Thursday, July 9

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Foreign interference in the U.S. election is up – and being swiftly exposed – National
Politics

Foreign interference in the U.S. election is up – and being swiftly exposed – National

WASHINGTON — A presidential candidate’s phone is hacked. A fake video falsely shows ballots burned in Pennsylvania. National security officials warn that U.S. adversaries may incite violent protests after Election Day. These developments — all revealed in the past week — show how Russia, China and Iran have increased the pace of efforts to meddle in American politics ahead of next month’s election, just as intelligence officials and security analysts had predicted.At the same time, officials, tech companies and private researchers have adopted a more aggressive defense by swiftly exposing foreign election threats, highlighting the lessons learned from past election cycles that revealed America’s vulnerability to disinformation and cyberespionage.Officials say the U.S. election system is so...
You might think Israel’s airstrikes on Iran could lead to all-out war – but that doesn’t look likely | World News
Business

You might think Israel’s airstrikes on Iran could lead to all-out war – but that doesn’t look likely | World News

Israel's unprecedented night of airstrikes across Iran may be just what was needed to pull the Middle East back from all-out war.That might sound odd because for hours, it seems, Israeli jets ranged freely across Iranian airspace, apparently attacking targets and air defences at will in a flagrant violation of Iranian sovereignty and provocation, you might say. It was, you might have thought, just the sort of escalation to lead to Iran upping the ante and launching thousands of ballistic missiles to rain down on Israel's towns and cities.But that is not likely to happen.Why? Because neither side wants all-out war. For months now, Israel and Iran have been trying to act tough while trying desperately to avoid one. Last night's operation is no different. The reasons are clear. Iran cannot af...
Iran warns it will defend itself after Israeli strikes
World News

Iran warns it will defend itself after Israeli strikes

By Ramin Khanizadeh, AFP A general view of Tehran after several explosions were heard in Tehran on 26 October, 2024. Photo: AFP/Atta Kenare Iran warns it will defend itself after Israeli air strikes killed at least two soldiers and further stoked fears of a full-scale regional war in the Middle East. Israel warned Iran would "pay a heavy price" if it responded to the strikes, and the United States, Germany and Britain demanded Tehran not escalate the conflict further. US President Joe Biden said he hoped "this is the end" after the pre-dawn Israeli strikes, noting that "it looks like they didn't hit anything other than military targets". The European Union called for all parties to exercise utmost restraint to avoid an "uncontrollable escalation". Other countries, including many of I...
Quebec Liberals seek probe of closing of newcomers’ French-language classes
Politics

Quebec Liberals seek probe of closing of newcomers’ French-language classes

The Quebec Liberal Party has called for the province’s French language commissioner to investigate the cancelling of some French-language training courses for newcomers. Citing an “ongoing series of closures of francization programs,” the Opposition party announced Saturday morning in a news release that its critics for the French language and French classes, André Albert Morin and Madwa-Nika Cadet, sent a letter to the Commissioner of the French Language.The letter asks commissioner Benoît Dubreuil to “investigate to ensure that the right to French language learning services, included in the Charter of the French Language, is respected,” the release said.The Liberals are blaming the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s budgetary decisions, which it says, “jeopardize the possibility for im...
Georgia’s ruling party leads key election race which could decide role in Europe | World News
Business

Georgia’s ruling party leads key election race which could decide role in Europe | World News

Georgia's ruling party is leading the crucial election race that could decide the country's role in Europe.The Central Election Commission said the ruling Georgian Dream party had won 52.99% of the vote after 97% of the electronic vote was counted. Not all paper ballots and votes cast by Georgians abroad have been counted. Both Georgian Dream and the opposition blocs trying to end its 12 years in power have portrayed the vote as an existential choice.After the polls opened Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire who set up Georgian Dream and made his fortune in Russia, accused opposition parties of being "an agent of a foreign country that will only fulfil the tasks of a foreign country" - suggesting the West wants Georgia to go to war with Russia.He also pledged to ban all pro-Western oppositi...
100 Princes Street, Edinburgh review: a chic new addition to Scotland’s hotel scene
Life Style

100 Princes Street, Edinburgh review: a chic new addition to Scotland’s hotel scene

As this is a boutique city-centre hotel, there’s no spa, nor is there a fitness centre. There are, however, plenty of delicious things to eat and drink, and the impeccable staff are always on hand to provide any local tips and advice. Dressed in a chic uniform of blue silk dresses or sharp tartan suits, they’re friendly and knowledgeable without being overbearing, keen to make guests feel right at home. Source link
Videos lift veil on hidden horrors in Sudan after ‘100 villagers massacred’ | World News
Business

Videos lift veil on hidden horrors in Sudan after ‘100 villagers massacred’ | World News

Bodies wrapped in blankets are laid out in a front yard. Some on beds, others on the hard ground."These are the martyrs of Al Sireiha - more than 100," the man recording the video says, as mourners pray and walk around the corpses in the poorly lit evening darkness. Civilians were massacred in the farming village of Al Sireiha in the eastern parts of Sudan's Al Jazira state on Friday.The horror has emerged in a handful of videos uploaded to social media amid a telecommunications blackout."The number of deaths we've received so far is 124, though due to communication outages, we haven't been able to confirm this or if it has risen," says Mohamed Tarek. He is a member of the Madani Resistance Committee, the state capital's branch in a network of grassroots, frontline volunteer groups born ou...
65 pct Indian doctors call for safer tobacco alternatives to save lives: Study
Health

65 pct Indian doctors call for safer tobacco alternatives to save lives: Study

Amidst India`s escalating tobacco epidemic, where four out of 10 households grapple with smoking addiction, a new report on Friday revealed that 65 per cent of healthcare professionals in the country call for safer novel tobacco alternatives to save lives.  The report from the Doctors Against Addiction (DAAD) survey, in collaboration with Saizen Global Insights and Consulting, revealed a pivotal shift in the perspectives of healthcare professionals with 65 per cent of doctors supporting integrating safer cessation alternatives, such as nicotine replacement therapies and heat-not-burn products, into smoking cessation efforts. They emphasised the need for further efficacy research of these alternatives. The finding marks a significant moment in India’s ongoing battle against tobacco addict...
Canadian Indigenous leaders call Biden’s apology for U.S. residential schools ‘first step’ – National
Politics

Canadian Indigenous leaders call Biden’s apology for U.S. residential schools ‘first step’ – National

Canadian Indigenous leaders say U.S. President Joe Biden’s apology for his country’s residential school system is only the first step toward healing generations of harm. On Friday, Biden apologized for the U.S. boarding school system that for more than 150 years separated Indigenous children from their parents, calling it “one of the most consequential things” he’s done as president.The apology comes 16 years after former prime minister Stephen Harper apologized for Canada’s residential school system. It follows an investigation of boarding schools driven by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the country’s first Indigenous cabinet secretary, which was prompted by the discovery of 215 suspected unmarked graves at a residential school site in Kamloops, B.C.“The federal Indian boardi...
US president Joe Biden apologises to Native Americans for abusive government-funded boarding schools
World News

US president Joe Biden apologises to Native Americans for abusive government-funded boarding schools

By Michael Williams, CNN US President Joe Biden gestures as he apologises for Native American boarding school atrocities at the Gila River Crossing School in the Gila River Indian Community, in Laveen Village, near Phoenix, Arizona. Photo: AFP / ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS President Joe Biden formally apologised to Native Americans for what he described as "one of the most horrific chapters in American history," government-funded boarding schools that abused indigenous children and forced them to assimilate over a 150-year period. "Quite frankly, there is no excuse that this apology took 150 years to make," Biden said in Laveen, Arizona, after calling for a moment of silence to "remember those lost and the generations living with that trauma." At least 18,000 children were taken from t...