Catherine, Princess of Wales, is set to make her first official overseas trip since recovering from cancer. The British royal is expected to travel to Italy next week for a two-day solo working trip with the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, according to Kensington Palace. Kate launched the foundation in 2021 to raise awareness of the impact experiences in early childhood can have on later life outcomes. Between next Wednesday and Thursday, the princess will spend time in the northern Italian city of Reggio Emilia to explore internationally leading approaches to supporting young children and their carers, the palace…
Author: Oki Bin Oki
Police have raided around 50 homes and other locations, targeting people suspected of involvement in far-right criminal youth groups that have recently emerged in Germany. Prosecutors said the suspects were believed to be part of two groups, “Jung & Stark” (JS), or Young and Strong, and “Deutsche Jugend Voran” (DJV), which means Forwards German Youth. No arrests were made in Wednesday’s raids, which took place in 12 states, mainly in the east and south of Germany, including Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony. In a statement, federal prosecutors said the raids targeted individuals suspected of organising violence through social media and…
Ted Turner, the media maverick and philanthropist who founded CNN, a pioneering 24-hour network that revolutionized television news, died peacefully Wednesday, surrounded by his family, according to a news release from Turner Enterprises. He was 87. The Ohio-born Atlanta businessman, nicknamed “The Mouth of the South” for his outspoken nature, built a media empire that encompassed cable’s first superstation and popular channels for movies and cartoons, plus professional sports teams like the Atlanta Braves. Turner was also an internationally known yachtsman; a philanthropist who founded the United Nations Foundation; an activist who sought the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons; and…
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki Wednesday challenged regulatory bodies and agencies to enhance coordination for quick and efficient service delivery. The DP said the work done by the agencies defines the government’s performance hence the need to improve decision making and coordination to meet Kenyans’expectations and avert duplication of duties. “We must ensure that the presence of the 127 regulators translates into coordinated strength, clarity, and efficiency rather than duplication, confusion, and delay,” DP stated. Prof. Kindiki spoke on Wednesday when he addressed the 3rd Annual Regulatory Authorities and Agencies Conference held at South Eastern Kenya University (SEKU), Kitui County. Presently,…
Apple on Tuesday agreed to pay $250 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing it of misleading millions of iPhone buyers by falsely touting artificial intelligence capabilities for its Siri voice assistant in late 2024. Plaintiffs accused the California tech giant of having “promoted AI capabilities that did not exist at the time, do not exist now, and will not exist for two or more years” in order to boost iPhone sales, the document — reviewed by AFP — stated. The Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division, the US advertising watchdog, had also concluded that Apple falsely suggested the…
Uganda’s parliament on Tuesday passed a contentious bill, previously criticised by rights groups, journalists and businesses for mirroring “foreign agents” language used in Russian law to silence dissent, after a raft of amendments. The East African country has been under the increasingly authoritarian rule of President Yoweri Museveni for 40 years. The 81-year-old was re-elected in January amid a days-long internet shutdown and repression of the opposition that forced his main opponent, Bobi Wine, into hiding. Critics say the new law adds a new weapon to be used against political opponents. The so-called “Protection of Sovereignty Bill” criminalises actions deemed…
A South Korean judge who more than doubled the former first lady’s prison sentence last month was found dead on Wednesday, police said. Shin Jong-o was “found unconscious around 1:00 am (1600 GMT on Tuesday)… at the Seoul High Court building”, an investigator at Seocho district police station told AFP. Shin was taken to hospital and pronounced dead, he said, adding: “There is no sign of foul play in the death.” Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none. Last month, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim Keon Hee’s appeal trial, finding…
A banditry raid in Isiolo North Sub-County left two suspected raiders dead following a gunfight in Leparua village. According to police, the incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday when about 20 armed bandits raided the home of a local resident, Gitonga Mbatia, with the intention of stealing livestock. A security team led by officers from the Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) and anti-crime personnel responded to the attack. Authorities say a fierce exchange of fire ensued between the attackers and National Police Reservists (NPR) from the area. During the confrontation, two suspected bandits were shot dead. Police believe several…
Nine people died in an explosion at a coal mine in Colombia in the latest fatal accident to hit the country’s mining sector. Emergency workers said they had rescued six miners from the shafts in Sutatausa, north of the capital, Bogotá. Colombia’s national mining agency said a build-up of gases was thought to have caused the explosion at 16:00 (21:00 GMT) on Monday. It also published a list of recommendations it said it had made to the mine’s operators after an inspection less than a month ago, in which it had warned of a “potentially dangerous gas build-up”. Many mines…
Car manufacturer Nissan announced it will stop using one of its UK production lines and will be cutting 900 jobs in Europe. The company confirmed it would be merging two of the lines producing the Leaf, Juke and Qashqai models at its Sunderland plant, but said no jobs would lost through the change. However, the Japanese-owned car maker said it was in talks to cut about 10% of its European workforce, which included plans to close part of its warehouse in Barcelona and import cars to Nordic countries. A Nissan spokesperson said the changes were being made under its RE:Nissan…
Sudan has accused neighbouring Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of orchestrating drone strikes on its main airport, describing the assault as “direct aggression”. The international airport, located in the capital, was hit on Monday, along with military installations in the Greater Khartoum area. Recent drone strikes have shattered a period of relative calm in Khartoum, which came after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was pushed out by the Sudanese military last year. Ethiopia has said accusations that it was involved in the airport attack are “baseless”. The UAE has not yet commented, but has previously denied involvement…
Russia and Ukraine declared unilateral ceasefires starting this week, ahead of commemorations held by Russia to mark the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany on Saturday. Russia said it would hold a ceasefire on 8 and 9 May and threatened a “massive missile strike” on central Kyiv if Ukraine violated the truce. But Kyiv announced it would observe an open-ended ceasefire from midnight on 6 May, and that Ukraine would act “symmetrically” from that point on. Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov said that if the ceasefire announced by the Ukrainian president was reciprocated, “we will continue to observe…
Grammy award-winning rapper Kid Cudi has dropped singer-songwriter M.I.A. from his Rebel Ragers tour over “offensive remarks” which left his fanbase “upset”. Videos online show the British star being booed after suggesting she was unable to perform her song Illygal, about an undocumented migrant, because it could apply to members of the crowd. Writing on Instagram, Kid Cudi said he’d been flooded with messages after the Paper Planes singer’s comments during a support slot at his show in Dallas, Texas. In his statement, Kid Cudi said it was “very disappointing” and claimed he had explained to M.I.A.’s management that he…
France’s public sector broadcasters have been lambasted by a parliamentary committee of enquiry, which recommends closing several channels and cutting their budget by a total of €1bn (£863m). The committee, which held six months of at times acrimonious hearings, levelled charges of left-wing bias at state-owned France Télévisions and Radio France, as well as gross financial waste. But the findings were immediately dismissed as politically-motivated and impractical by industry insiders, who said that the committee’s rapporteur, Charles Alloncle, has a far-right agenda to prepare state TV and radio for privatisation. Criticism has also come from the prime minister and the…
Romanian MPs have voted to remove Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan in a no-confidence vote in parliament. The largest party, the left-wing Social Democrats, abandoned Bolojan’s four-party coalition last month and joined the far-right opposition to call for the vote. The Social Democrats have repeatedly clashed with Bolojan, a liberal, over austerity measures aimed at reducing the budget deficit. President Nicusor Dan, who is now expected to try to rebuild the coalition under a different prime minister, has sought to give reassurances that Romania – an EU and Nato member which borders Ukraine – will retain its pro-Brussels stance. A total…