ELON MUSK STRIKES DEAL TO BUY TWITTER FOR $44BN

The board of Twitter has agreed to a $44bn (£34.5bn) takeover offer from the billionaire Elon Musk.

Mr Musk, who made the shock bid less than two weeks ago, said Twitter had "tremendous potential" that he would unlock.

He also called for a series of changes from relaxing its content restrictions to eradicating fake accounts.

The firm initially rebuffed Mr Musk's bid, but it will now ask shareholders to vote to approve the deal.

"Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated," Mr Musk said in a statement announcing the deal.

"I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans," he added.

"Twitter has tremendous potential - I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it."

The move comes as Twitter faces growing pressure from politicians and regulators over the content that appears on its platform. It has drawn critics from left and right over its efforts to mediate misinformation on the platform.

‘U.S. WANTS TO SEE WEAKENED RUSSIA TO AVOID UKRAINE REPEAT’

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Monday after a secrecy-shrouded visit to Kyiv that the U.S. wanted to see “Russia weakened to the point that it can’t do things like invade Ukraine”. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accompanied him on the trip.

They said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is committed to winning his country’s fight against Russia and that the U.S. will help him achieve that goal.

“We had an opportunity to demonstrate directly our strong ongoing support for the Ukrainian government,” Mr. Blinken said. “This was, in our judgment, an important moment to be there, to have face-to-face conversations in detail.”

Mr. Austin announced the US would allocate an extra $713m (£559m) of military aid to Ukraine and other European nations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the West of attempting to "split Russian society and destroy Russia from within".

Mr Austin, a retired four-star general, was speaking after meeting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv along with Mr. Blinken. The visit marked the highest-level trip to Ukraine by US officials since the invasion began over two months ago.

At a news conference in Poland after the visit, Mr Austin told reporters the US wants to see "Russia weakened to the degree that it can't do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine".

The Pentagon chief added that US officials still believed Ukraine could win the conflict with "the right equipment" and the "right support".

NATO IS IN A PROXY WAR WITH RUSSIA, SAYS LAVROV

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said deliveries of Western weaponry to Ukraine mean that the Nato alliance is "in essence engaged in war with Russia”.

In an interview aired on Monday, he said: "These weapons will be a legitimate target for Russia’s military acting within the context of the special operation.”

Lavrov also told state television: "Nato, in essence, is engaged in a war with Russia through a proxy and is arming that proxy. War means war."

LAVROV: THREAT OF NUCLEAR WAR IS REAL

Lavrov also acknowledged there's a possibility of the conflict escalating to nuclear weapons, though he also sounded a hopeful note about the prospects of a peace accord.

Speaking to the Russian First Channel on Monday, he said Moscow wanted to avoid "artificially" elevated risks of such a conflict.

"This is our key position on which we base everything. The risks now are considerable," Lavrov said.

"I would not want to elevate those risks artificially. Many would like that. The danger is serious, real, And we must not underestimate it."

Lavrov also accused President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine of "pretending" to negotiate, calling him "a good actor”.

"If you watch attentively and read attentively what he says, you'll find a thousand contradictions," Russia’s top diplomat said.

The foreign minister said last week that Moscow was committed to avoiding a nuclear war.

On Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted that Lavrov’s latest comments were an indication Russia had lost its "last hope to scare the world off supporting Ukraine”.

"Thus the talk of a ‘real’ danger of WWIII. This only means Moscow senses defeat in Ukraine," he tweeted.

RUSSIA WARNS US AGAINST SENDING MORE ARMS

Russia has warned the US against sending more arms to Ukraine, Moscow’s ambassador to Washington told Russian state television. “We stressed the unacceptability of this situation when the US pours weapons into Ukraine, and we demanded an end to this practice,” Anatoly Antonov said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel. Antonov said an official diplomatic note had been sent to Washington expressing Russia’s concerns. He said such arms supplies from the US would further aggravate the situation and raised the stakes of the conflict.

‘FINLAND, SWEDEN TO APPLY FOR NATO ENTRY IN MAY’

Helsinki : Finland and Sweden will together express their wish to join Nato in May, tabloid newspapers Iltalehti in Finland and Expressen in Sweden reported on Monday, citing sources close to the matter. Despite tightening cooperation with the military alliance since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, the Nordic countries had both opted to stay out. But Russia’s invasion of Ukrainehas forced Sweden and Finland to examine whether their longstanding military neutrality is still the best means of ensuring national security.

According to Iltalehti, the leaders of Finland and Sweden plan to meet in the week of May 16 and after that publicly announce their plans to apply to join the alliance. Finnish foreign minister Pekka Haavisto declined to comment, but repeated his long-standing view that he would prefer Finland and Sweden made similar choices. Finland PM Sanna Marin said two weeks ago, while visiting her Swedish counterpart Magdalena Andersson, that she expected Finland to make its decision within weeks.

FIRES RIP THROUGH OIL DEPOTS IN RUSSIA’S KEY LOGISTICAL HUB

Large fires tore through oil depots on Monday in Bryansk, a Russian city 160km from the Ukrainian border that is a key logistical hub in Russia’s war effort. Russian officials said they were investigating the cause. Russian state television reported two separate explosions. One was at a civilian oil storage facility — part of a pipeline that links Russian oil fields with Europe — and the other was at a military oil depot. Russia has accused Ukraine of conducting attacks on border crossing points and other facilities.

CHINA'S MILITARY SPEND EXCEEDS INDIA, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, KOREA'S JOINTLY

In what outlines a growing militarisation in Asia and China’s rapidly expanding prowess, Beijing is spending more on its military than what India, Japan, South Korea and Australia collectively spend on their forces.

China’s defence expenditure reached $293 billion in 2021, much greater than the collective expenditure of $212.7 billion by India ($76.6 billion), Japan ($54.1 billion), South Korea ($50.2 billion) and Australia ($31.8 billion). A report released on Monday by Swedish think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said, “China’s spend of $293 billion in 2021 is an increase of 4.7% from 2020 and 72% from 2012. Its spending has grown for 27 consecutive years, the longest uninterrupted sequence of increase by any country.” China is the second largest defence spender in the world after the US. India, Japan, Korea and Australia are the third, ninth, tenth and twelfth largest spenders.

India and China are among the top three military spenders in the world. The US leads the pack with $801 billion. Pakistan is at the 22nd spot with $11.3 billion spending.

MACRON PLEDGES TO TACKLE ‘DOUBTS AND DIVISIONS’

Emmanuel Macron pledged to address deep divisions within France as results showed a clear presidential election win over Marine Le Pen, acknowledging that many had voted for him mainly to thwart his far-right challenger.

With all eyes turned towards a parliamentary election in June, he must now negotiate another tricky period of campaigning to try to ensure a legislature that will give him the majority he will need to implement his policies.

Final results of Sunday’s runoff showed Mr. Macron won 58.54% of the vote against 41.45% for Ms. Le Pen, a result in line with late polling but a higher margin of victory than many earlier surveys had predicted.

The result also give the far right its biggest share of the presidential ballot on record.

“Many in this country voted for me not because they support my ideas but to keep out those of the far-right. I want to thank them and know I owe them a debt in the years to come,” Mr. Macron said in a late-night victory speech.

“We will have to be benevolent and respectful because our country is riddled with so many doubts, so many divisions.”

A POLITICAL DEADLOCK THREATENS SRI LANKA’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY

As Sri Lanka witnesses a severe economic crash, a political deadlock at the country’s helm is threatening to delay any action for recovery.

The Rajapaksa administration has lost public confidence, going by citizens’ persistent calls for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, and their government. However, neither of the ruling brothers appears inclined to step down, and Mr. Gotabaya’s move appointing a new Cabinet, without three other Rajapaksas [two of his brothers and a nephew], has made little difference to the protesters.

Meanwhile, governance has come to a virtual halt as the ruling coalition begins to fall apart, pushing Sri Lanka into an unusual political stalemate.

The country’s two leaders stubbornly remain in office, and their government is not just tainted but also fractured, with lawmakers divided in their loyalties between the two Rajapaksa brothers.

Nalaka Godahewa, the Media Minister, told The Hindu: “I think we need an inclusive Cabinet with members from all factions in Parliament to address this crisis. I offered to resign to make way for others, but the President did not accept my resignation,” he said, adding: “I have nothing against the Prime Minister.” A new arrangement is in the interest of “political stability, which is crucial to addressing the economic crisis”, according to Mr. Godahewa.

NAWAZ SHARIF GIVEN PASSPORT TO RETURN TO PAKISTAN: REPORT

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been issued a passport to return to his home country from the U.K. where he was seeking treatment, a media report said on Monday.

The 72-year-old three-time premier, against whom several corruption cases were launched by the government of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, left for London in November 2019 after the Lahore High Court granted him four-week permission allowing him to go abroad for his treatment.

The Express Tribune newspaper reported that he has been issued a passport by the new government headed by his younger brother, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The nature of the passport is “ordinary” and it was made in the “urgent” category, Geo News reported.

Mr. Sharif, who is the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo, last week met Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in London and discussed the “overall political situation” in Pakistan and vowed to work together on issues pertaining to politics and national interest.

U.S. COURT HOLDS TRUMP IN CONTEMPT FOR NON-COMPLIANCE

A New York judge found former President Donald Trump in contempt of court and set in motion $10,000 daily fines on Monday for failing to adequately respond to a subpoena issued by the state’s attorney general as part of a civil investigation into his business dealings.

Judge Arthur Engoron said a contempt finding was appropriate because Mr. Trump and his lawyers hadn’t shown they had conducted a proper search for the records sought by the subpoena.

“Mr. Trump, I know you take your business seriously, and I take mine seriously,” Judge Engoron said in a Manhattan courtroom. “I hereby hold you in civil contempt and fine you $10,000 a day” until the terms of the subpoena are met.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, had asked the court to hold Mr. Trump in contempt after he missed a March 31 court-imposed deadline to turn over documents.

Mr. Trump, a Republican, has been fighting Ms. James in court over her investigation, which he has called a politically motivated “witch hunt.” Ms. James has been conducting investigation into the Trump Organization, centering around what she has claimed is a pattern of misleading banks and tax authorities about the value of his properties.

WORLD'S OLDEST PERSON DIES IN JAPAN AGED 119

A Japanese woman believed to have been the world's oldest person has died aged 119, public broadcaster NHK said on Monday, reporting the death of Kane Tanaka.

Born on Jan. 2, 1903 - the year of the Wright Brothers' first controlled flight of their motor-driven airplane - Tanaka was confirmed by Guinness World Records in 2019 as the oldest living person.

She died of old age at a hospital in Fukuoka city, western Japan, on April 19, NHK said. During her life, she had been partial to chocolate and fizzy drinks, NHK said.

Japan has a dwindling and rapidly ageing population. As of last September, the country had 86,510 centenarians, and nine out of every 10 were women.