INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE: Venezuela insisted yesterday that a disputed region of Guyana was “fraudulently” taken in the 19th century, arguing that a 1966 agreement should finalise ownership of the territory.

The court is holding a week of hearings on the Essequibo region, which is rich in gold, diamonds, timber and other natural resources and close to massive offshore oil deposits.

An 1899 decision by British, Russian and US arbitrators drew the border largely in favour of Guyana.

CAPE VERDE: Three people with suspected hantavirus infections, one British, one Dutch and one German, were evacuated from a cruise ship and taken to the Netherlands yesterday, the World Health Organisation said.

The vessel at the centre of the virus outbreak, which has killed three people, remained in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Verde with nearly 150 people on board, waiting to head to Spain’s Canary Islands.

VATICAN: Pope Leo XIV has responded to a fresh attack by US President Donald Trump, saying: “If someone wants to criticise me for announcing the Gospel, let him do it with the truth.”

In an interview with conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, Mr Trump had falsely claimed: “The Pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

ROMANIA: Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan’s government has resigned after less than a year in power, following its defeat in a parliamentary confidence vote.

A motion tabled by the Social Democratic Party, which quit the government last month, and the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians was backed by 281 MPs on Tuesday.