标签： North America

A high-profile diplomatic encounter has taken place this week, as U.S. Senator Marco Rubio sat down for talks with Pope Leo, the first American-born pope in the history of the Catholic Church. The meeting comes at a moment of sharp public tension between the pontiff and former President Donald Trump, sparked by Pope Leo’s vocal opposition to a potential war with Iran and the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration agenda.

Pope Leo, who made history when he was elected to the papacy as the first leader from the United States, has emerged as one of the most prominent religious critics of Trump’s foreign and domestic policy stances. His firm rejection of escalated military action against Iran and unflinching pushback on hardline immigration restrictions have drawn direct criticism from Trump, escalating their public feud in recent weeks.

The sit-down between Rubio and Pope Leo is drawing attention from political observers across the nation, as it occurs against the backdrop of ongoing partisan debate over U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and the future of the country’s immigration system. While details of the closed-door discussion have not yet been released to the public, the meeting itself highlights the growing intersection between religious leadership and U.S. political discourse, particularly as disagreements over high-stakes national and global issues continue to deepen.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has shared joyful personal news with the public via an Instagram post: she welcomed her second child, a daughter named Viviana, into her family on May 1. Leavitt, who has served in her top communication role for the Trump administration since President Donald Trump returned to office last year, opened up about the new addition in her social media announcement.

“On May 1st, Viviana aka ‘Vivi’ joined our family, and our hearts instantly exploded with love,” Leavitt wrote in the post. She added that the newborn is perfectly healthy, and that her 2-year-old older brother Nicholas, nicknamed Niko, has been adjusting happily to life with his new baby sister. “We are enjoying every moment in our blissful newborn bubble,” she said.

This is Leavitt’s second child with her husband Nicholas Riccio; Niko will turn two in July. Leavitt first stepped away from her White House duties in April to begin maternity leave, but made an exception to briefly return to the press room after a shooting took place at the April 24 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, to update reporters on the developing situation. Since Leavitt started her leave, senior Trump administration officials have been filling in to lead the regular press briefings.

Earlier this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stepped into the briefing room to lead the daily press session. Rubio lightheartedly described the session as chaotic at points, and joked that he did not know most reporters by name, a stark contrast to Leavitt’s regular role. As of now, the White House has not confirmed how long Leavitt’s maternity leave will last, leaving uncertainty around when she will return to lead regular briefings full-time.

Nearly seven years after disgraced convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein died in federal custody ahead of his pending sex trafficking trial, a federal judge has ordered the public release of a short, handwritten document long claimed to be an unsigned suicide note left by Epstein.

The document, which was unsealed Wednesday following a legal push from media organizations and federal prosecutors, runs just seven lines. It claims that a months-long investigation into Epstein’s activities uncovered no evidence of wrongdoing, with the writer stating: “They investigated me for month – FOUND NOTHING!!!” The note also reflects a fatalistic acceptance of impending death, writing that “it is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye,” and concludes with “NO FUN – NOT WORTH IT.”

The origin of the document traces back to an alleged 2019 suicide attempt by Epstein, one month before he was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell. Nicholas Tartaglione, a former New York police officer who was Epstein’s cellmate at the time and is currently convicted of four counts of murder, has claimed he found the note tucked into a book in the shared cell after the attempt. Tartaglione first publicly revealed the note’s existence during a podcast appearance in 2023, and the document had been placed under seal as part of Tartaglione’s ongoing criminal proceedings.

Multiple independent outlets including the BBC have not been able to independently verify that Epstein actually wrote the note, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has not issued any official confirmation of its authenticity. When contacted by the BBC for comment on the unsealing, the DOJ did not immediately issue a response. A DOJ spokesperson previously told NBC News that department officials had not examined the note, noting that the agency has already undertaken “exhaustive effort” to declassify and release millions of pages of other court records tied to the Epstein case in recent months.

The push to unseal the document was led by The New York Times, which filed a formal petition to Judge Kenneth M. Karas, the federal judge overseeing the case in White Plains, New York, arguing that there was no legitimate legal justification to keep the note hidden from public view. Federal prosecutors also backed the release, arguing that Tartaglione’s repeated public comments about the note eliminated any need to maintain its sealed status, and that these disclosures constituted a formal waiver of any privilege that would justify continued sealing.

In his written order approving the unsealing, Judge Karas ruled that the document is subject to the longstanding legal presumption of public access to court records. “The Court comfortably concludes that public access to the Note promotes ‘a measure of accountability’ as well as ensures that the public will ‘have confidence in the administration of justice,’” Karas wrote. He also agreed that Tartaglione’s ongoing public discussion of the note waived any attorney-client privilege that could have protected the document from release, leaving no legal basis to keep it sealed.

Epstein’s 2019 death, which official investigations ruled a suicide, has been the source of widespread public speculation and conspiracy theories ever since it occurred. A federal investigation after his death confirmed multiple serious security failures at the federal correctional facility where he was being held on the night of his death, and lingering questions about the circumstances of his death have kept public interest in the case alive for years. The release of this note is unlikely to resolve those open questions, as its brevity and unconfirmed origin leave its meaning and authenticity open to interpretation.

Diplomatic efforts to end ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran have entered a new phase this week, with Tehran confirming it will deliver its formal feedback on a US peace framework to Pakistani mediators once internal review is complete. The development follows widespread reports that the two longstanding adversaries may be moving closer to a preliminary agreement, even as hardline rhetoric from both sides and continued regional clashes cast uncertainty over the outcome.

Earlier this week, US-based news outlet Axios broke the story that the White House is closing in on a 14-point draft memorandum of understanding with Iran, a document that would lay the foundation for future, more in-depth negotiations over Iran’s contested nuclear program. Citing four unnamed sources briefed on the closed-door talks, Axios reported the one-page draft includes three core preliminary provisions: a temporary pause on Iranian uranium enrichment, the rolling back of crippling US economic sanctions on Tehran, and the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to global commercial shipping. All draft terms are conditional on a final binding agreement being reached, the sources added.

The Axios report was later corroborated by two separate sources familiar with the Pakistan-mediated talks who spoke to Reuters, though the full text of the proposal has not been released to the public. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei confirmed the status of Tehran’s review in a statement to the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA), noting: “The American proposal is still being reviewed by Iran and after concluding, it will inform the Pakistani side of its opinion.” Pakistan, which has stepped in as the neutral mediator for the talks, has already signaled its commitment to locking in a durable peace. Pakistani Foreign Minister stated his nation is working to turn the existing ceasefire into a permanent end to hostilities.

Not all figures within Iran’s government have signaled openness to the US proposal, however. Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesperson for the Iranian Parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, dismissed the draft as nothing more than a US “wish list” in a post on X. He doubled down on Iran’s hardline stance, warning that “The Americans will not gain anything in a war they are losing that they have not gained in face-to-face negotiations.” Rezaei added that Iran “has its finger on the trigger and is ready,” threatening a “harsh and regret-inducing response” if Washington refuses to surrender and make the required concessions.

US President Donald Trump has echoed the bellicose rhetoric while also expressing cautious optimism about a deal. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump warned that if Iran rejects the agreement, “the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.” At the same time, he claimed the US had held “very good talks with Iran in the last 24 hours” and said a final agreement is well within reach. “They [Iran] want to make a deal. We’ve had very good talks over the last 24 hours and it’s very possible that we’ll make a deal up there,” Trump said, adding “I think we won.” He also repeated an unconfirmed claim that Iran has already agreed to abandon any pursuit of a nuclear weapon, a core sticking point in decades of tensions between the two nations.

Trump recently announced a pause to Operation Project Freedom, a US mission launched days earlier to escort stranded commercial vessels out of the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, designed to restore global oil flows and stabilize the global economy. The announcement came after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that the earlier US-Israeli offensive Operation Epic Fury against Iranian targets had concluded after achieving its core objectives. Trump added that Operation Epic Fury would remain over “assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to.”

Iran has not yet officially responded to Trump’s pause of the escort mission, but the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has previously hinted the strait would reopen if all aggressive threats from the US and its allies are withdrawn. The strategic waterway, which carries roughly 20% of the world’s global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, has been effectively closed to most commercial traffic since the US and Israel launched their offensive against Iran in late February. A ceasefire agreed between Washington and Tehran in early Africa paused Iranian drone and missile strikes on Gulf nations including the United Arab Emirates, but very few commercial vessels have been able to safely transit the strait in the months since. The US has also imposed its own naval blockade on Iranian ports, and US Central Command confirmed Wednesday it had fired on and disabled an Iranian-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that attempted to break the blockade.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Wednesday that there is full strategic coordination between his government and the Trump administration on Iran policy. “There are no surprises. We share common goals, and the most important objective is the removal of all enriched material from Iran and the dismantling of Iran’s enrichment capabilities,” he said. Netanyahu’s comments came shortly after Israeli forces carried out their first strike on Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, since the April ceasefire between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah. Netanyahu wrote on social media that the strike targeted a senior Hezbollah commander responsible for rocket attacks on Israeli civilian settlements and the deaths of IDF soldiers.

Hezbollah opened its campaign against Israel in early March, launching strikes to retaliate for Israel’s attacks on Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury. Despite the ceasefire agreement reached in April, both sides have repeatedly accused one another of violating the terms and continued low-intensity clashes. Most Israeli airstrikes have targeted southern Lebanese territory, while Hezbollah has regularly launched rocket and drone attacks on Israeli troops along the border and northern Israeli civilian areas.

A new joint investigation by three leading democratic security organizations has uncovered coordinated efforts by foreign actors from Russia and the United States to inflame separatist sentiment in Canada’s western province of Alberta, posing a direct threat to the country’s democratic stability and national sovereignty. The findings come at a critical moment, as a grassroots separatist movement has confirmed it has collected enough signatures via a citizen petition to trigger a possible independence referendum as early as October 19 this year.

The Alberta separatist movement grew out of long-standing frustrations labeled “western alienation,” a sentiment held by many local residents who argue their province’s priorities, particularly around its abundant natural resource reserves, are consistently sidelined by federal policymakers based in Ottawa. While support for full independence remains a minority position, recent polling puts backing for separation at roughly 25% of the province’s population, and the grassroots push for a public vote has gained measurable traction in recent months.

Released Wednesday by the Global Centre for Democratic Resilience, the Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Data and Conflict, and DisinfoWatch, the report details how foreign actors are leveraging existing genuine regional grievances — including widespread beliefs that Alberta’s resource wealth is unfairly exploited by the federal government — to push division across Canada. Disinformation operations are being carried out through social media platforms, Russian-aligned information networks, and covert online accounts, the investigation found.

Researchers emphasized that when outside powers amplify separatist rhetoric, normalize territorial break-up, erode public trust in Canadian democratic institutions, and encourage national division, the debate is no longer a purely domestic provincial political issue. “It becomes a direct threat to Canada’s democratic integrity, national security, and cognitive sovereignty,” the report’s authors wrote.

Marcus Kolga, director of DisinfoWatch, told the BBC that protecting unmanipulated domestic debate is a core priority for Canadian security. The social media accounts analyzed in the investigation all had documented histories of spreading disinformation in previous conflicts and political campaigns. Their content, researchers confirmed, is deliberately crafted to stoke tension around the separatist debate and is targeted to reach like-minded Albertans already sympathetic to separatist ideas.

The report characterizes Russia’s involvement in the movement as covert, doctrinally aligned, operationally active, and sustained over time. The end goal of these operations is to push foreign-backed narratives into local public discourse, creating what researchers call a “laundering effect” that blends local grievances with foreign strategic goals to amplify division. The investigation also uncovered the use of modern digital tools to spread disinformation: economic opportunists are leveraging generative artificial intelligence, paid voice actors, and professional video production to create content that mimics authentic Canadian political commentary, flooding public debate with false and misleading claims.

Beyond Russian covert activity, the report notes that American influencers have also joined the campaign, pouring external fuel on the separatist fire to provoke political unrest. Kolga added that senior officials from former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration held direct meetings with Alberta separatist leaders and made public statements endorsing their separatist cause. The revelation of these contacts earlier this year prompted Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta’s Premier to issue a joint statement calling on the United States to respect Canadian sovereignty.

Even if the referendum moves forward in October, and even if a majority votes in favor of separation, the path to full independence would be long and fraught with uncertainty. Canadian federal law sets clear binding conditions for any provincial independence referendum, including requiring a clearly worded ballot question, independent oversight from the House of Commons, and a “clear majority” of voter support. If all legal conditions are met, Alberta would still need to enter into complex, potentially years-long negotiation with the federal government to finalize the terms of separation.