Category: World

OTTAWA: Canada’s new prime minister Mark Carney is likely to announce snap elections today (Sunday), seeking a stronger mandate as his country fights off a trade war and annexation threats from United States President Donald Trump. The former central banker was chosen by the centrist Liberal Party to replace Justin Trudeau as prime minister, but he has never faced the broader Canadian electorate. That will change on April 28, if, as expected, Carney announces he is bringing parliamentary elections forward several months from October. Government sources told AFP that he would announce…

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WASHINGTON: White House envoy Steve Witkoff has showered Russian President Vladimir Putin with praise and said the leader had told the US official that he had prayed for his “friend” US President Donald Trump when he was shot while campaigning in Philadelphia last year for the presidential election. The envoy met with Putin over multiple hours last week in Moscow and told US media the talks — which involved discussions about forging a path towards ending Russia’s war in Ukraine — were constructive and “solution-based.” In an interview with right-wing…

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BRIDGEWATER: US President Donald Trump on Friday took away security clearances for former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others in his latest move against his Democratic opponents. The Republican president, who has also revoked the security clearance for former President Joe Biden, defeated Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and Harris in last year’s election. “I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information,” Trump said in a late Friday memorandum that also…

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WASHINGTON: The temporary legal status of 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans in the United States will be revoked by US President Donald Trump’s administration, according to a Federal Register notice on Friday, the latest expansion of his crackdown on immigration. The new decision, effective April 24, cuts short a two-year “parole” granted to the migrants under former President Joe Biden that allowed them to enter the country by air if they had US sponsors. Trump, a Republican, took steps to ramp up immigration enforcement after taking office, including a…

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LONDON: After a huge fire at a nearby electrical substation wiped out power, Britain’s Heathrow Airport said it would be closed all of Friday, disrupting flight schedules around the world. Around 70 firefighters were tackling the blaze in the west of London, which caused a mass power outage at Heathrow, Europe’s busiest and the world’s fifth-busiest airport, the London Fire Brigade said. Huge orange flames and smoke could be seen shooting into the sky. Around 150 people were evacuated from nearby buildings and thousands of properties were without power. The fire…

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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has urged the Supreme Court to limit the power of federal judges who block his policies, warning that failing to act could put the country in serious danger. Federal courts are hearing more than 100 lawsuits challenging various initiatives by Trump and his administration since he returned to the presidency in January, with some judges imposing nationwide injunctions to block policies such as his move to curtail automatic birthright citizenship. “STOP NATIONWIDE INJUNCTIONS NOW, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump wrote in a social media…

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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to start dismantling the Department of Education, pushing forward a long-standing Republican aim to shift control of schools from the federal government to individual states. Surrounded by schoolchildren sitting at desks set up in the East Room of the White House, Trump smiled as he held up the order after signing it. Trump said the order would “begin eliminating the federal Department of Education once and for all.” “We’re going to shut it down and shut it down as quickly…

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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump is expected to sign an order today (Thursday) aiming to dismantle the Department of Education, fulfilling a long-held goal of American conservatives. The order, which several media outlets on Wednesday reported would be signed during a White House ceremony, comes as efforts are already underway in the department to drastically downsize its staffing and slash funding. Trump’s education secretary, former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon, issued a memo shortly after her swearing-in on March 3 saying the agency would be beginning its “final mission.”…

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WASHINGTON: A US judge has cautioned the Trump administration that it may face repercussions if found to have defied a court ruling that temporarily halted the deportation of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants, while also allowing officials more time to justify their actions. Washington-based US District Judge James Boasberg stated that the administration could choose to invoke the state secrets doctrine, which safeguards sensitive national security information from being disclosed in civil litigation, and justify its actions rather than provide details on deportation flights. Boasberg signalled he was sceptical that compliance…

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VATICAN CITY: The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis no longer needs mechanical ventilation at night for breathing as he continues to recover from pneumonia, with doctors optimistic about steady improvement in his health condition. Francis has been in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for nearly five weeks for a severe respiratory infection that has required evolving treatment. “The clinical conditions of the Holy Father are confirmed to be improving,” said the latest detailed medical update on his condition on Wednesday. The pope had been using non-invasive mechanical ventilation overnight during his…

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