News & Current Events

[ad_1] US President Donald Trump received a striking welcome in Qatar on Wednesday as a pair of Tesla Cybertrucks led his motorcade through the capital city. The vehicles had a distinctive red-painted hood and were part of an elaborate show of pageantry during Trump’s visit to the Gulf nation.Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted the grand clip on his X account.The high-profile trip was aimed at strengthening business ties in the region and marked Trump’s second stop in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia.Like the Saudis, Qatari officials went all out, sending F-15 fighter jets to escort Trump's Air Force One into their airspace, a rare ceremonial gesture.Trump’s arrival in Doha followed a similar extravagant welcome in Riyadh, where Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman drove him to a state dinner in a golf cart, a fun nod to Trump’s love […]

[ad_1] A compelling opinion piece by Stanford University PhD candidate Samyukta Shrivatsa is drawing widespread attention for its clear rebuttal of misinformation surrounding the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, and India’s subsequent response, Operation Sindoor.The attack took place in the Baisaran Valley, a popular tourist spot, where armed terrorists reportedly singled out Hindu civilians by questioning them about their religious identity. Witnesses say the attackers used methods reminiscent of ISIS, forcing victims to recite religious texts or prove circumcision status. Twenty-six people were killed. The Resistance Front, an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility.Shrivatsa, currently pursuing her PhD in environmental engineering at Stanford University, is co-president of the Stanford India Policy and Economics Clubs. Her academic work focuses on environmental justice, emergency preparedness, and disaster response, particularly for at-risk populations such as the unhoused, low-income […]

[ad_1] Christine Lagard, President European Central Bank (AP) LONDON: France will contribute 10 million euros to help fix a radiation cover at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine allegedly hit by a Russian drone, Europe's development bank announced Wednesday.The amount, equivalent to $11.2 million, was unveiled at the annual conference of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London.Ukraine has accused Russia of using an explosive drone to damage the containment vault at the power plant in February, in an attack that did not result in any radiation being released.In 1986, a reactor at Chernobyl exploded during a botched safety test, resulting in the world's worst nuclear accident, which sent clouds of radiation across much of Europe and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate.Following the incident this year, France has offered funds "to support the restoration […]

[ad_1] Funerals held in Myanmar for pupils and teachers killed in airstrike on school (Photo: AP) Funerals have been held in Myanmar for almost two dozen students and teachers alleged to have been killed in an airstrike on a local school by a ruling military jet fighter.Local resistance groups and independent media said Tuesday that 20 pupils and 2 teachers died in the attack on Ohe Htein Twin village, in Sagaing region's township of Tabayin, also known as Depayin.Their reports said that as many as 100 people were wounded. The dead students were from grades 2 to 11, with the youngest seven years old, according to the shadow National Unity Government, which serves as an umbrella organization for opponents of military rule A member of a local resistance group fighting against army rule told The Associated Press that another student, […]

[ad_1] File photo: US President Donald Trump (Picture credit: AP) A coalition of 20 Democratic attorneys general filed two lawsuits on Tuesday challenging the Trump administration’s threats to withhold billions of dollars in federal funding unless states comply with its hardline immigration policies.The lawsuits, spearheaded by California attorney general Rob Bonta, were filed in federal court in Rhode Island. They accuse US President Donald Trump’s administration of trying to coerce states into aligning with its immigration agenda by tying compliance to critical funds earmarked for transportation, emergency preparedness, and disaster relief.According to CBS News, the lawsuits target Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, alleging they violated the Constitution by threatening to withhold funds allocated by Congress. “President Donald Trump can’t use these funds as a bargaining chip,” Bonta said at a press conference, calling the move […]

[ad_1] Ahmed al-Doush with his children A British Bank of America analyst has been sentenced to a decade in a Saudi Arabian prison apparently over a since-deleted social media post, according to his lawyer. The family of Ahmed al-Doush, 41, believes the charges against him stemmed from a deleted 2018 tweet about Sudan that did not mention Saudi Arabia and his relationship with the son of a Saudi critic in exile, Amnesty International said in a statement Tuesday. The father-of-four was sentenced Monday after being accused of violating terrorism and anti-cyber crime laws. "The exact tweet is unknown," Haydee Dijkstal, al-Doush's international counsel, posted Tuesday on X. "His trial and detention involved fair trial and due process violations." The lawyer said the U.K. government "should stand firmly against a British national's imprisonment for allegedly exercising his free speech rights." The […]

[ad_1] Representative Image (AI) Scattered among the ever-moving traffic of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, are a couple of thousand blue and white minibuses. They travel to every corner of the city, carrying an endless stream of people who hop on and off without having to worry about the hassle of parking.The network is a vital part of this 11-million-strong megacity's answer to a big problem. Too much motorized traffic.Jakarta is not alone. Globally, air pollution and road accidents caused by cars, vans and motorbikes kill around two million people each year, and combustion engine vehicles account for around 10% of the global carbon emissions causing climate change.For decades, the response to a growth in traffic has been to build more lanes, flyovers and parking. But this only attracts more cars and greater potential for congestion. Now in a bid to for […]

[ad_1] A spokeswoman for Germany's Federal Prosecutor's Office said the founder of the "Reich Citizens" subgroup "Kingdom of Germany," Peter Fitzek, had been taken into custody on Thursday. Fitzek and three other suspected ringleaders of the group, part of a conspiracy theorist movement that rejects the legitimacy of the modern German republic, were arrested.What do we know about the 'Kingdom of Germany' arrests?Police on Tuesday conducted raids on the properties of key members of the group in seven German states, making four arrests. The swoop came after Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt banned what is currently the largest group of so-called Reich Citizens. He accused the "Kingdom of Germany" of trying to establish a "counter-state" within Germany.Security authorities believe Fitzek to have founded the group in 2012, ruling as the self-declared monarch of the "Kingdom."Justifying the ban on the group, Dobrindt […]

[ad_1] Representative Image (AI-generated) In a country where identifying as gay can result in life imprisonment, and "aggravated homosexuality" carries the death penalty, some parents are defying the law and society to stand by their queer children, offering support where the Ugandan state offers only punishment.Among them is Mama Joseph, a mother from central Uganda, whose son came out as gay at a time when being openly gay could carry life-threatening consequences.'Very African and very queer' ― challenging the myth of 'imported queerness':Her voice doesn't quiver. For her, the connection between queerness and African identity is not contradictory. She's never left Uganda. Neither has her son."People say queerness is un-African, but I know that's not true. I didn't raise my child on foreign TV, where some claim he could've 'learned' to be gay," she told DW. "He did not go […]

[ad_1] French PM Francois Bayrou (ANI) PARIS: French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Wednesday faces one of the most delicate moments of his five months in office as he responds to questions from a parliamentary committee investigating claims of sexual abuse at a Catholic school.Bayrou has faced accusations from the opposition that as education minister in the mid-1990s he knew of widespread physical and sexual abuse at the Notre-Dame de Betharram school in southwestern France over many decades.The 73-year-old politician, who served as France's education minister between 1993 and 1997, has denied any wrong-doing and denounced what he calls a campaign of "destruction" against him. PollDo you believe Prime Minister Francois Bayrou should resign following the allegations of abuse at Betharram school?Speaking on Saturday, he said his appearance before the committee would give him an "opportunity to prove that all […]