News & Current Events

[ad_1] At least 249 dead as Syria’s land mines continue to kill civilians months after civil war ends (Picture credit: AP) More than four months after Syria’s civil war ended with the fall of Bashar Assad on December 8, 2024, the country remains haunted by a hidden threat, land mines and unexploded remnants of war. These devices have killed at least 249 people and injured 379 more, including 60 children, since the conflict officially ceased, according to data shared by the International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO).Suleiman Khalil, 21, from Qaminas village in southern Idlib, is one such victim. While harvesting olives with two friends, Khalil stepped on a mine. “At first, I thought I’d died. I didn’t think I would survive this,” he told AP. His left leg was wounded in the first blast, and his right leg was blown […]

[ad_1] Pope Francis did not meet US vice president JD officially in Rome; instead, Vance had a meeting with Cardinal Pietro Parolin on behalf of the Vatican.The pope, who recently recovered from pneumonia, also skipped the Good Friday service at St Peter’s Basilica attended by Vance, although he has returned to limited public engagements—including a surprise visit to a Roman prison on Holy Thursday.Inside Vatican sources later told Sky News that Vance briefly greeted the pope at his residence, but no details were released. Vance officially, and the Vatican made no mention of any private meeting in its formal statements.Why didn’t the Pope meet Vance?Tensions have been high since Vance accused the Church of using migrant advocacy for financial gain. In response, the pope called mass deportations a “disgrace” and reaffirmed the Church’s duty to love all, without exception.” In […]

[ad_1] Kerry Kennedy, daughter of former senator Robert F Kennedy Sr, criticised the Trump administration and her brother, Robert F Kennedy Jr, for releasing records related to her father’s 1968 assassination. The files, made public on Good Friday, included over 10,000 pages of documents, handwritten notes by convicted killer Sirhan Sirhan, and graphic autopsy images. Kerry was just eight years old when her father was shot dead at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the California Democratic primary. "It was hard to be an eight-year-old girl who lost her father to a man with a gun," she wrote in a heartfelt post on X.. “As of yesterday — Good Friday — it will be hard in a new and unimaginable way.” She said that the newly released images make it painful for family members to see their father […]

[ad_1] US president Donald Trump has called ranked-choice voting a "fraudulent joke" and a threat to democracy, shortly after Democrat Barbara Lee was elected as mayor of Oakland, California, through this very system."Ranked-choice voting is one of the greatest threats to democracy. It is totally and very fraudulent joke," president Trump posted on Truth Social.Barbara Lee, known for her progressive stance and long-standing service in California politics, defeated former city councillor Loren Taylor. The final result came after nine rounds of vote tabulation, giving Lee just over 52% of the vote to Taylor’s 47%, according to Alameda County election officials.Barbara Lee wins tight race to become Oakland's next mayor-elect with Loren Taylor concedingWhat is ranked-choice voting?Ranked-choice voting, also called preferential voting, allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference instead of picking just oneIf a candidate receives more than […]

[ad_1] A small aircraft with four people on board crashed Saturday morning in a field near Trilla, a rural part of Illinois, around 65 miles south of Champaign, New York Times reported. The crash occurred at approximately 10:15 a.m. and prompted an immediate response from emergency crews and state police. Illinois state police described the incident as “an active and ongoing fatal aircraft investigation” but did not specify how many of the four individuals died. Debris from the single-engine Cessna 180 was found scattered across a nearby roadway, which remained closed for several hours.Deadly plane crash under investigation in central Illinois The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that the aircraft went down about 12 miles from Coles County Memorial Airport in Mattoon. Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched investigations to determine the cause of […]

[ad_1] Canada PM and Liberal Party leader Mark Carney Canada's prime minister Mark Carney on Saturday unveiled the Liberal Party's "platform" (election manifesto) for the federal election scheduled for April 28. Also Read | Canada elections 2025 explained: Who’s running, who can vote, what to watch and why it matters"In a crisis, you need a plan. Here's mine," he posted on social media platform X.The Liberals, who have been in power since 2015, and its political rivals have been making large spending and tax-cut announcements throughout the campaign. However, Carney, who succeeded Justin Trudeau in March, and leaders of rival parties went into the leaders’ debates before releasing platforms which would explain how their promises would be funded.The Liberals' election document comes a day after advance voting opened for the federal election. Early voting will be held till Monday.Liberal Party's […]

[ad_1] Donald Trump shows a photo of an MS-13 tattoo on Garcia's hand, the same that gets covered by emojis in a photo posted by his wife and is visible in another (right) photo. Donald Trump has been accused of sharing a fake image of the knuckles Kilmar Abrego Garcia which shows MS-13 written on it. Social media users pointed out that the letters M, S and the numbers 1 and 3 are superimposed on the photo and those letters and numbers do not appear on any other photos of Garcia. Garcia is a Maryland father who came to the US illegally but there was a 2019 court order that shielded him from being deported. When the Trump administration sent a number of Tren de Aragua and MS-13 members to Venezuela's notorious prison, Garcia was also sent along with them. […]

[ad_1] The 50501 movement protesters reached outside JD Vance's house on Saturday. The 50501 'hands off' protesters who took to the streets to protest against the Donald Trump administration Saturday reached Vice President JD Vance's house on the grounds of the United States Naval Observatory in northwest DC. One poster seen in an image of a protest outside his house mocked Vance's best-selling book Hillibilly Elegy. "JD's Nazi Elegy writing a legacy of shame for your children and History."JD Vance was in Rome on Saturday though he did not meet Pope Francis. A Vatican statement said JD Vance had a conversation with Cardinal Pietro Parolin and there was "an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners." It was seen as […]

[ad_1] Elon Musk and Bill Ackman commented on the Supreme Court ruling against Trump administration's deportation. The Donald Trump administration received a major blow from the court as it has paused the deportation of immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act that the administration recently invoked. It was a 7-2 verdict as conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented. An emergency appeal was filed at the high court on Friday claiming that some Venezuelans were at the immediate risk of being removed from the country without due process. The Saturday order did not explain why it decided to stall the deportation but said to the administration that the government can not remove any members of the putative class of detainees from the US until further order. The Alien Enemies Act, 1798 is a wartime law which authorizes the government to […]