Crete hit hardest among Greek islands battered by storms, flooding
Bad weather also impacts islands in the Cyclades chain in the central Aegean Sea popular with tourists. Ferocious storms have battered islands in Greece for a second day, hurling cars into the sea and flooding homes and businesses with water and mud with Crete experiencing the heaviest rainfall and flooding. Authorities on the islands of Paros and Mykonos in the Aegean Sea worked to clear overturned cars and debris after hailstorms and torrential downpours on Tuesday. Emergency government assistance has been requested by those islands to address road and infrastructure damage. Rescue crews on Crete helped free seven people in vehicles trapped by floodwaters while rockslides and road closures were reported on the island after the bad weather pushed overnight towards the southeast. The highest rainfall in the 24 hours through Tuesday afternoon was recorded near the Cretan port of Chania, according to the National Observatory of Athens. Rhodes faced gale-force winds that toppled trees and damaged vehicles. Schools were preventively shut on Tuesday on the islands of Paros, Mykonos, Rhodes, Kos, Kalymnos, Symi and Tilos. Advertisement The storms primarily impacted islands in the Cyclades chain in the central Aegean, a popular holiday destination known for its beaches and whitewashed houses, and they struck just weeks after a rare earthquake swarm forced thousands of people to flee Santorini and the nearby islands of Ios, Amorgos and Anafi. The storms in Paros sent cars floating into the sea and flooded homes and businesses [Stathis Roussos/AP] Adblock test (Why?)
Russia’s Putin hosts Chinese Foreign Minister Wang for talks in Moscow
The allies discussed developments of the ongoing war in Ukraine as well as relations between the two countries. China and Russia are “friends forever, never enemies”, Chinese’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said in remarks in a visit to Moscow during which he has held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Wang on Tuesday also welcomed signs of normalising ties between Washington and Moscow. “The principle of ‘friends forever, never enemies’ … serves as a solid legal basis for advancing strategic cooperation at a higher level,” Wang told Russia’s RIA state news agency in an interview. Wang is on a three-day visit to Moscow for strategic cooperation talks, a trip overshadowed by uncertainty around talks to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine and US President Donald Trump’s criticism of the Russian and Ukrainian leaders. China and Russia declared a “no limits” strategic partnership days before Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Chinese President Xi Jinping has met Putin more than 40 times over the past decade, and the two leaders have agreed to deepen ties and cooperate on issues such as Taiwan, Ukraine and their mutual rival the United States. Advertisement Wang said China is ready to play a “constructive role” in ending the conflict in Ukraine, but will back Russia to defend its “interests”. At the start of talks with Lavrov, Wang added: “We will work together to make new contributions to the cause of peace and development for humanity.” Putin later expressed to Wang his “satisfaction with the way our relationship is developing” while Wang talked up strengthening ties and said the two countries were pursuing their common global and regional interests. Putin also said Russia was preparing a “good, full programme” for Xi’s symbolic and significant visit to Moscow for the Victory Parade in May – a sacrosanct day that marks the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. It is the 80th anniversary this year. Vladimir Putin watches honour guards passing by during a flower-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Victory Day last year [Maxim Blinov/Sputnik via Reuters] Wang said current global conditions obliged big powers to act as stabilising factors, so it was encouraging that Russia and the US had moved to improve relations. His remarks came a day after the Kremlin said that Russia and the US were working on ideas for a possible peace settlement in Ukraine and on building bilateral ties. Since taking office in January, Trump has initially shifted the US to a more conciliatory stance towards Russia, but he expressed anger in recent days at Putin’s questioning of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s legitimacy and his discussion of the prospect of a new leadership in Ukraine. Advertisement Wang dismissed the notion that Trump is trying to support Russia in order to set it against China, condemning such ideas as a “relapse of obsolete confrontational and bloc thinking”. Wang said recent Ukraine ceasefire talks had already brought some results and should continue, despite diverging views and the difficult situation on the battlefield. “The step towards peace, although not that big, is constructive – it’s worth building on it,” Wang said. “With peace, it is no pain, no gain. You need to work hard to achieve it.” Xi has been pushing for a greater involvement of China in peace talks since the early days of the war, which marked its third anniversary in February. China presents itself as a neutral party in the conflict and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the US and other Western nations. But it is a close political and economic ally of Russia, and NATO members have branded Beijing a “decisive enabler” of Moscow’s offensive – which it has never condemned. Beijing has proposed on its own, and together with Brazil, general principles to end the conflict, but its ideas have received a tepid reception. Adblock test (Why?)
Watch: Chile’s President Gabriel Boric stops during walk to ask PM Modi about Ashoka Chakra on…
Chilean President Gabriel Boric asks PM Modi about the Ashoka Chakra’s significance during his state visit to India.
Remembering John Thornton, founder of The Texas Tribune
Thornton conceived of the idea of a nonprofit news enterprise to engage Texans with their government, and then helped support similar outlets across the country. He died Saturday at 59.
Massachusetts judge charges ICE agent with contempt of court
A Massachusetts judge on Monday found a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in contempt of court for detaining a Dominican man in the middle of his trial last week. Boston Municipal Court Judge Mark Summerville accused ICE Agent Brian Sullivan of violating the rights of the defendant, William Martell-Lebron. Sullivan did not appear in court for the hearing. “This is a disturbing case,” Summerville said. “It’s a case of obstruction of justice. It’s a case of violating the defendant’s right to be present at trial and confront witnesses against him. Couldn’t be more serious.” Martell-Lebron was taken into custody last week following the second day of his trial on charges that he provided false information in a driver’s license application. Summerville dismissed the charges against Martell-Lebron. MAN POSTS VIDEO URGING PEOPLE TO ‘SHOOT AT ICE AGENTS ON SIGHT’ Summerville also criticized assistant district attorneys from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office and ordered them to investigate Sullivan. COLLEGES IN ICE’S DEPORTATION CROSSHAIRS SHELLED OUT DISCOUNTS, FINANCIAL AID TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: GOP REP The assistant district attorney told the court he was aware ICE agents were stationed outside the courthouse but was not aware why and denied working with or providing information to federal agents. Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden was expected to hold a news conference later Tuesday.
Yet another Israeli war crime is buried in the sand as the world looks away
Every day, Mohammad Bahloul gambled with his own life in the hope of saving others. As a medic in the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), he would step into the unknown each workday, never knowing if he would return to his family. A week before Eid al-Fitr, Mohammad was dispatched to Rafah’s Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood to recover the wounded and dead in the aftermath of Israeli attacks. Shortly after he and a team of medics and first responders arrived on the scene, Israeli ground troops encircled the area and closed off all the roads in and out. As the PRCS lost contact with its team, rumours began to spread across Rafah that those stuck inside would be massacred. During the attempts of rescue teams to reach the area, UN workers witnessed civilians trying to flee being shot dead. On March 29, they were finally able to reach the area where the PRCS teams were attacked. There, the teams discovered the mangled remains of ambulances and UN and Civil Defence vehicles as well as a single body – that of Muhammad’s colleague, Anwar Alatar. Advertisement On March 30, the first day of Eid al-Fitr, they went back and uncovered 14 more bodies buried in the sand in a mass grave. All of them were still dressed in their uniforms and wearing gloves. Among them were Mohammad and his colleagues Mustafa Khafaja, Ezzedine Sha’at, Saleh Moammar, Rifaat Radwan, Ashraf Abu Labda, Mohammad al-Hila, and Raed al-Sharif. The killing of these paramedics is not an isolated incident. Israel has been systematically targeting medical and rescue workers as part of its genocidal war – a war against life itself in Gaza. Only in Gaza, medical uniforms and ambulances do not offer protection, which international law affords. Only in Gaza, medical uniforms and ambulances can mark people as targets for execution. For the seven agonising days in which Mohammad’s fate remained unknown, his father Sobhi Bahloul, a former principal at Bir al-Saba’ High School in Rafah, whom I have known for decades, and his mother Najah, prayed for a miracle to save their son. They imagined that Mohammad had escaped just before the area was sealed, or that he was hiding under the rubble of a house, or perhaps that he was kidnapped by Israeli soldiers but was still alive. As Mahmoud Darwish, the Palestinian national poet, said, Palestinians are suffering from an “incurable malady: hope”. Although the Bahloul family dared to hope, they also carried within them the dread that Mohammad would never be seen again. They knew the stories. In January 2024, the paramedics sent to rescue six-year-old Hind Rajab who lay in a car, injured and bleeding, beside her slain relatives, were also targeted and murdered. Likewise, in December 2023, the medics dispatched to rescue Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abudaqa, who was bleeding in a street in Khan Younis after being hit by an Israeli drone, were also killed. Advertisement For seven long days, hope battled fear. “May God return you and all your colleagues to us safe and sound,” Sobhi wrote on Facebook above a photo of his selfless son. A photo of Mohammad Bahloul who was killed on March 23 by Israeli soldiers in Rafah [Courtesy of Sobhi Bahloul] The family had already suffered so much during the genocide, having lost many loved ones. Early on, they had to flee from their home in eastern Rafah to al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, searching for an illusion called safety. When the ceasefire was announced, the family marched back to their home in the eastern part of Rafah with thousands of others. They found their home destroyed but did their best to restore two rooms to functionality where they could sleep. During that period the children resumed their education in makeshift tents because so many schools had been destroyed. Just a week before Mohammad disappeared, an air raid flattened the house across the street from the family home, and his father’s car was severely damaged. Once again, the family fled, carrying what little they had left. With each displacement, their possessions dwindled – an unbearable reminder that as belongings shrink, so too does dignity. But Mohammad had no time to help his father pitch another displacement tent. He immediately returned to his duty, working around the clock with his fellow medics in Khan Younis, answering endless calls for help, rushing from one horror to the next. Even during Ramadan, the holiest month of the year, he barely had a moment to break his fast with his family and play with his five children – among them Adam, his three-month-old baby boy. Advertisement The holy month ended with the heartbreaking news of his murder. On Eid, I tried to reach Sobhi, but there was no answer. On his Facebook, I found these painful words: “We mourn our son, Muhammad Sobhi Bahloul, a martyr of duty and humanitarian work. To Allah we belong, and to Him we shall return.” Despite the Israeli army’s attempt to cover up its crime by burying it in the sand, evidence speaks for what happened. A statement released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health on March 30 said the Israeli forces carried out an execution and that some of the victims were handcuffed and had injuries to the head and chest. The chief of the UN humanitarian affairs office in Palestine, Jonathan Whittall, said the paramedics and first responders were killed “one by one”. Israel, of course, used the familiar playbook of denial and obfuscation. It first claimed the paramedics were members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Then it claimed that its soldiers fired on the ambulances because they were “advancing suspiciously toward” them. Meanwhile, in an act of blatant cynicism, the Israeli government announced it was sending a rescue mission of 22 to Thailand and Myanmar following the deadly earthquake. Ten days earlier, it sent a medical delegation to North Macedonia. From Asia to Europe, it seems acceptable that a country that has massacred more than 1000 health
At least 95 arrested in Zimbabwe after antigovernment protests
Police say suspects in custody are among 200 people who gathered at Harare’s Freedom Square and threw stones at officers. Zimbabwe police say they have arrested 95 people on charges of promoting public violence for taking part in demonstrations that called for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to leave office. A large police deployment in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, and other cities on Monday, largely neutralised a call by war veterans for large protests against plans to extend Mnangagwa’s rule. Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party said in January that it wanted to extend Mnangagwa’s term in office by two years until 2030. Eighty-two-year-old Mnangagwa, who first came to power in 2017 after his long-term mentor Robert Mugabe was deposed in a military coup, is serving his final term. Independence war veterans led by Blessed Geza previously supported Mnangagwa but have turned against him, accusing him of seeking to cling to power. ‘Enough is enough’ The men and women in custody appeared before a court on Tuesday. They were among 200 people who had gathered at Harare’s Freedom Square and are accused of throwing stones at police and temporarily barricading a main road, according to a copy of the police charges cited by the AFP news agency. Advertisement They had chanted slogans such as “Enough is enough” and “Mnangagwa must go,” the charges said. These acts violated laws against breaching the peace and participating in a gathering with the intent to promote public violence, they added. Security forces had been out in force on the streets of the capital on Monday, and the demonstrations were limited, but shops, schools and businesses were closed in what many said amounted to a stay-away protest. Geza thanked his followers on social media for heeding his call to protest. He said he would not call for new demonstrations but promised a series of events to send Mnangagwa and his “corrupt cabal” packing. Adblock test (Why?)
Libya: A Voice for Reconciliation
A poet and a composer are inspired by Libyan history to create a modern peace anthem for their divided country. Could Libya solve its political problems by revisiting a decades-old agreement that once brought its warring tribal factions together in national reconciliation? Since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has been in a constant state of turmoil. Now, poet Ahmed al-Terkawi and composer Hanan al-Ruwaie embark on a creative project together to seek inspiration from Libyan history – specifically the 1946 Harabi Charter – to create a musical work of hope for Libya’s future. But first, they meet writers, historians, today’s tribal elders and descendants of the original charter signatories. This enables them to understand the country’s history and how Emir Idris al-Senussi persuaded warring tribes to set aside their differences and come together in an unusual act of reconciliation. Both of them gather all they need to write and then perform their powerful anthem calling for peace in their war-torn country. Adblock test (Why?)
Kunal Kamra shares ‘step-by-step guide’ on how to ‘kill’ an artist ‘democratically’
In his latest post on X post, stand-up artist Kunal Kamra shared a satirical ‘step-by-step guide’ on how to ‘kill’ an artist ‘democratically’, which appears to reflect on the aftermath of his controversial joke on Eknath Shinde.
SCOOP: Judge Boasberg impeachment push gains support despite House GOP leaders’ resistance
FIRST ON FOX: A resolution to impeach U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg is still gaining support despite House GOP leaders’ hesitation to move on such a measure. Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, introduced an article of impeachment against Boasberg last month after he issued an emergency order temporarily halting the Trump administration’s deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act. Reps. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., signed onto the bill as co-sponsors last week, Fox News Digital was told, despite House GOP leaders signaling around the same time that they have little appetite to pursue that route. The resolution now has 22 total co-sponsors – suggesting the effort is still alive and well among conservatives in the House Republican conference. WHO IS JAMES BOASBERG, THE US JUDGE AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S DEPORTATION EFFORTS? President Donald Trump is using the Alien Enemies Act to deport suspected Tren De Aragua gang members to a detention facility in El Salvador. Boasberg’s standoff with the Trump administration, which includes accusations the White House ignored his initial order that the administration has denied, has sent shock waves through Capitol Hill. Republicans see it as one of the most egregious examples of “rogue judges” blocking Trump’s agenda. Trump himself singled out Boasberg and called for his impeachment over the legal showdown. ‘WOEFULLY INSUFFICIENT’: US JUDGE REAMS TRUMP ADMIN FOR DAYS-LATE DEPORTATION INFO More than a dozen injunctions have been levied against various Trump policies, with targets ranging from birthright citizenship reform to the Department of Government Efficiency. However, House GOP leaders are hesitant to support impeachment as a method to target Boasberg and other judges – believing it to be a less effective route to accountability. Several rank-and-file Republican lawmakers suggested to Fox News Digital last month that they would not support such a move, giving it long odds of success in the House. Gill’s resolution accused Boasberg of abusing his power. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He could still force a House-wide vote on the measure by reintroducing it as a “privileged resolution,” giving leaders two legislative days to hold at least one procedural vote. As of last week, however, Gill told Fox News Digital he had no plans to do so. It comes as House Republicans coalesce around legislation by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., to limit district judges’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions. That bill is expected to get a vote on Wednesday afternoon.