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Coachella 2025 boasted A-lister guest appearances, a dose of leftist politics, orchestral fusion and Y2K fashion.Here are takeaways from the first weekend of the premier festival that draws hundreds of thousands of revelers to the California desert:- Pop reigns… with a hint of classical -Lady Gaga, Post Malone, Benson Boone, Charli XCX, Tyla, Lisa, Jennie… the pop lineup ran deep at Coachella 2025, a reflection of the charts and the fanbases that ride or die with their idols.Boone performed his hit of the moment “Beautiful Things” — and did his signature showtime backflip, as well as a rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody” backed by none other than Queen guitarist Brian May.And Gaga’s rendition of “Poker Face” was an example of the arena-ready performance art that made her one of the contemporary era’s seminal pop stars.Celebrated conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic meanwhile gave one of the weekend’s most eclectic performances.Their sunset show featured half a dozen guest appearances from the likes of LL Cool J, Maren Morris and Laufey in a sweeping performance that included country, jazz, rap and pop set to rich orchestral arrangements.- Rock revival -Coachella was a rock festival in its early days, but over the past decade it has gone full pop.The 2025 edition of the festival featured a number of acts that returned to its roots.Green Day’s headlining performance on Saturday was akin to a greatest hits album: “American Idiot,” “Brain Stew,” “Minority,” “Basket Case” and “When I Come Around” were among the classic tracks that recalled just how deep the band’s catalogue stretches.And then there were The Go-Gos, the legendary all-woman rock band who donned glittering, metallic outfits as they reunited to perform hits including “Vacation” and “We Got the Beat.”Other rock acts included Weezer, the original Misfits, Jimmy Eat World and cult punk legends the Circle Jerks, who packed their tent with moshers.- Bernie steals the show -Billie Eilish, Queen Latifah and Lorde made major cameos but the cheers for an unbilled appearance by US senator Bernie Sanders were in the same league.As he was introduced to the stage, screaming fans sprinted to film the Vermont representative, who introduced Clairo’s set but not before making an impassioned plea.”I’m not gonna be long but this country faces some very difficult challenges and the future of what happens to America depends on your generation,” said the self-described socialist to cascading applause.He urged his rapt audience to stand up against billionaires, the fossil fuel industry and US President Donald Trump’s administration, while also supporting causes like universal health care, women’s rights and ending the war in Gaza.Samara Guillory was among the music fans who dashed over to see Sanders.”Coming here, talking to us, spreading awareness — I think this was exactly the move, honestly,” said the 21-year-old.- Leather, lace and Y2K -Over the years Coachella fashion has become something of a cliche, a boho amalgam of mid-aughts trends like flower crowns, crochet, wide-brim hats, bold jewelry and cowboy core including suede vests and frayed denim.Much of that remains standard fare at the festival, but Coachella 2025 saw a handful of other trends take center stage.One popular look was giving Italian grandmother: silk scarves knotted at the chin were all the rage.And many attendees wielded paper parasols to shield themselves from the midday sun.But a baffling number of people sported leather looks — pants, boots, corsets, even jumpsuits — despite scorching temperatures exacerbated by a lack of shade and lengthy walks between stages.But then again, being seen has never been about comfort.Other festival-goers had an easier time beating the heat by wearing as little as possible: bras under sheer lace overlays, push-up bustiers or simply nipple covers.And in case you missed it, street fashion is still decidedly Y2K: halter tops, tube tops, pleated miniskirts and hip bone baring low-rise bottoms remain youthful favorites.

Post Malone electrified Coachella as Sunday’s headlining set, melding his early rap hits with his recent country turn to close out the first weekend of the California desert festival.Around 100,000 festival-goers braved scorching temperatures to attend the sprawling desert weekend festival that also saw performances by Lady Gaga, Charli XCX and Green Day.Post Malone sported jeans with a tucked-in tee for his laid-back set that saw him light up a cigarette and lavish praise on his audience.As he performed his smash “Sunflower,” he left them with a parting message: “Keep spreading love, keep giving love, keep receiving love. No matter what you’re going through right now, ladies and gentlemen, you’re loved more than you know it.”Ahead of Post’s marquee performance, hip-hop superstar Megan Thee Stallion ruled the main stage, bringing guest stars Queen Latifah and Ciara out to play.And German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk packed a tent of fans eager for their trailblazing conceptual soundscapes.The iconic group whose work is frequently cited as era-defining delivered, playing hits including “Computer Love” and their best-known song, “Autobahn.”Shaboozey kicked off Sunday with his viral brand of country that recently earned him a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.South Korea’s Jennie electrified the stage with a solo performance days after her Blackpink bandmate Lisa — fresh off a role in HBO’s hit show “The White Lotus” — did the same.And France’s Polo & Pan — the duo that has found fame with its brand of electronic infused with tropical influences — are preparing for a primetime DJ slot for their second round playing Coachella.The group is formed by Paul Armand-Delille and Alexandre Grynszpan, the latter of whom told AFP backstage they feel honored to return to the desert and feel “a responsibility to represent France.””Coachella is definitely a global institution when it comes to festivals,” he said.On Saturday Charli XCX bathed the desert in her signature “brat” lime green to close out her banger set that pays homage to her sensational year, with cameos including Troye Sivan, Lorde and Billie Eilish, whose appearance whipped the crowd into a frenzy.The appearance of Eilish triggered hysteria rivaled only by the crowd’s mad dash to the stage next door, where Senator Sanders made a surprise appearance to thunderous applause.The self-described socialist from Vermont has been on his own “Fighting Oligarchy” tour with US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a bid to harness anger over the actions of President Donald Trump’s administration.- Green Day, Gaga, Gustavo -The one-two punch of Charli XCX’s club-ready performance followed immediately by Sanders’s rousing call to action left Coachella fans ready to rock by the time headliners Green Day took the stage.The career-spanning performance filled more than 90 minutes with hits — including “Brain Stew,” “Minority,” “Basket Case” and “When I Come Around” — a reminder of the grip the rockers had on popular music throughout their 1990s and 2000s heyday.Gustavo Dudamel led the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a sweeping sunset show that married orchestral arrangements with an eclectic crop of collaborators, including rapper LL Cool J, country star Maren Morris and Icelandic jazz-inspired pop singer Laufey.Lady Gaga kicked off the festival with a three-act tale of mayhem channeling her latest album, but did dole out her classics to the delight of her ardent fans.Her rendition of “Poker Face” saw Gaga playing against her dancers in a giant chess game — the type of performance art that made her one of the contemporary era’s seminal pop stars.And Missy Elliott dealt a blistering, headliner-worthy show featuring trippy visuals, lasers and her smashes including “Lose Control,” “Get Ur Freak On” and “Work It.”Coachella’s second weekend — which features the same lineup, save for cameo shakeups and occasional special features — will take place April 18-20.

Pop star Katy Perry will be the biggest name in an all-woman group set to touch the edge of space Monday, roaring into the cosmos on one of billionaire Jeff Bezos’s rockets.The “Firework” and “California Gurls” singer will be lofted more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) above the Earth’s surface in a vessel from Blue Origin, the space company owned by the Amazon founder.Five other women including Bezos’s fiancee Lauren Sanchez will join the flight, slated to blast off from western Texas at around 8:30 am (1330 GMT).Their fully automated craft will rise vertically before the crew capsule detaches mid-flight, later falling back to the ground slowed by parachutes and a retro rocket.Monday’s mission is the first all-woman space crew since Valentina Tereshkova’s historic solo flight in 1963.It is also the 11th sub-orbital crewed operation by Blue Origin, which has offered the space tourism experiences for several years.The company does not publicly communicate the price of trips made possible by its New Shepard rocket.Lasting around 10 minutes, the flight will bring the passengers beyond the Karman line — the internationally recognized boundary of space.There will be a brief period when the women can unbuckle from their seats and float in zero gravity.- ‘Inspiration’ -Perry recently told Elle magazine that she was taking part “for my daughter Daisy,” whom she shares with actor Orlando Bloom, “to inspire her to never have limits on her dreams.””I’m just so excited to see the inspiration through her eyes and the light in her eyes when she sees that rocket go, and she goes back to school the next day and says ‘Mom went to space’,” Perry added.She said in a separate video posted to Instagram that she was shocked to discover during space training that the capsule she will travel in was named the “Tortoise” and decorated with a “feather” design — the two nicknames her parents have for her.”There are no coincidences and I’m just so grateful for these confirmations and so grateful that I feel like something bigger than me is steering the ship,” Perry said in the video.Perry, launched onto the international stage with her 2008 hit “I Kissed a Girl,” will sit alongside TV presenter Gayle King, film producer Kerianne Flynn, former NASA scientist Aisha Bowe and Amanda Nguyen, founder of a campaign group against sexual violence.They follow 52 previous Blue Origin passengers, including longtime “Star Trek” leading man William Shatner.Such high-profile guests are intended to keep public interest in Blue Origin’s work, as it battles multiple rival firms in the space tourism field.Bezos’ top challenger in passenger flights is Virgin Galactic, which offers a similar sub-orbital experience.But Blue Origin aims in future to bring space tourists into orbit, competing directly with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.In January, Blue Origin’s much more powerful New Glenn rocket successfully completed its first unmanned orbital mission.

Markets on Monday welcomed a US tariffs reprieve for electronics, but President Donald Trump warned no country would get “off the hook” in his trade war — especially China.The world’s two largest economies have been locked in a fast-moving game of brinkmanship since Trump launched a global tariff assault that particularly targeted Chinese imports.Tit-for-tat exchanges have seen US levies imposed on China rise to 145 percent, and Beijing setting a retaliatory 125 percent band on US imports.The US side had appeared to dial down the pressure slightly on Friday, listing tariff exemptions for smartphones, laptops, semiconductors and other electronic products for which China is a major source.But Trump and some of his top aides said Sunday that the exemptions had been misconstrued and would only be temporary as his team pursued fresh tariffs against many items on the list. “NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’… especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!” he posted on his Truth Social platform.The Chinese commerce ministry said Friday’s move was only “a small step” and all tariffs should be cancelled.Chinese President Xi Jinping warned Monday — as he kicked off a Southeast Asia tour with a visit to Vietnam — that protectionism “will lead nowhere” and a trade war would “produce no winner”.Writing in an article published in a Vietnamese newspaper, Xi urged the two countries to “resolutely safeguard” the multilateral trading system, global supply chains and a “cooperative international environment”.China has sought to present itself as a stable alternative to an erratic Washington, courting countries spooked by the global economic storm.Trump’s trade war has raised fears about an economic downturn as the dollar has tumbled and investors have dumped US governments bonds.Asian and European stock markets rallied on Monday, after days of extreme volatility over several tariff twists and turns since Trump presented his “Liberation Day” levies on April 2.The Paris, Frankfurt and London stock exchanges were up around two percent in morning deals, while Tokyo finished 1.2 percent higher and Hong Kong gained more than two percent.Trump has imposed a universal tariff of 10 percent but paused higher duties for dozens of trading partners for 90 days, while maintaining pressure on China.- Short-lived relief? -Washington’s new exemptions will benefit US tech companies such as Nvidia and Dell as well as Apple, which makes iPhones and other premium products in China.The relief could be short-lived with some of the exempted consumer electronics targeted for upcoming sector-specific tariffs on goods deemed key to US national defense networks.On Air Force One Sunday, Trump said tariffs on the semiconductors — which powers any major technology from e-vehicles and iPhones to missile systems — “will be in place in the not distant future.””Like we did with steel, like we did with automobiles, like we did with aluminum… we’ll be doing that with semiconductors, with chips and numerous other things,” he said. “We want to make our chips and semiconductors and other things in our country,” Trump reiterated, adding that he would do the same with “drugs and pharmaceuticals.”The US president said he would announce tariffs rates for semiconductors “over the next week,” while his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said they would likely be in place “in a month or two.”The White House says Trump remains optimistic about securing a deal with China, although administration officials have made it clear they expect Beijing to reach out first.Trump’s trade representative, Jamieson Greer, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that “we don’t have any plans” for talks between the US president and Xi.- Japan negotiates -The White House insists the aggressive policy is bearing fruit, saying dozens of countries have already opened trade negotiations to secure deals before the 90-day pause ends.”We’re working around the clock, day and night, sharing paper, receiving offers and giving feedback to these countries,” Greer told CBS.Japanese Economic Revitalisation Minister Ryosei Akazawa will visit Washington for negotiations this week, with his country’s automakers hit by Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on the auto sector.He warned that Japanese company profits are already “being cut day by day”.”I will do my best, bearing in mind what’s best for our national interests and what is most effective,” Akazawa said in parliament.burs-lth/ach

Social media juggernaut Meta stands trial on Monday facing serious US government allegations that it abused its market power to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp before they could become competitors.By moving forward, the trial in a Washington federal court dashes the hopes of Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg that the return of Donald Trump to the White House would see the government let up on the enforcement of antitrust law against Big Tech.The Meta case is being made by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the powerful US consumer protection agency, and could see the owner of Facebook forced to divest Instagram and WhatsApp, which have grown into global powerhouses since their buyout.The trial will be run and decided by Judge James Boasberg, who is also presiding over a high-profile case involving White House orders to deport Venezuelans using wartime law.The case against Meta was originally filed in December 2020, during the first Trump administration, and all eyes were on whether he would ask the FTC to stand down.Zuckerberg, the world’s third-richest person, has made repeated visits to the White House as he tries to persuade the US leader to choose settlement instead of fighting the trial, a decision that would be extraordinary at this late stage.FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson played down such a possibility, telling The Verge, “I’d be very surprised if anything like that ever happened.”As part of his lobbying efforts, Zuckerberg contributed to Trump’s inauguration fund and overhauled content moderation policies. He also purchased a $23 million mansion in Washington in what was seen as a bid to spend more time close to the center of political power. “It would be borderline scandalous if Zuckerberg went to the White House and wound up with a settlement,” Jonathan Kanter, an antitrust enforcer under the Biden administration, told CNBC.The Meta lawsuit represents just one of five major tech antitrust actions recently initiated by the US government.Google is facing two cases and was found guilty of search-market dominance abuse last August, while Apple and Amazon are also heading to court.Zuckerberg, his former lieutenant Sheryl Sandberg, and a long line of executives from rival companies will be taking the stand over a trial expected to last at least eight weeks.Central to the case is Facebook’s 2012 billion-dollar purchase of Instagram — then a small but promising photo-sharing app that now boasts two billion active users.An email from Zuckerberg cited by the FTC showed him depicting Instagram’s emergence as “really scary,” adding that is “why we might want to consider paying a lot of money for this.”The FTC argues Meta’s $19 billion WhatsApp acquisition in 2014 followed the same pattern, with Zuckerberg fearing the messaging app could either transform into a social network or be purchased by a competitor.Meta’s defense attorneys will argue that its substantial investments transformed these acquisitions into the blockbusters they are today.They will also highlight that Meta’s apps are free for users and face fierce competition.The FTC argues that Meta’s monopoly power is demonstrated by a severely downgraded user experience — with too many ads and product changes that users have no choice but to tolerate.- Defining the market -A key courtroom battleground will be how FTC defines Meta’s market.The US government argues that Facebook and Instagram are dominant players in apps that provide a way to connect with family and friends, a category that does not include TikTok and YouTube.But Meta disagrees. “The evidence at trial will show what every 17-year-old in the world knows: Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp compete with Chinese-owned TikTok, YouTube, X, iMessage and many others,” a spokesperson said.”The bigger that Meta can make the relevant market… the more likely it is to defeat the FTC’s case,” said lawyer Brendan Benedict on Substack.

The helicopter tour company behind a crash in New York that killed six people last week is shutting down, US authorities said Sunday.A senior business executive, his wife and three children died along with the pilot when the helicopter operated by New York Helicopter Tours malfunctioned and plunged into the Hudson River on Thursday.The family was on a tourism flight over Manhattan, described by the operator as the “ultimate sightseeing tour of New York City.”New York Helicopter Tours is “shutting down their operations immediately,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement on X.”The FAA will be launching an immediate review of the tour operator’s license and safety record,” the civil aviation authority said.The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.Jersey City officials said working theories included a drone collision, a bird strike or mechanical failure.Video of the incident has emerged showing the fuselage apparently becoming detached from the rotor.The crash has shone a another light on US aviation safety after a string of deadly crashes, including the collision between a military helicopter and a passenger jet in Washington in January that claimed 67 lives.A light aircraft also crashed after departing Boca Raton airport in Florida on Friday, with local media reporting three people had been killed after the plane developed a mechanical issue.

Pop star Katy Perry will be the biggest name in an all-female group set to touch the edge of space Monday, roaring into the cosmos on one of billionaire Jeff Bezos’ rockets.The “Firework” and “California Gurls” singer will be lofted more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) above the Earth’s surface in a vessel from Blue Origin, the space company owned by the Amazon founder.Five other women including Bezos’ fiancee Lauren Sanchez will join the flight, slated to blast off from western Texas at around 8:30 am (1330 GMT).Their fully automated craft will rise vertically before the crew capsule detaches mid-flight, later falling back to the ground slowed by parachutes and a retro rocket.Monday’s mission is the first all-female space crew since Valentina Tereshkova’s historic solo flight in 1963.It is also the 11th sub-orbital crewed operation by Blue Origin, which has offered the space tourism experiences for several years.The company does not publicly communicate the price of trips made possible by its New Shepard rocket.Lasting around 10 minutes, the flight will bring the passengers beyond the Karman line — the internationally recognized boundary of space.There will be a brief period when the women can unbuckle from their seats and float in zero gravity.- ‘Inspiration’ -Perry recently told Elle magazine that she was taking part “for my daughter Daisy,” whom she shares with actor Orlando Bloom, “to inspire her to never have limits on her dreams.””I’m just so excited to see the inspiration through her eyes and the light in her eyes when she sees that rocket go, and she goes back to school the next day and says ‘Mom went to space’,” Perry added.Perry, launched onto the international stage with her 2008 hit “I Kissed a Girl,” will sit alongside TV presenter Gayle King, film producer Kerianne Flynn, former NASA scientist Aisha Bowe and Amanda Nguyen, founder of a campaign group against sexual violence.They follow 52 previous Blue Origin passengers, including longtime “Star Trek” leading man William Shatner.Such high-profile guests are intended to keep public interest in Blue Origin’s work, as it battles multiple rival firms in the space tourism field.Bezos’ top challenger in passenger flights is Virgin Galactic, which offers a similar sub-orbital experience.But Blue Origin aims in future to bring space tourists into orbit, competing directly with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.In January, Blue Origin’s much more powerful New Glenn rocket successfully completed its first unmanned orbital mission.

US President Donald Trump is set to meet with Salvadoran counterpart Nayib Bukele on Monday, who has won heaping praise from Washington for partnering in its legally contested migrant crackdown.Bukele is viewed as the Trump administration’s closest ally in Latin America and enjoys broad support at home for his own strongfisted campaign against criminal groups.Shortly after Trump’s inauguration to a second term, Bukele made the extraordinary offer to take in prisoners from the United States.Trump took the Salvadoran leader up on his proposal last month, sending over 250 migrants there in a rapid deportation blitz that came just hours after he invoked a rarely used law dating to 1798.In El Salvador, the deportees were ushered into the notorious CECOT mega-prison, a crown jewel of Bukele’s anti-gang efforts.The Trump administration has contended that the migrants were members of criminal gangs designated by the United States as terrorist organizations, but relatives of several of the men contend they have no connection to organized crime.One case in particular, that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, has set off a major legal row, after the Trump administration admitted he had been deported in an “administrative error.”A federal judge has ordered the government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States, but Trump officials contend he is now solely in Salvadoran custody.White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said last week that the prison partnership would feature in Trump and Bukele’s discussion.Trump wrote on social media on Saturday that “our nations are working closely together to eradicate terrorist organizations and build a future of Prosperity.”US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that 10 further “criminals” had arrived in El Salvador.”The alliance between (Donald Trump) and President (Bukele) has become an example for security and prosperity in our hemisphere,” he wrote on X.- $6 million deal -Aside from political benefits for both leaders, Bukele’s offer to take in deportees serves as a potential security and economic boon for him.His government received $6 million for taking deportees, which Bukele described as “a very low fee for them, but a high one for us.”Despite the partnership, El Salvador was among the dozens of US trade partners that the Trump administration slapped with 10 percent tariffs.The United States is the main destination for Salvadoran exports. Of the nearly $6.5 billion in goods exported from El Salvador in 2024, $2.1 billion went to the United States, including clothing, sugar and coffee, according to the central bank.For this reason, the president of the Salvadoran Industrial Association, Jorge Arriaza, hopes Bukele’s visit to the White House will provide “a little more clarity” about the tariff’s implementation.The United States is home to 2.5 million Salvadorans who are a mainstay of their native country’s economy.El Salvador received $8.5 billion in family remittances in 2024, 23 percent of the country’s GDP. In January and February, remittances grew 14 percent compared to the same period in 2024, due to fears over deportation, according to economists.burs-tgb/des/dhw

World leaders condemned a Russian missile strike on Ukraine on Sunday, one of the deadliest attacks in months, while US President Donald Trump called it a “horrible thing” and a “mistake”.Two ballistic missiles hit the centre of the northeastern city of Sumy, close to the Russian border, on Sunday morning, killing at least 34 people and wounding more than 100 others, Ukrainian authorities said.The strike came two days after US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin and push Trump’s efforts to end the more than three-year war.”I think it was terrible. And I was told they made a mistake. But I think it’s a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing,” US President Trump told reporters on board Air Force One while headed back to Washington on Sunday evening.Asked to clarify what he meant by a “mistake”, Trump said that “they made a mistake… you’re gonna ask them” — without specifying who or what he was referring to.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the attack “horrifying” and a “tragic reminder of why President Trump and his administration are putting so much time and effort into trying to end this war and achieve durable peace”. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday urged Trump to visit his country to better understand the devastation wrought by Russia’s invasion. “Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead,” he said according to a transcript of an interview broadcast on CBS.Zelensky stressed that the attack occurred on Palm Sunday, a major Christian feast.”Only completely deranged scum can do something like this,” he said in his Sunday evening address.Emergency services said the missiles killed 34 people, including two children, and wounded 117, including 15 children.People ran for cover amid burning cars and the dead were seen covered in silver sheets at the scene where rescuers worked through the rubble of a building near a destroyed trolleybus. Zelensky said eight injured people were in serious condition.The Russian attack damaged 20 buildings in total, including a university, five apartment buildings, cafes, shops and the district court, he added.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “deeply alarmed and shocked” by the strike, which highlighted a “devastating pattern of similar assaults on Ukrainian cities and towns in recent weeks”, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.- ‘A lot of corpses’ -The head of Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said on Telegram that Russia had used two Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles on Sumy.One witness told AFP she heard two explosions.”A lot of people were very badly injured. A lot of corpses,” she said, struggling to speak.It was the second Russian attack this month to cause a large civilian death toll. An attack on Zelensky’s home city of Kryvi Rig killed at least 18 people, including nine children.Trump is pushing for a quick end to the war, with the United States holding direct talks with Russia despite its unrelenting attacks on Ukraine.Washington has also held talks with Ukrainian officials on a potential truce, while European nations are discussing a military deployment to reinforce any Ukraine ceasefire.Kyiv has previously agreed to a US-proposed unconditional ceasefire but Moscow has turned it down.Zelensky called on the United States and Europe to give a “strong response” to Russia, adding: “Talking has never stopped ballistic missiles and bombs.”Trump has previously voiced anger at Russia for “bombing like crazy” in Ukraine.France’s President Emmanuel Macron said the strike on Sumy showed Russia’s “blatant disregard for human lives, international law and the diplomatic efforts of President Trump”.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” by the attack, which Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni described as a “cowardly” act by Russia.Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz described it as “a serious war crime, deliberate and intended”.Russia has relentlessly attacked Ukraine in recent weeks.Sumy has been under increasing pressure since Moscow pushed back many of Ukraine’s troops from its Kursk region inside Russia, across the border.  Kyiv has warned for weeks that Moscow could mount an offensive on the city.Russia launched its invasion partially through the Sumy region and briefly occupied parts of it before being pushed back by Ukrainian forces. On Sunday, Russia said it captured another village in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region. 

US police said Sunday they had arrested a man for alleged arson and “terrorism” after an attack at the official residence of Democratic heavyweight and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Shapiro, widely viewed as a potential 2028 presidential contender, was inside with his family when the fire broke out in a different part of the Georgian-style mansion in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, state police said.”While the fire was successfully extinguished, it caused a significant amount of damage to a portion of the residence,” the force said in a statement. No casualties were reported.Shapiro said that he and his sleeping family were woken up by a police trooper who “banged on our door” at around 2:00 am local time (0600 GMT) and that they were evacuated from the building.”Thank God no one was injured and the fire was extinguished,” he said. Speaking to reporters outside the residence, a broken window blackened by the fire visible behind him, Shapiro made a forceful appeal for an end to political violence.”This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society, and I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other… it is not OK, and it has to stop,” he said.Shapiro, who is Jewish, held a ceremony with family and friends earlier in the night to mark the first night of the Passover holiday.While noting the arsonist’s motive was not yet known, Shapiro said he would not be intimidated in observing his faith.Police said they arrested a man suspected of having carried out the attack, naming him as Cody Balmer, 38.”Cody Balmer is in custody. We are preparing a criminal complaint to charge him,” said district attorney Fran Chardo, adding that the charges would include “attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault against an enumerated person.”The term “enumerated person” is usually used for law enforcement officers or other public officials.Authorities said Balmer accessed the property by coming over a fence, and that he had “homemade incendiary devices” on his person.He spent several minutes on the property evading police before he broke in and set the fire, top state police officials Christopher Paris and George Bivens said.Top Republican officials reacted to the attack Sunday afternoon, with US Attorney General Pam Bondi saying on X she was “deeply relieved that Governor Shapiro and his family are safe.”Vice President JD Vance called the attack “really disgusting violence” and said he hopes “whoever did it is brought swiftly to justice.”President Donald Trump, when asked about the attack Sunday night while returning to Washington aboard Air Force One, said he had just heard about it.The 51-year-old Shapiro was in the race to be Democrat Kamala Harris’s running mate in her ultimately unsuccessful US presidential bid — a position that instead went to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.Shapiro, an assertive political centrist, was elected governor of Pennsylvania in 2022 when he faced off against a far-right candidate backed by Trump.