Category: WORLD NEWS

Police in Brazil are starting to employ a dictatorship-era national security law against critics of President Jair Bolsonaro, while lawyers and activists rally to provide them with legal help and accuse the government of trying to silence dissent. On Friday, demonstrators challenged police in the capital by parading with anti-Bolsonaro signs a day after four protesters were detained. They had called the president genocidal for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and displayed a cartoon depicting him as a Nazi. Officers took no action Friday as about 40 people protested…

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Top American lawmakers have welcomed Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin’s first visit to the US’ “strategic partner” India, as they highlighted the importance of the bilateral ties which are critical for the security and stability in the Indo-Pacific amidst Chinese aggression. Austin is on a three-nation first overseas tour. He visited Japan and South Korea before visiting India. “Congratulations to Secretary Defence Austin on a successful visit to India”, tweeted Congressman Filemon Vela, who is Vice Chair of the Democratic Party appointed by President Joe Biden. Look forward to working on…

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UN chief Antonio Guterres has said that he is appalled by the escalating violence in Myanmar and urged the international community to work collectively and bilaterally to help bring an end to the repression by the country’s military. Secretary-General Guterres also noted with concern that the killing of demonstrators and arbitrary arrests by the military in Myanmar are in clear defiance of calls by the UN Security Council for restraint, dialogue and a return to the democratic path in the country. Guterres urged the international community to work collectively and…

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The last vacation Margrit and Lucio Gonzalez took together began with an ominous delay: a medical emergency on the cruise ship they were set to board. After a four-hour wait, the couple of 51 years got on the Grand Princess on Feb. 11, 2020, for a round-trip voyage from San Francisco to the Mexican Riviera, a decision Margrit Gonzalez came to regret. I wish we had come back home. He would still be alive, the 82-year-old said. Within weeks, the Grand Princess had captured the world’s attention and made the…

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London’s police department is under scrutiny for the way officers handled some participants at an unofficial vigil Saturday night for a London woman whose death led to murder charges against a fellow officer and spurred a national conversation about violence against women in the UK. Hundreds of people disregarded a judge’s ruling and police requests by gathering at Clapham Common in honour of Sarah Everard, 33, who last was seen alive near the south London park on March 3. Demonstrators said they wanted to draw attention to the fear and…

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo confronted a stunning series of defections Friday amid allegations of sexual harassment that left the high-profile Democrat fighting for his political survival, angry and alone. By day’s end, the three-term governor had lost the support of almost the entire 29-member New York congressional delegation and a majority of Democrats in the state legislature. None of the desertions hurt more than those of New York’s two US senators, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Due to the multiple, credible sexual harassment and misconduct…

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President Joe Biden wants America to know that he’s from the government and he’s here to help. That sentiment became a well-worn punchline under Ronald Reagan and shaped the politics of both parties for four decades. Democrat Bill Clinton declared the era of big government over in the 1990s, Barack Obama largely kept his party in the same lane and Republican Donald Trump campaigned on the premise that Washington was full of morons, outplayed by the Chinese and others. But Biden is now staking his presidency on the idea that…

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In a wide-ranging interview, Harry and Meghan described painful discussions about the colour of their son’s skin, losing royal protection and the intense pressures that led the Duchess of Sussex to contemplate suicide. The interview aired Sunday with Oprah Winfrey was the couple’s first since they stepped down from royal duties and the two-hour special included numerous revelations likely to reverberate on both sides of the Atlantic. Harry told Winfrey that he felt trapped by royal life and was surprised that he was cut off financially and lost his security…

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Pope Francis arrived in northern Iraq on Sunday, where he planned to pray in the ruins of churches damaged or destroyed by Islamic State extremists and celebrate an open-air Mass on the last day of the first-ever papal visit to the country. The Vatican hopes that the landmark visit will rally the country’s Christian communities and encourage them to stay despite decades of war and instability. Francis has also delivered a message of interreligious tolerance and fraternity to Muslim leaders, including in an historic meeting Saturday with Iraq’s top Shiite…

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Senate leaders and moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin struck a deal late Friday over emergency jobless benefits, breaking a nine-hour logjam that had stalled the party’s showpiece USD 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. The compromise, announced by the West Virginia lawmaker and a Democratic aide, seemed to clear the way for the Senate to begin a climactic, marathon series of votes expected to lead to approval of the sweeping legislation. The overall bill, President Joe Biden’s top legislative priority, is aimed at battling the killer pandemic and nursing the staggered…

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