News & Current Events

[ad_1] Representative Image (AI-generated) NAIROBI: Burundi's parliament appointed a new human rights commission late Monday after its previous head fled into exile and said its mission was to "fight" the United Nations's rights envoy. International rights groups have long accused Burundi's government of suppressing civil society, political opposition and the media. The country's own National Independent Human Rights Commission was considered close to the government, but it released a report in January detailing hundreds of violations. That led its president Sixte Vigny Nimuraba to flee into exile after he was criticised by the head of the National Assembly and then accused of corruption. After a long debate on Sunday, the National Assembly approved an entirely new board of seven members for the commission, headed by a bishop, Martin Blaise Nyaboho, who has spoken out strongly against the opposition in the […]

[ad_1] Queen Camilla, joined by Prince William, Prince George, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte, and Catherine, Princess of Wales, appears on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch the flypast during the 80th anniversary parade commemorating V-E Day in London, Monday. (Image: AP) [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Sudan's paramilitary unleashes drones on key targets in Port Sudan, officials say CAIRO: Sudan's paramilitary unleashed drones on the Red Sea city of Port Sudan early Tuesday, hitting key targets there, including the airport, the port and a hotel, military officials said. The barrage was the second such attack this week on a city that had been a hub for people fleeing Sudan's two-year war. There was no immediate word on any casualties or the extent of the damage. Local media reported loud sound of explosions and fires at the port and the airport. Footage circulating online showed thick smoke rising over the area. The attack on Port Sudan, which also serves as an interim seat for Sudan's military-allied government, underscores that after two years of fighting, the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces are still capable of […]

[ad_1] American ballerinaKsenia Karelina, who was held in a Russian prison for over a year on treason charges, met President Donald Trump following her return to the United States. Her case drew widespread condemnation from human rights groups and US officials, who labelled the charges “absolutely ludicrous.”Karelina, a 32-year-old dual US-Russian citizen, was arrested in Yekaterinburg in February 2024 after reportedly donating just over $50 to a US-based charity that supported Ukraine. The Russian authorities accused her of aiding a foreign country against Russia’s interests—a charge that led to her conviction for treason.Her release came as part of a carefully brokered exchange involving Arthur Petrov, a Russian-German man who had been detained in the US for attempting to smuggle restricted microelectronics to Russia. The swap took place in Abu Dhabi and included rare direct coordination between Russian and American intelligence […]

[ad_1] Airports in the Russian capital were shut down for several hours on Tuesday after Ukrainian drones targeted Moscow for a second consecutive night, prompting a large-scale response from Russia’s air defence systems, as reported by Reuters.At least 19 drones were destroyed by the defence unit which were approaching “from different directions” as said by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin through a social media post. No major destruction or injuries were reported.Bazaar, Mash and Shot, the major telegram news channels linked to Russian security services reported that a drone had struck an apartment building in the south of Moscow. Windows were smashed although no casualty was reported.Apart from Moscow, airports in a number of regional cities were also closed. Russian aviation watchdog Rosaria’s reported that flight operations were halted in all four airports of Moscow for several hours to ensure safety.The […]

[ad_1] Ilhan Omar reacted to a report that confirmed that her second husband Ahmed Elmi is her brother. A resurfaced interview. A MAGA-fuelled conspiracy. A flurry of expletives. And once again, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar finds herself in the middle of America’s ever-churning culture wars.This latest firestorm began with conservative activist Laura Loomer re-posting a 2018 clip of Omar telling journalist Mehdi Hasan: “Our country should be more fearful of white men... we should be profiling, monitoring, and creating policies to fight the radicalisation of white men.”Originally broadcast with little fanfare, the clip has been weaponised in 2025 amid renewed political polarisation. Loomer labelled Omar a “jihadist member of Congress,” accusing her—without evidence—of having ties to Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and ISIS.Then came the second act of the outrage cycle. When a Washington reporter asked Omar if more Democrats should meet […]

[ad_1] Donald Trump has dismissed criticism over an AI-generated image depicting him as the Pope, saying the backlash is being fuelled by the “fake news media” rather than Catholics themselves.The US president shared the image on his Truth Social platform, where it was later reposted by the official White House X account. The image showed Trump in full papal attire, including a white cassock and bishop’s mitre, and was posted during the official nine-day mourning period for Pope Francis, who died on 21 April. The conclave to elect his successor is due to begin Wednesday.Asked by a reporter about Catholic backlash, Trump said: "Ohh, I see. You mean, they can't take a joke? You don't mean the Catholics, you mean the fake news media. The Catholics loved it."He went on to brush aside concerns about the timing of the image, […]

[ad_1] Vice President JD Vance sharply condemned Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s remarks calling for the profiling and monitoring of white men in the United States, labelling them as “genocidal language.” The controversy stems from a resurfaced 2018 interview in which Omar suggested that the US should be more focused on the threat posed by white men, arguing that they were responsible for the majority of deaths in the country.Omar, speaking to journalist Mehdi Hasan, explained her stance on national security, saying: “I would say our country should be more fearful of white men across our country because they are actually causing most of the deaths within this country.” She continued, “And so if fear was the driving force of policies to keep America safe, Americans safe inside of this country, we should be profiling, monitoring, and creating policies to fight the […]

[ad_1] The arrangements for the funeral of Pope Francis were meticulous, and the ceremony drew a global audience. But it is the arrangement of the letters on his tombstone that are now attracting outsize attention.The simple slab has only 10 letters, but the spacing between them can make it read like "F R A NCISC VS."The lettering is meant to be read as Franciscus, the derivative of the pope's name in Latin. (V stood for both u and v in Latin.) Pope Francis' marble tomb fulfills his desire for an unadorned final resting place. In that sense, the tombstone lettering in Times Roman, a workmanlike font widely used in the English, could be considered appropriate. But for those who obsess about kerning, the space between letters, the view from above the tomb is not exactly an aesthetically pleasing one."Woe be […]

[ad_1] MAGA supporters said Donald Trump's AI image as pope is disrespectful to the faith. President Donald Trump played down the major row over his AI image dressed as the pope and said he did not make it. Somebody made it for fun and Catholics loved it, he said adding that only fake news media had a problem with it.The AI image created a stir among the Cardinals as even MAGA supporters condemned it and called it insulting.“Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the pope, and they put it out on the internet. That’s not me that did it. I have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was AI, but I know nothing about it. I just saw it last evening,” the president said in the Oval Office Monday.Trump then said Melania liked the photo […]