Category: z-Exclude

A new wave of purges has engulfed the senior leadership of China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army. Since the 20th National Party Congress in October 2022, more than 20 senior PLA officers from all four services—the army, navy, air force, and rocket force—have disappeared from public view or been removed from their posts. The absences of other generals have also been reported, which could foreshadow additional purges. Most notably, since the fall of 2023, three of the six uniformed members…

BUCHAREST – Romania’s top court on Thursday struck down a challenge brought by centrist President Nicusor Dan against a bill seeking harsher punishment for antisemitism and hate speech after a divisive election in which the far right gained ground. Parliament updated legislation outlawing the celebration of fascist leaders or imagery in June, introducing prison sentences for the promotion of antisemitism and xenophobia via social media platforms. The bill also increases jail terms for creating or belonging to racist organisations. However,…

ATHENS – Greek police have arrested five people over the killing of a University of California at Berkeley professor who was shot dead in an Athens suburb earlier in July, police said. The professor’s ex-wife, who has denied any wrongdoing, her Greek partner, and three other people – one Bulgarian and two Albanian nationals – were arrested on Wednesday evening over the incident, a police official said on Thursday. The woman’s partner has confessed to shooting the academic, a 43-year-old…

WASHINGTON – The US Supreme Court on July 14 cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s administration to resume dismantling the Department of Education, part of his bid to shrink the federal government’s role in education in favor of more control by the states. In the latest high court win for Mr Trump, the justices lifted a federal judge’s order that had reinstated nearly 1,400 workers affected by mass layoffs at the department and blocked the administration from transferring key…

Ekiti State Government has advised all residents to remain vigilant and adhere strictly to preventive measures against diphtheria, in light of the rising number of confirmed cases across Nigeria. The State Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr. Oyebanji Filani, in a statement made available to newsmen in Ado Ekiti, assured that Ekiti has not recorded any confirmed case of diphtheria this year. He added that the advisory was borne out of Government’s commitment to ensuring that the state remains…

TORONTO – Over two months, Canadian officials scrambled to advise and reassure Canadians wanting to travel to the U.S. after President Donald Trump’s executive order on gender, documents show. The order, issued January 20, states the U.S. only recognizes two sexes, requires the government use the term “sex” rather than “gender” and mandates identification documents issued by the government, including passports and visas, be based on what it described as “an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.”…

WASHINGTON — Today, the Department of Justice released Guidance to ensure compliance with President Trump’s Executive Order No. 14224, which establishes English as the official language of the United States of America. Consistent with the Executive Order, the Department of Justice will lead a coordinated effort across federal agencies to minimize non-essential multilingual services, redirect resources toward English-language education and assimilation, and ensure legal compliance with the Executive Order through targeted measures where necessary. “As President Trump has made clear,…

DUBAI – Iran will react to any reimposition of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear programme, the country’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on July 14, without elaborating on what actions Tehran might take. A French diplomatic source told Reuters last week that European powers would have to restore UN sanctions on Iran under the so-called “snapback mechanism” if there were no nuclear deal that guaranteed European security interests. The “snapback mechanism” is a process that would reimpose UN sanctions on…

AP — Last week, Ukrainian drone hunters picking up the debris from Russia´s nightly assault on their cities found a weapon that stood out from the rest. It had an advanced camera, a computing platform powered by artificial intelligence and a radio link, allowing an operator to pilot it remotely from Russia. It also contained new, Iranian-made, anti-jamming technology, according to a Ukrainian drone expert. Most Russian attack drones are black, said Serhii Beskrestnov, an electronics expert more widely known as…

Works of art have long been identified, and sometimes even romanticized, as ideal ways for racketeers to launder money. There’s a thread of logic here: the art world typically accommodates those that want to anonymously buy high-dollar paintings, and on top of that, the industry allows large cash deals. For those looking to launder money, it’s difficult to conjure up a more attractive set of circumstances than those. There also seems to be plenty of instances where art has played…

Britain is moving additional military assets, including fighter jets, to the Middle East to provide support across the region, Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters on June 14, as he was en route to a Group of Seven meeting in Canada. Iran and Israel traded missiles and airstrikes on June 14, a day after Israel launched an air offensive against its old enemy, killing commanders and scientists and bombing nuclear sites in a stated bid to stop it building an…

NEW YORK – A Manhattan jury found Harvey Weinstein guilty on a sex crimes charge on June 11, though the jury has not yet reached a verdict on all counts the former movie mogul faces in deliberations that have been marred by infighting and threats. Weinstein, once one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood, is facing a retrial after a state appeals court in 2024 overturned his 2020 conviction. He was accused by prosecutors in the case of raping…

The new book “Empire of AI” by longtime technology reporter Karen Hao unveils the accruing political and economic power of AI companies — especially Sam Altman’s OpenAI. Her reporting uncovered the exploitation of workers in Kenya, attempts to take massive amounts of freshwater from communities in Chile, along with numerous accounts of the technology’s detrimental impact on the environment. “This is an extraordinary type of AI development that is causing a lot of social, labor and environmental harms,” says Hao.

An Istanbul court has issued an arrest warrant for the owner of a television channel aligned with Turkey’s main opposition party on charges of bid-rigging, the prosecutor’s office said late on Tuesday. The arrest warrant for Cafer Mahiroglu, owner of Halk TV, was issued as part of an investigation into an alleged criminal organisation suspected of rigging public tenders by bribing public officials. Several main opposition CHP members including district mayors were arrested under the investigation, part of a widening…

The last time U.S. President Donald Trump attended a Group of Seven (G-7) leaders’ summit in Canada, in 2018, he treated it like a reality TV show. “Trump Blows Up G7 Agenda,” read the headline in Politico. Trump arrived late; called for Russia’s readmission to the group (a nonstarter with the other members); described the host, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as “very dishonest and weak”; and refused at the last minute to endorse the joint statement at the end…