the Goldenstein castle, in the municipality of Elsbethen, south of Salzburg city, Austria on Sept. 20, 2025. Supporters of three rebel nuns in their 80s who had graced international headlines after fleeing their care home to occupy their former convent in Austria’s Salzburg province flocked to the nunnery Saturday in a show of solidarity.
The sisters’ aide Christina Wirtenberger — who has known them since she was a pupil in the convent’s adjoining school — told NPR that they boarded a plane for Rome “in secret” amid an ongoing dispute with the local provost, Markus Grasl.
In a statement sent to NPR by the provost’s spokesperson Harald Schiffl, Grasl expressed concern about what appeared to be the sisters’ sudden disappearance on Tuesday night and bafflement over why they kept their flight to Rome under wraps.
The sisters have been at odds with the provost — who is also their superior — since returning to their convent last September in Schloss Goldenstein near Salzburg.
COLOMBIA/HIPPOS – Indian Tycoon Offers Refuge to Pablo Escobar’s Condemned Hippos
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/world/asia/indian-tycoon-ambani-hippos-colombia-escobar.html
They are not known to have any taste for raw coca leaf. But the hungry hippos of Colombia’s Antioquia department have been rampaging through too much of the marshy flora that lines the waterways of the Magdalena River basin.
Colombia’s environment minister, Irene Vélez Torres, said that, left unchecked, they will keep procreating and destroy the local ecosystem: They are an invasive species from Africa, imported by Pablo Escobar, the world’s most notorious drug kingpin.
She released a proposal earlier this month to kill at least 80 of the animals later this year, after an effort to sterilize the herd, now about 200-head strong, proved disappointing.
Enter Anant Ambani, a scion of Asia’s richest family with a net worth greater than $100 billion. Alarmed by the proposed slaughter, he had his own private wildlife park in western India offer the hippos a new home, reflecting the “belief that every life matters and that we share a responsibility to protect life wherever possible.” It proposed a “scientifically led translocation” of the animals to Vantara, in Jamnagar, part of Gujarat state.
Vantara is a 3,500-acre wildlife sanctuary on the scrubby shoreline where the Ambanis have made a fortune operating the world’s largest oil refinery. Its critics in India call it a zoo. Mr. Ambani’s organization prefers the term “animal rescue, rehabilitation and conservation center.”
The project is so dear to him that his pre-wedding festivities in 2024, among the most eye-catching on earth, culminated in the boondocks of Jamnagar so that guests could be shown the grounds. Rihanna sang, while Mark Zuckerberg and other global CEOs and celebrities joined the party. Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India formally inaugurated Vantara a year later and Lionel Messi was brought in to participate in a Hindu ritual in December.
So Vantara — the name means “star of the forest” — should be a suitably star-studded home for globe-trotting hippos reared in a relatively flashy milieu. |
