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From left: Nasa astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander, Christina Koch, mission specialist, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist, and Nasa astronaut Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot, posing for a group photo after viewing the
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Vehicles block Dublin's O'Connell Street, as part of a protest over the high cost of fuel that clogged up busy thoroughfares and motorways across Ireland for a second successive day, in Dublin. (Reuters/File Photo) The Irish government was Sunday due to hold an emergency cabinet meeting to sign off on measures aimed at ending fuel cost protests that have endangered the functioning of the country's emergency services.Hauliers and agricultural contractors began a series of protests on Tuesday over spiralling petrol and diesel prices amid the Middle East war.Since then the protests have grown from slow-moving convoys on motorways and restricted access to Dublin's busiest streets, to a part blockade of Ireland's only oil refinery and restricted access to at least two other fuel depots.Finance Minister Simon Harris said later on Saturday ministers had held meetings with transport and agriculture sector representatives ahead of Sunday's meeting.The government was in the process of "finalising a significant support package to address the ongoing crisis", a government statement added.Some protests rolled into a sixth day Sunday.The government has urged the public not to panic buy as pumps at many fuel stations have run dry.Police on Saturday with the support of the armed forces deployed public order units to clear the blockade at Whitegate Refinery in southern Ireland.Irish police chief Justin Kelly said the action was taken as a last resort.The blockading of "critical national infrastructure" had "resulted in fuel shortages that are directly impacting on emergency services such as hospitals, the ambulance service, and the fire service", he said.Elsewhere, police dismantled a makeshift barrier erected by protesters blockading western Galway docks.A late-night operation also targeted the blockade of the capital Dublin's main thoroughfare O'Connell Street after multiple vehicles including tractors and lorries were removed.Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan said earlier the continuation of the protests despite the increasingly difficult situation had been "unacceptable"."While we all acknowledge the impact of higher fuel prices, and seek to minimise that impact, no groups are entitled in our republic to hold our people to ransom in such a manner," he said.In March, Dublin announced a 250 million-euro package to reduce fuel costs, notably including a diesel rebate for road haulier.There were now the "bones of an agreement" with the government, the president Ger Hyland of the Irish Road Haulage Association said on Saturday."It is a substantial package and we hope to have this over the line either late tonight or tomorrow," he added.
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Raymond Greene. (Reuters/File Photo) The top US diplomat in Taiwan said China should abandon its threats and military pressure against Taiwan and talk to the island's leaders as that would avoid misunderstandings and stabilise relations.Raymond Greene, the de facto ambassador as head of the American Institute in Taiwan, which handles relations in the absence of formal diplomatic ties, said the consistent US policy has been to support exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.He was discussing the visit of Taiwan's opposition leader to China on a Taiwanese political talk show on Saturday."However, we also expect China — Beijing — to maintain open communication channels with all of Taiwan's political parties, especially the leaders elected by the Taiwanese people, in order to avoid misunderstandings and to stabilise cross-strait relations," Greene said in Mandarin."We further expect China to abandon threats against Taiwan or military pressure. I believe this would help ease cross-strait tensions."China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.Beijing refuses to speak to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, saying he is a "separatist", but Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of Taiwan's largest opposition party, the Kuomintang, during what she called a mission of peace to China.The Chinese military operates daily around Taiwan, activities that have continued while Cheng has been in China.Taiwan's opposition, which has a majority in parliament, has stalled government military spending plans, including an extra $40bn special defence budget which has provisions to buy US weapons and which Washington has backed.Despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, the US is Taiwan's most important arms supplier and international backer.Greene said that while the US supports dialogue, that cannot replace deterrence."I don't think there is a conflict here, because if there is sufficient deterrence capability, it will lead to a more equal dialogue," he added."There are three ways to resolve cross-strait differences: the first is dialogue, the second is coercion and the third is war. So if Taiwan can have sufficient deterrence capability, it can take the option of war off the table." Related Story
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The Arab Parliament announced Sunday that it launched a broad international campaign across parliamentary, human rights, and international levels to confront the so-called execution law for Palestinian prisoners approved by Israel’s Knesset.In a statement, the Arab Parliament stressed that the discriminatory legislation represents one of the most dangerous forms of legitimising systematic political killing against the Palestinian people, describing it as a fully-fledged legislative crime that undermines international law and threatens the global justice system.Arab Parliament Speaker Mohammed bin Ahmed al-Yamahi sent a series of urgent official letters to UN Secretary-General, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, as well as heads of regional and international parliaments, calling for immediate and decisive action to halt the implementation of the law and hold those responsible accountable before international justice.Al-Yamahi stressed in his letters that the adoption of this law constitutes an unprecedented escalation in Israeli occupation policies, effectively institutionalising a new phase of systematic executions of Palestinian prisoners under a false legislative cover.He described it as a blatant violation of Geneva Conventions, international humanitarian law, and all relevant international human rights instruments, warning that any international silence or inaction regarding this law would be considered direct complicity in a fully-fledged crime, would grant the occupying entity political cover to continue its crimes, and would open the door to a serious collapse in the international legitimacy system and entrench a policy of impunity.He called on the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities and take urgent measures, including activating international accountability mechanisms, referring the crime to competent judicial bodies, ensuring immediate international protection for Palestinian prisoners, and forming independent fact-finding committees to investigate serious violations committed against them in Israeli occupation prisons.He also renewed calls to suspend and freeze the membership of Israeli Knesset in the Inter-Parliamentary Union and other international parliamentary forums, affirming that the Arab Parliament It will continue its political, diplomatic, and parliamentary efforts until the discriminatory law is repealed and the occupying authorities are held accountable for their escalating crimes against Palestinian prisoners. Related Story
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(FILES) Bollywood playback singer Asha Bhosle attends an event celebrating 'Marathi Bhasha Gaurav Diwas,' also known as Marathi Language Day, in Mumbai on February 27, 2025. Bhosle, one of India's most iconic playback singers and
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President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy on Sunday to block the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, furious with Iran's refusal to surrender its nuclear ambitions after peace talks in Pakistan broke down without an agreement.In response to Trump's announcement, Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned they had traffic in the strategic waterway under their full control and would trap any enemy who tried to challenge it 'in a deadly vortex'.In a lengthy declaration on his social media platform, Trump said his eventual goal was to clear the strait of mines and reopen it to all shipping, but that in the meantime Iran must not be allowed to profit from its control of the waterway.'Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,' Trump said. 'Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!'Iran has itself been restricting traffic through the strait -- a key route for global shipments of oil, gas and fertiliser -- while allowing vessels deemed to be working for friendly countries, such as China, to pass. There have been unconfirmed reports that Tehran plans to charge tolls.'THIS IS WORLD EXTORTION,' Trump said. 'I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas. We will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the Straits.'The US military had said Saturday that two Navy warships transited through the strait to begin clearing it of mines and ensure it was a 'safe pathway' for tankers, a claim denied by Tehran.Iran's Fars news agency reported on Sunday that two Pakistani-flagged oil tankers heading for the strait had turned around.Fears of renewed fighting rattled an already tense region after the US-Iran talks collapsed.'I am worried about the continuation of the situation and the return of attacks again,' said Imam, an Egyptian housewife living in UAE capital Abu Dhabi.'I was making a great effort not to pass my tension on to the children.''Act of extortion' Trump later in a Fox News interview again threatened Iran's energy infrastructure, before warning he would impose a 50 percent tariff on Chinese imports if Beijing tried to help the Iranian military.'I could take out Iran in one day. I could have their entire energy everything, every one of their plants, their electric generating plants, which is a big deal,' he said.The president's latest ultimatum appeared to have been triggered by the failure of talks to secure a deal to end the six-week-old war, which began when the US and Israel launched strikes on Tehran and killed Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.Iran's refusal to give up its right to a nuclear programme frustrated the US delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.'I have always said, right from the beginning, and many years ago, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!' Trump said.'The Blockade will begin shortly. Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade,' he added, without specifying.Experts said blocking the crucial waterway in the middle of a two-week ceasefire, after the Islamabad negotiations, would further erode America's global credibility.'Imposing a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz right now -- even if it's implementable, which remains an open question -- is bewildering and seems self-defeating,' said Shibley Telhami, a professor of peace and development at the University of Maryland.Vance left Pakistan after the talks -- the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution -- and warned that Washington had made Tehran its 'final and best offer' for a deal, adding: 'We'll see if the Iranians accept it.'Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the head of his country's negotiating team, said he had 'put forward constructive initiatives' but the US team did not win Iran's trust.Ceasefire efforts The failure of the talks will raise concerns that a return to fighting could drive world energy prices higher and further damage shipping and oil and gas facilities.Pakistan, which hosted the talks, urged both countries to continue respecting the temporary truce.UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, and both leaders agreed it 'was vital there was a continuation of the ceasefire, and that all parties avoided any further escalation'.An EU spokesman said diplomacy would be 'essential' to securing peace and hailed Pakistan's mediation efforts, while Russia's President Vladimir Putin called Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to offer his services to the diplomatic effort.'Vladimir Putin emphasised his readiness to further facilitate the search for a political and diplomatic settlement to the conflict, and to mediate efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace in the Middle East,' the Kremlin said, in its readout of the call.
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Napoli's Serie A title defence suffered a blow with Sunday'1-1 draw at Parma which gave league leaders Inter Milan the chance to move nine points clear.Scott McTominay's drilled finish on the hour mark gave Napoli a draw which may well not be enough for the champions to claim a third Scudetto in four seasons.Napoli trail Inter by six points, a gap which could increase following the late match between the Milan giants and Champions League chasers Como.Antonio Conte's team were on the back foot within 36 seconds. That was how long it took for Gabriel Strefezza to race on to Nesta Elphege's knock-on and beautifully curl home Parma's opener.Napoli struggled to break down the hosts who were content to sit deep and soak up the pressure and deny the away team a sixth straight league win.Last weekend's win over AC Milan had reopened the prospect of retaining the title but a draw at the Stadio Ennio Tardini has made that feat less likely with six matches remaining in their season.'I told the boys that there is a very thin line that separates winners and losers,' said Conte.'If you concede a goal after 30 seconds it's inevitable that a match which was already going to be against a deep-lying team was going to become even more like that.'They rightly put up the barricades and tried to hit us on the counter... in the end I can't really criticise the team for their desire and commitment.'Parma are level on 36 points with Genoa, who also took a step towards safety with a tumultuous 2-1 win over Sassuolo in the day's early fixture. Both teams were down to 10 men for the second half following a tunnel bust-up.Caleb Ekuban tapped home Genoa's winner with six minutes remaining in front of a typically passionate crowd at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris who watched their team move nine points clear away from the relegation zone in 13th.Genoa midfiedler Mikael Ellertsson and Italy international Domenico Berardi were sent off after a row blew up just after the half-time whistle, with the hosts leading through Ruslan Malinovskyi.
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Play video content Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2:58 PM PT -- Sabrina Carpenter clearly heard the noise regarding the now-viral moment ... 'cause she hopped online to clear the air and issue an
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Justin Baldoni Does Blake Think T-Swift's Baking Will Come Up at Trial??? Published April 11, 2026 12:53 PM PDT Justin Baldoni's team says Blake Lively can't have her cookies and eat them too ... arguing
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'Love on the Spectrum' Abbey and David Confirm Breakup Published April 11, 2026 12:12 PM PDT It's official -- "Love on the Spectrum" stars Abbey Romeo and David Isaacman confirmed they're over after nearly 5
