Author: Olive Metuge
Nardine SaadandHarry SekulichReutersRussia targeted a railway depot in the town of Fastiv outside KyivRussia has launched a major aerial bombardment against Ukrainian infrastructure targets as talks between the US and Ukraine in Florida are set to enter a third day.Overnight Russia launched 653 drones and 51 missiles, most of which were downed, authorities said. One strike hit a railway hub at the town of Fastiv outside Kyiv, destroying the main station building and damaging rolling stock.President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack had been “meaningless from a military point of view, and the Russians could not have been unaware of this”.Earlier…
Listen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.New Orleans’ mayor-elect said Friday that a federal immigration crackdown launched this week is already causing harm as encounters between masked agents and residents, including some caught on video, has prompted public backlash.Frustrated city officials pointed to the case of Jacelynn Guzman, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen who was walking back to her Louisiana home from a trip to the grocery store on Wednesday when a truck pulled up beside her and two masked federal agents approached her, according to security…
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments early next year in the challenge to President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship – the guarantee of citizenship to almost everyone born in the United States. Under the order, which has never gone into effect, people born in the United States would not be automatically entitled to citizenship if their parents are in this country either illegally or temporarily. The challengers argue that the order conflicts with both the text of the Constitution and the court’s longstanding case law. The announcement came in a brief list of…
A serene retreat undergoing an exciting transformation promises relaxation and rejuvenation Set the sceneChange is afoot on the sleepy Al Zorah shorefront. The luxury resort once known as The Oberoi has been taken over by Four Seasons, and will be reimagined into the Four Seasons Ajman at Al Zorah in 2026. In the interim, it’s simply known as Al Zorah Beach Resort, while hospitality heavyweights Four Seasons inject their signature five-star service and reimagine the culinary and wellness offering.The location In under an hour, we’ve left Dubai’s soaring skyscrapers for Ajman’s verdant, low-lying landscape, a welcome serenity oozes from the Al Zorah…
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been one of the most vociferous defenders of President Donald Trump’s expansive use of executive authority, withholding billions of dollars in federal funding to states and dismissing protests of the White House’s boundary-pushing behavior as the gripings of “disenfranchised Democrats.” But court documents reviewed by ProPublica show that a decade ago, as a House member, Duffy took a drastically different position on presidential power, articulating a full-throated defense of Congress’ role as a check on the president — one that resembled the very arguments made by speakers at recent anti-Trump “No Kings” rallies around the…
Sakshi VenkatramanUS reporterREUTERS/Mike Blake/File PhotoFrank Gehry, one of the most influential architects of the last century, has died aged 96.Gehry was acclaimed for his avant garde, experimental style of architecture. His titanium-covered design of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, catapulted him to fame in 1997. He built his daring reputation years before that when he redesigned his own home in Santa Monica, California, using materials like chain-link fencing, plywood and corrugated steel.HIs death was confirmed by his chief of staff Meaghan Lloyd. He is survived by two daughters from his first marriage, Leslie and Brina; his wife, Berta Isabel…
Listen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.The federal government has removed Syria from its list of states that sponsor terrorism, almost a year after the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad’s regime.Syria had been put on the list in 2012 while Assad was still in power. The country was in the midst of a conflict that began in March 2011, killing nearly half a million people and displacing half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.Syria’s new government — headed by former Islamist insurgent leader and…
The Supreme Court on Friday afternoon added four new cases to its argument docket for the 2025-26 term. In a brief list of orders from the justices’ private conference earlier in the day, the court agreed to weigh in on one of the challenges to President Donald Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship (covered in a separate story). The court granted three other petitions for review: Jules v. Andre Balazs Properties – Whether a federal court that initially exercises jurisdiction and stays a case pending arbitration retains jurisdiction over an application to confirm or vacate an arbitration award in the same…
Look up… the UAE skies are about to light upDid you catch the supermoon tonight? If not, don’t worry – the year isn’t over just yet. There’s one last astronomical event lighting up the UAE skies this month and that’s the Geminids meteor shower, happening next weekend December 13 to 14.Geminids meteor showerEnd the year under a shower of stars as the Geminids are one of the most spectacular meteor showers of the year, with up to 120 meteors streaking across the sky every hour. Unlike other showers, these meteors can appear in green, yellow, or even blue – a…
There were so many details in the women’s reports to law enforcement that were hard for me to read. That they were just little girls when it happened. That a man many knew as the “fun uncle” had touched them sexually under their skirts and tops. And that it happened in church or while swimming at the lake or during games of hide-and-seek. They were as young as 5 years old, according to the police reports. Some could even remember what they were wearing when it happened: a fluffy multicolored skirt; a pair of jeans with purple flowers on them.…