News & Current Events

[ad_1] France's President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron arrive at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on May 25, 2025. (Photo: AFP) French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Vietnam on Sunday for the first leg of a Southeast Asia tour, where he will pitch his country as a reliable alternative partner to the United States and China.During his six-day trip, which includes Indonesia and Singapore, Macron will underscore his respect for the sovereignty of Asian countries "caught between the United States and China", a presidential aide said during a pre-tour briefing.The French president is due to meet Vietnam's top leadership on Monday in the capital Hanoi and key energy sector players on Tuesday.Macron is hoping to showcase France's expertise in civil nuclear power in Vietnam and Indonesia, which are keen to embrace this form of energy, although other […]

[ad_1] Joseph Neumeyer allegedly plotted to burn down US embassy in Israel (Photo: X) A dual citizen of the United States and Germany has been charged with attempting to burn down the US Embassy in Tel Aviv using Molotov cocktails and making online threats to kill US President Donald Trump, according to US department of justice. Joseph Neumeyer, a 28-year-old who claimed online to be the founder and CEO of a mysterious company called Atlas Light Company, was deported from Israel and arrested on arrival in New York on Sunday. He made his first appearance at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, where he was ordered to remain in custody until trial.According to the US Justice Department, Neumeyer travelled to Israel in April 2025. Last week, he turned up outside the US Embassy in Tel Aviv with a backpack and allegedly […]

[ad_1] Ilhan Omar condemns the brutal murder of George Floyd On the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s death, US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said his murder should never be forgotten and neither should the urgent need to reform America’s criminal justice system.In a series of posts on social media, Omar, who represents Minnesota’s 5th congressional district, said, “It’s been five years since George Floyd’s murder. He should be alive today. No amount of grandstanding or rewriting history will change that fact.” She added, “On this day—and every day—we must commit ourselves to the pursuit of justice. That must include dismantling systemic racism and radically transforming our approach to criminal justice.”George Floyd was a 46-year-old Black man and was killed in Minneapolis in 2020 when white police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. The killing, captured […]

[ad_1] Ex-Obama aide on Biden's health decline Former Obama speechwriter and “Pod Save America” host Jon Lovett has admitted that he held back concerns about Joe Biden’s health during the 2024 campaign because he wanted Biden to win re-election.Speaking on Jon Stewart’s “The Weekly Show” podcast, Lovett said he was worried about the president’s physical and cognitive state but chose not to talk about it publicly. “I remember feeling I want to talk about this as a huge liability. To talk about this is something Joe Biden can overcome, but I’m not going to go so far as to say, ‘I think Joe Biden must drop out. He is too old to be president,’” Lovett said.He added, “A, because I didn’t know exactly what was going on behind the scenes, but B, if Joe Biden is the candidate, I want […]

[ad_1] A handwritten note from Meghan Markle to her flight attendants has attracted attention on social media, offering a glimpse of the Duchess of Sussex’s personal side.The message came after an American Airlines flight where Meghan was spotted by one of the attendants, Nina Vida. Vida shared in a TikTok video that she and her colleagues had left a note for Markle, expressing the “pleasure of serving” her during the flight.What surprised the attendants was Meghan’s reply, penned on a napkin in elegant cursive. Holding up the note to the camera, Vida showed what Markle wrote: “Dear AA girlies, thank you for the love, hospitality and handwritten note—you know me well. All love right back to you. As ever, Meghan.”Vida was impressed by Markle’s handwriting, describing it as “giving rich, it’s giving expensive, it’s giving princess.” She also praised the […]

[ad_1] Israel's ambassador to Washington is being summoned home on the instructions of a government disciplinary body to discuss comments he made in a podcast interview, the foreign ministry said Sunday.Ambassador Yechiel Leiter had made an appearance on a podcast run by the right-wing US online media platform PragerU, in which he accused opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of levelling "blood libels" at the Israeli leader."The Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eden Bar-Tal, will summon the ambassador in Washington, Dr Yechiel Leiter, for a hearing regarding statements he made during a media interview," a ministry spokesman said in a statement. The spokesman said the summons was "in accordance with the instructions of the Discipline Department at the Civil Service Commission".Although the role of Israeli ambassador to the United States is a political appointment and Leiter was […]

[ad_1] On 25 May, 2020, George Flyod was killed by Derek Chauvin Five years ago, on May 25, 2020, the world watched in horror as George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died under the knee of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. The incident was captured by then-17-year-old Darnella Frazier, showing Chauvin pressing his knee into Floyd's neck for over nine minutes, despite Floyd's repeated pleas of "I can't breathe." This footage ignited global protests and became a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement, bringing attention to systemic racism and police brutality.The trial and convictionChauvin was charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. His trial began in March 2021. The prosecution presented compelling evidence, including testimonies from medical experts who said that Floyd died from a lack of oxygen, not from underlying health conditions or drug use. […]

[ad_1] Uganda has "suspended" all military cooperation with Germany, its army spokesperson said Sunday, claiming the German ambassador is "engaged in subversive activities" in the east African country.The escalation follows another army statement on Friday, which alleged some European diplomatic missions had been supporting "negative and traitorous groups" opposed to the government, also singling out German ambassador Mathias Schauer.It also comes as Uganda faces increasing international condemnation over its treatment of the opposition."The Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) has with immediate effect suspended all ongoing defence and military cooperation activities with the Federal Republic of Germany," said army spokesman Chris Magezi on X.Magezi said the move was in response to "credible intelligence reports that current German ambassador to Uganda His Excellency Mathias Schauer is actively engaged in subversive activities in the country".Magezi said that the suspension will "remain in force […]

[ad_1] Thousands rally in Warsaw for Polish presidency rivals (Photo: AP) Tens of thousands of people rallied in central Warsaw on Sunday in rival demonstrations for the two candidates in Poland's presidential election on June 1.Warsaw's pro-EU mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, who is backed by Poland's centrist government, will square off against nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki.As they marched, Nawrocki's supporters sang patriotic and religious songs and held up signs calling for an end to immigration."Change is coming. We will win!", Nawrocki told the crowd."I am Polish and so I am voting for a candidate who will guarantee our future and act as a counterbalance to the current government," said Piotr Slaby, a financial sector worker from the city of Przemysl in southeastern Poland.Piotr Nowak, a technician from Warsaw, 41, said: "We have a cosmopolitan government. They want to introduce the euro […]

[ad_1] South Africa's Malema vows to keep chanting controversial song (Photo: AP) South Africa's firebrand opposition leader on Saturday vowed to keep using controversial chants that featured in a contentious White House meeting between the US and South African presidents.During talks in Washington on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump ambushed his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa by showing a four-minute-long video in support of his claims of a "white genocide" in the country that overcame decades of apartheid.Julius Malema, a 44-year-old opposition politician, was the main character in the video, seen in several clips wearing the red beret of his populist, Marxist-inspired Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party and chanting calls to "cut the throat of whiteness" as well as a controversial anti-apartheid song "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer".The decades-old "Kill the Boer" rallying cry was born during the struggle […]