US animal rights activists clash with police over Wisconsin dog breeder

AdvertisementUnited StatesWorldUnited States & CanadaUS animal rights activists clash with police over Wisconsin dog breederAbout 1,000 animal welfare activists faced rubber bullets and pepper spray as they tried to gain entry to a beagle breeding and research facility
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenAssociated PressPublished: 10:44pm, 19 Apr 2026About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry on Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometres) southwest of Wisconsin’s capital, Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers. He said protesters have ignored designa..

Continue Reading

Decorated military veteran catfished by sextortionist he met on fetish site, court filings say

A decorated U.S. military veteran fell victim to an online sextortion scheme after sending compromising nudes to someone he met on a social networking platform for fetishists looking to match with “like-minded kink friends,” according to court documents obtained by The Independent.
In a previously unreported petition filed March 8 in Kings County Supreme Court that aims to unmask the alleged blackmailer, the Brooklyn resident is described as a “highly accomplished” soldier who has been “recognized with several awards” across “multiple deployments.“
“John Doe,” as the victim is being identified in the proceeding, was initially targeted last November while on FetLife, a site for members of the fetish community to connect. Users fall into some 600 different categories, FetLife tells visitors, listing such subsets as “Boot Slut,” “Fallen Angel,” “Rubberist,” and “Pig.”
Since then, several explicit selfies the veteran shared with the person – who posed as a woman but turned out to be a man ..

Continue Reading

Canada Research Chair chemist Janusz Pawliszyn joins Chinese university

AdvertisementScienceChinaScienceCanada Research Chair chemist Janusz Pawliszyn joins Chinese universityThe Polish scientist who invented two widely used analytical chemistry techniques has been hired by one of his former students
2-MIN READ2-MIN3 ListenShi HuangPublished: 10:00pm, 19 Apr 2026Janusz Pawliszyn, the 71-year-old recipient of the Chemical Institute of Canada’s highest honour and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, has joined Guangzhou’s Sun Yat-sen University, the institution announced on April 9.
Pawliszyn has supervised more than 110 master’s and doctoral students as well as nearly 200 postdoctoral students and visiting scholars, many of them from China.
Ouyang Gangfeng was one of them. From 2004 to 2005, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Pawliszyn’s laboratory.
AdvertisementHe is now a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and dean of Sun Yat-sen University’s school of chemical engineering and technology – which Pawliszyn has joined as a professor.
Pawliszyn is an ..

Continue Reading

Pope says ‘tyrants’ speech was not aimed at Trump

Pope says 'tyrants' speech was not aimed at Trump8 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleMaia Davies'Not my interest at all' to debate President Trump, says PopePope Leo says he was not seeking to debate Donald Trump when he criticised “tyrants” for spending billions on wars in a speech earlier this week.
The pontiff said the remarks, delivered days after a high-profile spat with the US president, had been written a fortnight earlier – “well before the president ever commented on myself”.
“And yet as it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate, again, the president, which is not in my interest at all,” he told reporters aboard a flight to Angola on Saturday.
On Monday, Trump launched a scathing attack on the first American Pope – who has been a vocal critic of the US-Israeli military operation in Iran – as “terrible for foreign policy”.
The Pope, who is on a tour of Africa, said a “certain narrative that has not been accurate” had developed, citi..

Continue Reading

Australia’s most-decorated soldier vows to fight war crime charges

Australia's most-decorated soldier vows to fight war crime charges10 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleTabby WilsonSydneySam Mooy/The Sydney Morning Herald via Getty ImagesAustralia's most decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, has publicly denied all allegations against him in his first statement after being charged with five counts of the war crime of murder last week.
The Victoria Cross recipient, released on bail on Friday, said he was “proud of my service in Afghanistan”, and would use the charges against him as an opportunity to “finally” clear his name.
He said: “I understand this journey will be difficult. But I can promise everybody that I have never run from a fight in my life.”
Roberts-Smith, 47, is accused of being involved in the deaths of unarmed Afghan detainees, either by killing them or ordering a subordinate to, between 2009 and 2012.
A former corporal in Australia's Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment, Roberts-Smith told the media that “..

Continue Reading

Indian-origin politician calls out racism against Indian-Australians: ‘We can overcome this hate by…’

An Indian-origin Melbourne leader has called out what she describes as silence from politicians over racism targeting Indian Australians, saying the issue is about dignity, safety and equal respect.Roshena Campbell, Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne and a Liberal Party politician, said there was a clear difference in how different communities are treated when facing abuse.She said in an interview with Australia Today: “When other communities are targeted, we see politicians calling that out. Why is it when Indian Australians face racism there is silence among politicians? I am appalled by racist comments targeting the Indian Australian community. We can overcome this hate only by standing with Indian Australians. Every politician should see this hate and racism for what it is. This is not just about representation. It is about dignity, safety, and the right of every community to feel seen and respected. Answer to racism rests with all of us as Australians.”Campbell made the remarks in an ..

Continue Reading

Kash Patel’s late-night drinking delays meetings, frustrates FBI agents : Report

Concerns are growing inside the FBI over Director Kash Patel’s conduct, with colleagues alleging that the Indian-origin agency head has engaged in heavy drinking and unexplained absences that they say have affected his leadership.According to multiple current and former officials in FBI, Patel’s behaviour has raised alarm within the bureau and across parts of the US government. Some have described his tenure as erratic, pointing to incidents where his actions caused confusion and disrupted normal operations. Watch ‘All False?’ Kash Patel Fury Erupts As ‘Defamatory’ Atlantic Report Sparks High-Stakes Legal War One such episode took place on April 10, when Patel struggled to log into an internal system and believed he had been locked out. He thought he was fired and contacted aides in a “freak-out”. The situation caused concern within the FBI and prompted calls to the White House and members of Congress about who was leading the agency. The issue was later found to be a technical error.M..

Continue Reading

14 hurt after minibus slams into back of goods vehicle in Hong Kong

AdvertisementAccidents and personal safetyHong KongSociety14 hurt after minibus slams into back of goods vehicle in Hong KongCrash occurred at about 9.30pm in Tsing Yi
1-MIN READ1-MIN ListenEdith LinPublished: 11:10pm, 18 Apr 2026Updated: 11:14pm, 18 Apr 2026Fourteen people were injured after a minibus crashed into a heavy goods vehicle, Hong Kong police said on Saturday.
The driver reported to police at about 9.30pm that the minibus had hit a heavy goods vehicle in Tsing Yi, and that some passengers had been injured. The crash happened near Ching Chung House at Cheung Ching Estate.
Some of those injured are treated at the roadside. Photo: HandoutEmergency services found 14 people injured on the minibus. Two were said to have sustained serious injuries.
AdvertisementPhotos of the scene show the front of the minibus badly damaged and the windscreen smashed.
A passenger was fitted with a neck brace and taken to hospital while others sat on the ground waiting for medical treatment.
Advert..

Continue Reading

The rupture: how Europe fell out of love with America

AdvertisementUS-EU relationsChinaDiplomacyThe rupture: how Europe fell out of love with AmericaMany believed the transatlantic alliance could weather another term of Trump, but a year and a half on those hopes have largely faded
6-MIN READ6-MIN ListenFinbarr Berminghamin BrusselsPublished: 11:00pm, 18 Apr 2026In June 2021, from a podium in the Cornish countryside, former US president Joe Biden told a relieved Europe that “America is back at the table”.
The comment – made after a summit of the Group of Seven rich nations – became a galvanising force for reinvigorated transatlanticism after the first term of Donald Trump had left it in tatters.When Russia invaded Ukraine eight months later, the G7 became the forum of choice for cooking up punitive sanctions against Russia. It was also the venue for more intense Western cooperation on China policy, with the EU – grateful to be rid of Trump – toughening up its approach to Beijing, in line with Biden’s systematic containmentAdvertisementTwo..

Continue Reading

Trump rolls out Joe Rogan for White House psychedelics announcement and jokes he’d like some meds for anxiety

President Donald Trump cracked a joke about wanting to take a psychedelic for symptoms of anxiety and depression during a White House event touting the benefits of the drugs.
Joe Rogan, who has been fiercely critical of Trump’s war in Iran, was a special guest in the Oval Office Saturday morning to witness the president sign an executive order to “accelerate medical treatments for serious mental illness,” including psychedelic therapies, which Rogan advocates.
Trump touted the success of the psychedelic drug ibogaine—a Schedule I controlled substance—and cited a study in which he said participants experienced an “80 to 90 percent reduction in symptoms of depression and anxiety within one month.”
“Can I have some, please?” Trump quipped, prompting the room to erupt in laughter. “I’ll do whatever it takes…I don’t have time to be depressed. If you stay busy enough, maybe that’s what works too, that’s what I do.”
Rogan, who endorsed Trump for president in 2024, said the executive order cam..

Continue Reading