The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

  • Leaders condemn attack on Brazilian govt offices

    Leaders condemn attack on Brazilian govt offices

    World leaders have reacted with shock and dismay to the storming of Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace by thousands of supporters of far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.

    Security forces have detained 1,500 people after supporters of the far-right former president…

     stormed government buildings in Brasília.

    The country’s authorities have begun investigating the attack described as the worst against the nation’s institutions since democracy was restored four decades ago, with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva vowing to bring those responsible for the riot to justice.

    The rioters refused to acknowledge Bolsonaro’s defeat in recent elections. The former president has not made a public statement explicitly conceding that he lost.

    Tens of thousands of anti-democratic demonstrators on Sunday invaded the Supreme Court, Congress, and the presidential palace and smashed windows, overturned furniture, destroyed artworks, and stole the country’s original 1988 Constitution.

    Guns were also seized from a presidential security office.

    President Joe Biden condemned the protesters, vowing that Brazil’s democratic institutions have his administration’s “full support”.

    “I condemn the assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil,” Biden said in a statement posted on Twitter. “Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined.”

    In a tweet addressed to Bolsonaro’s successor, the left-wing Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, wrote he was “deeply concerned about the news of rioting and vandalism.

    “Democratic traditions must be respected by everyone. We extend our full support to the Brazilian authorities.”

    In Europe, German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said “the violent assaults on democratic institutions are an attack on democracy that cannot be tolerated” and that Berlin “stands with President Lula and Brazilians.”

    European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, tweeted out her condemnation of “the assault on democracy in Brazil”. European Council President, Charles Michel, wrote that Lula was “democratically elected by millions of Brazilians through fair and free elections” and had the EU’s full support.

    During the violence in Brasilia, Bolsonaro supporters ransacked the National Congress building after busting through barricades, climbing on the roof and smashing windows.

    They then directed their rage toward the nearby Supreme Court and the Palácio do Planalto, the official workplace of the president. It took security forces several hours to regain control of the area.

    Brazil’s Supreme Court late on Sunday removed the governor of Brasilia from office for 90 days due to flaws in security in the capital, after thousands of backers of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro ransacked government buildings.

    Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes also ordered social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok to block coup-mongering propaganda.

    Leftist president Lula, who took office on Jan. 1, said the local militarised police force that reports to Brasilia Governor Ibaneis Rocha, a former Bolsonaro ally, did nothing to stop the advance of the protesters.

    Lula decreed federal intervention in public security in the capital and promised exemplary punishment for the leaders of the “fascist” assault that was aimed at provoking a military coup that could restore Bolsonaro to power.

    “All the people who did this will be found and punished,” Lula told reporters from Sao Paulo State.

    The assault raised questions among Lula’s allies about how public security forces in the capital were so unprepared and easily overwhelmed by rioters who had announced their plans days ahead on social media.

    Lula blamed Bolsonaro for inflaming his supporters after a campaign of baseless allegations about election fraud after the end of his rule marked by divisive nationalist populism.

    From Florida, where he flew 48 hours before his term ended, Bolsonaro rejected the accusation, tweeting that peaceful demonstrations were democratic but the invasion of government buildings “crossed the line.”

    The invasion, which recalled the assault on the U.S. Capitol two years ago by backers of former President Donald Trump, was quickly condemned by world leaders, from U.S. President Joe Biden and France’s Emmanuel Macron to Latin American heads of state.

    Police retook the damaged public buildings in the iconic futuristic capital after three hours and dispersed the crowd with tear gas.

    Justice Minister Flavio Dino said 200 demonstrators had been arrested, but governor Rocha put the number at 400.

    Dino said investigations will aim to uncover who financed the several hundred buses that brought Bolsonaro’s supporters to Brasilia and also probe Rocha for not preparing security.

    The occupation of the government buildings had been planned for at least two weeks by Bolsonaro’s supporters in groups on social media messaging platforms such as Telegram and Twitter, yet there was no move by security forces to prevent the attack, called by one group “the seizure of power by the people.”

    Messages seen by Reuters throughout the week showed members of such groups organizing meeting points in several cities around the country, from where chartered buses would leave for Brasilia, with the intention to occupy public buildings.

    The plan included camping in front of the army command’s headquarters, where groups of coup-mongers had camped out since Lula narrowly won the election in October.

    In the early afternoon of Sunday, when the protesters began to arrive on Brasilia’s esplanade, instead of being contained, they were escorted by Military Police cars with flashing lights.

    Riot police only arrived on the scene two hours after the invasions began.

  • Republican McCarthy again falls short in U.S. House vote but says victory near

    Republican McCarthy again falls short in U.S. House vote but says victory near

    Republican Kevin McCarthy on Friday picked up the support of most of the right-wing hardliners who had opposed his bid to lead the U.S. House of Representatives, but fell short of clinching victory in the 13th ballot in four days.

    Reuters reported that the California lawmaker said he believed victory was close, and the chamber voted to reconvene at 10 p.m. ET (0300 GMT Saturday). McCarthy claimed that the four-day long standoff within his party would come to an end then.

    McCarthy supporters and some Democrats worried the concessions he made in hopes of securing the House speakership, including agreeing to allow any single member to call for a vote to remove him from office at any time, could extend the deepest congressional dysfunction in more than 150 years.

    McCarthy gained backing on Friday from 15 of his former hardline opponents, but drew just 214 votes in total, three short of the 217 needed if all 434 current members of the House vote. The path to a winning tally depends on the ever-shifting math of where his six remaining hardline opponents stand and whether two McCarthy supporters who had left Washington return on Friday.

    “It’s going to happen,” McCarthy said, predicting a Friday night victory.

    Republicans’ weaker-than-expected performance in November’s midterm elections left them with a narrow 222-212 majority, which has given outsized power to the right-wing hardliners who have opposed McCarthy’s leadership.

    They accuse him of being too open to compromise with President Joe Biden and his Democrats, who also control the U.S. Senate. Some say they want a leader who will be ready to force government shutdowns to cut spending.

    That raises the possibility the two parties would fail to reach a deal when the federal government comes up against its $31.4 trillion debt limit this year. Lack of agreement or even a long standoff risks a default that would shake the global economy.

    Representative Scott Perry, the chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, said he changed his vote to support McCarthy because McCarthy agreed to profound changes in how the House approves spending.

    “You have changes in how we’re going to spend and allocate money that are going to be historic,” Perry said. “We don’t want clean debt ceilings to just go through and just keep paying the bill without some counteracting effort to control spending when the Democrats control the White House and control the Senate.”

    Congress needs to raise the debt ceiling to pay for spending it has already authorized. Debt ceiling increases do not authorize new spending on their own.

    One of Perry’s constituents in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania applauded his switch.

    “This is good for my business and good for the United States,” said men’s wear store owner Randall Miller, 65, who voted for Perry but had been upset by his stand against McCarthy.

  • Prominent Kenyan LGBTQ activist found dead

    Prominent Kenyan LGBTQ activist found dead

    Local media on Friday reported that Kenyan police have discovered the body of a prominent LGBTQ rights campaigner stuffed inside a metal box in the west of the country.

    Police sources said that motorbike taxi riders alerted the police after they saw the box dumped by the roadside from a vehicle with a concealed number plate, The Standard and The Daily Nation newspapers reported.

    Activist Edwin Chiloba’s remains were found on Tuesday near Eldoret Town in Uasin Gishu County, where he ran his fashion business, independent rights group, the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) said.

    “He was brutally killed and dumped in the area by unknown assailants,’’ KHRC said on Twitter.

    “It is truly worrisome that we continue to witness escalation in violence targeting LGBTQ+ Kenyans.’’

    Research suggests acceptance of homosexuality is gradually increasing in Kenya, but it remains a taboo subject for many.

    Read Also: Former Pope Benedict dies at 95 

    The country’s film board has banned two films for their portrayals of gay lives in recent years.

    Kenya National Police Service spokesperson Resila Onyango said she would comment at a later time.

    Uasin Gishu County Commander Ayub Gitonga Ali declined to comment.

    “Words cannot even explain how we as a community are feeling right now.

    Edwin Chiloba was a fighter, fighting relentlessly to change the hearts and minds of society when it came to LGBTQ+ lives,” GALCK, a Kenyan gay rights group, said on Twitter.

    Under a British colonial-era law, gay sex in Kenya is punishable by 14 years in prison.

    It is rarely enforced but discrimination is common.

    (Reuters/NAN) 

  • World leaders bid farewell as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is entombed

    World leaders bid farewell as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is entombed

    Pope Benedict XVI has been entombed in his final resting place in a private ceremony after tens of thousands of mourners gathered to say goodbye to the former pontiff.

     His triple coffin – one made of cypress, a second welded-shut zinc coffin and a third wooden outer casket – was placed in the grottoes beneath St. Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican, following a sombre two-hour ceremony.

     The wooden lid on the outermost coffin was decorated with a simple metal cross, the emblem of his nearly eight-year-long papacy and an inscription in Latin, noting that he had lived 95 years, eight months and 15 days when he died on December 31. 

    The inscription also records the date his papacy ended when he went into retirement, on February 28, 2013, and became Pope Emeritus. He was the first Pope to retire in six centuries.

     Following the funeral overseen by his predecessor Pope Francis, Benedict’s casket was placed in two more coffins.

     This is traditional for pontiffs. The body is first placed in a casket of cypress wood, which in turn goes in a zinc coffin and then a second final wooden casket.

     In the coffin, a written account of his historic papacy known as a rogito was also placed. The coins minted during his pontificate and his pallium stoles, the religious garment worn over the pope’s robes, were also laid in the casket. 

    In the private ceremony in the grottoes of St. Peter’s Basilica, Benedict’s longtime secretary, German Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, imparted a blessing after the remains were placed into a niche on the floor.

      Also present for a final goodbye were the consecrated laywomen who helped care for him during his retirement in a monastery in the Vatican Gardens.

     Benedict was placed in the underground Vatican grottoes at his request. His predecessors Pope John XXIII and John Paul II were also interred there before their remains were transferred to more prominent places in the basilica above. 

    The Vatican says that the public will be able to visit Benedict’s tomb after next week to allow for work to be completed.

     As many as 100,000 mourners gathered in St Peter’s Square for the sombre two-hour ceremony – marking the first time in 200 years a pontiff has led the funeral of another.

     Some even called for the late theologian, who died on Saturday at the age of 95, to be canonised and be made a saint. 

    Earlier in the day, before the funeral ceremony, Pope Francis, 86, arrived on a wheelchair and stood with the aid of a stick. 

    Benedict’s successor did not mention him by name in his homily until the final line. Referring to Jesus as the ‘bridegroom’ of the church, he said: ‘Benedict, faithful friend of the bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear his voice, now and forever.’

     The pontiff used more than a dozen biblical references and Church writings in which he appeared to compare Benedict to Jesus, including his last words before he died on the cross: ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ 

    Mourners started to pour into the square at 3am GMT – five and a half hours before the service for the German theologian. 

    Twelve pallbearers, who are lay attendants of the papal household, carried the coffin in and out of the basilica to the sound of applause and tolling bolls.

     One of the mourners in the square, Alessandra Aprea, held up a handwritten sign saying ‘Santo subito’ – meaning ‘Immediate Sainthood’ – and featuring a hand-drawn heart.

     The 56-year-old, from the town of Meta di Sorrento near Naples, called Benedict a ‘saint of the faith.’ Benedict, who was the first pope to resign from the role in 600 years in 2013, was the pontiff who lifted the five-year period to start the sainthood process for his predecessor John Paul.

     The first reading from the Prophet Isaiah was in Spanish while the second from the Letter of St Paul to the Ephesians was in English. 

    Today’s Gospel reading was sung in Italian from St Luke which told the story of Christ’s crucifixion and two criminals who were executed with him.

     It included the lines: ‘One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”

     ’But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom”. 

    ‘And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise”.’

    As the Pope’s coffin was carried out of the basilica there was a round of applause which continued until the casket was placed on a raised platform in front of the altar.

    The Rosary prayer was then recited by the huge crowd as mourners continued to gather in St Peter’s Square and along the main Via della Conciliazione which stretches half a mile back to the River Tiber.

    Present are Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

  • Woman jailed 20 years for selling body parts

    Woman jailed 20 years for selling body parts

    A former Colorado funeral home director who dissected over 500 corpses and sold body parts without the consent of grieving relatives has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

    Megan Hess, 46, and her mother dissected some 560 corpses between 2010 and 2018, selling body parts to medical training companies that didn’t know they had been illegally obtained.

    Her 69-year-old mother, Shirley Koch, was sentenced to 15 years in jail for helping chop up the bodies, the Colorado Department of Justice said Tuesday.

    Read Also: Man, 60, jailed for stealing mattress

    “Hess and Koch used their funeral home at times to essentially steal bodies and body parts using fraudulent and forged donor forms,” prosecutor Tim Neff said in a court filing.

    “Hess and Koch’s conduct caused immense emotional pain for the families and next of kin.”

    Hess operated a funeral home, Sunset Mesa, as well as a body parts business, Donor Services, from the same building in Montrose, Colorado.

    The pair would frequently charge grieving families upwards of $1,000 for cremation services that never took place.

    Instead, they would harvest body parts or prepare the entire bodies to be sold.

  • Saving millions with data: Inside the UK Ministry of Defence’s intelligence revolution

    Saving millions with data: Inside the UK Ministry of Defence’s intelligence revolution

    United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace’s Integrated Review, which restructured the Armed Forces to adapt to modern threats, is playing a pivotal role in strengthening the Ministry of Defence.

    Under Wallace, the government is also saving millions through a nondescript government building far from the battlefield. It has been likened to a new kind of warfare, not fought with tanks or missiles, but with data, dashboards, and algorithms.

    At the heart of the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) sprawling infrastructure, a quiet revolution is unfolding. Far from frontlines and fighter jets, teams of data scientists, analysts, and engineers are redefining how Britain defends its interests, one code string, one insight, and one saved pound at a time.

    This is not the warfare of the past. It is a new model for national defence where information, not just ammunition, is the currency of power.

    Until recently, many of the MOD’s processes resembled those of a traditional bureaucracy: siloed teams, disconnected databases, and sluggish reporting cycles that sometimes took days to complete.

    “We were flying blind in a lot of areas,” says a senior official from Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), the agency responsible for military procurement and logistics. “Reporting could take up to 72 hours. By the time the information was available, the problem had already evolved or worsened.”

    The turning point came with the recognition that the MOD wasn’t just a defence institution. It was also one of the largest data ecosystems in government handling everything from supply chains and personnel to equipment failures and battlefield intelligence. But none of that data was being used to its full potential.

    Enter a new generation of data professionals. The team’s mission: to break down silos, automate analytics, and build tools that could help the MOD not just understand the present, but anticipate the future.

    The shift began with real-time dashboards built using Power BI and predictive analytics models coded in Python and R. These tools replaced static spreadsheets with dynamic visualisations and alert systems capable of flagging potential issues in minutes rather than days.

    “Think of it like air traffic control for defence logistics,” a source explains. “When something starts to go wrong, the system highlights it fast so decision-makers can act immediately rather than after the fact.”

    At the centre of this change is a team led by Nigerian-born Maureen Odum, a data and business intelligence professional with a background in data science, economics and mathematics. Working with Python, R, Power BI, and SQL, these analysts have developed tools that spot problems before they escalate. One standout example came when the team’s predictive tools identified an anomaly in a radar component that appeared to be failing at an unusual rate. Left unchecked, it could have grounded a key fleet. Instead, the alert was raised, parts were replaced preemptively, and over £4 million in potential damage and downtime was avoided.

    Across the organisation, the results have been dramatic: Reporting time has dropped from 72 hours to under 15 minutes; critical failures in equipment have fallen by 65 perfect; SQL-driven audits uncovered 12 perfect of redundant assets, leading to a major cleanup of outdated inventory; and supply chain vulnerabilities have been cut by nearly 40 perfect, strengthening resilience in procurement and logistics. Overall, the transformation has saved the MOD more than £20 million, a figure that continues to grow.

    These aren’t just back-office improvements. In military terms, better logistics and early warnings can mean the difference between mission success and failure or between safety and risk for service personnel.

    While technology was a critical enabler, insiders say the most profound change has been cultural.

    “This wasn’t just a software upgrade,” says an MOD digital strategist. “It was a shift in how we think. We’ve moved from a reactive posture to a proactive one from managing problems to preventing them.”

    That culture change has extended to training and ethics. The MOD is actively upskilling staff across its divisions to become data-literate decision-makers. Thousands of personnel have now received instruction in basic analytics, AI literacy, and data governance.

    At the same time, the MOD is keen to ensure its use of artificial intelligence aligns with national values and international law. The UK’s Defence Artificial Intelligence Strategy, released in recent years, outlines a framework where AI is used to augment human decision-making, not replace it.

    “Transparency, accountability, and legality are non-negotiable,” the strategy declares. “AI in defence must be ethical by design.”

    That means embedding safeguards around bias, privacy, and security particularly when dealing with sensitive data or life-and-death decisions. The MOD’s commitment to compliance with GDPR and broader data ethics standards has become a cornerstone of the transformation effort.

    The MOD’s ambitions also stretch beyond its borders.Through NATO and bilateral partnerships, the UK is sharing knowledge and technology with allies contributing to a broader effort to modernize defence infrastructure across Europe and North America.

    “Interoperability is key,” says a senior adviser from the Joint Forces Command. “It’s not enough to be data-savvy within your own military. We need to ensure our systems can talk to each other, learn from each other, and respond together in real time.”

    The MOD is also working closely with British universities and private sector firms to stay on the cutting edge of AI and analytics research. The cross-sector collaboration has yielded new tools, talent pipelines, and joint development initiatives that fuse academic innovation with defence rigour.

    For the MoD, the work is far from over. New threats from cyberattacks to disinformation continue to emerge. But so do new opportunities.

    “Every byte of data is a chance to understand more, to anticipate better, and to protect faster,” a source says. “We’re just beginning to see what’s possible.”

    The MOD’s transformation offers a powerful case study in what happens when an institution steeped in tradition embraces the logic of the digital age. In doing so, it has redefined what strength looks like, not in firepower, but in foresight.

    Read Also: Dasuki renews call to allocate seized 753 duplexes, apartments to military

    Today, real-time dashboards, predictive models, and AI-powered alerts have replaced outdated systems and slow reporting cycles. Labour costs are down by £3.6 million a year, and reporting that once took three days is now done in 12 minutes.

    The use of dashboards has enabled smarter, faster decisions and avoiding over £20 million in unnecessary costs.

    But the MOD’s ambitions go further. These changes are part of a broader vision outlined in the UK’s Defence Artificial Intelligence Strategy. The goal: to position AI not just as a tactical advantage but as a strategic cornerstone of future defence.

    That vision includes more than code. It demands a new mindset, one that puts ethics, accountability, and transparency at the forefront. AI systems must support human judgment, not replace it. Compliance with GDPR and alignment with legal frameworks are non-negotiable.

    There is also a growing emphasis on collaboration. The MOD is working with industry partners, universities, and international allies, particularly within NATO, to build a defence ecosystem where intelligence and agility go hand in hand.

  • Israel releases longest-serving Palestinian prisoner

    Israel releases longest-serving Palestinian prisoner

    The longest-serving Palestinian prisoner held by Israel has been released after 40 years in jail.

    Karim Younis was convicted in 1983 of the kidnapping and murder of an Israeli soldier, Avi Bromberg, in the occupied Golan Heights three years earlier.

    He became a significant figure in prison, writing political works and calling for agreements with Israel.

    Younis holds Israeli citizenship, but Israel’s interior minister has called for it to be revoked.

    Aryeh Deri told an ombudsman that it would send an important message to those who have “become a symbol for committing criminal acts of terror”.

    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Younis “represents a symbol of the Palestinian people and the free people of the world in steadfastness”.

    Read Also: Air Peace to expand to London, Israel, India, four others

    Israeli media reported that Younis was released in the central Israeli town of Raanana before dawn on Thursday without his family being notified in order to prevent celebrations.

    He was later greeted by family and friends in his home village of Ara, in northern Israel, where police have been instructed by national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to monitor the reception he receives.

    Mr Ben-Gvir tweeted that he would see that such people were only freed from prison “in humiliation” until the new right-wing government passed a law imposing the death sentence on terrorists.

    “It was 40 years full of stories, prisoners’ stories and each story is a story of a nation,” Younis said, with a black and white keffiyeh wrapped around his shoulders.

    “I am very proud to be one of those who made sacrifices for Palestine and we were ready to sacrifice more for the sake of the cause of Palestine.”

    Younis wrote before his release that he felt sorrow for the Palestinian inmates he would be leaving behind in prison. They include his cousin, Maher Younis, who was convicted of the same kidnapping and murder and is expected to be released later this month.

    Avi Bromberg’s sister, Adah, told the Israel Hayom newspaper on Tuesday that it was “unthinkable that such people should walk among us, laugh, and enjoy themselves”.

    President Abbas said securing the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails was “the cause of the entire Palestinian people”.

    About 4,700 are being held in Israeli prisons and detention centres, according to Palestinian human rights group Addameer. It says they include 150 minors and 835 administrative detainees, who have neither been charged nor tried.

    NEWSNOW

  • Meta fined 390m euros for privacy law breaches in EU

    Meta fined 390m euros for privacy law breaches in EU

    European Union regulators testerday hit Facebook parent Meta with hundreds of millions in fines for privacy violations.

    The EU also banned the company from forcing users in the 27-nation bloc to agree to personalised ads based on their online activity.

    Ireland’s Data Protection Commission imposed two fines with a combined value of €390m in its decision in two cases that could shake up Meta’s business model of targeting users with ads based on what they do online. The company says it will appeal.

    A decision in a third case involving Meta’s WhatsApp messaging service is expected later this month.

    Meta and other Big Tech companies have come under pressure from the European Union’s privacy rules, which are some of the world’s strictest.

    The Irish watchdog — Meta’s lead European data privacy regulator because its regional headquarters is in Dublin — fined the company 210 million euros for violations of EU data privacy rules involving Facebook and an additional 180 million euros for breaches involving Instagram.

    The decision stems from complaints filed in May 2018 when the 27-nation bloc’s privacy rules, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, took effect.

    Previously, Meta relied on getting informed consent from users to process their personal data to serve them with personalised, or behavioural, ads, which are based on what users search for online, the websites they visit or the videos they click on.

    When GDPR came into force, the company changed the legal basis under which it processes user data by adding a clause to the terms of service for advertisements, effectively forcing users to agree that their data could be used. That violates EU privacy rules.

    The Irish watchdog initially sided with Meta but changed its position after its draft decision was sent to a board of EU data protection regulators, many of whom objected.

    In its final decision, the Irish watchdog said Meta “is not entitled to rely on the ‘contract’ legal basis” to deliver behavioural ads on Facebook and Instagram.

    Meta said in a statement that “we strongly believe our approach respects GDPR, and we’re therefore disappointed by these decisions and intend to appeal both the substance of the rulings and the fines.”

    Meta has three months to ensure its “processing operations” comply with the EU rules, though the ruling doesn’t specify what the company has to do. Meta noted that the decision doesn’t prevent it from displaying personalised ads, it only covers the legal basis for handling user data.

    Max Schrems, the Austrian lawyer and privacy activist who filed the complaints, said the ruling could deal a big blow to the company’s profits in the EU, because “people now need to be asked if they want their data to be used for ads or not” and can change their mind at any time.

    “The decision also ensures a level playing field with other advertisers that also need to get opt-in consent,” he said.

  • U.S. reopens visa, consular services at Cuban Embassy

    U.S. reopens visa, consular services at Cuban Embassy

    The United States (U.S.) Embassy in Cuba has resumed offering visa and consular services for the first time in five years.

    It followed a series of unexplained health incidents tied to an illness dubbed the “Havana Syndrome.”

    The embassy confirmed this week it will begin processing immigrant visas, with a priority placed on permits to reunite Cubans with family in the U.S., and others like the diversity visa lottery.

    The resumption comes amid the greatest migratory flight from Cuba in decades, which has placed pressure on the Biden administration to open more legal pathways to Cubans and start a dialogue with the Cuban government, despite a historically tense relationship.

    In late December, U.S. authorities reported stopping Cubans 34,675 times along the Mexico border in November, up 21% from 28,848 times in October.

    Visa and consular services were closed on the island in 2017 after embassy staff were afflicted in a series of health incidents, alleged sonic attacks that remain largely unexplained.

    The FBI in 2021 called the illness, dubbed the “Havana Syndrome,” a “top priority” as around 200 U.S. diplomats, officials and family members overseas suffered from the syndrome.

  • Again, U.S. House rejects McCarthy despite Trump’s unity plea

    Again, U.S. House rejects McCarthy despite Trump’s unity plea

    House of Representatives, mired in a chaotic leadership battle, again rejects Republican Kevin McCarthy’s bid to lead the chamber as rebels in the party defy ex-president Donald Trump’s call for unity.

    It was the first time in 100 years that a nominee for House speaker could not take the gavel on the first vote, but McCarthy has vowed to fight to the finish

    The deeply-riven US House of Representatives has been engulfed in crisis for a second day running as fresh rounds of voting failed to produce a winner in the race for speaker.

    Conservative hardliners have been blocking establishment pick Kevin McCarthy in a humiliating string of ballots that have paralysed the lower chamber of Congress since it flipped to narrow Republican control after the new year.

    The Californian former entrepreneur failed to secure the gavel for a sixth time yesteray as his path was barred by an emboldened faction of right-wingers, who have made history by pushing a speakership race past the first ballot for the first time in a century.

    For a fourth, fifth and sixth time, Republicans tried to vote McCarthy into the top job as the House plunged deeper into disarray. But the votes were producing almost the same outcome, 20 conservative holdouts still refusing to support him, and leaving him far short of the 218 typically needed to win the gavel.

    The debacle — described by President Joe Biden as “embarrassing” — has left the chamber unable to swear in members, fill committees, adopt rules for legislating, or negotiate a path through the paralysis.

    McCarthy — who has raised millions of dollars to elect right-wing lawmakers — dragged his party back to a 222-212 House majority in last year’s midterms after four years in the wilderness.

    The 57-year-old has long coveted the opportunity to replace Democrat Nancy Pelosi, something of an icon in US politics who held the gavel in the last Congress.

    The speaker standoff sparked frantic behind-the-scenes negotiations as McCarthy’s allies sought to cut a deal with his conservative detractors that could also win the approval of moderates.

    He told reporters in Congress he planned to stay in the race and had spoken to his biggest VIP backer, Donald Trump, who was still supporting his candidacy.

    Republican Lauren Boebert, a firm Colorado conservative, nominated Republican Byron Donalds, R-Fla., the chosen protest candidate of the day — and called for Trump, the conservatives’ hero, to tell McCarthy, “Sir, you do not have the votes, and it’s time to withdraw.”

    Earlier on yesterday, Trump had done the opposite, urging Republicans to vote for McCarthy.

    “Close the deal, take the victory,” he wrote on his social media site, using all capital letters. “Do not turn a great triumph into a giant & embarrassing defeat.”

    No House business can take place without a speaker, meaning the chamber has to continue voting until someone wins a majority.

    But there was little sign that any deal could be struck to end the deadlock as members prepared to hunker down for a long, repetitive series of ballots.

    McCarthy, who has been bleeding support and has lost every round to Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, will be under pressure to reverse the momentum if he stays in the race quickly.

    Should he decide it’s too steep a hill to climb, the two parties are likely to start casting around for a “unity” candidate — a consensus Republican who commits to being as bipartisan as possible.

    It was the first time in 100 years that a nominee for House speaker could not take the gavel on the first vote, but McCarthy appeared undeterred.

    Instead, he vowed to fight to the finish.