World

South Padre Island, Texas (AP) — SpaceX’s giant new rocket exploded minutes after blasting off on its first test flight Thursday and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, the Associated Press reports. Elon Musk’s company was aiming to send the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built on a round-the-world trip from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican …

Forty years today, after Hizballah’s bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, which is administered by the Diplomatic Security Service, has announced a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to the identification, location, arrest, and/or conviction of Hizballah key leader Ibrahim Aqil. Ibrahim Aqil, also known …

A member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard was arrested by the FBI on Thursday in connection with the leaking of classified documents that have been posted online, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday. The arrest of Jack Teixeira, 21, comes following a fast-moving search by the US government for the identity of the leaker who posted classified documents to …

Washington (CNN) — The US government investigations into a leak of highly classified Pentagon documents are starting to take shape, with the Pentagon examining how the leak impacts US national security and the Justice Department launching a criminal investigation into who may have been behind the breach. The interagency probe is being coordinated with the Pentagon’s Office of Intelligence and …

United States Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken has appointed Matthew Miller as the next State Department Spokesperson. In a statement he released on Wednesday, Blinken said: “Today, I am appointing Matthew Miller as the next State Department Spokesperson.  I benefitted greatly from Matt’s wisdom, his experience in government, and his deep understanding of foreign policy when he was tapped …

United States of America has condemned what it called the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) unjust detention and sentencing of human rights defenders Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi.  On April 10, PRC courts sentenced Xu Zhiyong to 14 years and Ding Jiaxi to 12 years in prison for supporting the exercise of internationally recognized fundamental freedoms, such as the freedoms …

Louisville, Ky. (AP) — A Louisville bank employee armed with a rifle opened fire at his workplace Monday morning, killing four people — including a close friend of Kentucky’s governor — while livestreaming the attack on Instagram, authorities said. Police arrived as shots were still being fired inside Old National Bank and killed the shooter in an exchange of gunfire, …

BY MIKE OSAROGIAGBON World Medical Association President, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, has called on governments and managers of healthcare systems to urgently resolve the mental health, burn out, and psycho-social challenges confronting physicians and other health professionals in various parts of the world. Dr Enabulele made the call while speaking at two different sessions of the recently concluded 5th Global Forum …

New York Prosecutors say they are working to coordinate the criminally indicted ex-U.S. President Donald Trump’s surrender, which could happen early next week. According to Associated Press, they did not say whether they intended to seek prison time in the event of a conviction, a development that wouldn’t prevent Trump from seeking and assuming the presidency. Donald Trump was on …

Turkey has finally approved Finland’s application to join NATO, putting an end to months of delays while also continuing to block Sweden from joining the military alliance. The CNN reports that the Turkish Parliament voted unanimously in favor of Finland’s membership on Thursday, clearing the last hurdle in the accession process. The vote fulfills Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “promise” …