Progress Singapore Party (PSP) secretary-general Leong Mun Wai has refuted claims by National Development Minister Desmond Lee that the opposition party is tapping into sentiments it believes are running through the community. In a rally on Thursday (April 24), Leong and chairman Tan Cheng Bock had remarked how PAP has «lost its way», and called for a GST rollback to seven per cent in addition to exempting essential items like rice, water and milk formula from GST. Lee said that it is important to be objective as «no scheme, no policy is perfect». In response to calls for GST exemption, he said PAP wants to «make it progressive» by making sure lower- and middle-income households are supported through targeted measures.

UK households have grown increasingly downbeat about the outlook for the country’s economy, data shows Read Full Article at RT.com

Jigjiga, Ethiopia (HOL) — The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) has accused Ethiopian security forces of disrupting a women's meeting in Jigjiga on April 24, arresting its members and injuring several others. The ONLF described the attack as part of a widening clamp-down and silence of dissent in the Somali Region.

MELBOURNE, Australia (HOL) — The fatal police shooting of Abdifatah Ahmed, a 35-year-old Somali refugee, has drawn nationwide attention, as protesters, community leaders, and human rights advocates demand a fully independent investigation and a broader overhaul of how police handle mental health crises.

LONDON, UK (HOL) — Forbes has named Nasra Artan, the Somali-Norwegian executive leading international A&R at Sony Music Publishing, to its 2025 30 Under 30 Europe list in the Entertainment category, recognizing her for reshaping the global music landscape through cross-cultural collaborations and artist development.

Expectant parents whose lives have been upended by DOGE cuts say the way they’ve been treated flies in the face of Trump’s calls to raise the birth rate.

«The legislative framework in this area is being improved,» Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu stressed

The US president stressed that it would be «a big honor» for him to broker an agreement between Moscow and Kiev

According to the agency, primary disagreements between the US’ suggestions on the one hand and Europe and Ukraine’s proposals on the other, «are over the sequencing for resolving questions over territory, the lifting of sanctions on Russia, security guarantees and the size of Ukraine's military»

Sergey Shoigu also emphasized that Western intelligence agencies «carry out acts of information and psychological warfare aimed at destroying the fundamental moral and cultural norms, traditional religious standards, and the institutions of marriage and the family»

The service claims that the vessel was allegedly loaded with wheat in the port of Sevastopol in late 2024

TEHRAN – Daliv Shahrukh Khozhakbarovich, Uzbekistan’s First Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, has called for enhancing cooperation between Sharif University of Technology and the top universities of Uzbekistan.

TEHRAN –A total of 507 earthquakes have been recorded across the country over the past calendar month that ended on April 20, indicating a 13.7–percent decrease compared to 588 earthquakes recorded in the last Iranian calendar month, Esfand, (February 19 – March 20), according to the seismological networks of the Institute of Geophysics of the University of Tehran.

TEHRAN – Hamid Zohrabi, an official with the Department of Environment (DOE), and Meder Mashiev, Kyrgyz Minister of Natural Resources, Ecology and Technical Supervision, met on Friday to enhance bilateral relations.

TEHRAN - The Sagaing Fault, passing nearby Mandalay, Myanmar, has a long history of destructive earthquakes. In 1946, in an earthquake of M7.7 similar to the 2025 earthquake, the northern part of the Sagaing Fault ruptured near Mandalay, causing widespread damage.

TEHRAN - A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 in the Sea of Marmara, 40 km from Istanbul, Turkiye, shook at 12:49 pm local time on April 23, 2025. All thirty-three stations of the IIEES Iranian broadband seismic network of the International Institute of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering throughout Iran recorded this earthquake. The mechanism of the earthquake is strike-slip, and the epicenter of the earthquake is located at a depth of approximately 10 km and about 40 km southwest of Istanbul within the Sea of Marmara.

Former The Voice Kids star Karen Silva has tragically died from a haemorrhagic stroke aged 17, due to bleeding into the brain by the rupture of a blood vessel.

Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh has warned that «nothing can be taken for granted» when it comes to his party's presence in Parliament. In a pre-recorded broadcast aired on Friday (April 25), Singh said that «one or even two» constituencies currently held by the WP «can easily be lost» in this General Election. He was referring to the 10 seats that the party won in GE2020, including Aljunied and Sengkang GRCs, as well as its long-held stronghold of Hougang SMC. With that, Singh, 48, said that it is «important for Singapore's democracy» for the WP to win more constituencies. «With more WP constituencies comes a higher chance that Parliament will continue to have a fully-elected democratic opposition presence for the longer term,» he said. «This will make our system stable and sustainable for the future.» WP is contesting 26 out of 97 seats across five GRCs including five GRCs — Aljunied, Sengkang, East Coast, Punggol and Tampines — and the single seats of Hougang, Tampines Changkat and Jalan Kayu.

Nine rallies are scheduled to take place on Saturday (April 26). The parties involved are the People's Power Party (PPP), Progress Singapore Party (PSP), People's Action Party (PAP), People's Alliance for Reform (PAR), Workers' Party (WP), Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), and Red Dot United (RDU). The rallies are scheduled to begin at 7pm and end at 10pm. The PAP will hold three rallies: one for Chua Chu Kang GRC at the Hard Court along Choa Chu Kang Avenue 4, another for East Coast GRC at Bedok Stadium, and one for Punggol GRC at Yusof Ishak Secondary School. PSP's rally for Bukit Gombak SMC will be held at Bukit Gombak Stadium, while SDP will hold its rally for Sembawang West SMC at Evergreen Primary School. PPP will stage its rally for Ang Mo Kio GRC at Yio Chu Kang Stadium and RDU will hold theirs for Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC at Bukit View Secondary School. Last, WP will hold its rally for Tampines GRC at Temasek Junior College. Police advisory Police said rally attendees are encouraged to take public transport as large crowds are expected at the rallies.

Vote for candidates who are of «good character», Prime Minister Lawrence Wong urged in his address to voters during the People's Action Party (PAP)'s first party political broadcast since the start of the hustings. During the broadcast on Friday (April 25), PM Wong, who is also the PAP's secretary-general, said that voters should «vote for the candidates who will put Singapore and Singaporeans ahead of everything else». «Above all, choose leaders who are upright, honest and of good character. Because in the end, more than policies, more than promises, it is character that counts,» he stated. Should the PAP win the mandate, PM Wong said, his priority lies in working with his team to unite Singaporeans, protecting livelihoods and securing the future. He explained that this would be the PAP's «collective new resolve», stating: «Every member of my team knows the weight of this responsibility. This is our promise, and our commitment, to you.»

A Romanian national had been collecting classified data for Ukrainian intelligence, the agency has said Read Full Article at RT.com

The move could pave the way for “temporary peace,” Vitaly Klitschko has said Read Full Article at RT.com

An Il-76 carrying 65 Ukrainian servicemen destined for an exchange was shot down by Kiev in 2024, according to Moscow Read Full Article at RT.com

Russia needs to revise budget rules to mitigate fiscal risks amid declining oil revenues and global trade tensions, Anton Siluanov has said Read Full Article at RT.com

Reuters has detailed Kiev’s rejection of crucial elements of the US proposal to resolve its conflict with Russia Read Full Article at RT.com

Les travaux législatifs de ce mercredi 23 avril 2025 se sont achevés avec la séance de la Commission des Collectivités Locales, du Développement, de l'Aménagement du Territoire, de l'Environnement, de la Décentralisation, des Travaux Publics et des Transports. À cette occasion, les sénateurs ont auditionné Jonathan Ignoumba, Ministre des Transports et de la Marine Marchande, autour de deux projets de lois : • le projet de loi relatif à la répression des actes de pollution marine par (...) - TRANSPORTS / SUJET_ECRIT_MAISON

«Like India has suspended the Indus water treaty, Pakistan has also threatened to suspend the Simla Agreement. I will say that this is a good thing because it also ends the existence of the Line of Control (LoC). This means that India is not obligated to respect the LoC. Ye karke Pakistan apne gale main rassa dalega (This is suicide for Pakistan). This also makes India free to cross the LoC,» Dhillon told ANI.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar asserted that terrorism is a global menace demanding unified action, emphasizing the paramount importance of national interest. He highlighted that national interests should supersede partisan, political, or personal agendas, echoing Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's sentiment.

Following the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Rahul Gandhi met with Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah and visited victims in Srinagar, emphasizing the need for national unity against divisive forces. He assured full support from the Congress party to both state and central governments. Gandhi also attended an all-party meeting, condemning the attack and backing government measures against terrorism.

When 26 people were methodically executed in Kashmir’s Pahalgam valley — identified by name, religion, and in some cases, their inability to recite Islamic prayers — the global media did what it does best: looked away, chose its words carefully, and reached for the comforting vocabulary of denial. Not terrorism. Not jihad. Just “gunmen,” “militants,” and the ever-useful “tensions.” Because in the moral economy of modern newsrooms, the value of a life — and the weight of a headline — depends on who the victims are, and who the killers pray to.

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