The United States has announced murder charges against former Cuban President Raúl Castro, Reuters reported.

The indictment marks a new low in relations between the longtime Cold War rivals and comes as U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for regime change in Cuba, where Castro’s communists ‌have been in charge since his late brother Fidel Castro led a revolution in 1959.

The charges against Castro and five fighter pilots in the Cuban military stem from a 1996 incident in which Cuban jets shot down planes operated by a group of Cuban exiles, according to Reuters.

Raúl Castro, 94, was charged with one count of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, four counts of murder, and two counts of destruction of aircraft.

He appeared in public in Cuba earlier this month and there is no evidence he has left the island or that he will be extradited, according to Reuters.

“From the shores of Havana to the banks of the Panama Canal, we will drive out the forces of lawlessness and crime and foreign encroachment,” Trump said ⁠at a Coast Guard Academy event in New London, Connecticut, earlier on Wednesday.

Speaking at a ceremony in Miami to honor the victims of the 1996 incident, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche did not directly answer questions about whether the U.S. military would arrest Castro.

Blanche said he expected Castro to one day face the charges.

“There was a warrant issued for his arrest, so we expect that he will show up here by his own will or by another way,” Blanche said to applause in a packed auditorium of government officials and Cuban Americans.

In a post on X, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Cuba had acted legitimately to defend its territory in shooting down the planes. He said the indictment appeared to be intended to justify military action against Cuba, which he said would be a mistake.

“It is a political maneuver, devoid of any legal foundation,” Diaz-Canel said.

Diaz-Canel said earlier this week that the island does not represent a threat.

The charges come months after the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3 to face drug trafficking charges in New York.

Maduro, a socialist aligned with Havana, pleaded not guilty.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has proposed granting Ukraine “associate member” status in the European Union without voting rights while it pursues full membership, according to a letter seen by AFP on Thursday. The plan would allow Kyiv representation at EU summits, the European Commission and parliament, but without voting powers.

Under the proposal, outlined by Merz in a letter to EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, the bloc’s mutual assistance clause would apply to Ukraine, and it could benefit from parts of the EU’s budget.

“It is obvious that we will not be able to complete the accession process shortly, given the countless hurdles as well as the political complexities of ratification processes,” Merz wrote, according to AFP.

“What I envisage is a political solution that brings Ukraine substantially closer to the European Union and its core institutions immediately.”

Ukraine is pushing to speed up its bid to join the EU amid the war with Russia.

Iran has already restarted some of its drone production during the six-week ceasefire that began in early April, one sign it is rapidly rebuilding certain military capabilities degraded by US-Israeli strikes, CNN reported, citing two sources familiar with US intelligence assessments.

Four sources told CNN that US intelligence indicates Iran’s military is reconstituting much faster than initially estimated.

The rebuilding of military capabilities, including replacing missile sites, launchers and production capacity for key weapons systems destroyed during the current conflict, means that Iran remains a significant threat to regional allies should President Donald Trump restart the bombing campaign, according to the four sources familiar with the intelligence.

It also calls into question claims about the extent to which US-Israeli strikes have degraded Iran’s military in the long term.

While the time to restart production of different weapons components varies, some US intelligence estimates indicate Iran could fully reconstitute its drone attack capability in as soon as six months, one of the sources, a US official, told CNN.

A Greek court sentenced a 27-year-old Azerbaijani man to prison on espionage charges on Tuesday for monitoring a military base on the island of Crete, Reuters reported, citing legal sources.

The man, sentenced to seven years and one month in prison, was arrested in June last year following a surveillance operation by police and Greece’s intelligence service, on suspicion of monitoring the Souda naval base — a strategic facility for Greece, the United States and NATO, according to the report. 

The probe showed that the man, ⁠who had a temporary residence permit from Poland, had first arrived in Greece in January 2025 and since mid-June had been staying in a hotel room with a view of the naval and air force base in Chania, western Crete.

He was accused of collecting and transmitting state secrets and critical military information to foreign powers, including photographs and videos of military installations, police sources said.

Evidence included 23 videos and nine photographs of a Greek Navy frigate which had arrived in Souda for refuelling.”He did ‌not ⁠intend to spy,” his lawyer, Sofia Saripanidou, told Reuters. “He took pictures of a view, where everyone has access.”

Items seized from his room included a high-resolution camera with a telephoto lens and a tripod, USB readers and data storage cards. Police also found encryption software installed on his ⁠laptop, according to the sources.Days earlier, a British man was arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of terror-related offences and espionage. Israel accused Iran’s Revolutionary Guards of trying to attack Israeli citizens on the ⁠island. Authorities have been investigating potential links between the cases in Greece and Cyprus.Earlier this year, Greek authorities detained a 36-year-old man at Athens’ airport on suspicion of ⁠spying on the same base, police and intelligence sources said. The U.S. aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford had visited Souda earlier in the year for resupply before sailing to the Middle East.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, speaking at a Civil Contract campaign event, said that being re-elected as Prime Minister is not his priority—what matters is that the Armenian people alone decide who leads the country.

“I have said and I continue to say: anyone who takes even a single sum from the state budget of the Republic of Armenia is my personal enemy,” he said at a meeting with citizens in Verin Artashat, Ararat Province amid the campaign for the June 7 elections. 

“And this principle must be respected by everyone, because taking from the state budget means taking from each and every one of you, since the state is you. You are the Republic of Armenia, the owners of the Republic of Armenia, while the Prime Minister is merely a hired employee, and you decide who will be Prime Minister. Yesterday, you decided that I should be [Prime Minister]—and I am. I am doing my utmost to ensure that our state is prosperous and flourishing. If tomorrow you decide that I should not be, I will obediently carry out your decision—whatever you decide. For me, the most important thing is not to be elected Prime Minister; the most important thing is that always and forever the people, and only the people, decide who the Prime Minister is.”

“The revolution primarily happened for this reason,” said Pashinyan, referring to the 2018 Armenian revolution.

Pashinyan also congratulated the gathered citizens on the establishment of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, emphasizing that the people must uphold it.

“As someone who has led Armenia for eight years with your mandate, I reserve the right to say the following. First, I want to congratulate you on the establishment of peace in Armenia. I also want to say that the most important question for the 2026 elections is this: will our people uphold the peace, or will they not? It is very important that our people uphold peace, because peace will ensure our independence, our prosperity, and the continuity of our state,” he said.

As Armenia prepares to host the IAU Communicating Astronomy with the Public (CAP2026) Conference for the first time, organizers revealed that the country intends to put forward a globally significant and groundbreaking proposal.

The International Astronomical Union and Armenia’s V. Hambardzumyan Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory are organizing CAP2026.

IAU CAP Conferences are dedicated to bringing together astronomy communicators from around the world. The event will take place in Yerevan from May 25 to 29.

Areg Mikayelyan, Director of the Byurakan Observatory, told Armenpress that Armenia seeks to initiate the creation of a comprehensive cooperation network involving the operators of Asia’s major observatories, modeled after Europe’s OPTICON network.

The OPTICON network (Optical Infrared Coordination Network for Astronomy) is a large-scale, EU-funded consortium uniting Europe’s ground-based astronomy communities. It offers coordinated access to telescopes, supports technology development, and brings together optical and radio astronomy to advance multi-wavelength and multi-messenger astronomy.

He also noted that the CAP2026 program is engaging and wide-ranging, covering topics such as the integration of astronomy and education, the popularization of astronomy, the organization and operation of planetariums, and other innovative projects.

Mikayelyan also stated that Armenia is actively contributing to the development of virtual astronomy. He noted that Armenia is among only 20 countries worldwide with a virtual observatory. According to him, this is another area in which Armenia could become a regional leader.

A special session will be dedicated to the development of astronomical tourism.

The conference’s main topics will include science journalism, the use of artificial intelligence in astronomy communication and outreach, social media, public astronomy education programs, and modern tools for science communication.

The upcoming conference, along with all other events planned throughout the year, is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory, which is being celebrated this year. A major international scientific conference dedicated to the anniversary is scheduled to take place in September.

The Armenian Defense Ministry has notified the public that rehearsals and organizational preparations for the upcoming May 28 military parade will include artillery blank-fire drills on Thursday and Friday.

Residents are encouraged to stay calm if they happen to hear gunfire. 

Specifically, one cannon salute charge will be fired in Lusakert at around 14:00 on Thursday, and three salute charges will be fired on Friday in Yerevan — at the V. Sargsyan Military Academy, Hrazdan Stadium, and Victory Park — at 10:00, the ministry said in a statement.

The military parade will take place at 10:00 on May 28 in Republic Square, Yerevan.

Deputy Minister of Defense Arman Sargsyan received the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Armenia, Marieke Monroy-Winter, and the newly appointed Defense Attaché, Lieutenant Colonel A.G.E. (Adry) Huybrechts, the Defense Ministry said in a press release.

The Deputy Minister congratulated the Defense Attaché on his appointment and wished him success.

During the meeting, issues related to the process and prospects of bilateral cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the field of defense, as well as in a multilateral format with NATO and the EU, were discussed.