France's Macron names Francois Bayrou as new prime minister

Emmanuel #Macron has officially appointed Francois #Bayrou, leader of the centrist Democratic Movement political party, as the nation's prime minister, the Elysee Palace announced in a statement. "The President of the Republic has designated Francois Bayrou as prime minister and entrusted him with forming a new government," the statement said.

Bayrou, aged 73, takes over from Michel Barnier, who also shares the same age and stepped down after France’s lower house passed a successful no-confidence motion against his cabinet on December 4. The Democratic Movement leader becomes France’s fourth prime minister in 2024, following the terms of Elisabeth #Borne, Gabriel #Attal, and #Barnier.

Bayrou has been at the helm of the Democratic Movement since 2007. In 2014, he assumed the role of mayor in Pau, a city in southwestern France. Additionally, he has chaired the National Council for Refoundation since 2020. Bayrou is also a seasoned presidential candidate, having run for the French presidency in 2002, 2007, and 2012. In 2017, however, he opted not to run, endorsing Macron.

Captured Ukrainian serviceman says foreigners take part in attack on Russian Kursk Region

Ruslan Poltoratsky, a serviceman of Ukraine’s 80th Airborne Assault Brigade detained by Russian border guards, has said that foreign nationals are taking part in the cross-border attack on the Kursk Region.

"When we crossed the border with Russia, at first I thought there was some line noise. But then I distinguished what they were saying - they were speaking English, Polish, maybe even French. I did not understand anything, I said into the walkie-talkie - 'repeat, repeat,' hearing some gibberish," the captured serviceman said during the interrogation, the video footage of which was released by the FSB.

"When they had already taken positions [in the Kursk Region], they also went on the air with their superiors, with ours as well, and I also heard them saying something in English and in some other language. Something about houses, chaos," he said. At the same time, he heard the sound of shooting coming from the two-way radio.

Earlier, Major General Apty Alaudinov, deputy chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ Main Military-Political Department and commander of the Akhmat special forces commando unit, said there were a lot of French and Polish mercenaries in the Kursk area.

According to Defense Ministry updates, Kiev has lost up to 1,350 military personnel, 29 tanks and 23 armored personnel carriers since it launched the cross-border attack.

US shot down five drones over Red Sea, says USCENTCOM

The US military shot down five unmanned aerial vehicles in skies over the Red Sea, the US Central Command (USCENTCOM) said on the X social network.

"Between 1:48 and 2:27 a.m. (Sanaa time) [10:48 p.m. - 11:27 p.m. UTC], April 28, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) successfully engaged five airborne unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) over the Red Sea," USCENTCOM said. "It was determined the UAVs presented an imminent threat to U.S. coalition, and merchant vessels in the region," it added.

May Our Brothers in Arms Rest in Heaven!

U.S. Central Command's Full Statement on two dead Navy SEALs:

"We regret to announce that after a 10-day exhaustive search, our two missing U.S. Navy SEALs have not been located and their status has been changed to deceased. The search and rescue operation for the two Navy SEALs reported missing during the boarding of an illicit dhow carrying Iranian advanced conventional weapons Jan. 11 concluded and we are now conducting recovery operations.

During this expansive search operation, airborne and naval platforms from the U.S., Japan and Spain continuously searched more than 21,000 square miles to locate our missing teammates.

Search assistance was also provided by Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center, the U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command, University of San Diego – Scripts Institute of Oceanography, and the Office of Naval Research – Oceanographic Support.

Out of respect for the families, no further information will be released at this time."