Three rebels, one Indian soldier killed in Kashmir gun battles
Three Kashmir fighters and an Indian soldier killed in separate firefights in Indian-administered Kashmir.
EU ministers positive on defence fund to ease debt concerns – Reuters
- EU ministers positive on defence fund to ease debt concerns Reuters
- EU Should Use Frozen Russian Assets to Boost Defense, Spain Says Bloomberg.com
- Now is the moment for a multilateral defence bank Financial Times
- Britain’s Reeves calls for closer EU-UK defense ties politico.eu
- Poland calls for fast-tracking of EU defense loans TVP World
Iran and US agree to continue nuclear talks after first indirect round
Iranian foreign minister hails ‘calm and respectful environment’ to mediated talks in Oman
Iran and the US completed a successful opening round of indirect talks in Oman designed to prevent the weaponisation of Iran’s nuclear programme. In a sign the talks over a joint agenda had gone well, they agreed to meet again on 19 April.
A breakdown would have come if Donald Trump had demanded the complete dismantling of Iran’s civil nuclear programme, something that Iran is not prepared to contemplate. Iran insists it is pursuing only a civil nuclear programme, but Donald Trump took the US out of the previous nuclear deal claiming Tehran’s regime was seeking a nuclear weapon.
Continue reading...Menendez brothers ‘have exemplified growth and healing,’ cousin says
The resentencing hearing of Menendez brothers can move forward despite opposition from the district attorney, a Los Angeles court has ruled.
Greek vase ‘looted’ in Italy removed from sale by London gallery
Contact from the Observer prompts withdrawal as dealers urged to do more to stop illicit trade in antiquities
A London antiquities dealer has withdrawn an ancient Greek amphora from sale after evidence arose that links it to a notorious smuggler.
The Kallos Gallery in Mayfair, London, has removed a black-figure amphora – a jar with two handles and a narrow neck made around 550BC – from sale after the Observer contacted it about concerns raised by an expert in the illegal trade of antiquities.
Continue reading...Africa doesn’t need aid. It needs control over its critical minerals
African countries can break aid dependency by simply capturing the full value of their mineral resources.
Sandstorms, high winds prompt Beijing to cancel hundreds of flights and close parks – CBS News
- Sandstorms, high winds prompt Beijing to cancel hundreds of flights and close parks CBS News
- Hundreds of flights cancelled in China as strong winds hit capital BBC
- Beijing Tells City Residents to Stay Home as Strong Winds Hit China The New York Times
- Cold winds sweep Beijing, closing key sites, disrupting travel Reuters
- Stay indoors or risk being blown away, China warns light people Yahoo
Ted Kotcheff, director of First Blood, Weekend at Bernie’s and Wake in Fright, dies aged 94
Prolific Canadian director also made one of the country’s first internationally successful films, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, starring Richard Dreyfuss
Ted Kotcheff, the prolific Canadian director of films including First Blood, Weekend at Bernie’s, Wake in Fright and The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, has died aged 94. His daughter Kate Kotcheff told the Canadian Press that he had died of heart failure on Thursday in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, where he lived. His son Thomas said: “He died of old age, peacefully, and surrounded by loved ones.”
In an amazingly varied career, Kotcheff’s work ranged from hardhitting TV plays and low-budget features in the UK, to hit Hollywood comedies and prestige-laden award-winners and cult films. Kate Kotcheff said: “He was an amazing storyteller. He was an incredible, larger than life character [and] he was a director who could turn his hand to anything.”
Continue reading...National Trust bans coaches from East Sussex beauty spot to cut visitor numbers
More than 600,000 people a year visit Birling Gap, part of Seven Sisters cliffs, which are vulnerable to coastal erosion
The National Trust has banned coaches from one of Britain’s most popular beauty spots in an attempt to reduce the growing numbers of people visiting the site.
Up to 600,000 people a year visit Birling Gap which is part of the Seven Sisters cliffs in East Sussex on England’s south coast.
Continue reading...Gabon votes in first presidential election since the 2023 coup
Thousands of people are seen queueing outside polling stations across capital Libreville to cast their ballots.
Toby Jones’s next campaign? Misinformation, and a huge immersive theatre show
Meera Syal also to star in London production reflecting producer’s experience of censorship in Georgia
Hidden from view inside a south London warehouse, a new underground movement will be fighting the international blight of misinformation this summer.
The huge immersive event – half theatrical show, half social campaign – is to involve some of Britain’s leading acting talent, including Toby Jones and Meera Syal, and has been put together by a theatre company led by a woman who learned about misinformation the hard way, at the Georgian television station Imedi.
Continue reading...‘Completely out of touch’: golf and dinners for ‘king’ Trump as economy melts down
Casual attitude as markets fall suggests man detached from anxieties of ordinary voters – and surrounded by yes men
After lighting a fuse under global financial markets, Donald Trump stepped back – all the way to a Florida golf course. A week later, having just caved to pressure to ease his trade tariffs, the US president defended the retreat while hosting racing car champions at the White House.
Trump had spent the time in between golfing, dining with donors and making insouciant declarations such as “this is a great time to get rich”, even as the US economy melted down.
Continue reading...UK police chiefs call for ban on social media for under-16s
Four senior officers say more controls needed, amid claims platforms are ‘fuelling and enabling’ crime
Senior UK police officers have called for the government to ban children under 16 from social media, amid claims the platforms are “fuelling and enabling” crime.
In the most recent development in the moral panic that has gripped the media since Netflix’s Adolescence was released, four of the most senior policing figures in the country told the Times that further controls on social media platforms were necessary for public safety, national security and young people’s mental health.
Continue reading...Voters in Gabon choose a new president in the first election since the 2023 military coup – CNN
- Voters in Gabon choose a new president in the first election since the 2023 military coup CNN
- Gabon coup leader eyes seven-year mandate in presidential vote Reuters
- Brice Oligui Nguema Is Favored to Win Gabon Election The New York Times
- Gabon’s first election after collapse of Bongo dynasty: What’s at stake? Al Jazeera
- Gabon election: First presidential vote since military coup BBC
Gaza: Recording attacks as an act of resistance
Defiance, resistance and remembrance in Gaza - why Palestinians are recording the assault they are under.
Argentina secures $42bn from IMF, others as it lifts currency controls
Three major financial institutions are investing in Argentina's economic recovery as it tries to deregulate.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro ‘stable’ after being hospitalised with abdominal pain
The 70-year-old former leader is seeking to make a political comeback in 2026 even as he faces a criminal trial.
Israel’s army says it will fire air force reservists who condemned war in Gaza – NBC News
- Israel's army says it will fire air force reservists who condemned war in Gaza NBC News
- IDF 8200 intelligence soldiers call on gov't to stop fighting, bring back hostages The Jerusalem Post
- Dissent against war grows in Israel’s military as reservists from elite unit join protest movement CNN
- Hundreds of Israeli Air Force Reservists Call for Halt to Gaza War The New York Times
- IAF chief says pilots’ letter demanding hostage deal ‘weakens the solidarity’ of force The Times of Israel
Tuberculosis could end if there’s more US public health funding, experts say
Resurgence could be on horizon as outbreaks pick up speed in US and abroad amid public health program cuts
As tuberculosis outbreaks pick up speed in the US and abroad amid deep cuts in funding for local, state and international public health programs, a resurgence of the deadliest infectious disease – including drug-resistant tuberculosis – could be on the horizon.
Increasing funding for public health responses could end tuberculosis (TB) altogether, says James Brookes, an IT specialist from Idaho, who told this to his representatives in Congress on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Ecuador’s next president faces rampant drug violence and few resources to combat it – NPR
- Ecuador's next president faces rampant drug violence and few resources to combat it NPR
- U.S. intelligence report favors incumbent Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa in election CBS News
- Ecuadoreans Are Split Between Two Candidates Ahead of Runoff Election on Sunday The New York Times
- Ecuador will choose its next president on Sunday amid surging violence and crime CNN
- In Ecuador, Noboa Bets Big on Trump Foreign Policy