An Indian naval officer has died after leading firefighting efforts when flames broke out on board India’s only operational aircraft carrier.

The fire started on Friday morning as the INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier entered the harbor of its home port of Karwar, just south of the popular holiday destination of Goa.

Lieutenant Commander DS Chauhan “bravely led the firefighting efforts in the affected compartment,” the Indian Navy said, as quoted by local media. The fire was brought under control, but the officer lost consciousness and was evacuated to a nearby naval hospital, but efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.

An investigation into what caused the fire has started, but the navy said that, thanks to the “swift action” of the ship’s crew, the warship did not suffer any serious damage which would affect combat capability.

Purchased from Russia in 2004 for $2.35 billion, the modified Kiev-class carrier was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 2013. Currently the only carrier operational in India’s inventory, it is capable of carrying up to 30 aircraft including the MiG-29K fighter jet.

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Donald Trump has called on the US, Russia, and China to reduce their nuclear arsenals amid reports that his administration is planning to propose a landmark arms control deal with Beijing and Moscow.

In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, the US president said that he welcomed Russia’s efforts to help denuclearize the Korean Peninsula – but that more must be done.

“We want to get rid of the nuclear weapons, we all have to get rid [of them]. Russia has to get rid of them, and China has to get rid of them,” Trump stated.

His comments coincide with reports that the White House is gearing up for an ambitious arms control treaty with Russia and China. The deal, still in its early stages, would impose restrictions on unregulated nuclear weapons and would call on Beijing to join an arms-control pact verifying China’s nuclear capabilities.

In past months, Trump has publicly expressed support for the idea of limiting or reducing the world’s nuclear arsenals.

“Between Russia and China and us, we’re all making hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons, including nuclear [weapons], which is ridiculous,” Trump said in early April.

The president continued: “I think it’s much better if we all got together and we didn’t make these weapons. So I think that’s something that could be a phase two after this [trade war] is done.”

In December, the president tweeted that he wanted to make a deal with Russia and China to end the “uncontrollable arms race.”

The ambitious plan for promoting non-proliferation clashes with the president’s past approaches to arms control.

Trump announced in February that the US would withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with Russia. Moscow lambasted the move as a provocation that would lead to a new arms race.

Trump may also struggle to convince the international community that Washington will honor any new arms control agreements. His decision to unilaterally pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran angered many US allies, and sparked accusations from Tehran that the US is incapable of keeping its word.

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Washington has to change its approach to denuclearization talks, a senior North Korean minister said, adding that the UN sanctions are not a major headache for the country.

Pyongyang is “barely affected” by the economic restrictions imposed by the UN to tackle its nuclear pursuits, North Korean External Economic Affairs Minister Kim Yong-jae told Yonhap News Agency on Friday.

North Korea faced international backlash when it withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003 and later conducted a series of nuclear tests and ballistic missiles launches. A range of UNSC resolutions, among other things, banned arms trade with Pyongyang and imposed restrictions on exports and imports.

The official claimed that the sanctions “don’t bother” the authorities in Pyongyang, and that the national energy and electricity output has increased from last year.

The minister also took a dig at Washington’s approach to North Korea’s nuclear program, indicating that officials in the US should revise their strategy.

The minister’s words come just one day after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un discussed denuclearization with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok.

Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal was also in the spotlight during the February Kim-Trump summit in Hanoi, which ended with both leaders abandoning the negotiations earlier than scheduled. North Korean officials later revealed that one of the reasons was Washington’s hardline stance on the matter of sanctions, accusing Trump’s team of a “gangster-like approach.”

Three journalists have been summoned for questioning by French police for their role in an explosive report detailing how the Macron government knowingly sold arms to Saudi Arabia and the UAE for use in Yemen.

Disclose co-founders Geoffrey Livolsi and Mathias Destal, as well as Benoit Collombat of Radio France have been summoned by police for questioning about the revelations contained within the April 15 report published by Disclose who partnered with Radio France, Mediapart, Arte Info, and Konbini.

The report contained a leaked, classified French intelligence report to the president and Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly detailing the use of French weapons in Yemen during a defence council meeting on October 3, 2018.

The report proves that Macron’s government deliberately lied about having no knowledge that French arms, including French-supplied CAESAR howitzer artillery, tanks, and laser-guided missile systems, would be used “offensively” in Yemen, in violation of the 2014 Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) which entered into force on December 24, 2014.

The journalists argue that the revelations “are of major public interest, that bring to the attention of citizens and their representatives what the government wanted to conceal,” adding that Macron’s decision to pursue them constitutes infringement on freedom of the press and speech in general.  

“We have learned that a preliminary investigation for ‘compromising national defence secrets’ has been launched by the Paris prosecutors,” Disclose said in a statement.

The journalists are due to be questioned by the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), France’s domestic intelligence agency, in a hearing scheduled for mid-May. The move has been condemned in a statement signed by 36 French press outlets, including Le Monde and AFP.

Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen which has been waged since 2015. Up to 14 million people are at risk of starvation as a result of the ensuing Saudi-led blockade.

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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has expressed horror at the news that 1,000 penis amputations take place in the South American country each year, slamming the shocking stat as “ridiculous and sad.”

Bolsonaro told reporters in Brasilia on Thursday the amputations are carried out “due to a lack of water and soap,” and that the government has to work with men to make them know the dangers of bad hygiene practices.

“When you get to a point like that, you see that we’re really at the bottom of the pit,” the 64-year-old president said, Globo reports.

“We have to find a way out of the bottom of the pit, helping these people by raising awareness, really showing what they have to do, which is good for them, is good for their future, and to avoid getting to that point that is ridiculous, sad for us, that amount of amputations that we have a year.”

A spokesperson from the Brazilian urology society told Reuters the 1,000 figure comes from official data on penis amputations, and that they are carried out to deal with untreatable infections, cancers, and HIV complications.

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There’s a couple of iconic Russian songs you may (or may not) have heard of, but they appear to be particularly fancied by North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un.

Kim, who made his first-ever visit to Russia this week, has a soft spot for three Russian songs, revealed Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the Far East’s Primorsky Krai. While they may sound a bit retro for Western ears, the tunes have been around in Russia and beyond for at least several decades.

1. Katyusha

Written on the eve of World War II, this is one of the most iconic Russian patriotic songs. Outside Russia, it is still popular in China, North Korea, Mongolia and other countries. ‘Katyusha’ was notably performed by a military brass band upon Kim’s arrival to Vladivostok.

2. Evening in the Harbor

A little known war song, it was composed back in 1941 at which time the Germans were about to encircle Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), starting the bloody 872-day siege of Russia’s second-largest city.

3. Million Scarlet Roses

A great hit by Alla Pugacheva, one of Russia’s best-selling and most-renowned female artist, which she sang during her first and last concert in Pyongyang in 1989.

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A 26-year-old man in possession of improvised maps of and six passes to parliament and assault rifle ammunition was arrested by Sri Lankan authorities overnight.

Local reports say police were responding to a tip-off when they found the 26-year-old carrying several parliamentary passes and a rough map marking out the road route to the parliament. They also found a vehicle which was possibly modified to carry a bomb, although no explosives have been found.

A canine unit was deployed to search for explosives but found nothing. Police recovered a tablet device, three mobile phones, a dozen SIM cards, T-56 assault rifle ammunition, and several credit cards during the raid.

Sri Lanka has deployed thousands of troops to hunt for suspects connected with the horrific Easter bombings. The raid was launched thanks to an anonymous tip-off following the Easter Sunday bombings which killed over 350 people, injuring an additional 520. Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The as yet unnamed 26-year-old suspect is due in court Thursday. Overall, the number of people arrested in connection with the attacks has risen to over 100, and eight of the nine suicide bombers have been named so far.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena asked his defense minister and chief of police to resign Wednesday.

Sri Lankan police arrested a further three people, seizing 21 grenades and six swords during a raid in Colombo, though authorities did not specify whether the raids were directly related to the Easter Sunday bombing investigation.

Police forces from at least six countries are assisting Sri Lankan authorities with their investigations, including Scotland Yard, the FBI, the New Zealand Police, the Australian Federal Police, Danish and Dutch police, and Interpol.

It has also emerged that one of the suicide bombers, Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim, the son of a billionaire spice tycoon, was previously arrested and subsequently released by police.

“It was the suicide bomber of the Cinnamon Grand bomb attack who was released earlier,” Sri Lankan government spokesman Sudarshana Gunawardana said. Ibrahim’s father, Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim, has been arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting his sons.

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North Korea has warned of a “corresponding response” as it vented anger at the ongoing military drills between the US and South Korea. Pyongyang says such steps simply hamper the reconciliation process.

In a strongly-worded statement issued by the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country on Thursday, Pyongyang blasted the joint air force exercises as “acts of perfidy.”

It added that the maneuvers go against the “trend toward the reconciliation on the peninsula” and threatened the “valuable spark of peace, reconciliation and cooperation” between the two Koreas.

The committee, which oversees inter-Korean affairs, also warned the South Korean authorities “to behave with discretion,” and said the exercises risked north-south bilateral ties.

It finished by saying that such a “military provocation” would garner a “corresponding response,” noting that authorities in Seoul “can never make a complaint” over whatever actions Pyongyang eventually undertakes.

The two-week joint air force exercises, which kicked off on Monday, had been organized as a more low-key alternative to the annual Max Thunder drills usually conducted by the US and South Korea.

It follows a call made by Trump following his first summit with Kim Jong-un last June to suspend the “very provocative” war games after an agreement was reached by both parties to back “complete denuclearization” of the Korean peninsula.

Since then, several military exercises have been either canceled or scaled-back.

However, the negotiations floundered following a second meeting between the two leaders in Vietnam in late February. Back then, both heads of state walked away without securing a deal amid disagreements over the lifting of sanctions on Pyongyang.

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The French president has fallen victim to infamous Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus, who posed as Ukraine’s President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky after his recent landslide victory, a video from the trolling duo claims.

Vladimir ‘Vovan’ Kuznetsov and Alexei ‘Lexus’ Stolyarov released a 15-minute recording of the call on Wednesday with a person they claim is Macron — although the identity of the prankee has not been confirmed.

At one point during the call, the supposed Zelensky says he believes it is time for Ukraine to again “build a dialogue with Russia,” to which Macron replies this is “absolutely right.”

Near the end of the conversation, ‘Zelensky’ says he believes Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko “delayed peaceful resolution” to the conflict in eastern Ukraine “on purpose.”

“I do agree,” the alleged Macron surprisingly responds.

The duo even asked the supposed leader if France would extradite Poroshenko if he fled to France fearing prosecution over corruption allegations. Macron told them he believed France was probably “not the first country [Poroshenko] would like to move to.”

Vovan and Lexus have pulled off multiple high-profile prank phone calls on public figures, including former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, former UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and current US envoy to Venezuela Elliott Abrams.

Macron’s office declined to comment on the recording, but insisted the French leader has had genuine contact with Zelensky since his victory.

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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is meeting reporters in the aftermath of his first-ever summit with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un. The talks took place in the Pacific coast city of Vladivostok on Thursday.

Kim’s first ever state visit to Russia has been shrouded in secrecy and was not confirmed until the very last moment. It was revealed during the summit – by Kim himself – that one of the reasons for him to travel to Russia was to discuss the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula. Ties between Moscow and Pyongyang were also said to be on the agenda.

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