'SNL' cold open spoofs Melania Trump's 'big, random' Epstein speech

"Saturday Night Live" is taking onfirst lady Melania Trump's "big, random" Epstein speech.

The show kicked off its April 11 episode with a sketch covering an eventful week of news, withJames Austin JohnsonplayingPresident Donald Trumpand making a series of phone calls in the Oval Office. One of the calls was with his wife, whothis week held an unusual press eventwhereshe denied having any knowledge of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's abuse.

In the sketch,Melania Trump(Chloe Fineman) said she "decided I should do a big, random speech, completely out of nowhere," about Epstein, only for the president to tell her that this "sounds a little insane." He asked, "Who are you, me?"

"It's not just Epstein," she said. "I thought I could also say, 'I, Melania Trump, in no way helped out the Gilgo Beach serial killer.' That way, no one is suspicious."

Despite Trump pointing out this would only increase suspicion, the first lady suggested in the sketch she should also announce that she "barely partied with Diddy."

Johnson's Trump also calledTiger Woods(Kenan Thompson), telling the golfer, "If only there were something I could have done to help" after Woods'recent DUI, and Defense SecretaryPete Hegseth(Colin Jost). Hegseth assured Trump that Iran is "as obliterated as me every Saturday night, allegedly," adding, "You also probably heard that I want to start a draft again, which is a great sign for the ceasefire."

But Trump told Hegseth he had employed a secret weapon by sending Vice PresidentJD Vancein to help with negotiations. "After those Iranians spent 20 hours talking to JD, they said, 'Please, sir, just go back to bombing us.' "

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The rest of the 'SNL' season:The show reveals schedule of hosts, musical guests

The sketchalso featured Trump dictatinghis controversial Easter Sunday post about Iran, which ended with "Praise be to Allah." In the cold open, Johnson's Trump called this a "sarcastic attack on the world's largest religion. They famously have a great sense of humor about that kind of stuff."

The sketch was a return to the show's usual format of opening with a Trump-focused sketch. "SNL" took a break from the president last week, kicking the show offwith a cold open depictingNCAA Final Four post-game coverage. Johnson's Trump character wasn't featured, though the sketch still did get political with an appearance by the recently firedformer Attorney General Pam Bondi, played by Ashley Padilla.

Colman Domingomade his hosting debut on the April 11 episode with musical guest Anitta. This is the last new "SNL" episode of April, as the show is scheduled to take a few weeks off before returning in early May.

Who's hosting 'SNL' next?

"SNL" will next be hosted on May 2 byOlivia Rodrigo, who is doing double duty as both host and musical guest. It will be Rodrigo's hosting debut, though she has been the musical guest twice before.

The following week,Matt Damonwill return to host for the third time with musical guestNoah Kahanon May 9.Will Ferrellwill then host the "SNL" season finale on May 16 with musical guestPaul McCartney. "SNL" is set to be off for the summer after that, with Season 52 debuting in the fall.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:'SNL' cold open mocks Melania Trump's Epstein speech

byNeo

in

April 14, 2026

'SNL' cold open spoofs Melania Trump's 'big, random' Epstein speech

"Saturday Night Live" is taking onfirst lady Melania Trump's "big, random" Epstein speech. The show kicked...

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British authorities charge alleged boat pilot in deaths of 4 migrants in the English Channel

LONDON (AP) — A Sudanese man alleged to have piloted a boat connected to thedeaths of four migrants trying to cross the English Channelhas been charged under a new British immigration law, authorities said Saturday.

Migration France Britain

Alnour Mohamed Ali, 27, was charged late Friday with endangering another during a journey by sea to the U.K., the National Crime Agency said.

The new law allows Britain to extend the reach of its criminal jurisdiction to crack down on migrants making the dangerous crossing.

The two men and two women died Thursday in strong currents while trying to board the boat Ali allegedly piloted off the coast of Calais.

French authorities rescued 38 others from the waters. Ali and another 73 migrants then continued on to England, where he was arrested.

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The incident occurred at Equihen Beach in Calais as the migrants tried to wade out to what authorities call a “taxi-boat,” typically a small motorized inflatable that picks up people along large stretches of the northern French coast.

The tactic has become more popular with smugglers as police on the beaches try to thwart crossings by puncturing the rafts that groups of migrants have to inflate and carry to the water.

Under maritime law, French police do not try to stop the boats on the water because it put lives at risk.

Recent days have seen a surge inattempted crossingsand deaths, with 102 people rescued in two operations on Wednesday. Two people died last week in similar circumstances off the coast north of Calais.

Ali, also known as Elnoor Mohamed Ali, is scheduled to appear Saturday in Folkestone Magistrates Court.

byNeo

in

April 13, 2026

British authorities charge alleged boat pilot in deaths of 4 migrants in the English Channel

LONDON (AP) — A Sudanese man alleged to have piloted a boat connected to thedeaths of four migrants trying to cross the English Channel...

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Cuba’s Díaz‑Canel says he won’t step down under US pressure

A defiant Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said he won’t step down as Cuba’s president if pressured by U.S. officials during talks between the two countries.

His remarks were broadcast on April 9 during an interview in Havana with NBC's Meet the Press anchor Kristen Welker.

Pressed by Welker whether he would consider stepping down if the U.S. insisted, Díaz-Canel leaned forward in his seat.

“Would you ask that question of Trump?” he said, adding, “in Cuba, the people who are in leadership positions are not elected by the U.S. government. They don’t have a mandate by the U.S. government.”

Díaz-Canel’s comments come in the wake of news that U.S. and Cuban officials have met to discuss future relations between the two longtime Cold War foes. Trump officials have said the initial talk focused on expanding economic ties between the U.S. and Cuba.

When reports of the meeting first surfaced, Rubio stressed that the "status quo" in Cuba is unacceptable but cautioned that change on the island could take time. "It doesn’t have to change all at once," he said. "It doesn’t have to change from one day to the next … But Cuba needs to change. It needs to change dramatically.”

He later hardened his view to say that Cuba can only change if it has new leadership.

“The bottom line is, their economy doesn’t work. It’s a non-functional economy,” Rubio said last month during a White House meeting. “They’re in a lot of trouble, and the people in charge, they don’t know how to fix it, so they have to get new people in charge.”

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This file photo shows a group of U.S. sailors from the battleship Connecticut and a gun they captured at Cape Haitien during the U.S. occupation of Haiti in 1915.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Officers at Jacmel, Haiti, during the U.S. occupation in 1915.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> A group of Cuban revolutionaries with Fidel Castro are seen with artillery after routing the U.S.-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs in 1961.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Children cheer on the U.S. Marines following offensive in Vecca Monte west of Panama City, during "Operation Just Cause," the U.S. invasion to remove Manuel Noriega, which lasted from December 1989 through January 1990.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> A U.S. Marine corps crew takes up position on the outskirts of Santo Domingo, on May 2, 1965, during the Dominican Civil War.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> The U.S. Army Airborne troops drive down a street in Santo Domingo during the occupation of the Dominican Republic in 1965.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> U.S. troops in full combat gear run on the docks of Port-au-Prince harbor, on Sept. 19, 1994, after arriving on an assault helicopter. Thousands of U.S. soldiers arrived in Haiti on Sept. 19, 1994, as part of "Operation Uphold Democracy," to pave the way for the restoration of the elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Hundreds of local residents run towards the U.S. Chinook helicopters, on Sept. 24, 1994, as a detachment of over 100 U.S. troops arrive in this small southern coastal town, 120 km south of Port-au-Prince, as part of the "Operation Uphold Democracy."

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

From Cuba to Panama: US interventions that shaped Latin America

This file photo shows a group of U.S. sailors from the battleship Connecticut and a gun they captured at Cape Haitien during the U.S. occupation of Haiti in 1915.

More:EXCLUSIVE: Cuba pitches US economic roadmap as Trump pressures Havana

Trump has signaled he wants Cuba to "make a deal," and he is prepared to use Washington's leverage on Cuba, saying of the country that it may face "a friendly takeover. It may not be a friendly takeover."

Díaz-Canel was handpicked by Cuba’s former leader Raúl Castro − the brother of Fidel Castro, who led the 1959 revolution that toppled the Cuban government − as his successor, and is known to firmly adhere to the country’s communist principles.

The U.S.-Cuba talks come as the U.S. has imposed a virtual oil embargo on the island nation, choking off the oil that once arrived from Venezuela and plunging Cuba into an energy crisis. Prolonged blackouts have draped the island and hospitals struggle with providing adequate care.

More:Cubastroika: Inside Trump plan to save Cuba's economy and win control

In the interview, Díaz-Canel signaled he welcomed talks with the U.S. but remained defiant against any conditions.

“We’re interested in engaging in dialogue and discuss any topic without any condition,” he said, “not demanding changes from our political system, just as we’re not demanding changes from the American system.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Cuba’s president rejects US pressure to step aside in

byNeo

in

April 13, 2026

Cuba’s Díaz‑Canel says he won’t step down under US pressure

A defiant Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said he won’t step down as Cuba’s president if pressured by U.S. officials during talks bet...

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After 16 years in power, Putin's closest friend in Europe faces a pivotal election

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Few leaders have done more than Hungary’s Viktor Orbán to shape the global right-wing populism that informed President Donald Trump’s MAGA project.

On Sunday, Orbán faces the biggest challenge of his 16-year authoritarian rule as Hungary goes to the polls for a parliamentary election.

It has been a febrile campaign, with allegations of “false flag” operations,wiretappingand evenan alleged sex tapeplot.

Usually, an election would pose little risk for Orbán. The leader goes into Sunday’s vote as the great survivor on Europe’s political stage, holding power since 2010 thanks to four back-to-back victories, each time gradually increasing his control over the judiciary and media. European Union lawmakers and many Western watchdogs no longer consider his country a full democracy.

This time, however, things are different: He trails in most polls, withVice President JD Vance flying to Budapest this weekin an attempt to reverse his ally’s ailing electoral forecast.Russian President Vladimir Putinhas also voiced support for Orbán, who has frequently stood as thelone dissenting voice among E.U. leadersin opposing sanctions on Russia and advocating for warmer relations with Moscow.

Leading the polls is Peter Magyar, a former member of Orbán’s Fidesz party who now leads his own center-right party, Tisza (a portmanteau of “respect” and “freedom” in Hungarian).

A Publicus poll published Friday found Tisza at 52% support and Fidesz at 39% among decided voters, with a quarter of Hungarians undecided. Government-aligned pollsters have been kinder to the incumbent. Alapjogokért Központ, a Christian-conservative think tank that co-organizes the now-annual CPAC Hungary events, had Orbán leading 50%-42% in late March.

Compounding the uncertainty is a redrawing of Hungary’s political map in favor of Orbán’s party, and the almost half a million ethnic Hungarians who are eligible to vote from neighboring Romania and Serbia.

As in previous Hungarian elections, watchdogs have raised concerns that the contest may be free but not fair. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said in a report last month that interlocutors had raised concerns about a lack of separation between the state and the ruling party’s campaign, as well as fears that broad powers under the ongoing state of emergency in Hungary could be misused during the election.

Magyar has described the vote as a “referendum” on Hungary’s place in the world: a choice between Orbán’s self-described “illiberal” path allied with Putin, and reintegration with the E.U. and the West.

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“We do not want a simple change of government, but a real regime change,” Magyar told a rally Friday.

He is no liberal, but rather a moderate conservative figure who has seized on Hungarians’ dissatisfaction with rising living costs,corruptionand crumbling public services.

Orbán’s pitch has largely centered around Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine. He has singled outUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyyfor frequent attacks, echoing his earlier campaigns that heavily targeted the political influence ofGeorge Soros, the Jewish Hungarian American billionaire philanthropist — a tactic that has drawn accusations of antisemitism and the fueling of conspiracy theories.

In the run-up to the vote, Orbán accused Ukraine of sabotaging a key oil pipeline, whileHungarian authorities seized a shipment of cashfrom a Ukrainian bank.

The Hungarian leader says that the war should be finished as quickly as possible, not prolonged by further Western support for Ukraine. He argues this is about Hungary’s border security and energy independence, but opponents say it has more to do with pleasing his friends in the Kremlin.

The rest of Orbán’s pitch is similar to the playbook he has deployed previously, painting the vote as an existential struggle against liberal values, immigration and what he calls “gender ideology,” having alreadyimposed a ban on Pride marchesand LGBTQ events that provoked international condemnation.

“We must save Western civilization,” he told a rally Tuesday alongside Vance. “To do this, we must fight the progressives nestled in Brussels, we must end the Russian-Ukrainian war, and we must solve the energy crisis.”

In Budapest ahead of the vote, people were divided on whether Orbán’s long political rule could really come to an end.

“A lot of people are bored of the Orbán system — the last 15 years has been enough,” said Mate Khoor, 46, a hotel owner and Fidesz party member from the small village of Csór who was in the crowd at the Orbán-Vance rally. “But Orbán is strong and the party is strong,” he said. “I think it can be a big win. I don’t think Peter Magyar will win this election.”

More hopeful about Magyar’s chances is Anna Fetter, 27, who has just moved back to Hungary after 10 years in the United States. She said that it felt “really daunting and unwelcoming to live” in the U.S., citingTrump’s anti-immigrant rhetoricandraids by ICE.

She was one of a handful of protesters outside the Orbán-Vance news conference in the heart of Budapest. Now back in her homeland, she hopes that Trump’s allies will be outvoted this Sunday, adding: “I am a supporter of change.”

byNeo

in

April 13, 2026

After 16 years in power, Putin's closest friend in Europe faces a pivotal election

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Few leaders have done more than Hungary’s Viktor Orbán to shape the global right-wing populism that informed Presid...

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