King Charles III arrives in Rome on his first overseas trip since a brief hospitalization

ROME (AP) — King Charles III arrived in Rome on Monday for a state visit to Italy on his first overseas trip since being briefly hospitalized for side effects of cancer treatment.

Charles is traveling with Queen Camilla on the three-day visit, which includes the first address to the Italian Parliament of a British monarch, visits with the Italian president and premier and a side trip to Ravenna to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Adriatic city’s liberation by Allied forces.

A planned meeting with Pope Francis was postponed by mutual agreement due to the pope’s bout with double pneumonia. The 88-year-old pontiff returned to the Vatican two weeks ago, and made a surprise appearance to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday.

Charles, 76, was briefly hospitalized March 27 due to “temporary side effects” from treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer diagnosed more than a year ago. The king appeared the next day, waving to well-wishers in central London, and has since resumed scheduled engagements.

In Rome, Charles will highlight the close links between Britain and Italy, two NATO allies, at a time when European nations are working to bolster support for Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression. The visit will include a joint flyover of Rome’s historic center by the Italian Air Force aerobatic team, Frecce Tricolori, or Tricolor Arrows, and their Royal Air Force counterparts, the Red Arrows.

The king and queen will attend a reception in Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, to mark the 80th anniversary of the region’s liberation from the Nazis by Allied forces on April 10, 1945. The royals will also celebrate the cuisine of the Emilia-Romagna region and meet with local farmers whose fields were devastated by floods that recently hit the area.

King Charles III, right, and Queen Camilla arrive at Rome's International Airport G.B. Pastine in Ciampino for a four-day official visit to Italy, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

King Charles III, right, and Queen Camilla, not visible, arrive at Rome's International Airport G.B. Pastine in Ciampino for a four-day official visit to Italy, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

King Charles III waives upon arrival at Rome's International Airport G.B. Pastine in Ciampino for a four-day official visit to Italy, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

King Charles III, right, and Queen Camilla arrive at Rome's International Airport G.B. Pastine in Ciampino for a four-day official visit, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

King Charles III, right, and Queen Camilla arrive at Rome's International Airport G.B. Pastine in Ciampino for a four-day official visit, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

King Charles III, right, and Queen Camilla arrive at Rome's Iternational Airport G.B. Pastine in Ciampino, for a four-day official visit, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

King Charles III, right, and Queen Camilla arrive at Rome's International Airport G.B. Pastine in Ciampino for a four-day official visit, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)