Gaza Deal Brings Hope For Ukraine, Says Zelensky

US President Donald Trump admires Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's outfit. Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP
US President Donald Trump admires Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's outfit. Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP
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Gaza Deal Brings Hope For Ukraine, Says Zelensky

US President Donald Trump admires Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's outfit. Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP
US President Donald Trump admires Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's outfit. Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday hailed the "extraordinary" Gaza ceasefire as bringing hope that US President Donald Trump could broker an end to the Russian invasion of his country.

"When peace is achieved for one part of the world, it brings more hope for peace in other regions," Zelensky said on social media, AFP reported.

He added: "If a ceasefire and peace have been achieved for the Middle East, the leadership and determination of global actors can certainly work for us too, in Ukraine."

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, setting off the largest conflict in Europe since World War II.

Tens of thousands have been killed, millions forced from their homes and much of eastern and southern Ukraine decimated.

Trump had once vowed he could end the war in a matter of hours, but despite several rounds of talks and a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, there has been no significant progress towards a peace deal.

Russia has refused multiple calls for a ceasefire and outlined hardline demands, essentially calling for Kyiv to capitulate in exchange for peace.

The US leader has grown increasingly frustrated with Putin in recent weeks and recently said he could see Ukraine reclaiming every inch of territory seized by Russia.

Moscow's army currently controls around a fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula which it captured and annexed in 2014.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also urged Trump to carry the momentum from brokering the Israel-Hamas ceasefire into efforts on Ukraine.

"We also hope that the American president will now use the influence he has exerted on the parties involved in the (Middle East) to work with us on the Russian government," Merz said in Egypt, where he was to attend a summit of world leaders including Trump.

Merz added that he will discuss the Russia-Ukraine war settlement with Trump at the summit.



Poland Seizes Major Heroin Shipment from Iran

Polish police secure an area at the Warsaw University campus after an attack with an axe, in Warsaw, Poland, May 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Polish police secure an area at the Warsaw University campus after an attack with an axe, in Warsaw, Poland, May 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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Poland Seizes Major Heroin Shipment from Iran

Polish police secure an area at the Warsaw University campus after an attack with an axe, in Warsaw, Poland, May 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Polish police secure an area at the Warsaw University campus after an attack with an axe, in Warsaw, Poland, May 7, 2025. (Reuters)

Polish authorities said Monday they had seized over a ton of heroin from Iran, hidden in a shipment of decorative bricks, at the Baltic port of Gdynia.

"This is the largest operation of its kind in over a decade," Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said at a press conference.

The drugs, worth 220 million zlotys (51.8 million euros), were concealed in the brick shipment coming and were first flagged by British customs officials

The drugs originated from Iran, Chief of Police Marek Boron said.

Last month, three Polish nationals were detained in connection with the investigation, and later charged by prosecutors in Gdansk.

Since 2022, the quantity of drugs seized by Poland's Central Investigation Bureau has increased by 650 percent, according to the Ministry of the Interior.

More than 83 tons of drugs worth 600 million zlotys (141.4 million euros) were confiscated since the start of 2026 alone, compared with 29 tons in the whole of last year.


At Least 11 Dead after Migrant Boat Capsizes off Malta

FILE: The Greek Coast Guard conducts a search and rescue operation after a migrant boat collided with a coast guard boat off the Greek island of Chios in the Aegean Sea on February 4, 2026 (Reuters)
FILE: The Greek Coast Guard conducts a search and rescue operation after a migrant boat collided with a coast guard boat off the Greek island of Chios in the Aegean Sea on February 4, 2026 (Reuters)
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At Least 11 Dead after Migrant Boat Capsizes off Malta

FILE: The Greek Coast Guard conducts a search and rescue operation after a migrant boat collided with a coast guard boat off the Greek island of Chios in the Aegean Sea on February 4, 2026 (Reuters)
FILE: The Greek Coast Guard conducts a search and rescue operation after a migrant boat collided with a coast guard boat off the Greek island of Chios in the Aegean Sea on February 4, 2026 (Reuters)

At least 11 people have died after a migrant boat capsized in waters off Malta, charity group Sea-Watch said on Monday, while around 50 more were rescued at sea by a fishing vessel in the area.

On Sunday, the Italian coastguard said the vessel had departed from Libya carrying around 60 people before overturning about 45 nautical miles east-southeast of Malta. Rome dispatched a patrol boat to the area, saying it had initially recovered 10 bodies.

Sea-Watch said on social media platform X that the death toll was at least 11, adding that 48 survivors had been rescued by the vessel Tuncay Sagun 2.

As the summer season approaches, migrant departures typically rise along the North Africa-Europe route, with Italy, Malta and Greece the nearest landing points for those attempting the perilous sea crossing.

According to the UN's International Organization for Migration, at least 827 people have died or are missing so far this year while attempting to cross the central Mediterranean, including 14 children.

In Italy, the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has taken a hard line against irregular arrivals, approving measures to curb human trafficking and make it more difficult for migrants to obtain asylum.

Some 12,000 people have disembarked in Italy so far in 2026, interior ministry data show, less than half the nearly 25,000 reported in the same period in 2025.


Indian Navy Rescues Sailors on Tanker Ablaze off Oman

An Indian Navy ship (File Photo- Reuters)
An Indian Navy ship (File Photo- Reuters)
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Indian Navy Rescues Sailors on Tanker Ablaze off Oman

An Indian Navy ship (File Photo- Reuters)
An Indian Navy ship (File Photo- Reuters)

Indian navy helicopters airlifted 24 sailors off a tanker on fire off the coast of Oman on Monday, New Delhi officials said, without saying what caused the blaze.

India's Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said a fire was reported at around 1:30 pm (0800 GMT) on the MT Marivex, a Palau-flagged tanker.

"There has been a fire reported on a vessel, MT Marivex, on which there were 24 Indian seafarers... all Indian seafarers are safe," ministry director Opesh Kumar Sharma told reporters.

Images posted on social media by the Forward Seamen's Union of India showed crew members being winched from the vessel by helicopter as thick black smoke billowed from its bridge and accommodation cabins.

The tanker's position was shown by ship-tracking service MarineTraffic as being off the coast of Oman, south of the capital Muscat.

Indian authorities did not provide details about the extent of the damage to the vessel and did not indicate what may have sparked the fire.

Iran has largely blocked shipping through the Strait of Hormuz since the outbreak of war with the United States and Israel on February 28. The vital waterway normally carries about one-fifth of the world's oil and LNG shipments in peacetime.

New Delhi's foreign ministry condemned recent violence in a statement earlier on Monday.

"This conflict has now lasted over 100 days and has already caused immense human suffering," it said.

"It has also had a debilitating impact on the global economy and energy supplies."