Briefly

UNITED STATES

President considers sending second carrier

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he is considering sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East for possible military action against Iran if negotiations fail. "We have an armada that is heading there, and another one might be going," Trump said in an interview with US news outlet Axios, noting that Washington is weighing additional military deployments while pursuing diplomatic talks with Tehran. "Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time," Trump said, adding that another aircraft carrier "might be going" to the region. The USS George Washington in Asia and the USS George H. W. Bush on the US East Coast are the most likely candidates, officials told Reuters, but each is at least a week away from the Middle East.

COLOMBIA

Petro says he survived assassination attempt

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Tuesday he had escaped an assassination attempt hours earlier, after months of warnings about an alleged plot by drug traffickers to target him. On Monday night, Petro's helicopter was unable to land at his destination on the Caribbean coast because of fears that unspecified people "were going to shoot" at it, he said. "We headed out to open sea for four hours and I arrived somewhere we weren't supposed to go, escaping from being killed," Petro said in a cabinet meeting that was broadcast live. Petro's claim came amid a surge in violence months ahead of presidential elections.

BRAZIL

At least 6 dead, 5 injured in landslides

At least six people have been killed and five others injured in landslides caused by heavy rains in southeastern Brazil, local authorities said on Tuesday. It unfolded in Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro states. Children were among the victims, according to authorities. A state of alert is being maintained in both states as the authorities warned of the possibility of further landslides due to continuous rainfall and soil softened by wet weather.

UKRAINE

Kyiv plans presidential elections: Media

Ukraine is preparing plans to hold a presidential election alongside a national referendum on a potential peace agreement with Russia, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing Ukrainian and Western officials familiar with the matter. The move comes amid pressure from the United States to expedite negotiations to end the conflict. "The Americans are proposing that the parties end the war by the beginning of this summer, and they will likely exert pressure on the parties in line with this timetable,"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters last week.

Xinhua - Agencies