Category: Culture

The USS Massachusetts officially joined the US Navy fleet on Saturday following its commissioning ceremony, becoming the first submarine named after the Bay State.
This newest Virginia-class fast attack submarine, capable of diving to depths greater than 800 feet (240 metres), was christened on 6 May 2023. Sheryl Sandberg, the former chief operating officer of Meta, served as the ship's sponsor.
It is the 25th Virginia-Class submarine co-produced by General Dynamics Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding, and the fifth US Navy vessel overall to be named after Massachusetts.
“To be able to take a ship from new construction and watch it be built together by the ship yard, train with our team and bring into Boston Harbor for the first time, it's very amazing,” said the sub's commanding officer, Mike Siedsma, a 21-year Navy veteran who has spent time on four different classes of submarines. “I looked at the history books. I don't think we've had a submarine in..

The Aviation Funding Solvency Act. The Keep America Flying Act. The Keep Air Travel Safe Act. The Aviation Funding Stability Act.
Again and again, members of Congress have dusted off the same idea: ensuring the federal employees who control air traffic and screen passengers and bags at U.S. airports get paid during government shutdowns.
Bills to make it happen keep getting introduced in one form or another, sometimes with Democrats and Republicans as co-sponsors. Yet session after session, the result has been the same — agencies receive their annual appropriations, public outrage over long security lines and flight delays fades, legislation languishes and workers have no guarantees their paychecks won't stop coming again.
“Once the crisis is over, people assume that the good times are back,” said Eric Chaffee, a Case Western Reserve law professor whose research includes risk management in the aviation industry. “It’s easy to pass the next big bill when you’re still in the throes..

'Iran is talking': Trump, claims 'defeated' regime facing internal 'disaster'Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has announced that the Strait of Hormuz is closed and any transit through the waterway will face “harsh measures”, according to state media.
It added that shipping “to and from ports of allies and supporters of the Israeli-American enemies” is prohibited through any corridor or to any destination.
Three container ships of mixed nationalities were forced to turn back after warnings.
The passage, through which one fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes, has remained largely closed since the outbreak of hostilities.
It comes as Donald Trump is considering sending another 10,000 troops to the Middle East, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The forces would likely be sent within striking distance of Iran and Kharg Island, a key oil export hub off in the Persian Gulf.
Despite the escalation, Germany’s foreign minister on Friday said..

Washington’s ambassador to the UK has warned that it would be “a mistake” to cancel King Charles’s planned state visit to the US.
Asked about calls to postpone the historic royal trip because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Warren Stephens said it would be wrong for it to be scrapped or delayed and insisted the trip should go ahead.
In a question-and-answer session after his speech to the British Chambers of Commerce conference in London on Thursday, Mr Stephens refused to confirm the visit – which has not been officially announced – but added: “I think he will go and I think it will be a very meaningful trip for him.”
The diplomat said US House Speaker Mike Johnson had made an offer for Charles to address both Houses of Congress while he was there.
King Charles is set to reciprocate his state visit by travelling to the US at the end of April (Getty)It comes as The Independent has been told that Congressional and Senate leaders have been told to prepare for a joint meeting ..

With war raging in the Middle East, many, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, warned the conflict could hand Vladimir Putin a window of opportunity to accelerate his aggression against Ukraine.
Now, it appears those fears have come true with Russia launching its most brutal attack on the country since the war began on Tuesday, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
A barrage of nearly 1,000 drones were launched over a 24-hour period, killing at least six people. Russia launched 23 cruise missiles, seven ballistic missiles, hitting at least 10 locations, including a Unesco World Heritage site, according to Ukraine’s air force.
The onslaught affected 11 regions and seven cities were hit, marking it out as the largest aerial attack in a single day so far.
open image in gallerySmoke rises after a Russian drone hits an apartment building during a rare daylight attack in Lviv, Ukraine. Moscow has ramped up its airstrikes on the country in recent days (Reuters)While Russia’s..

Iran imposed a “de facto toll booth regime” in the Strait of Hormuz even before its parliament unveiled plans to formally charge ships transiting the critical maritime route, Lloyd's List said.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) already required ships to submit full documentation, obtain clearance codes, and accept escorted passage through a controlled corridor of the strait, it said.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most critical energy chokepoints as a fifth of the global oil supply typically passes through it.
Iran’s parliament is pursuing legislation to “formally codify Iran’s sovereignty, control and oversight over the Strait of Hormuz, while also creating a source of revenue through the collection of fees”, lawmaker Mohammadreza Rezaei Kouchi said, according to Fars and Tasnim news agencies. The arrangement was “entirely natural”, he said.
“We provide its security and it is natural that ships and oil tankers should pay such fees,” Mr Kouchi added.
S..

A woman charged with trying to murder Rihanna and more than a dozen other felonies is set to appear in court to enter a plea Wednesday.
The singing superstar, her hip-hop star partner A$AP Rocky, their three young children and many others were at their home in the Beverly Hills area when Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, 35, of Orlando, Florida, opened fire on the property on March 8, prosecutors said.
Ortiz is charged with 10 counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and three counts of shooting at an occupied vehicle or dwelling.
At her first appearance in Los Angeles Superior Court on March 11, Ortiz's lawyer entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf, but then withdrew it in favor of postponing the arraignment.
Rihanna's Los Angeles home in Beverly Hills, California (AP)Public records show Ortiz has been a licensed speech pathologist for more than a decade. Now jailed on $1.8 million bail, she could get life in prison if convicted on all charges.
The Public Defender's Of..

Today show host Savannah Guthrie broke down in tears over the “agony” her family is experiencing in her first sit-down interview since her 84-year-old mother, Nancy, was kidnapped from her Arizona home nearly two months ago.
In a preview of the interview, the 54-year-old NBC anchor became emotional as she spoke with her former morning-show co-host, Hoda Kotb.
“Someone needs to do the right thing,” she said through tears. “We are in agony. It is unbearable. And to think of what she went through.”
“I wake up every night in the middle of the night, every night,” she continued. “And in the darkness, I imagine her terror. And it is unthinkable, but those thoughts demand to be thought. And I will not hide my face.”
“But she needs to come home now,” she added.
open image in galleryAn emotional Savannah Guthrie gave her first interview since her mother disappeared with her former co-anchor, Hoda Kotb (NBC News)open image in galleryNancy Guthrie disappeared from her home in the Catalina Foo..

Norway's huge $2.1 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, plans to eventually allow artificial intelligence to make some investment decisions, but only under human supervision. Officials confirmed this remains a future step, citing the technology's current error rate.
Around half of the 700 employees at Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) already code their own AI tools, primarily using Anthropic's Claude large language model. These systems gather information, assisting staff in decision-making, according to Stian Kirkeberg, the fund's head of machine learning and AI.
Applications range from monitoring 7,000 companies for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and financial risk, to simulating contract negotiations or preparing for meetings. Mr Kirkeberg stated that, in time, some AI agents will be permitted to make limited autonomous decisions.
“The principle is that we make better human decisions by getting AI to analyse it for us,” he..

President Donald Trump appeared to try to pin the blame for the Iran conflict on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Monday.
Speaking at a roundtable event for national military and law enforcement leaders in Memphis, Tennessee, the president said of the circumstances leading up to the launch of Operation Epic Fury on February 28: “I called Pete, I called General [Dan] Caine, I called a lot of our great people – we have a lot of great people – and I said, ‘Let’s talk.’
“‘We’ve got a problem in the Middle East. We have a country, known as Iran, that has for 47 years been just a purveyor of terror and they’re very close to having a nuclear weapon.
“‘We can keep going and get that 50,000 up to 55 and 60 with no end, or we can take a stop and make a little journey into the Middle East and eliminate a big problem.’
open image in galleryPresident Donald Trump delivers remarks on the Iran conflict at Memphis Air National Guard Base in Memphis, Tennessee, Monday March 23, 2026 (Reuters)“And Pete, ..