King Charles III to address Congress on April 28, leaders say
King Charles III speaks on March 27, 2026 in Oxford, England. (Kate Green/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — King Charles III will address a joint meeting of Congress on April 28 as part of his upcoming state visit to the U.S., according to a joint statement issued by Congressional leaders on Tuesday.
The address, the statement said, “celebrates the 250th anniversary of American independence and the enduring special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.”
The statement was issued by House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
“This year, the United States will mark the 250th anniversary of its independence. As we celebrate this historic milestone and recommit ourselves to the principles upon which our nation was founded, we also recognize that the American experiment endures in no small part because of the British tradition from which it sprang,” the statement said.
“We believe an address to Congress will provide a unique opportunity to share your vision for the future of our special relationship and reaffirm our alliance at this pivotal time in history,” it added.
Johnson posted about the invitation on X, noting the U.S. and U.K. “share one of the most consequential partnerships in history.”
President Donald Trump said that the state visit will take place from April 27 until April 30.
Preparations for the visit come at a tense moment between the Trump administration and NATO, of which Britain is a member, over the reluctance of allies in the intergovernmental military alliance to join the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. On Wednesday, Trump said in an interview that he is considering pulling the U.S. out of NATO.
In a press conference on Wednesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. is fully committed to NATO and that he isn’t going to change his position on the war.
“I have to act in our national interests,” Starmer told reporters. “This is not our war,” he continued, noting “a good deal of pressure on me to change my position in relation to joining the war. I’m not going to change my position on the war.”
In 2023, Congress passed legislation requiring any presidential decision to leave NATO to have two-thirds approval in the Senate or be authorized through an act of Congress.
Russian President Vladimir Putin walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People on May 20, 2026 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov – China Pool/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Wednesday, with the two leaders releasing a joint statement urging an end to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran as a matter of “utmost urgency.”
“The sides agree that military strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran breach international law and fundamental norms of international relations and seriously undermine stability in the Middle East,” the joint statement published on the Kremlin website said.
The statement stressed “the need for a return as soon as possible of the conflicting parties to dialogue and negotiations aimed to prevent the conflict zone from spreading and urged the international community to maintain an objective and impartial position, to assist de-escalation, and to defend the fundamental norms of international relations together.”
The two leaders also condemned what they called “treacherous military strikes against other countries, the hypocritical use of negotiations as cover for preparing such strikes, the assassination of leaders of sovereign states, the destabilization of the domestic political situation in these states and the provocation of regime change, and the brazen kidnapping of national leaders for trial.”
Moscow and Beijing have both been key partners for Tehran in recent years, as the U.S. and its European allies have sought to weaken the Islamic Republic through international sanctions and diplomatic isolation.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine since 2022 prompted the fostering of deeper military and economic ties between Moscow and Tehran, with Iranian munitions — in particular Iranian-designed Shahed strike drones — playing a key role in Russia’s ongoing campaign.
China, meanwhile, remains a key customer of Iranian oil, with some analysts estimating that Beijing accounts for up to 90% of Tehran’s crude exports.
China has been pushing for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Iran, which began with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes all across the country on Feb. 28. Beijing says it has been coordinating closely with Pakistan, which has emerged as a key mediator in as-yet unsuccessful peace talks between Washington and Tehran.
Following the meeting between Xi and Putin, both sides expressed support for the other’s “territorial integrity.”
Russia, Putin said — according to the Kremlin readout — “reaffirms its commitment to the One China principle and recognizes the existence of only one China. Taiwan is its integral part, and the government of the People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing all of China.”
China, the readout said, “supports Russia’s efforts towards the provision of security, stability, national development, prosperity, sovereignty and territorial integrity and ‘opposes external interference in Russian internal affairs.'”
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
Firefighters extinguish fires after Russian drone attacked residential areas in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, in February 11, 2026. (State Emergency Service of Ukraine / Handout /Anadolu via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that another night of Russian long-range strikes further undermined “trust in all diplomatic efforts to end this war,” as the sides continue to maneuver for advantage in ongoing U.S.-led peace negotiations.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 129 drones into Ukraine overnight into Wednesday morning, of which 112 were shot down or suppressed. Fifteen drones impacted across eight locations, the air force said.
Zelenskyy said in a post to Telegram that drones attacked the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Dnipro and Poltava regions.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SES) said that four people were killed, three of them children, by a Russian drone strike on a residential building in the northeastern city of Kharkiv. Two other people were injured in the attack, the SES said.
Two people were killed and nine others by Russian strikes in the northeastern Sumy region, according to regional Gov. Oleg Hryhorov.
The SES also reported a drone attack on a residential property in the southern city of Zaporozhzhia, in which at least five people were injured. Zelenskyy said that the attack in the city also damaged a hospital.
Oleksandr Prokudin, the governor of the southern Kherson region, said six people were injured there by Russian shelling.
Each night of attacks “proves that it is only through tough pressure on Russia and clear security guarantees for Ukraine that we can put an end to the killings,” Zelenskyy said in a post to social media.
“Until the pressure on the aggressor is insufficient and until our, Ukraine’s security is not guaranteed, nothing else will work,” he added. “The Russian army is not preparing to stop — they are preparing to continue fighting.”
The Ukrainian president again called for Western partners to provide more air defense support to Ukraine to help blunt Russian attacks and “protect life.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down 118 Ukrainian drones over 15 regions overnight.
Russia’s federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsiya, said that temporary flight restrictions were introduced at airports in Cheboksary, Kaluga, Kazan, Saratov, Volgograd, Ulyanovsk and Nizhnekamsk.
Two people were injured in a drone attack on the western Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported in a post to Telegram.
In the southern region of Volgograd, Gov. Andrey Bocharov reported a fire at an industrial site in the south of the region, plus drone damage to an apartment building and a kindergarten.
Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, suggested in a post to Telegram that an attack occurred at a major oil refinery in the Volgograd area.
Both sides have continued their long-range strike campaigns despite recent trilateral peace talks with U.S. representatives. All participants at last week’s second round of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi described the meetings as constructive, but the negotiations did not appear to achieve a breakthrough on several contentious points.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this week continued his recent criticism of ongoing peace negotiations.
In an interview published on Wednesday, Lavrov alleged to the Kremlin-aligned Empathy Manuchi online project that Kyiv and its European partners are sabotaging what he called the “balance of vital interests” agreed between Russia and the U.S. at the August summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
Putin and his top officials have repeatedly referred back to the “spirit and letter” of the Anchorage summit amid Trump’s efforts to hammer out a peace deal. The meeting was widely interpreted as a diplomatic and political coup for Putin.
Lavrov — as quoted by Russia’s state-run Tass news agency — claimed that the understandings reached in Alaska made it “entirely possible to quickly agree on a final agreement on a settlement,” but accused Kyiv and its European partners of trying to “turn it all to their advantage.”
Moscow, he said, will take steps to “ensure our own security.” Russia has demanded that Ukrainian forces withdraw from all of the partially-occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions — which together form the Donbas region — as a part of any peace deal. Kyiv has refused the demand.
Lavrov said that Ukrainian troops “will eventually be driven out” of the area regardless.
Firefighters at the scene in Highfield Road, Golders Green, London, after an apparent arson attack on four ambulances belonging to the Jewish Community Ambulance service in London. (Photo by Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — The Metropolitan Police in London is investigating an apparent arson attack on four ambulances belonging to the Jewish community ambulance service, Hatzalah, in the early hours of Monday morning.
Officials said the arson attack is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime.
No injuries were reported and the fires have been put out, police said. Nearby houses were evacuated as a precaution.
“This is a deeply shocking antisemitic arson attack,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on social media. “My thoughts are with the Jewish community who are waking up this morning to this horrific news. Antisemitism has no place in our society.”
Police Superintendent Sarah Jackson said in a statement that no arrests have been made, but they believe there are three suspects involved.
“We know this incident will cause a great deal of community concern and officers remain on scene to carry out urgent enquiries,” Jackson said. “We are in the process of examining CCTV and are aware of online footage. We believe we are looking for three suspects at this early stage.”
Police said there were reports of explosions in the fire, which they said is believed to be linked to gas canisters on the ambulances.
