Author: Fatimah Idera

Russian forces staged huge drone attacks on eastern Ukraine late on Tuesday, triggering fires and injuring at least 22 people, regional officials said. The attack on the Ukrainian cities of Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Kramatorsk late on April 8 wounded more than two dozen people and damaged multiple residential buildings. In the Donetsk region, the focal point of the 1,000-km (600-mile) front line in the more than three-year-old war, a residential area came under attack in the city of Kramatorsk and local officials said three people, including a child, were injured. The Ukrainian air force said that it shot down 32…

Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto said on Wednesday that his country is ready to temporarily shelter Palestinians hit by the war in Gaza, estimating there could be 1,000 in the first wave. Prabowo said he has instructed his foreign minister to quickly discuss with the Palestinian side and other parties about how to evacuate impacted Palestinians to Indonesia, a Muslim-majority country. “We are ready to evacuate the wounded, the traumatised, the orphans,” Prabowo said, adding the victims would be in Indonesia temporarily until they have fully recovered from their injuries and the situation in Gaza was safe for their return. Jakarta…

U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order that aims to block the enforcement of state laws passed to reduce the use of fossil fuels and combat climate change. The move is the latest in a string of efforts by Trump’s administration to pump up domestic energy output and push back against largely Democratic-led policies to curb carbon emissions. It came just hours after Trump, a Republican, issued orders to increase coal production. The order directed the U.S. attorney general to identify state laws that address climate change, ESG initiatives, environmental justice and carbon emissions, and to take action to…

The British retail tycoon Philip Green on Tuesday lost a legal case against the United Kingdom over the use of parliamentary privilege by facing allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct allegations. The case, which was said to be a test of the concept of parliamentary privilege, was launched after Lord Hain announced in the House of Lords in 2018 that Green had used the courts to obtain an interim injunction against the Telegraph to stop publication of the allegations. Green, once one of Britain’s most prominent businessmen, was named in parliament as having sued to stop publication of the allegations,…

A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been charged with multiple sex offences including rape. Pc Dion Arnold was charged with four counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault following an investigation by Surrey Police. The charges relate to a report made earlier this year and to offences that allegedly happened while Arnold, who is attached to South West Command Unit, was off duty. Arnold, who was arrested by the Surrey force on March 29, attended Guildford magistrates’ court on March 31 and was remanded in custody to next appear at Guildford…

UK-based kitchen and joinery supplier Howden Joinery said on Tuesday that Jackie Callaway will succeed Paul Hayes as the company’s new chief financial officer. Callaway, currently serving as the CFO of British thread manufacturer Coats Group is also set to join Howden as its board director on June 2. Hayes, who took on the role of Howden’s finance chief in late December 2020, will step down from both his position and his role as executive director on May 30. In February, the company reported disappointing annual profit and outlined plans to reduce its cost base in order to achieve profitability…

On Tuesday, April 8, the Duke of Sussex, 40, was seen arriving at the Royals Courts of Justice in central London for a two-day hearing as he appeals a High Court ruling regarding his security arrangements in the U.K. — a long-running legal battle that has contributed to ongoing tensions with his father, King Charles. Prince Harry, King Charles’ younger son, arrived at the Court of Appeal around an hour before the hearing started and looked relaxed and smiled briefly, giving a small wave to some of those looking on along the side of the court building. He entered the…

Donald Trump imposed tariffs on islands mostly inhabited by penguins so that countries could not use them as loopholes, an official revealed. Trump announced a 10% baseline tariff for all countries and reciprocal tariffs against approximately 60 countries that he says contribute most to the U.S. trade deficit. The decision to place levies on the Heard and McDonald Island, which have no human inhabitants, raised eyebrows last week as countries such as Russia, North Korea and Belarus were all spared by the US president. The US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick told CBS: “What happens is, if you leave anything off…

Britain said it could consider closing hundreds of arms-length government agencies, as it looks to reform the state to cut costs and improve productivity in what it called “a new era of global instability”. Britain has over 300 hundreds of quangos, or quasi-autonomous non-governmental organizations which are taxpayer-funded but not controlled by ministers, and include public bodies such as the Health and Safety Executive, Network Rail and the Migration Advisory Committee. The government said in a statement on Monday that “every quango across government will be reviewed, with a view to close, merge or bring functions back into (government) departments…

UK house prices have suffered their steepest decline in a year as the market cools after a buyer rush to beat changes to stamp duty changes in England and Northern Ireland. The average price of a property fell by 0.5% last month to £296,699, the steepest decline in value since March last year, according to Halifax. It is the second consecutive month that house prices have fallen, as Britain’s biggest mortgage lender revised February’s decline from 0.1% to 0.2%. However, prices in March this year compared with the same month last year were up by 2.8%, the same pace of…