Foreign Affairs (News/Activism)
-
ouching down in the nation's capital under a cloud of security and fierce political tension, King Charles III and Queen Camilla officially kicked off their four–day state visit on Monday. Donald Trump and Melania Trump were on hand to welcome the royal couple at the White House in the afternoon. Amid West Wing construction and fresh security concerns following the terrifying shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner over the weekend, the royals were greeted by the President and First Lady...
-
The number of immigrants residing in the European Union climbed to a record high of 64.2 million in 2025, up about 2.1 million from a year earlier, according to a report published on Wednesday by the Centre for Research and Analysis on Migration at RFBerlin. The figure compares with 40 million in 2010, the report said, citing Eurostat and U.N. Refugee Agency data. Germany remained the bloc's biggest host of foreign-born people at nearly 18 million, 72% of them of working age, while Spain posted the fastest recent growth, adding about 700,000 to bring its foreign-born population to 9.5 million....
-
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro are statistically tied in a simulated runoff for this year's presidential election, a BTG Pactual/Nexus poll showed on Monday. • Leftist Lula would receive 46% of the vote in a second-round matchup, compared with 45% for right-wing Bolsonaro. • In a March survey, they were tied at 46% each. • In three first-round simulations, Lula was seen capturing 41% of the vote, while Flavio would take between 36% and 38%, depending on other candidates. • In Brazil, if no candidate gets more than 50% of valid votes, the two...
-
British control of the Falkland Islands, which the United States helped the Brits reconquer in the 1982 Falklands War, now seems to be at risk. There are news reports that the Trump administration’s list of ways to punish recalcitrant NATO allies includes siding with Argentina over control of the Falklands. London’s Express reported that Donald Trump’s Pentagon officials are exploring ways the United States can punish NATO countries for failing to support the Iran war, including by reportedly reviewing Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands. . . . An option included in the message is to consider reassessing US diplomatic...
-
A real policy push emerged in 2024 to extend certain legal protections to Americans who serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). In 2024, members of Congress introduced H.R. 8445, a bill that would have amended federal law “to provide for the eligibility of United States citizens who serve in the Israeli Defense Forces for certain protections relating to such service.” Under current law, US veterans’ benefits are tied to service in the US armed forces. The statutory definition of “veteran” appears at 38 USC § 101(2) and limits eligibility to those who served in US military forces or narrow...
-
The assisted suicide Bill will now fall when the current Parliamentary session ends and will not become law, after the final day of Committee Stage of the Bill was completed this afternoon, without the Bill passing the Lords. The fall of the assisted suicide Bill comes as new polling suggests that the Bill would likely fail if it were reintroduced to the House of Commons, and an analysis reveals there have been near-unprecedented levels of opposition to the Bill in the House of Lords. Private Members’ Bills, like the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, are only debated on...
-
The Court of Appeal of Kenya has overturned a 2022 High Court ruling that had recognized abortion as a fundamental right. In its decision delivered on Friday, April 24, the appellate court held that abortion is not a fundamental right under the Constitution, but rather an act that is generally prohibited, subject to specific exceptions. The court ruled that while the Constitution guarantees the right to life from conception, abortion is only permissible under limited circumstances outlined in law. “Having scrutinized the records in the two consolidated appeals, the written and oral submissions by respective counsel for the parties, the...
-
The demographic shift has a sinister political dimension if the fundamentalist brand of Islam continues to rise amongst this rapidly growing segment of the population. No matter what European politicians may say to downplay the negative impact of Moslem immigration, they cannot deny that the continent will experience an unprecedented demographic shift by the end of the century. If the current rate of Muslim immigration continues, Europe’s Muslim population could grow from 30 million today to about 110 million by 2100. This estimate assumes that the Muslim fertility rate will move downward over that period to approach native fertility rates,...
-
The U.S.-Israel war against Iran was to a great extent predictable. The United States feared Iran becoming a nuclear power. Israel feared that as well, and was also concerned about the Islamist forces – in this case, Hezbollah – that Iran supported in Lebanon. For the United States, the latter was at most a secondary concern, but the nuclear threat was potentially existential. The United States attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities almost one year ago, damaging but not destroying the program. In subsequent negotiations, Iran rejected the U.S. and Israeli demand that it end its nuclear program, and so war was...
-
How Trump Is Running the Most Aggressive Geopolitical Play in a Generation—and Why It Has to Be This Way From 1973 to 1977 the National Hockey League was the wild west, and Bob “Gasser” Gassoff—a 5’10”, 190-pound wrecking ball who skated for the St. Louis Blues—was one of the best enforcers in the game. His job was not to score. It was to protect the players who did. High-stick, slash, board or manhandle a Blues skill player and Gasser would drop the gloves and answer the bell, over and over, until somebody turtled or a referee had the stones to...
-
Oil prices have risen after plans for a second round of peace talks between the US and Iran stalled again. Brent, the global benchmark, rose by around 2% to $109.33 (£80.72) a barrel, while US-traded crude also increased by 2% at $96.78. US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Washington had cancelled plans to send a team to Pakistan for negotiations with their Iranian counterparts. Brent crude has risen by more than 10% since Trump announced last week that he would extend a ceasefire with Tehran to give its leadership a chance to present a "unified proposal".
-
MOST Scots would vote for independence if a referendum were held tomorrow, a fresh poll carried out in the middle of the Holyrood election campaign has found. A poll of just over 1000 Scots commissioned by James Kelly of the pro-independence Scot Goes Pop blog found 53% would vote Yes, excluding don't knows. When don't knows are left in, 50% would vote Yes while 44% would vote to remain in the Union. The survey was carried out between April 15 and 20 for Scot Goes Pop. According to Kelly, there have been nine polls this year that suggest Scots would...
-
Argentine President Javier Milei has launched a new effort to claim control of the Falkland Islands, reigniting a long-standing dispute with the United Kingdom over the archipelago, which once led to war. "THE MALVINAS WERE, ARE, AND ALWAYS WILL BE ARGENTINE,” Milei said on X in Spanish on Friday, using the Argentine name for the islands. In a separate interview with the Argentine digital channel Neura posted by Milei on Friday, he said that the country was doing “everything humanly possible” to return the Falklands to Argentina. “Sovereignty is non-negotiable, but it must be handled judiciously, with brains,” said Milei,...
-
Mali's defence minister has been killed in an apparent suicide truck bombing on his residence near the capital Bamako.Multiple news outlets reported the death of Sadio Camara, part of a wave of coordinated attacks by jihadist militants and separatists carried out across the country.State TV confirmed the death several hours later, saying he died of wounds received while engaging with the attackers. Reports say the head of the military junta, Gen Assimi Goita, was moved to a safe location after his home was targeted.Further north Russian mercenaries hired by Mali's military agreed to withdraw from Kidal after two days of...
-
The European Court of Justice has ruled that Hungary’s amended Child Protection Law violates EU law and discriminates against gay and transgender people. It is the first time the court has found that an EU member state breached the fundamental values set out in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The law was pushed by Viktor Orbán in a referendum coinciding with a general election vote. At the time, the law faced accusations that it unfairly criminalised gay men as pedophiles. The ruling on Tuesday comes nine days after Hungary’s parliamentary elections, in which the opposition Tisza Party defeated Orbán’s...
-
Narrated video embedded An explosive device killed 13 people traveling on a bus in southwestern Colombia on Saturday, an attack the country's army chief described as a “terrorist act" that also left at least 38 injured as violence linked to drug trafficking in the region escalates. ...
-
ARLINGTON— The Navy took a major step forward in delivering game-changing hypersonic strike power to carrier pilots when it awarded California startup Castelion a contract nearing $105 million to fully integrate the Blackbeard hypersonic weapon onto the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The deal puts U.S. forces on a fast track to field its first operational air-launched hypersonic strike weapon from carrier decks by 2027. Unlike land-based ballistic missiles, Blackbeard is made for Navy aircraft carriers and can be launched from an F/A-18 fighter jet operating hundreds of miles from shore, giving the U.S. enhanced capabilities to strike an adversary’s missile batteries...
-
Ministry says it will take a deeper dive into cause once current slide stops movingOn a sunny Friday morning, Kelly Ziebart walks through mountains of mud and dead grass that have heaved off the hills, just south of Fort St John, B.C. "Look how far the road slid down here," he said, pointing to damage along the closed road into Old Fort. "I think they're talking 50, 60 metres." This is the third landslide to hit the community of roughly 150 people since 2018. Once again, it has destroyed the only road in or out of the hamlet along the...
-
Family, friends and supporters of Virginia Giuffre held an emotional memorial vigil in Washington DC marking the first anniversary of her death. With the White House in the background, her brother Sky Roberts spoke of how his sister, a prominent accuser of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, had turned "pain into purpose". The event was held ahead of the arrival of the King and Queen in Washington DC on a state visit. Giuffre's lawyer Sigrid McCawley repeated calls for the King to meet Epstein survivors, saying it was a "missed opportunity". McCawley said she appreciated the concerns about the King not...
-
The Mexican government says two US agents who died last weekend in a car crash had not been authorised to operate in the country.The officials, who reportedly worked for the CIA, had taken part in a raid on suspected drug labs in the northern state of Chihuahua before their vehicle skidded off a mountain road and exploded.Following an investigation ordered by President Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico's security ministry said that "neither had formal accreditation to participate in operational activities" and that federal authorities had not been informed of their presence.The incident comes amid at-times fraught relations between Mexico and the US...
|
|
|