News & Current Events

[ad_1] Bill Clinton and Joe Biden Former US President Bill Clinton denied recent allegations regarding Joe Biden's mental capacity to govern and said that he was in "good shape," asserting that he had "never" been concerned about the 82-year-old's capabilities."I saw President Biden not very long ago, and I thought he was in good shape," Clinton, 78, told CBS Sunday Morning when addressing the explosive claims made in the book "Original Sin", which suggested Biden's cognitive state necessitated a council of advisers to effectively manage the White House."No, I thought he was a good president. The only concern I thought he had to deal with was, was, could anybody do that job until they were 86? And we'd had several long talks. I had never seen him and walked away thinking, he can't do this anymore. He was always on […]

[ad_1] Ukraine’s security agency claimed a massive drone attack on June 1 which severely damaged Russia’s long-range air strike capabilities, causing an estimated $7 billion in destruction and disabling 34% of its cruise missile bombers. Called “Spider Web,” the operation reportedly struck four key Russian airbases, targeting aircraft regularly used to launch missiles on Ukrainian cities. According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), over 40 aircraft were hit, including rare and heavily relied-on models like the A-50 surveillance plane, and the Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 bombers.The SBU said the plan was in the works for more than 18 months and involved transporting first-person-view (FPV) drones deep into Russian territory. These drones were hidden inside trucks before being deployed in coordinated attacks on airbases in Irkutsk, Murmansk, Ryazan and Ivanovo oblasts.A source from the SBU told The Kyiv Independent that the […]

[ad_1] DHAKA: Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Sunday ordered the Election Commission to restore the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami's party registration, nearly eight months after the interim govt lifted a ban on it, clearing the way for its participation in future elections.Court officials said the SC's appellate division, led by chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, directed the commission to restore the party's registration.The apex court said it was up to EC to decide if Jamaat could contest polls using its traditional "scale" symbol. EC scrapped the registration of Jamaat, which was opposed to Bangladesh's 1971 independence from Pakistan, in Dec 2018 in line with a HC ruling. In 2013, SC cancelled the registration of the Jamaat-e-Islami, saying the party is unfit to contest national elections.Former PM Sheikh Hasina's govt slapped a total ban on the party days ahead of her ouster on Aug […]

[ad_1] The Russian defence ministry confirmed on Sunday that the Ukrainian drone strikes targeted 5 airbases across the country, damaging an unspecified number of aircrafts.In a statement, the Russian defence ministry accused Kyiv of carrying out “a terror attack with the use of FPV drones on airfields in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur Regions.”“All terror attacks on military airfields in the Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur Regions were repelled,” the ministry added.For the first time, it was officially confirmed that some of the drone launches took place from within close proximity to airfields. According to Russian officials, the Olenogorsk airfield in the Murmansk region and the Sredny airfield in Irkutsk, Siberia, were targeted from nearby locations using trailer trucks.“As a result of the launch of FPV drones from territories in the close proximity to military airfields in the Murmansk […]

[ad_1] Hamas on Sunday expressed readiness for an immediate round of fresh truce talks after the last attempt ended in stalemate.The Palestinian militant group confirmed its willingness to resume discussions, after renewed diplomatic efforts by Qatar and Egypt. “The movement affirms its readiness to immediately begin a round of indirect negotiations to reach an agreement on the points of contention,” the group said.This comes as Qatar and Egypt, who have long acted as key intermediaries in the conflict, announced they would ramp up their coordination with the United States in a bid to break the current deadlock. In a joint statement, the two countries said, “Qatar and Egypt, in coordination with the United States of America, affirm their intention to intensify efforts to overcome the obstacles facing the negotiations.”They added that they were working towards a 60-day temporary truce as […]

[ad_1] Vladimir Putin (left); Donald Trump (right): File photo Two senior US senators have warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is deliberately delaying peace negotiations while gearing up for a fresh military offensive in Ukraine. Speaking from Paris on Sunday, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal said the coming two weeks could be crucial in shaping the future of a war that has devastated cities, displaced millions, and reshaped Europe’s security landscape.The senators met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and visited areas devastated by what they described as the worst Russian bombardments since the full-scale invasion began. Now in Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron who they say is “100% aligned” with their views, they cautioned that the window to prevent another assault is rapidly closing.Central to their efforts is a sweeping bipartisan US sanctions bill […]

[ad_1] More than a dozen workplace safety training centres across the United States could be forced to close by the end of the summer, as sweeping job cuts at a key federal health agency take effect under the Trump administration’s cost-cutting drive.The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which supports training and research for some of the country’s most hazardous jobs, has lost nearly 90% of its workforce. Out of around 1,000 employees, only about 125 were left after job cuts on April 1, according to union data seen by Reuters.Although 300 employees were rehired in May, the team managing the 12 Centres for Agricultural Safety and Health, which support fishing, farming, and logging workers, was not part of this. Because of this, several centres are getting ready to close as their funding runs out.Training programmes run by […]

[ad_1] Two teenagers have been found shot dead in a remote part of the Tonto National Forest in Arizona, just days after their summer holidays began. Police are investigating their deaths as “suspicious”.The bodies of Pandora Kjolsrud, 18, and Evan Clark, 17, were discovered on the morning of May 27, near Mount Ord, a spot the two friends often watched sunsets at. They had both suffered fatal gunshot wounds, the Maricopa county sheriff’s office said, quoted by the New York Post.“At this time, the circumstances surrounding their deaths are being treated as suspicious,” said Sgt Joaquin Enriquez, speaking to Fox 10 Phoenix.The Maricopa county medical examiner has since confirmed both deaths as homicides, with the date of death listed as 26 May.Kjolsrud and Clark were students at Arcadia High School in Phoenix, around 64 miles southwest of the national forest. […]

[ad_1] Bangladesh unveiled new currency designs, marking a significant change on Sunday. The notes no longer feature the image of its first president, who was also the father of exiled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, ousted from power last year.The nation is home to around 170 million people and is presently under caretaker administration following Hasina's departure, coinciding with the commencement of her trial on Sunday for allegedly suppressing the August 2024 uprising against her leadership.Previously, all currency notes displayed the image of her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who governed Bangladesh from its independence from Pakistan in 1971 until his assassination, along with most family members, during a military takeover in 1975."Under the new series and design, the notes will not feature any human portraits, but will instead showcase natural landscapes and traditional landmarks," Bangladesh Bank spokesman Arif Hossain Khan […]

[ad_1] Representative image (AI) LONDON: UK government figures Sunday showed that more than 1,100 migrants arrived in the country on Saturday in small boats from France across the English Channel, the highest number recorded on a single day so far this year. The latest Home Office figures show that 1,194 migrants arrived in 18 boats on Saturday in what were settled weather conditions, bringing the provisional annual total so far to 14,811. That's 42% higher than the same point last year, an increase that has piled pressure on the Labour government, which returned to power nearly a year ago, partly on disillusionment with the previous conservative administration's efforts to get a grip on the numbers making the crossing. Having ditched the Conservative government's plan to send migrants who arrived in the UK by unauthorized means to Rwanda, Prime Minister Keir […]