Category: Africa

Trump says he told Xi that America 'spies like hell' on China as he defends CCP cyber attacksDonald Trump has warned Tehran that the “clock is ticking” and threatened consequences if its leaders do not act quickly.
“For ⁠Iran, the ‌Clock is Ticking, ‌and they better ‌get moving, FAST, ⁠or there won’t be anything left of them. TIME ‌IS ​OF ‌THE ESSENCE!,” the US president wrote ⁠in a ‌Truth ​Social ‌post.
Trump warned that if Tehran failed to reach a peace agreement with the US, it would face “a very bad time”.
“If they don’t, they’re going to have a bad time. A very bad time. They had better make a deal,” Trump told French media. He also shared an AI-generated graphic of him and a US Navy admiral in front of stormy waters, and the line: “It was calm before the storm.”
It comes after Trump spoke to Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran on Sunday as the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu held a security meeting with his cabinet, Israeli media reports.
Trump’s warning follows a drone stri..

Barbra Streisand announced on Sunday that she will not attend the Cannes Film Festival 's closing ceremony later this week where she was to receive an honorary Palme d'Or, after sustaining a knee injury.
The festival organizers said they would still honor the singer-actor despite her absence, according to a press release that carried Streisand's statement.
“On the advice of my doctors, as I continue recovering from a knee injury, I am sadly unable to attend the Festival de Cannes this year,” she said in the statement. “But I am deeply honored to receive the honorary Palme d’Or and had so been looking forward to celebrating the remarkable films of the 79th edition.”
“I was also very much looking forward to spending time with colleagues whom I so admire — and, of course, returning to France, a place I have always loved,” Streisand added. “My heartfelt thanks to the Festival, and to everyone who continues to support and champion the art of cinema.”
During its opening cere..

Eight people were reported to be injured on Saturday when a car drove into pedestrians in the centre of the Italian city of Modena, police and the city's mayor said.
Police said they arrested the driver, a man in his thirties, and there was no further danger.
Among the injured, four people are in a serious condition, the city mayor, Massimo Mezzetti, told broadcaster RaiNews24.
The driver is an Italian national born in Bergamo, of North African origin, and a resident of the Modena area, the mayor added.
“It seems (the driver) deliberately drove onto the sidewalk, hitting several people and crashing into a shop window. He then got out of his car and brandished a knife,” said Mezzetti.
open image in galleryPolice patrol a scene after a car incident in a street of Modena, Italy (/LaPresse via AP)One man who tried to stop the driver suffered minor injuries, the mayor said.
A witness told RaiNews24 he heard people falling and threw himself to the ground as the car approached. He said t..

President Donald Trump ranted about Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, calling him a “disloyal disaster” and a “terrible guy” as he faces a contentious primary race.
Cassidy is competing against two other GOP candidates — including Trump-endorsed Representative Julia Letlow — in Louisiana's Republican primary. The president lashed out at Cassidy in a Truth Social post shared Saturday morning as polls opened across Louisiana.
He wrote: “Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana is a disloyal disaster. His entire past campaign for the Senate was about ‘TRUMP,’ how he’s with me all the way, and then, after winning, he turned around and voted to IMPEACH me for something that has now proven to be total ‘bulls***!’”
“He knew that at the time, but didn’t care,” he added. “Bill Cassidy is a sleazebag, a terrible guy, who is BAD FOR LOUISIANA. Now he’s going to get CLOBBERED, hopefully, in today’s BIG election, by two great people!!!”
Cassidy was among the seven GOP senators who voted t..

For the second time in a year, jurors failed to reach a verdict on whether Harvey Weinstein raped Jessica Mann, prompting a Manhattan judge on Friday to declare a mistrial in one of the final unresolved chapters of the disgraced movie mogul’s sprawling sex crimes cases.
After two days of deliberations, the seven men and five women on the jury told the court they were unable to unanimously decide whether 74-year-old Weinstein was guilty of third-degree rape stemming from Mann’s allegations that he assaulted her at a Manhattan hotel in 2013. Weinstein’s lawyers argued that the encounter was consensual.
Justice Curtis Farber delivered an Allen charge, urging the panel to continue deliberating and reminding jurors that “it wasn’t meant to be easy.”
But by 1 p.m., jurors informed the court they remained hopelessly deadlocked. Farber then declared a mistrial. A hearing was set for June 24 to learn whether prosecutors will choose to go to a fourth trial.
Weinstein’s public downfall in 2017,..

The Justice Department will pursue the death penalty against the man accused of fatally shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington, prosecutors said Friday.
Elias Rodriguez faces federal hate crime and murder charges in the deaths of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, who were killed after leaving an event at the museum in May.
According to the indictment, Rodriguez shouted “Free Palestine” during the attack and later told police: “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.”
Prosecutors said the charges include a hate crime resulting in death, and the indictment contains special findings that make Rodriguez eligible for the death penalty.
Prosecutors have described the killing as calculated and planned (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)“My message to anyone who seeks to commit political violence in this district — D.C. is not the place. You will be held accountable and you will face the full wrath of the law,” Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the Distric..

President Donald Trump's administration is actively impeding the growth of offshore wind projects across the United States, precisely as the industry stood on the brink of substantial expansion.
This clean energy source holds considerable promise for delivering vast amounts of power to U.S. coastlines.
Currently, three offshore wind farms are operational, with an additional three already supplying power as they complete construction or final testing phases. Despite more than 40 federal offshore wind leases being in place, the administration is reportedly repurchasing some, offering financial incentives for energy companies to abandon their offshore wind endeavors.
Trump has also implemented various other obstacles for the sector, while simultaneously prioritizing fossil fuel development.
Trump has also implemented various other obstacles for the sector, while simultaneously prioritizing fossil fuel development (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)His stance runs counter to many other coun..

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday proposed a revised budget proposal without a deficit for his last year of office and the next, laying out a $350 billion spending plan that includes little new spending but also avoids major cuts.
Newsom is eager to safeguard programs that have defined his tenure as the leader of the nation’s most populous state and one of the world’s largest economies. As he gears up for a possible presidential run in 2028, Newsom is promoting the budget as fiscally responsible because it protects California's progressive programs but also builds up the state's rainy day funds, a pointed rebuke to critics who say the state spends more than it has. The state’s spending has grown more than $100 billion since 2020, according to the legislative budget analysts.
“We’re cutting deficits. But we’re not cutting corners,” Newsom said.
Newsom can’t seek a third term and will leave office in January.
Revenues, driven mostly by the booming stock market and artifi..

Brigitte Macron shoved French president Emmanuel Macron in the face as they disembarked a plane in Vietnam last year after she allegedly discovered texts he had sent to an Iranian actress, according to a new book.
The incident went viral last year prompting speculation of a rift and subsequent denials by the couple who insisted that they were just “joking”.
However a new account suggests that the real reason behind the altercation is that the first lady was angry after she saw a text by Emmanuel to exiled Iranian-French actress Golshifteh Farahani, says Florian Tardif in Un Couple (Presque) Parfait — An (Almost) Perfect Couple.
Tardif, a political correspondent at Paris Match magazine, alleges that Mrs Macron, 73, was fearful that her husband, 48, may leave her for the actress after seeing the exchange.
open image in gallery(AFP/Getty)Farahani, 42, has denied rumours that the pair were having an affair when questioned by journalists and has said that their connection was “platonic”..

The Trump administration is suspending a requirement that foreign visitors from certain countries pay as much as $15,000 in bonds if they are confirmed World Cup ticket holders, the State Department confirmed on Wednesday.
The move offers a rare easing of immigration restrictions for fans traveling to the tournament co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, which begins on June 11.
The bond requirement, implemented last year, targeted countries with high rates of visa overstays and other security concerns, forming part of the administration’s broader crackdown on immigration.
Travelers from 50 nations were subject to the new bond, with five of those countries – Algeria, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Tunisia – having qualified for the World Cup.
Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar stated: “The United States is excited to organize the biggest and best Fifa World Cup in history. We are waiving visa bonds for qualified fans who bought World Cu..