Author: Olive Metuge

Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado will meet President Donald Trump on Thursday, the White House has confirmed.The visit comes just weeks after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was seized in Caracas by US forces. But Trump declined to endorse Machado, whose movement claimed victory in 2024’s widely contested elections, as its new leader. The US instead backed Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice-president.Machado said last week she hoped to thank Trump personally for the action against Maduro and would like to give the Nobel Prize to him. Trump called it “a great honour”, but the Nobel…

Listen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she ruled out a U.S. military intervention to combat drug cartels, following a “good conversation” on Monday with President Donald Trump on security and drug trafficking.In her daily news conference, Sheinbaum said she declined offers of military action from Trump and “ruled out” U.S. military intervention in Mexico. She would seek another call if the U.S. made statements to the contrary, she added.”We continue to collaborate within…

The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Wednesday in a pair of disputes stemming from accidents in Philadelphia and New York City involving buses operated by the New Jersey Transit Corporation, which describes itself as the state’s “public transportation corporation.” The issue at the center of both cases is not whether New Jersey Transit is responsible for the plaintiffs’ injuries, but instead, whether it can be sued in state courts in Pennsylvania and New York. The New Jersey Legislature created New Jersey Transit in 1979. In the decades since then, it has become one of the largest public transit…

Dubai International Airport has moved into first place globally, overtaking Atlanta in the latest aviation rankingsDubai International Airport (DXB) has officially taken the top spot as the world’s busiest airport, beating Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the United States.The new ranking is based on scheduled airline seat capacity for January 2026, and it puts Dubai ahead of long-time leader Atlanta for the first time in years.How the ranking worksThe data looks at how many airline seats are available for sale, across both international and domestic flights. For January 2026, airlines have scheduled around 5.5 million seats through DXB. In comparison,…

The federal government allows livestock grazing across an area of publicly owned land more than twice the size of California, making ranching the largest land use in the West. Billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies support the system, which often harms the environment. As President Donald Trump’s administration pushes a pro-ranching agenda, ProPublica and High Country News investigated how public lands ranching has evolved. We filed more than 100 public record requests and sued the Bureau of Land Management to pry free documents and data; we interviewed everyone from ranchers to conservationists; and we toured ranching operations in Arizona, Colorado,…

Nigerian artists secured a string of victories at the 9th All Africa Music Awards (Afrima), which concluded in Lagos on Sunday night.Global superstar Burna Boy claimed the prestigious Album of the Year award for his latest work No Sign of Weakness.He also shared the award for Best African Collaboration with fast-rising compatriot Shallipopi, who separately won the coveted Song of the Year for his hit single Laho, which made waves on social media.The week-long event, which had a diverse group of music experts from across Africa and the diaspora as jurors, brought together industry professionals, culminating in a ceremony where…

Listen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Sunday the Trump administration had threatened him with a criminal indictment and served grand jury subpoenas over ​Congressional testimony he gave last summer regarding a Fed building renovation project, an action Powell called a “pretext” aimed at putting further pressure on the central bank to lower interest rates.”On Friday, the Department of Justice served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas,…

Here are some fun things to do in Abu Dhabi this week from taking in the sunset after work to quiz nights and boat ridesThe week doesn’t have to feel like something to get through. From after work drinks and midweek margaritas to boat rides, quiz nights, and a very chic afternoon tea, there’s plenty of fun things to do in Abu Dhabi. Some plans are laid back, some are lively, and all of them give you a good reason to step out the door. Here’s what’s worth pencilling in and your list of fun things to do from Monday…

Thousands of tourists have been stranded in Finland’s Lapland as a severe cold spell has grounded flights out of one of its airports.Departures from Lapland’s Kittila airport that would have ferried winter travellers back to places like London, Bristol, Manchester, Paris and Amsterdam were all cancelled on Sunday as temperatures did not go above -35C on Sunday.The issue is expected to continue on Monday as a low of -39C is forecast by Finland’s meteorological agency. The first flight out of Kittila has already been cancelled.The extreme cold makes it hard to de-ice planes, while maintenance and refuelling equipment on the…

Listen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.Residents started returning to a contested neighbourhood in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo on Sunday after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. First responders entered to tend to residents, clear rubble and disarm mines.The clashes broke out on Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the main Kurdish-led force in…