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Pope Leo Downplays Feud with Trump, Says ‘Not in My Interest’ to Debate Him

Pope Leo XIV delivers a speech during a meeting with the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps at the Presidential Palace in Luanda, Angola, 18 April 2026. (EPA)
Pope Leo XIV delivers a speech during a meeting with the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps at the Presidential Palace in Luanda, Angola, 18 April 2026. (EPA)
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Pope Leo Downplays Feud with Trump, Says ‘Not in My Interest’ to Debate Him

Pope Leo XIV delivers a speech during a meeting with the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps at the Presidential Palace in Luanda, Angola, 18 April 2026. (EPA)
Pope Leo XIV delivers a speech during a meeting with the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps at the Presidential Palace in Luanda, Angola, 18 April 2026. (EPA)

Pope Leo sought to downplay his feud with US President Donald Trump on Saturday, saying reporting about comments he has made so far during his Africa tour "has not been accurate in all its aspects".

Speaking to reporters in English aboard his flight to Angola for the third leg of his ambitious 10-day Africa tour, the first US pope said comments he made two days earlier in Cameroon decrying that the world was being "ravaged by a handful of tyrants" were not aimed at Trump.

That speech, said Leo, "was prepared two weeks ago, well before the president ‌ever commented on ‌myself and on the message of peace that ‌I ⁠am promoting".

Vice President ⁠JD Vance, who had criticized the pope's remarks last week, welcomed his latest comments.

"I am grateful to Pope Leo for saying this," Vance posted on social media platform X. "While the media narrative constantly gins up conflict — and yes, real disagreements have happened and will happen — the reality is often much more complicated."

On Sunday, as Leo prepared to embark on his ⁠tour, Trump called him "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for ‌Foreign Policy" in a post on Truth ‌Social.

Pope Leo told Reuters on Monday that he would keep speaking out about the war, and ‌Trump reiterated his criticism on Tuesday. On Thursday, Pope Leo blasted leaders who spend billions on wars and said ⁠the world ⁠was "being ravaged by a handful of tyrants", though he did not mention Trump directly again.

"As it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate the president, which is not in my interest at all," the pontiff said on Saturday.

Leo, originally from Chicago, kept a relatively low profile for a pope in his first 10 months but has debuted a new forceful speaking style in Africa, sharply denouncing war, inequality and global leaders.

His Africa tour is one of the most complicated ever arranged for a pontiff, with stops in 11 cities and towns in four countries, traversing nearly 18,000 km (11,185 miles) over 18 flights.

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World

UK Ministers Back Starmer Amid Fresh Calls to Quit

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer co-hosts a multinational virtual summit at the Elysee Presidential Palace, in Paris, France, on April 17, 2026. (Tom Nicholson/Pool via Reuters)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer co-hosts a multinational virtual summit at the Elysee Presidential Palace, in Paris, France, on April 17, 2026. (Tom Nicholson/Pool via Reuters)
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UK Ministers Back Starmer Amid Fresh Calls to Quit

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer co-hosts a multinational virtual summit at the Elysee Presidential Palace, in Paris, France, on April 17, 2026. (Tom Nicholson/Pool via Reuters)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer co-hosts a multinational virtual summit at the Elysee Presidential Palace, in Paris, France, on April 17, 2026. (Tom Nicholson/Pool via Reuters)

British government ministers on Sunday backed embattled premier Keir Starmer as he struggles to shake off a scandal over long-time Jeffrey Epstein associate Peter Mandelson.

Starmer is due to face lawmakers in parliament on Monday to explain how Mandelson was appointed Britain's ambassador to the United States in late 2024 despite failing to pass security checks.

The beleaguered prime minister, who has been dogged by the controversy for months, said Friday that he and other ministers were not told Mandelson had failed the vetting process, calling that "unforgivable".

He has blamed foreign office mandarins for allowing Mandelson's appointment against the advice of security officials, and sacked the department's top civil servant Olly Robins on Thursday.

But ex-civil servants have accused Dowing Street of scapegoating Robbins while opposition leaders have called for Starmer to quit, with accusations ranging from incompetence to willful misleading of the public.

Technology minister Liz Kendall told the BBC on Sunday that Starmer would not have appointed Mandelson had he known that he had not received the appropriate security clearance.

Deputy prime minister David Lammy, who was foreign secretary when Mandelson was appointed to Washington, said the same in an interview with the Guardian published late Saturday.

Kendall said Starmer should remain in his job because he had "made the right call" on big issues, such as building closer relations with the European Union and limiting Britain's involvement in the Iran war.

"I think he is an honest man and a man of integrity who says it was a mistake to appoint him," she told Sky News.

Lammy said it was "inexplicable" that the foreign office had kept Downing Street in the dark, telling the Guardian he had been "shocked and surprised" when he learned what happened.

Starmer, already widely unpopular with the British public due to several policy mis-steps, has faced repeated questions about his judgement for selecting Mandelson whose friendship with Epstein was well known.

He sacked Mandelson in September 2025 after new details emerged about the depth of Mandelson's ties to Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while facing sex-trafficking charges.

UK police are investigating allegations of misconduct in office by Mandelson when he was a Labour minister more than 15 years ago. He was arrested and released in February.

Mandelson has not been charged and denies criminal wrongdoing.

World

Australian Soldier Charged with War Crimes Vows to Clear His Name

A former member of Australia's elite Special Air Service regiment Ben Roberts-Smith leaves the Federal Court in Sydney on May 1, 2025. (AFP)
A former member of Australia's elite Special Air Service regiment Ben Roberts-Smith leaves the Federal Court in Sydney on May 1, 2025. (AFP)
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Australian Soldier Charged with War Crimes Vows to Clear His Name

A former member of Australia's elite Special Air Service regiment Ben Roberts-Smith leaves the Federal Court in Sydney on May 1, 2025. (AFP)
A former member of Australia's elite Special Air Service regiment Ben Roberts-Smith leaves the Federal Court in Sydney on May 1, 2025. (AFP)

An Australian former soldier charged with committing war crimes in Afghanistan vowed on Sunday to clear his name, saying he had never "run from a fight" in his first public comments since his arrest.

"For the past 10 years, my family and I have been subject to a campaign to convince Australians that I've acted improperly in my service in Afghanistan," Ben Roberts-Smith told journalists at the Gold Coast.

"I categorically deny all of these allegations, and while I would have preferred these charges not be brought, I will be taking this opportunity to finally clear my name," he said.

Roberts-Smith was granted bail on Friday after a high-profile arrest on five counts of "war crime -- murder". Police alleged he was complicit in a string of unlawful killings between 2009 and 2012.

The Victoria Cross recipient has denied all the charges.

He was released from prison on Friday evening after 10 days behind bars.

"I'm proud of my service in Afghanistan. While I was there, I always acted within my values," he said on Sunday.

Australia's most decorated living soldier met Queen Elizabeth II, had his portrait hung at the Australian War Memorial and was honored as the nation's "father of the year".

But the war hero's reputation was called into question in 2018, when a series of news reports linked him to the alleged murder of unarmed Afghan prisoners by Australian troops.

Roberts-Smith allegedly kicked an unarmed Afghan civilian off a cliff and ordered subordinates to shoot him, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

He was also said to have taken part in the machine-gunning of a man who had a prosthetic limb, which he later used as a drinking vessel with other soldiers.

Roberts-Smith has staunchly maintained his innocence throughout, launching legal action against the newspapers that carried the allegations.

But his efforts to sue The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald for defamation backfired, with a judge finding in 2023 that many of the journalists' claims were "substantially true".

Such civil trials carry a lower burden of proof than the criminal proceedings Roberts-Smith now faces.

Australia deployed 39,000 troops to Afghanistan over two decades as part of US- and NATO-led operations against the Taliban and other militant groups.

World

Zelensky Says Oil Sanctions Relief Provides Billions for Russian Military

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky waits to welcome Swedish king in Lviv on April 17, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky waits to welcome Swedish king in Lviv on April 17, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
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Zelensky Says Oil Sanctions Relief Provides Billions for Russian Military

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky waits to welcome Swedish king in Lviv on April 17, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky waits to welcome Swedish king in Lviv on April 17, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday condemned the easing of sanctions on Russian oil after the United States extended a waiver meant to soften surging energy prices driven by the Middle East war.

"Every dollar paid for Russian oil is money for the war" and is used for devastating strikes on Ukraine, Zelensky said in a post on X.

Zelensky did not mention the United States, but President Donald Trump's administration on Friday issued a month-long sanctions waiver allowing the sale of Russian oil and petroleum products that are at sea.

The action was intended to bring down soaring energy prices. But the US Treasury Department extension came two days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Washington would not renew the waiver.

Zelensky said there were more than 110 tankers carrying Russian oil in breach of international sanctions currently at sea, carrying more than 12 million tons of crude "which, due to the easing of sanctions, can once again be sold without consequences.

"That is $10 billion -- a resource that is directly converted into new strikes against Ukraine," Zelensky said.

The Ukraine leader said that in the past week, Russia had launched more than 2,360 attack drones, more than 1,320 guided aerial bombs "and nearly 60 missiles of various types at our cities and communities".

A 16-year-old boy was killed and four people wounded in one overnight attack on the northern city of Chernihiv, the head of the local administration said Sunday.

Zelensky said: "It is important that Russian tankers are stopped, not allowed to deliver oil to ports. The aggressor's oil exports must decrease, and Ukraine's long-range sanctions continue to work toward that goal."