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Ambanis hold lavish wedding bash at Italy’s Portofino coast

PORTOFINO: The Ambani family hosted a lavish four day pre-wedding celebration in Italy, featuring a performance by legendary tenor Andrea Bocelli. The opulent pre-wedding festivities for Radhika Merchant and Anant Ambani in Portofino, Italy were a star-studded event. The celebration was marked by a special musical performance by renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.  Videos of him singing “Falling in Love with You on stage”, and 'dreamy' scenes from Portofino have surfaced on social media. Many Bollywood celebrities…

British ambassador to Mexico sacked after pointing gun at staff

LONDON: The British ambassador to Mexico has been removed from his post after he pointed an assault rifle at a local embassy employee in a car, according to media reports and a video of the incident circulating online. The video, shared on social media platform X, shows the career diplomat Jon Benjamin pointing the weapon at a person whose face has been blurred. "In a context of daily killings in Mexico by drug dealers, he dares to joke," a post accompanying the video reads. Earlier on Friday, media outlet Financial…

Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton dies after prison attack

TORONTO: Convicted Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton died on Friday aged 74 after he was assaulted by another inmate in a maximum-security prison earlier this month, prison authorities said. One of Canada's most infamous mass murderers, Pickton was convicted in 2007 of killing drug addicts and prostitutes and butchering their remains at his pig farm in the Pacific province of British Columbia. He was convicted of killing six women whose partial remains were found on his ramshackle property near Vancouver.…

Iceland elects businesswoman Halla Tomasdottir as new president

REYKJAVIK: Halla Tomasdottir, an entrepreneur, has won Iceland's presidential election and will take over the mostly ceremonial role from incumbent Gudni Johannesson. Tomasdottir, 55, received 34% of the votes cast in Saturday's election in the North Atlantic nation, to beat former Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir, who stepped down as premier in April to run for president. She garnered 25% of votes. The president, who is elected for a four-year term, carries limited political powers but often acts as a uniting figure…

Claudia Sheinbaum elected as first woman president of Mexico

MEXICO CITY: Ruling party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum won Mexico's presidential election and has been elected as the country’s first female president. The victory for Sheinbaum is a major step for Mexico, a country known for its macho culture and home to the world's second biggest Roman Catholic population, which for years pushed more traditional values and roles for women. Sheinbaum is the first woman to win a general election in the United States, Mexico or Canada. She has a complicated path ahead and must balance…

Slovenia to recognize Palestinian state

LJUBLJANA: Slovenia's government agreed on Thursday to recognize the state of Palestine, following in the footsteps of Spain, Norway and Ireland in a push for Middle East peace. "Today the government has decided to recognise Palestine as an independent and sovereign state,” Prime Minister Robert Golob said at a news conference in Ljubljana. The "message of peace" is subject to approval by parliament, which could come as soon as next week. Slovenia said its decision "sends a strong signal" to other countries to join the…

Muslim nurse in New York fired after calling Israel’s war in Gaza ‘genocide’

WASHINGTON: A New York City hospital fired a Palestinian American Muslim nurse after she called Israel's war in Gaza a "genocide" during an acceptance speech for an award for her work with bereaved mothers who lost their children during pregnancy and childbirth. A spokesperson of the hospital, NYU Langone Health, said that labor and delivery nurse Hesen Jabr had previously been warned not to bring her views "on this divisive and charged issue into the workplace." Jabr posted on Instagram that she was awarded on May 7,…

US boycotts UN tribute to late Iranian president Raisi

NEW YORK: The United States boycotted a United Nations tribute to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday because it said he was "involved in numerous, horrific human rights abuses" and that the world body should instead stand with the people of Iran. Raisi, a hardliner who had been seen as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed when his helicopter came down in poor weather in mountains near the Azerbaijan border on May 19. The 193-member UN General Assembly traditionally meets…

Donald Trump becomes first US president convicted of a crime

NEW YORK: Donald Trump became the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime when a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying documents to cover up a payment to silence an adult actress ahead of the 2016 election. After two days of deliberation, the 12-member jury pronounced Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts he faced. Trump watched the jurors dispassionately as they were polled to confirm the unanimous verdict. Justice Juan Merchan set sentencing for July 11, just days before the Republican Party is…

Indian space startup Agnikul launches privately built rocket

BENGALURU: India's Agnikul Cosmos launched its Agnibaan rocket for the first time on Thursday, powered by the only Indian rocket engine to use both gas and liquid fuel in the country's second flight of a privately built rocket. The Agnibaan's first flight had been called off four times in the last two months because of technical issues. The most recent cancellation was Tuesday, when launch was aborted five seconds before lift-off. On Thursday, the customisable, two-stage launch vehicle designed to carry a payload of up…

Israel seizes Gaza’s entire border with Egypt

JERUSALEM: Israeli forces have taken control of a buffer zone along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, the country's military said on Wednesday, giving Israel effective authority over the Palestinian territory's entire land border. Israel also continued deadly raids on Rafah in southern Gaza despite an order from the International Court of Justice to end attacks on the city, where half of Gaza's 2.3 million people had previously taken refuge. In a televised briefing, chief military spokesperson Daniel Hagari…

UK’s Labour suspends politician for liking tweet critical of Israel

LONDON: Britain’s Labour party has ousted its candidate in days after she launched her campaign allegedly for liking a tweet that was critical of Israel. Faiza Shaheen said the Labour Party has blocked her from standing in the upcoming elections in the United Kingdom, over a series of posts she liked on X, including ones that were critical of Israel and detailed her own experiences of Islamophobia. Ms Shaheen was due to take on former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith in the marginal north east London…

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