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US Says Rubio to Discuss Middle East in Vatican Visit

27 March 2026, France, Vaux-De-Cernay: Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, attends the last working session at the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in France. (dpa)
27 March 2026, France, Vaux-De-Cernay: Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, attends the last working session at the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in France. (dpa)
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US Says Rubio to Discuss Middle East in Vatican Visit

27 March 2026, France, Vaux-De-Cernay: Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, attends the last working session at the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in France. (dpa)
27 March 2026, France, Vaux-De-Cernay: Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, attends the last working session at the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in France. (dpa)

Pope Leo XIV will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday, the Vatican said, just weeks after the pontiff faced a barrage of criticism by President Donald Trump.

During his trip to Rome, the US diplomat is also expected to meet with Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who Trump insulted after she defended the Catholic leader.

"Secretary Rubio will meet with Holy See leadership to discuss the situation in the Middle East and mutual interests in the Western Hemisphere," the State Department said, confirming the Wednesday-Friday visit.

"Meetings with Italian counterparts will be focused on shared security interests and strategic alignment."

The trip by Rubio, a devout Catholic who regularly attends Mass, comes after Trump stunned many observers by attacking Pope Leo, the first American-born pontiff.

Trump called the pope "WEAK on crime, and terrible for foreign policy" after Leo called for peace in the Middle East war, and said that Trump's call to destroy Iranian civilization was unacceptable.

The pope has also spoken out against Trump's sweeping crackdown on immigration.

Italian media have presented this week's meetings as an attempt to "thaw" relations.

Rubio's private audience with the pope, at 11:30 am (0930 GMT) Thursday, comes the day before Leo marks one year as head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.

Christians across the world spoke out in support of Pope Leo after Trump's outbursts, which analysts say could hurt the US president politically.

Even before the clash, polls conducted in March and April showed growing disapproval of Trump among American Catholics, a warning sign after he won a majority of Catholic voters in the 2024 election.

Cuba is another likely topic of discussion in the talks at the Vatican.

The Holy See has long played an active role in diplomacy on Cuba, where Rubio -- a Cuban-American -- has been leading the Trump administration's efforts to pile pressure on the communist government.

Rubio requested the meeting with Meloni, an Italian government source told AFP on Sunday. That is scheduled for Friday morning.

The far-right Italian leader has been one of Trump's closest European allies, but the president criticized her as lacking courage after she defended the pope.

Trump has also threatened to pull US troops from Italy, saying Rome "has not been of any help to us" in the Iran war.

The pope and Rubio previously met at the Vatican with US Vice President JD Vance just days after Leo's election.

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World

Venezuela Earthquakes Kill Nearly 1,000, Tens of Thousands Missing

People drive past a collapsed building after an earthquake, in La Guaira, Venezuela, June 24, 2026. REUTERS/Maxwell Briceno
People drive past a collapsed building after an earthquake, in La Guaira, Venezuela, June 24, 2026. REUTERS/Maxwell Briceno
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Venezuela Earthquakes Kill Nearly 1,000, Tens of Thousands Missing

People drive past a collapsed building after an earthquake, in La Guaira, Venezuela, June 24, 2026. REUTERS/Maxwell Briceno
People drive past a collapsed building after an earthquake, in La Guaira, Venezuela, June 24, 2026. REUTERS/Maxwell Briceno

The death toll from twin earthquakes in Venezuela rose Friday to 920, with tens of thousands reported missing as international rescue teams boosted a desperate and slow-moving search for survivors.

Caracas residents jeered interim leader Delcy Rodriguez during her visit to a devastated neighborhood, as fury over the perceived lack of an official response mounted.

United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher told AFP that more than 50,000 people were missing after two powerful earthquakes struck within a minute of each other on Wednesday evening, flattening buildings in the north of the country.

The coastal area of La Guaira, near the capital Caracas, was the worst hit, with one building after another crumpled by the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes.

Access to the disaster zone was restricted from 8:00 pm on Friday (0000 GMT Saturday), Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello announced in a televised address.

A rescue team from Chile arrived at one residential complex in La Guaira made up of four tall buildings housing hundreds of apartments that had largely been reduced to rubble.

"Unfortunately, the collapse is total, and there is little chance of finding survivors. Efforts are now focused on recovering the bodies of the deceased," team leader Nadiomar Polanco said at the site, which resembles many others in the city.

Elsewhere, family members, neighbors and volunteers used their bare hands to try to dig out survivors, bemoaning the lack of heavy machinery or official help to save those trapped alive.

"I am looking for my little Gael... he was only five months old," said an anguished Marjosly Salazar, 40, whose 16-year-old daughter died in the quake. The baby and Salazar's cousin are both missing.

"Please, we need support here. We need machinery to start lifting the columns," she said. "We haven't seen any government officials here, none at all."

In an upscale Caracas neighborhood, Rodriguez was greeted with angry chants from a crowd of people whose loved ones were trapped under the debris.

"The government isn't doing anything for the people," they yelled from behind cordons next to a pulverized building.

- 'Very complex' -

AFP saw workers using sledgehammers to break through detritus, calling for "absolute silence" to detect cries from survivors.

"It's a very, very complex emergency response," the UN's Fletcher told AFP, warning the death toll could rise significantly.

Aftershocks and destroyed buildings still posed significant dangers.

Venezuela's worst earthquake in more than a century has come after the oil-rich country endured more than a decade of economic collapse.

The crisis has hollowed out hospitals and public services, driving millions to leave the country.

The country is still in a fragile transition six months after the United States ousted leader Nicolas Maduro.

- Help arrives -

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said search and rescue teams from at least 17 countries were being mobilized to help find survivors.

Spanish, Salvadoran, Swiss, Colombian, and Mexican rescue teams were already on the ground.

Rodriguez said Friday she had received a call from US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio who "reaffirmed their commitment to supporting the response efforts by sending rescue workers, specialist equipment, support for temporary shelters and humanitarian aid for the affected families."

The United States said earlier it was sending a disaster response team of more than 250 personnel, including three special search-and-rescue units with dogs trained to locate people trapped beneath the rubble.

A senior US military official landed in Caracas to oversee Washington's relief efforts.

"Even before the earthquakes, millions of people across Venezuela were facing food insecurity, collapsing health services, protection risks, and limited access to basic services," the UN and other aid agencies said in a statement Friday.

"The international community must not allow this emergency to deepen into a larger human tragedy."

Earthquakes of similar magnitude claimed more than 200,000 lives in Haiti in January 2010 and 73,000 lives in Kashmir in October 2005.

- Foreigners killed -

Those killed included 28 Portuguese nationals, five Spaniards, two Brazilians, seven Chinese nationals, one Chilean and one Italian-Venezuelan.

85 Portuguese nationals and 119 Spaniards were missing or otherwise unaccounted for, according to their respective governments.

The quakes were the most powerful to hit Venezuela since a 7.7-magnitude tremor struck offshore in 1900.

Venezuela's northern coast sits on a boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates, but had not experienced a major quake since 1997.

Minutes of silence preceded Friday's World Cup 2026 matches to honor the victims of the tragedy.

World

Trump Unveils New US Passport -- with Picture of Himself

Image published by Trump of a new limited-edition American passport featuring his image ('Truth Social')
Image published by Trump of a new limited-edition American passport featuring his image ('Truth Social')
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Trump Unveils New US Passport -- with Picture of Himself

Image published by Trump of a new limited-edition American passport featuring his image ('Truth Social')
Image published by Trump of a new limited-edition American passport featuring his image ('Truth Social')

President Donald Trump on Friday unveiled a rendering of a new limited-edition US passport to mark the country's 250th anniversary of independence -- featuring his stern-faced likeness.

"The U.S.A.'s New Passport, which says, 'Welcome, but be good!'" Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform featuring the passport mock-up, AFP reported.

The image features a glowering Trump leaning on his desk and his signature, with the text of the Declaration of Independence in the background. It appears to be based on a portrait taken by White House photographer Daniel Torok.

The opposite page shows a painting depicting the declaration's signing in 1776, with the words "United States of America 250."

The White House posted the same passport rendering, with the words "PATRIOT PASSPORT."

The State Department -- which had previously announced that a commemorative passport with "custom artwork" would be available from July 6 -- did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In April, a department official said the Trump-themed passports would only be available at in-person appointments in Washington "for as long as there is availability."

Trump has aggressively put his personal stamp on government institutions, with banners of the president flying outside several government buildings, and the Treasury Department saying his signature will soon appear on the one-dollar bill.

Trump also added his name to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts -- until a court ruled that it should be removed.

He will be the first sitting US president featured in Americans' travel documents.

World

Putin, Lukashenko Hold Talks on Friday at Tense Point in Ukraine War

Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a video address to participants of the 13th Forum of Regions of Russia and Belarus at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 26, 2026. (Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a video address to participants of the 13th Forum of Regions of Russia and Belarus at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 26, 2026. (Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via Reuters)
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Putin, Lukashenko Hold Talks on Friday at Tense Point in Ukraine War

Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a video address to participants of the 13th Forum of Regions of Russia and Belarus at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 26, 2026. (Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a video address to participants of the 13th Forum of Regions of Russia and Belarus at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 26, 2026. (Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko held talks on Friday, the Kremlin said, and discussions were expected to focus on the war in Ukraine.

Meeting at Putin's Valdai residence in northwestern Russia, the two leaders addressed trade and economic cooperation, the implementation of joint projects and issues of regional security.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier told state news agency ‌TASS that ‌no press statements or document ‌signings ⁠were planned after the ⁠meeting.

The meeting follows mounting tension between Belarus and Ukraine, whose president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, says he believes Putin is trying to get Lukashenko to step up his support for Russia in the conflict.

Moscow and Minsk deny that, and Belarus says it ⁠is Ukraine and the West that are ‌fueling tensions. Lukashenko said ‌on Thursday he had met representatives of Zelenskiy and ‌warned them not to try to drag his ‌country into war.

Putin and Lukashenko are close allies and meet frequently. The Kremlin has accused Ukraine of threatening the sovereignty of Belarus after Zelenskiy last Friday gave ‌Minsk a week to remove signal relay stations he said were being used ⁠to help guide ⁠Russian attacks.

The Kremlin said on Monday that Putin and Lukashenko were expected to discuss Zelenskiy's remarks "in the foreseeable future".

On Wednesday, Zelenskiy said the relay stations had stopped working, although there was no independent confirmation of this.

While Lukashenko has not sent Belarusian troops to fight alongside Russia, he let Putin use Belarus as a launchpad to attack Ukraine in February 2022 and later agreed to let Russia station tactical nuclear missiles on Belarusian territory.