News & Current Events

[ad_1] The portrait of Donald Trump gifted to him by Vladimir Putin A portrait of Donald Trump, commissioned by the Kremlin and gifted to the US president by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, shows the Republican Party's then presidential candidate striking his now iconic "raised fist" pose after the failed assassination attempt on him at a July 2024 rally, the artist behind the painting has revealed.The hitherto "secret" portrait also has the US flag and the Statue of Liberty, which are in the background.Nikas Safronov, who gave CNN an exclusive look at his painting, said he wanted to highlight Trump's "bravery."Safronov, one of Russia's most famous artists, said, "It was important to me to show the blood, the scar and his bravery during the attempt on his life. He didn’t break down or become afraid, but raised his arm to […]

[ad_1] Karmelo Anthony, the accused in fatal stabbing of fellow student Austin Metcalf, has been moved to an "undisclosed location" to ensure his safety, after the 17-year-old reportedly received death threats while under house arrest.Also Read: Who is Karmelo Anthony, US teen charged with murder of Austin Metcalf?The Anthony family said in a press release they were "gravely concerned," after there was an “alarming increase” in threats and harassment over the weekend, Fox4 reported.According to representatives, people have been "loitering outside" the family’s home, mailing them Metcalf’s obituary and making "false food deliveries."Since Anthony's release from jail on a $250,000 bond, reduced from $1 million, Karmelo and his family have been holed up in a Frisco house they purchased with the money raised for his legal fight.Also Read: Did an Indian-origin couple rent their home to Texas murder accused Karmelo […]

[ad_1] File Photo: US Department of State The Donald Trump administration unveiled its ambitious plan for a "massive overhaul" of the US State Department on Tuesday. United States secretary of state Marco Rubio, who leads the department and announced the reorganization plan, said the move was part of the federal government's "America First" mandate. "We cannot win the battle for the 21st century with bloated bureaucracy that stifles innovation and misallocates scarce resources. That is why, under the leadership of President Trump and at my direction, I am announcing a reorganisation of the Department so it may meet the immense challenges of the 21st Century and put America First," Rubio said in a department-wide email.Consolidation of bureaus and officesThe plan includes consolidating 734 bureaus and offices to 602. Also, as many as 137 offices would be transitioned to another location […]

[ad_1] File: Marco Rubio (AP photo) United States secretary of state Marco Rubio on Tuesday announced there would be a "comprehensive" reorganization of the US State Department, which he leads. According to Rubio, the State Department, in its current form, is "bloated", "bureaucratic", and it has "failed" to perform its essential diplomatic mission in this era of "great power competition.""We are facing tremendous challenges across the globe. To deliver on President Trump’s America First foreign policy, we must make the State Department Great Again," its press release quoted Rubio as saying.America's top diplomat further said, "Over the past 15 years, the Department’s footprint has had unprecedented growth and costs have soared. But far from seeing a return on investment, taxpayers have seen less effective and efficient diplomacy."Rubio accused the bureaucracy of creating a system which is "more beholden to radical […]

[ad_1] ABIDJAN: A boat overturned during a church outing for Easter on a lagoon near the city of Abidjan in Ivory Coast, killing 12 children and teenagers, a government minister told AFP Tuesday."Twelve bodies have been recovered and are being taken to the morgue," said Sports Minister Adje Silas Metch, who went during the night to the site of the accident late Monday.The bodies are "of children and adolescents", he added, saying one was a youngster who was not from the church but had joined the boat crossing. "Four people were rescued," he said. Young people from the village of Tiaha had gone to another village to take part in the "Galilee" event to mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ.The outing was organised by a Methodist church in Tiaha, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) from the economic capital, Abidjan, Gerard […]

[ad_1] Margo Martin and Donald Trump Margo Martin, a key aide of US President Donald Trump, shared a picture with her boss from the White House's Oval Office on Tuesday, praising him as the "world's greatest boss.""'Margo you’re always behind the camera! Let’s get a photo. World's greatest boss," Martin captioned the photo on X.Martin stood next to a map which showed "Gulf of America." In February, days after returning to the White House, Trump had issued an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America."Who is Margo Martin?The 28-year-old, a special assistant and communications advisor of Trump, grew up in Oklahoma, according to New York Post. As per the website, she "stayed by his side," even as several other press officers left through the course of the Republican leader's "many scandals."Martin is also among the […]

[ad_1] Pope Francis appears on the central lodge of St. Peter's Basilica to bestow the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) The death of Pope Francis last week has triggered solemn mourning in cathedrals—and speculative murmurs in corners of the internet where history, anxiety, and memes collide. A pattern, they say, is emerging: Pope Pius X died in 1914, just as World War I began. Pope Pius XI died in 1939, on the eve of World War II. Now, as the world simmers with conflicts from Ukraine to Gaza, and with tensions rising in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, Pope Francis has passed. The […]

[ad_1] U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a press conference in Panama City, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) “Ask the Houthis how he’s doing,” President Trump quipped this Easter Monday, defending his embattled Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth. But behind the bravado and bunny suits on the White House lawn, top officials are privately doing just that — asking if Hegseth’s tenure, marred by leaks, insubordination, and now a national security scandal, is becoming untenable.According to a senior US official not authorised to speak on the record, the White House has quietly begun the search for a replacement. The catalyst? A second revelation that Hegseth shared sensitive, minute-by-minute details of airstrikes in Yemen — not just with aides, but in a private Signal group that included his wife, brother, and lawyer.If the first leak was a lapse, […]

[ad_1] PORT LOUIS: With a former minister and central bank director embroiled in financial scandal, the island idyll of Mauritius is in political turmoil as French President Emmanuel Macron visits this week.At the centre of the mess is ex-finance minister Renganaden Padayachy, who was until recently seen as a key figure in making Mauritius one of Africa's few economic success stories.Right-hand man to the recently ousted ex-prime minister Pravind Jugnauth, Padayachy was arrested last week, accused of defrauding the Mauritius Investment Corporation (MIC), a firm set up to support businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, of some $8 million. Harvesh Seegolam, former head of the central bank, which controlled the MIC, is also under investigation.Padayachy's party, the Militant Socialist Movement, has hit back, accusing the new government which took power in November of using the judiciary to "neutralise" the opposition.A close […]