Author: Olive Metuge
A night with the queen of emotions, live in the heart of DowntownElissa is heading to Dubai Opera this November, and if that name makes your heart skip a beat – you’re not alone. The Lebanese superstar – whose music has shaped the region’s sound for over two decades – is bringing her voice, her ballads, and all the feels to the stage for one night only: November 3. Here’s the lowdown.Elissa: voice of a generationShe’s one of the biggest names in Arabic pop – and for good reason. With over 30 million records sold and a billion-plus YouTube views…
This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Street Roots. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. As the city of Portland, Oregon, clawed its way out of the pandemic, it faced a new set of crises: The city’s homeless population was growing. Tents lined some city blocks. High-powered business associations held press conferences demanding the city remove homeless people and touted self-funded surveys saying that without action, businesses and residents would flee the city. By late spring 2021, the city committed to a new strategy that…
A Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband were shot and killed in their home early on Saturday morning in what Governor Tim Walz called a “act of targeted political violence”.Walz said House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband were killed. State Senator John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife were targeted in their home as well. They were shot multiple times and are out of surgery, Walz said at a news conference.Walz said the targeted shootings occurred in Brooklyn Park and Champlin, neighbouring cities to Minneapolis. A manhunt is underway for a suspect.Brooklyn Park Police Chief…
Search and recovery teams continued scouring the site of one of India’s worst aviation disasters for a third day after the Air India flight fell from the sky and killed at least 270 people in Gujarat state, officials said Saturday.The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff Thursday, killing 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground. One passenger survived.Recovery teams working until late Friday found at least 25 more bodies in the debris, officials said.Dr. Dhaval Gameti at the Civil Hospital in…
In A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools, Independent School District No. 279, the Supreme Court considered the obligation of schools to refrain from discriminating on the basis of a disability. Specifically, the justices considered whether students face a higher bar in challenging such activity than disabled individuals do in other contexts. Thursday’s opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by all the justices, firmly rejected the higher standard adopted by the lower courts. The case involved a pair of federal statutes that bar discrimination on the basis of disability, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans…
The UAE is making serious strides toward gender equality and the latest global report proves itAccording to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2025, the UAE has climbed from 74th to 69th in global rankings, cementing its place as the regional leader in gender parity.In fact, it’s the highest-ranking country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and that’s just the beginning. The UAE also achieved full gender parity in parliamentary representation, joining the ranks of Mexico, Nicaragua, and Rwanda.The country is leading the way in political empowerment across the region, earning a score of 37.2%…
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. Reporting Highlights Investigation Impeded: Despite Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s crime fighter reputation, his top aides blocked extraditions of MS-13 leaders to the U.S., officials say. Money Laundering Inquiry: U.S. agents drew up a request to examine whether Bukele and senior officials had diverted USAID funds to help out MS-13 gang members. Salvadoran Allies Threatened: Law enforcement officials had to flee El Salvador after facing harassment and threats from the country’s government. These highlights were written by the reporters…
Bethany Bell & Hugh SchofieldIn Graz and ParisMatej Povse/Getty ImagesThe attacks within two hours of each other in Graz and Nogent have left two countries in shockTwo shocking attacks within two hours of each other, in France and Austria, have left parents and governments reeling and at a loss how to protect school students from random, deadly violence.At about 08:15 on Tuesday, a 14-year-old boy from an ordinary family in Nogent, eastern France, drew out a kitchen knife during a school bag check and fatally stabbed a school assistant.Not long afterwards in south-east Austria, a 21-year-old who had dropped out…
A miracle. Stunning. Unbelievable. These are some of the reactions online and in headlines around the world about Vishwashkumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the Air India crash that killed 241 people on board and several more on the ground after the plane crashed minutes after takeoff. The Dreamliner struck a medical college hostel when it crashed in a ball of fire into a residential area of the northwestern Indian city of Ahmedabad Thursday. DNA testing was being conducted to identify bodies that were mostly charred beyond recognition. More victims are expected to be found in the search of the crash site.And then, there’s Ramesh, who police…
A group of states, school districts, and teachers’ unions on Friday afternoon urged the Supreme Court in two separate filings to leave in place an order by a federal judge in Massachusetts that directs the Department of Education to reinstate nearly 1,400 employees who were fired as part of a reduction in force. In their response brief, the school districts and unions told the justices that the order by U.S. District Judge Myong Joun “is not superintending the Department’s operations; the court is simply preserving the status quo to permit orderly adjudication.” “If the dismantling of the Department is allowed to go…