Belarus has no immediate plans to adopt Russian currency, its strongman leader Lukashenko says
Belarus and Russia have no immediate plans to adopt a joint currency, Belarus' strongman leader announced on Monday
2023-05-30 02:18
Newport: Photographer blends love of Africa with Welsh communities
Glenn Edwards was a steelworker before finding a love for photography in his mid 20s by chance.
2023-05-30 02:18
U.S. Republicans tee up debt-ceiling vote in Congress
By Kanishka Singh and Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON Republicans in the House of Representatives on Monday laid plans to
2023-05-30 01:53
Centuries after they were convicted, Connecticut formally pardons men and women charged with witchcraft
Hundreds of years after a group of men and women were tried and convicted of witchcraft, Connecticut lawmakers have formally exonerated them for their "crimes."
2023-05-30 01:51
Long-Dated Treasury Futures Rally in Wake of Debt-Ceiling Accord
Treasury futures linked to the 10- to 30-year part of the US government bond market rallied on light
2023-05-30 01:45
Biden invokes late son Beau’s memory as he pays tribute to fallen US soldiers
President Joe Biden on Monday said his grief for his late son Beau Biden gives him insight into pain felt by parents and family of deceased US service members, as he commemorated the nation’s honoured dead the day before the eighth anniversary of his son’s death from brain cancer. Speaking at Arlington National Cemetery just feet from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where unidentified servicemen from the Korean War and both the First and Second World War are guarded by US Army sentries, Mr Biden urged Americans to “never forget the price that was paid to protect our democracy” by “those who died so our nation might live”. He noted that each of the “flags, flowers, and marble markers” at Arlington represents “a mother, a father, a son a daughter, a sister, a spouse, a friend” and “an American” whose loss may still be grieved by loved ones, even many years later. “Every year we remember and every year it never gets easier,” he said. Addressing America’s Gold Star families — those who’ve lost a family member in military service — Mr Biden said he knows how painful Memorial Day can be for them each year because it “can reopen ... that black hole in the centre of your chest”. “You feel like you're just sinking ... bringing you back to that exact moment you heard that knock on the door or the telephone ring, the exact moment you had to tell your children that mom or dad would not be coming home,” he said. “The hurt is still real — it's still raw”. The president noted that tomorrow, 30 May, will mark eight years since Beau Biden — his late firstborn son who served as Delaware’s attorney general as well as a Judge Advocate in the National Guard — passed away from brain cancer. Mr Biden, who has often been criticised for suggesting that his son’s death stemmed from his service in Iraq despite the fact that Beau Biden’s time overseas saw him exposed to toxic burn pits which medical experts say can cause cancer, took care this time to say that his late son “did not perish on the battlefield”. While he told attendees at the Arlington ceremony that Beau’s death and those of soldiers who lost their lives in combat were “not the same,” he said the pain of his loss is still “particularly sharp” on Memorial Day each year. He also said his late son, who held the rank of Major in the Delaware Army National Guard, lived by the same code as “all those you lost lived by”. “It’s the creed that millions of service members have followed, from the fields of Yorktown, to the shores of Normandy, to the rice paddies of Khe Sanh, to the valleys of Kandahar”. “Throughout history these women and men laid down their lives. Not for a place or a person or a president, but for an idea unlike any other idea in all of human history — the idea of the United States of America,” he said. He said the “sanctuary” of Arlington “honours that sacrifice and tells their stories, and in turn tells our story, the American story ... a story of the patriots who died to deliver a nation where everyone is entitled to certain unalienable rights, among them, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness”. “Each of them is a link in a chain of honour that stretches back to our founding fathers,” he added. Read More Diverse Republican presidential primary field sees an opening in 2024 with voters of color Biden, GOP reach debt-ceiling deal, now Congress must approve it to prevent calamitous default Why Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment fight isn't finished yet Mechanical sails? Batteries? Shippers forming 'green corridors' to fast-track cleaner technologies Minnesota governor vetoes higher pay for Lyft, Uber drivers On 3rd anniversary of George Floyd's death, Biden stops GOP-led effort to block DC police reform law
2023-05-30 01:30
Biden recognizes nation's 'sacred obligation' to military families in Memorial Day speech
President Joe Biden marked Memorial Day by paying tribute to "those who died so our nation might live" during his annual speech on the day that the US honors those who have served and died in its service.
2023-05-30 01:22
Erdogan rants against ‘LGBT forces’ as Biden congratulates him on Turkey election win
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan celebrated his presidential run-off victory on Monday after an election that stretched his rule into a third decade, lashing out at “LGBT+ forces” in the country. In his victory speech in the Istanbul district of Uskudar three hours after the polls had closed, Mr Erdogan claimed to have achieved “a victory where nobody is left behind”. However, he went on to hit out at LGBT+ people and said the opposition was promoting gay rights, an appeal to his ultra-conservative religious base. “In our culture, family is sacred. No one can interfere. We will strangle anyone who dares to touch it,” he told supporters, according to a report by The Times. His victory had opened the door to the “century for Turkey”, he added. The election had been seen as Erdogan’s biggest political challenge for years, with opinion polls making opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu the favourite to unseat him. Yet Mr Erdogan was ahead by four percentage points in the first round, and prevailed in the run-off with 52.2 per cent of the vote to Mr Kilicdaroglu’s 47.8 per cent. Mr Kilicadaroglu said it was “the most unfair election in years” but did not dispute the outcome. He had promised to set Turkey on a more democratic and collaborative path during the election, yet also lurched towards the right with anti-immigrant rhetoric in the final stretch of the campaign. The victory extends Mr Erdogan’s tenure as the longest-serving leader since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk established modern Turkey following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire a century ago. Following Sunday night’s results, US president Joe Biden wrote on Twitter of Mr Erdogan: “I look forward to continuing to work together as Nato Allies on bilateral issues and shared global challenges.” Mr Erdogan is set to speak with Mr Biden over the phone later on Monday, broadcaster NTV reported citing a presidential spokesperson. Relations between US and Turkey have suffered in recent months due to Mr Erdogan’s objections to Sweden joining Nato as well as Ankara’s relationship with Moscow. While Mr Erdogan now has the mandate to rule Turkey till 2028, he has to confront skyrocketing inflation that has fuelled a cost-of-living crisis. He also has to oversee rebuilding efforts in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people in February. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Only Erdogan knows his plans for Turkey’s future. That is the problem Erdogan declared winner of Turkey presidential run-off – extending his 20 years in power Why Turkey’s presidential run-off matters for the world Turkey's Erdogan turns away reform-minded challenger to win another term What the papers say – May 29 Analysis: Only Erdogan knows his plans for Turkey’s future. That is the problem
2023-05-30 00:52
With new mandate secured, Turkey's Erdogan likely to continue engaging with both West and Russia
After securing a strong new mandate in a runoff presidential election, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan could temper some positions that have irritated his NATO allies
2023-05-30 00:50
Heavy clashes in Sudan's capital as truce set to expire
By Khalid Abdelaziz DUBAI (Reuters) -Sustained clashes and air strikes could be heard on Monday in parts of Sudan's capital,
2023-05-30 00:19
10 Explorers Who Vanished Without a Trace
From a record-breaking mountain climber to a British adventurer who may have died searching for a city that doesn’t exist and beyond, these explorers have fates that are shrouded in mystery.
2023-05-30 00:17
Liz Cheney explains how GOP begged her to lie about Trump
Former Congresswoman Liz Cheney spoke about the political test she faced in the immediate aftermath of January 6 during her address to graduates of Colorado College this weekend. Ms Cheney, once a member of Republican leadership and now a pariah in her own party, spoke to graduates on Sunday. She graduated from the school with a degree in political science in 1988. The ex-lawmaker has left open the possibility of running for office again in the future after her defeat in Wyoming’s GOP primary to now-Congresswoman Harriet Hageman last year. She has even hinted that she may run for president in 2024, setting herself up for a potential debate-stage clash with former President Donald Trump himself. “After the 2020 election and the attack of January 6th, my fellow Republicans wanted me to lie. They wanted me to say the 2020 election was stolen, the attack of January 6th wasn’t a big deal, and Donald Trump wasn’t dangerous,” she told students and families in her address Sunday, according to the Associated Press. “I had to choose between lying and losing my position in House leadership.” The former congresswoman also referenced recent comments by an adviser to Mr Trump, Cleta Mitchell, who recently told a Republican National Committee gathering that the GOP should work to make it harder for college students to vote, given the demographic’s progressive bent. The comments, Ms Cheney said, were an example of the Trump movement’s continued threat to American democracy. “Cleta Mitchell, an election denier and adviser to former President Trump, told a gathering of Republicans recently that it is crucially important to make sure that college students don’t vote,” Ms Cheney said. “Those who are trying to unravel the foundations of our republic, who are threatening the rule of law and the sanctity of our elections, know they can’t succeed if you vote.” She would be a longshot contender for the GOP nomination, given the Republican primary electorate’s continued support for Mr Trump. There’s little reason to suggest that any Cheney 2024 bid would end differently than her 2022 bid for re-election, where her refusal to support Mr Trump’s continued lies and conspiracies about his loss to Joe Biden cost her a seat in Congress. But she remains an active player on the national stage, maintaining her political profile, as she and other anti-Trump Republicans like Maryland’s Larry Hogan and New Hampshire’s Chris Sununu bide their time and hunt for openings and opportunities in a party that by and large no longer resembles them. Though Ms Cheney’s defeat marked a pattern of Trump rivals losing their races in 2022, the former president’s work to purge the GOP of his enemies was not without its own setbacks; in two key races in Georgia, where Mr Trump and his legal team sought to overturn the valid results of the 2020 election, the former president saw two Republican who had opposed those efforts, Gov Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, re-elected against his endorsement. Read More Trump says DeSantis to blame for Disney becoming ‘woke’ and ‘disgusting’ Trump's welcome of Scott into 2024 race shows his calculus: The more GOP rivals, the better for him Texas GOP attorney general Ken Paxton impeached by Republican-controlled Statehouse Donald Trump Jr shares doctored Office clip showing Ron DeSantis wearing a woman’s suit Kimberly Guilfoyle threatens DeSantis: ‘You’re going to get hurt, and damaged – badly’ Biden marks Memorial Day nearly 2 years after ending America's longest war, lauds troops' sacrifice
2023-05-30 00:16