Author: Press Room

The winning photo depicts nine-year-old Mahmoud Ajjour, whose arms were severed in an Israeli attack in Gaza last year.The solemn portrait of a nine-year-old Palestinian boy, whose arms were severed and mutilated during an Israeli attack on Gaza City, has won the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year award. The picture, given the accolade on Thursday, was taken by Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times newspaper, and depicts Mahmoud Ajjour. “One of the most difficult things Mahmoud’s mother explained to me was how when Mahmoud first came to the realisation that his arms were amputated, the first…

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was to meet at the White House on Thursday with President Trump, in what her aides have called a high-stakes “commercial peace mission.”European leaders are hoping Italy’s right-wing premier can position herself as a bridge between the Trump administration and the European Union, which Mr. Trump and his top aides have bashed as a deadbeat, if not abusive partner on defense and trade.The hope not only in Rome, but in EU capitals across the 27-nation bloc is likely that Meloni can persuade Mr. Trump not to impose the steep tariff hikes he’s threatened, which could devastate…

A member of the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Dean’s Council has resigned from his position after he was sued last week by nearly 200 family members of Americans killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on Israeli concert-goers. According to the lawsuit, Bashar Masri, a Palestinian American billionaire, is accused of “aiding and abetting” Hamas by helping the terror group build tunnels and rocket launch sites, as well as allowing top Hamas leaders to use his facilities at his properties in Gaza.Masri resigned from his Harvard post in the wake of the allegations. The Kennedy School of Government…

There’s less than two weeks left in the federal election campaign, but while the parties have put out various announcements, some industry leaders and experts say rural communities are being left out. About 20 per cent of Canadians live in rural, remote, Indigenous, coastal or northern communities, according to Rural Economic Development Canada.These communities are facing many of the same issues as their urban counterparts: health care shortages, crime rates and the impact of tariffs on important sectors.The way those issues impact rural communities, though, can be very different.“They’re discussing it as if how it looks and what the solutions…

The French Open will pay tribute to record 14-times champion Rafa Nadal on the opening day of the Grand Slam next month, a year after the Spaniard played his final match on the clay of Roland Garros.Nadal fell to his earliest French Open exit after a first-round defeat by Alexander Zverev last year but did not say then if it was the last time that his adoring Parisian fans would watch him in action at the major.The 22-times grand slam champion eventually called time on his glittering career after representing Spain in the Davis Cup in November and will now…

President of the Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association Wong Siew Hai told CNA that firms in that sector are hoping for the best but planning for the worst.  “It’s not business as usual right now, because we are waiting to see how much … we get hit (in tariffs),” said Wong.  “If you hope for the best, it will be 10 per cent. But if you prepare for the worst, I guess it’s 24 per cent (similar to Malaysia’s reciprocal tariff rate) and hopefully not higher,” he added.  Wong said there was no halt in production of semiconductor chips being exported…

A Santander office building in London.Luke MacGregor | Bloomberg via Getty ImagesSpanish lender Banco Santander has eclipsed Swiss giant UBS as continental Europe’s largest bank by market capitalization, as U.S. tariffs ripple through the region’s bruised banking sector.UBS — whose share took a deep tumble after the April 2 announcement of U.S. President Donald Trump’s baseline and reciprocal duties on Washington’s trade counterparties — had a market cap of 79.5 Swiss francs ($97.23 billion) as of the Wednesday close, according to FactSet data, with Banco Santander at 91.3 billion euros ($103.78 billion).The two banks’ shares have diverged over recent months,…

A wave of Israeli air strikes has hit multiple encampments for displaced Palestinians across the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, killing dozens of people, according to the enclave’s civil defence agency. Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said Israel’s targets overnight included several tents in the al-Mawasi area of the southern city of Khan Younis. “At least 16 martyrs [were killed], most of them women and children, and 23 others were wounded following a direct strike by two Israeli missiles on several tents housing displaced families in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis,” Bassal told the AFP news agency. The…

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said Wednesday during his trip to El Salvador that he “won’t rest” until Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a suspected MS-13 member who was deported to a mega prison in his home country, is brought back to the United States.Van Hollen has described the man as “wrongfully abducted” and traveled to El Salvador in an attempt to discuss efforts to bring the man back to Maryland, where he was living illegally. The senator was able to speak with Vice President Félix Augusto Antonio Ulloa Garay, but was not able to make contact with Abrego Garcia in person or…

A rideshare driver in Washington state is behind bars after accusations that he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old female passenger during a ride in February.The Bellevue Police Department said Martin Njoki, 43, was charged with unlawful imprisonment and indecent liberties on April 14 following an incident with a teenage girl in the early morning hours of Feb. 17.A ride was requested through Lyft by the teenager’s boyfriend for her to return home after she snuck out to visit him at his house in SeaTac, which is about 20 miles from Bellevue, according to police documents obtained by the Idaho Statesman.FORMER CALIFORNIA…