User Articles

Nationalism challenges plan to boost defence spend

Inside a sprawling hangar in Spain, workers bolt together a fuselage for European aerospace giant Airbus, which churns out jets and other military equipment. The multinational conglomerate is a rarity in Europe’s defence industry, backed by Spain, Germany, France and Britain. The norm for defence industries on the continent is big-name national champions and hundreds of small companies mostly working to fill orders for state governments.

Accident

One dead in ferry hit-and-run

One person has died and several have been injured when a boat crashed into a ferry off the Memorial Causeway Bridge in Clearwater, Florida and then fled the scene, authorities say. The Clearwater Police Department posted on X that there were multiple injuries and the crash had been declared “a mass casualty incident” by the Clearwater Fire & Rescue Department due to the number of injuries. All of those injured were aboard the ferry, which was carrying more than 40 people. Police did not provide any information about the person who died.

Odd Spot

6 hours ago

Germans vie for finger wrestling title

Men in short leather pants and embroidered suspenders have risked dislocated digits as they vied for the top prize at Germany’s championship in the sport of fingerhakeln, or finger wrestling. Around 180 competitors took part in the 64th German championship in Pang, about an hour’s drive southwest of Munich. It’s thought that finger wrestling, popular in Germany’s Alpine region and neighbouring Austria, originated as a way to settle disputes.

6 hours ago

Finance

Global Indices

Dow Jones40,113.5+20.10
S&P 5005,484.77+108.91
Nasdaq17,166.04+457.99
FTSE 1008,415.25+7.81
ASX 2007,997.1+28.90
NZ5012,098.89+81.05
DAX22,242.45+177.94
CAC407,536.26+33.48
Hang Seng21,973.24-7.50
Nikkei 22535,839.99+134.25

Finance

CURRENCIES

USD/AUD1.5640.00
USD/CAD1.387-0.00
USD/GBP0.751-0.001
USD/NZD1.678+0.002
AUD/NZD1.073+0.002

Middle East

17 hours ago

Assad rescue planes were intercepted by Israelis

Israeli warplanes last year intercepted Iranian aircraft headed toward Syria, preventing them from delivering troops meant to assist the country’s embattled president at the time, Bashar Assad, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says. The remarks in a speech gave a new glimpse into Israel’s thinking in the final days in power for Assad, a longtime enemy who was overthrown by insurgents last December.

17 hours ago

Syria

19 hours ago

Saudi Arabia, Qatar to pay Syria’s World Bank debt

Saudi Arabia and Qatar said they will pay Syria’s outstanding debt to the World Bank, a move likely to make the international institution resume its support to the war-torn country. A joint statement by the finance ministries of Saudi and Qatar said the decision to pay Syria’s nearly $15 million debt to the World Bank was made during this month’s meetings in Washington by the World Bank and IMF. Syria’s Foreign Ministry thanked the two oil and gas-rich countries for paying the debt, saying it opens the way for activating co-operation toward recovery and reconstruction after a 14-year conflict that killed half a million people and caused wide destruction in the country.

19 hours ago

Legal

20 hours ago

Couple taking FBI to Supreme Court over mistaken raid

Before dawn on October 18, 2017, FBI agents broke down the front door of Trina Martin’s Atlanta home, stormed into her bedroom and pointed guns at her and her then-boyfriend as her 7-year-old son screamed for his mom from another room. Martin, blocked from comforting her son, cowered in disbelief for what she said felt like an eternity. But within minutes, the ordeal was over. The agents realised they had the wrong house. On Tuesday, an attorney for Martin will go before the US Supreme Court to ask the justices to reinstate her 2019 lawsuit against the US government accusing the agents of assault and battery, false arrest and other violations.

20 hours ago

Greenland

22 hours ago

Greenland’s PM says US is showing lack of respect

New Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said that US statements about the mineral-rich Arctic island have been disrespectful and that Greenland “will never, ever be a piece of property that can be bought by just anyone.” Nielsen made the remarks in defiance of US President Donald Trump’s interest in taking control of the strategic territory as Nielsen stood side by side with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on the second day of a three-day official visit in Denmark. Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark. ”The talks from the United States have not been respectful,” Nielsen said at a news conference at the prime minister’s Marienborg official residence in Lyngby, 12 kilometres (8 miles) north of Copenhagen.

22 hours ago

Gaza

52,000 people killed in Gaza war

Hospitals in the Gaza Strip received the remains of 51 Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours, the local Health Ministry said, bringing the Palestinian death toll from the 18-month-old Israel-Hamas war to 52,243. Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas by launching a surprise bombardment on March 18, and has been carrying out daily waves of strikes. Ground forces have expanded a buffer zone and encircled the southern city of Rafah, and now control around 50 per cent of the territory. Israel has also sealed off the territory’s 2 million Palestinians from all imports, including food and medicine, for nearly 60 days. Aid groups say supplies will soon run out and that thousands of children are malnourished.

Ukraine

Russia claims bombing suspect says Ukraine paid him

A man suspected of killing a Russian general with a car bomb pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and said he was paid by the Ukrainian Security Service, Russian authorities said. The Investigative Committee said that Ignat Kuzin admitted he was paid to kill Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff of the Russian armed forces. Some reports have said Kuzin is a Ukrainian citizen. Moskalik was killed by an explosive device placed in his car in Balashikha, just outside Moscow, hours before US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff was due to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on ending the Ukraine war.

Iran

Iran port death toll rises to 40

Iran’s president visited those injured Sunday in a huge explosion that rocked one of the Islamic Republic’s main ports, a facility purportedly linked to an earlier delivery of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant. The visit by President Masoud Pezeshkian came as the toll from Saturday’s blast at the Shahid Rajaei port outside of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran’s Hormozgan province rose to at least 40 people killed and about 1,000 others injured. Provincial Governor Mohammad Ashouri gave the new death toll, Iranian state television reported.

Election

Trump shaping Canada’s ballot

Donald Trump might as well be on the ballot when Canadians vote for a new government. The US president’s trade war and threats to make Canada the 51st state have infuriated Canadians and led to a surge in nationalism that has helped the Liberal Party flip the narrative heading into Monday’s parliamentary election, at least in opinion polls. ”Trump is the campaign,“ former Quebec Premier Jean Charest said.

Politics

Musk faces popularity plunge

Elon Musk spent years building cachet as a business titan and tech visionary, brushing aside critics and skeptics to become the richest person on the planet. But as Musk gained power in Washington in recent months, his popularity has waned, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Just 33 per cent of US adults have a favourable view of Musk, the chain-saw-wielding, late-night-posting, campaign-hat-wearing public face of President Donald Trump’s efforts to downsize and overhaul the federal government. That share is down from 41 per cent in December.

Iran

Putin sends help to Iran after port blast

President Vladimir Putin has ordered several planes to be sent to Iran to help deal with the aftermath of a blast at Iran’s port of Bandar Abbas, Russia’s emergency ministry said on Sunday. Putin has expressed his condolences over the loss of life and offered to provide a help to Iran dealing with the aftermath of a blast, the Kremlin said. It said Putin had conveyed “words of sincere sympathy and support to the families of the victims, as well as his wishes for a recovery to all those injured.“ The emergency ministry said a Beriev Be-200 amphibious aircraft specialising in firefighting, as well as an Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane, would be sent to Iran to help out. Iranian state media reported that a huge blast probably caused by the explosion of chemical materials killed at least 18 people and injured more than 700 on Saturday at Bandar Abbas, Iran’s biggest port.

China

China eases tourist taxes to boost spending

China announced a lower threshold for tax refunds for foreign tourists among a series of policies on Sunday to boost consumption as its economy comes under pressure during a trade war between Beijing and Washington. Travellers can apply for a tax refund if they spend 200 yuan (about $27) at the same store on the same day and meet other requirements starting Saturday, according to a joint statement by the Ministry of Commerce and other authorities. Previously, the minimum amount was 500 yuan (about $69). The upper limit for their tax rebate in cash also has been doubled to 20,000 yuan ($2,745). The government will expand the coverage of tax refund shops and streamline the procedures. Officials encourage some regions to set up refund points for travellers to get rebates immediately after their purchases in areas highly concentrated with tourists, the statement said.