Author: Press Room

Deputy foreign ministers of Russia, China and Iran call for multilateral talks on ending ‘unlawful’ US sanctions.Representatives of Iran, Russia and China have urged United States President Donald Trump’s administration to end sanctions imposed against Tehran over its rapidly advancing nuclear programme, while calling for the resumption of the multilateral talks on the issue. The three nations “emphasised the necessity of terminating all unlawful unilateral sanctions”, China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu read from a joint statement issued on Friday. He was flanked by his counterparts from Russia, Ryabkov Sergey Alexeevich, and Iran, Kazem Gharibabadi. “The relevant parties should work…

Former heart surgeon and television host Dr. Mehmet Oz is set to face questions Friday from the Senate’s finance committee over his nomination to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Trump.After Friday’s hearing, the GOP-led finance committee will schedule a vote on whether to send Oz’s nomination to the full Senate, where he is likely to be approved given the Republican majority. If confirmed, Oz would be the administrator charged with overseeing the nearly $1.5 trillion spent by the federal government on Medicare and Medicaid. The two health insurance programs for seniors and poor Americans make…

Homeland Security agents conducted searches in a pair of students’ rooms at Columbia University on Thursday, resulting in Katrina Armstrong, the interim president of the school, sharing that she was “heartbroken” in an update to the campus community.”I am writing heartbroken to inform you that we had federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security in two University residences tonight,” she wrote. “No one was arrested or detained. No items were removed, and no further action was taken.”The DHS agents served Columbia with two judicial search warrants signed by a federal magistrate judge, which met the university’s requirements for law…

Eighteen years ago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a rallying cry for Canadians.“Canada has a choice when it comes to defending our sovereignty over the Arctic,” he said on the shores of Esquimalt Harbour, B.C., while announcing plans for a fleet of new Arctic offshore patrol ships (AOPS) and a deep-sea port to be used as their base.“We either use it or lose it.” Prime Minister Stephen Harper announces the construction of Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships at CFB Esquimalt on July 9, 2007. (CP PHOTO/Deddeda Stemler) Canada. Canadian Press But two decades later, amid a flurry of Arctic-focused announcements, one…

Cat Haven will be forced to take “urgent action” to protect vulnerable cats and kittens with Saturday’s planned power outage putting the charity under pressure.Western Power has given Cat Haven $2000 in compensation but the charity said running the generator required to maintain critical care would cost much more.They have appealed to Western Power “several times” to move the outage until after work hours on Saturday, but their pleas have “fallen on deaf ears”.Cat Haven marketing and fundraising manager Amber Ashford said: “We just hope we can get through the day with the generator being able to cope with our…

Trouble has been brewing since the dramatic May 2018 general election when DAP, together with its other allies in the Pakatan Harapan coalition and former premier Mahathir Mohamad, ousted the decades-old ruling political alliance headed by UMNO. The Lims ruffled the feathers of several DAP factions when a clutch of young politicians aligned with the family were given key ministerial and government positions.  But the new government, which was led by Mahathir, lasted only 22 months and collapsed partly because of deep differences between the DAP and the other ethnic Malay-based parties, leading to a period of serious political instability.…

Turkey’s military has kept up deadly attacks in Syria and Iraq on fighters linked to the Kurdish insurgent group P.K.K. in the two weeks since the movement’s founder called on his followers to lay down their arms and disband.The P.K.K. leadership, which is based in the Qandil Mountains of Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, responded to the call by the founder, Abdullah Ocalan, by announcing a unilateral cease-fire on March 1. But they said that Turkey had to release Mr. Ocalan from prison to oversee the group’s disarmament, a possibility that Turkish officials have not publicly entertained.Previous efforts to negotiate an…

In June 2023, Donald J. Trump’s lawyers arrived at Justice Department headquarters, grimly scooped up visitors badges and were ushered upstairs to ask prosecutors for details about Mr. Trump’s imminent indictment over the hoarding of documents at Mar-a-Lago.Mr. Trump never faced a trial and is now the president. Two members of his defense team have permanent department badges, because they run the agency’s day-to-day operations.And Mr. Trump, once a target of prosecution by the Justice Department, is scheduled on Friday to deliver a major law-and-order speech in the agency’s great hall — at least as much an expression of conquest…

The Republican-led Congress isn’t just watching the Trump administration gobble up its constitutional powers. It is enthusiastically turning them over to the White House.G.O.P. lawmakers are doing so this week by embracing a stopgap spending bill that gives the administration wide discretion over how federal dollars are distributed, in effect handing off the legislative branch’s spending authority to President Trump. But that is just one example of how Congress, under unified Republican control, is proactively relinquishing some of its fundamental and critical authority on oversight, economic issues and more.As they cleared the way for passing the spending measure on Tuesday,…

Some might call it a “smashing” good time. A rage room in Halifax is providing Canadians with a clever way to blow off some steam amid an intense political climate between Canada and the U.S. — framed photos of U.S. President Donald Trump for smashing, among other items related to the tariff war.“Fed up with the chaos? News cycle getting you down? We hear you—and we’ve got the perfect way to let it all out,” Rage Room Halifax wrote in an Instagram post.Rage Room Halifax is calling it a “smash the tariffs” event where each session includes a free framed…