Top World News

Oct 23, 2024 - World

Russian president’s goal to de-dollarize world economy alarms members that do not want bloc to turn against westVladimir Putin has opened the expanded Brics summit by issuing a call for an alternative international payments system that could prevent the US using the dollar as a political weapon.But the summit communique indicated that little progress had been made on an alternative payment system. Continue reading...

Oct 23, 2024 - World

Tireless CNN fact checker Daniel Dale on Wednesday slapped down claims made by former President Donald Trump that the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been shipping its violent criminals to the United States.During a fact check of Trump's latest inflammatory claims about immigrants, Dale was asked by host Sara Sidner about Trump's claim this week that "they're emptying out their jails in the Congo and they're delivering them to the border and they're saying, 'Congratulations, this is America.'""Is this true?" asked an incredulous Sidner."It's not," replied Dale. "This is one of those Trump claims that grows bigger and more dramatic with each telling. So it started with, 'Some bad people at the Congo are arriving at the border,' which you can't really fact check. Then it was, 'The Congo is emptying its prisons.' Then it was now the Congo is delivering people to the border."ALSO READ: 'That's a real problem!' Experts expose 'potentially serious' issue with polling dataDale went on to say that "there is no evidence for any" of these claims and he said he even reached out to representatives from the Congolese government for comment."Both of them were just befuddled," he said. "A spokesperson for the DRC said, 'Everything he is saying isn't true.' The ambassador to the Republic of Congo said, 'There is no truth or any sign nor a single fact supporting such a claim or statement.'" Dale also reached out to the Trump campaign and said that "they have not been able to provide a single shred" of proof to back up Trump's claims.Watch the video below or at this link. - YouTube www.youtube.com

Oct 23, 2024 - World

Israel tells citizens in Arugam Bay area to hide Jewish identity and not gather in large groupsMiddle East crisis –latest updatesIsrael’s national security council has warned Israelis to immediately leave popular tourist areas in southern Sri Lanka after threats of a possible terrorist attack.According to the council, Sri Lankan authorities had informed it of “a terrorist threat focused on tourist areas and beaches” around the popular surfing area of Arugam Bay in the south of the island. Continue reading...

Oct 23, 2024 - World

UN Women says figure doubled in 2023 amid ‘blatant disregard’ of laws that left women and children unprotectedThe proportion of women killed in conflicts around the world doubled last year, with women now accounting for 40% of all those killed in war zones, according to a new report by the United Nations.The report from UN Women, which looks at the security situation for women and girls affected by war, says UN-verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence also rose by 50% in 2023 compared with 2022. Continue reading...

Oct 23, 2024 - World

French-Polish director Roman Polanski, who fled the United States decades ago after admitting to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old, will no longer face trial over an alleged assault of another minor after reaching a settlement, his lawyer said Tuesday.The latest case against the director of "The Pianist," which concerned an alleged sexual attack in 1973, had been due in civil court in Los Angeles next August, but has now been withdrawn, Polanski's US attorney told AFP.The case was "settled in the summer to the parties' mutual satisfaction and has now been formally dismissed," Alexander Rufus-Isaacs said in an email.The suit, filed last year, claimed Polanski took a then-teenager -- named anonymously in filings as Jane Doe -- to dinner at a restaurant in Los Angeles in 1973.He allegedly gave her tequila, and when she began to feel dizzy, drove her to his home, where he forced himself on her."She told him: 'please don't do this,'" the plaintiff's lawyer, Gloria Allred, told reporters in March."She alleges that he ignored her pleas. She also alleges that defendant Polanski removed plaintiff's clothes and he proceeded to sexually assault her, causing her tremendous physical, emotional pain and suffering."The civil suit, which sought unspecified damages, was filed in June 2023, just before the expiration of a California law that allowed for an extended window for claims against the alleged perpetrators of sexual crimes.Court papers filed in California in July said a "conditional" accord had been reached.Allred said in an email late Tuesday that "a settlement of claims was agreed to by the parties to their mutual satisfaction."Oscar-winner Polanski, now 91, is a divisive figure, with some in the movie world hailing his creative genius, while others insist he was always a sexual predator.Polanski admitted to the statutory rape of 13-year-old Samantha Geimer in a plea bargain in 1977 to avoid a trial on more serious charges.But he fled to France the following year, after serving 42 days in jail, when it appeared a judge was reconsidering his release.Geimer has subsequently defended Polanski, and was photographed with him last year.A French court in May acquitted Polanski of defaming British actor Charlotte Lewis after she accused him of raping her when she was a teenager.The director has always denied wrongdoing.