Category: World

On Sunday, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar spoke at the 8th Indian Ocean Conference in Muscat. He explained how the Indian Ocean is very important for everyone around the world. Jaishankar said that the countries in this ocean should help each other and work together to improve development, connections, and security.

He described the Indian Ocean as a “global lifeline,” meaning it plays a crucial role in trade and travel. He mentioned that while the countries in the Indian Ocean region are different in many ways – like history, geography, and culture – they all care about the future of the ocean.

Jaishankar noted that right now, the world is facing a lot of changes and challenges. In the Middle East and West Asia, there are serious conflicts that could get worse. This situation affects global shipping, which can hurt economies, including those of Indian Ocean countries. At the other end, the Indo-Pacific region is also facing tensions.

He pointed out that many countries in the Indian Ocean are having trouble with their economies, dealing with debts, and trying to meet their Sustainable Development Goals. Some countries may have taken too many loans for projects that are not realistic.

There’s also a need to improve transportation and connections in the region that have been disrupted for many years. Jaishankar emphasized that any plans to work together should be open and involve everyone, rather than one country deciding on its own.

Another issue is managing the Exclusive Economic Zones for fishing and dealing with illegal activities like trafficking and terrorism. All these challenges have a strong impact on the sea.

He said India’s role is important in these challenges, as it is working hard to strengthen its capabilities, forming new partnerships, helping neighbors, and coming forward in difficult times.

Colombo, Sri Lanka, celebrated 50 years of the amazing Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage on Sunday. This special place cares for elephants and is about 90 km from Colombo, in a town called Rambukkana. It opened its doors in 1975, starting with just five baby elephants. Today, it provides a safe home for 69 elephants of different ages.

Chandana Rajapaksa, the director of the Zoological Department, shared that they take care of baby elephants who have lost their families or have been hurt. More than 50 handlers work hard to look after these gentle giants. To celebrate the anniversary, the elephants enjoyed a special feast with lots of fruits. Videos showed officials cutting a giant cake and offering it to the elephants, while visitors were also able to feed them fruits.

“Join us as we celebrate 50 years of love and care for these incredible elephants. It’s been an amazing journey, thanks to our visitors, partners, and elephant lovers worldwide,” said the department in a message. Every day, thousands of visitors come to see the elephants. They enjoy watching the caretakers bottle-feed baby elephants, feed the adults, and guide them to the river for a bath.

Rajapaksa mentioned that the orphanage needs around 5,000 branches of coconut, sugar palm, and jackfruit to feed the elephants. The weaker elephants receive cereals, rice bran, and maize, along with large amounts of pineapples and bananas. The orphanage has seen over 75 baby elephants born there, including twin boys in 2021. The oldest elephant living there is 70 years old!

Toronto: The Canadian government has firmly stated that there is “no way” Russia will be allowed back into the G7, a group made up of seven wealthy countries. Canada is hosting the G7 meeting this year in Kananaskis, Alberta, from June 15 to 17.

During a press conference at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly said there will be no invitation for Russia to return. When asked if this was discussed with other countries, she responded, “No, we didn’t. I am telling you Canada’s position: No way this will happen.”

Russia was kicked out of the G8 group back in 2014 after it took control of Crimea, a part of Ukraine. Recently, US President Donald Trump expressed that he wanted Russia to be part of the group again, saying, “I’d love to have them back. It was a mistake to throw them out.”

Canada first proposed that Russia leave the G8 during Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s time. Responding to Trump’s comments, the current leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, said on social media, “Russia should not be welcomed back into the G7. Their illegal actions in Crimea still stand.”

Canada is facing political changes as well. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced plans to resign once a new party leader is chosen, which should happen by March 9. This means he will not be the Prime Minister during the G7 summit.

India, which was invited to past G7 meetings since 2019, might not be invited this year due to current tensions. These tensions escalated after Trudeau alleged that Indian agents might be linked to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a pro-Khalistan activist in Surrey, British Columbia, three months earlier. New Delhi has denied these claims and reduced its number of Canadian diplomats in India.

As of now, Canada hasn’t announced which countries will be invited to this year’s G7, marking the 50th anniversary of the group.

Elon Musk has finally spoken out after Ashley St. Clair, a conservative influencer, said she gave birth to his child just five months ago. She shared this surprising news on X (formerly Twitter), and Musk responded to a post suggesting that she had been planning this for years.

On Friday, St. Clair, who is 26 years old, announced that she has a five-month-old baby with Musk. Her representative, Brian Glicklich, confirmed this and mentioned that they were trying to agree on how to co-parent without making it public. Glicklich added that it was unfortunate that a reporter made it hard for them to keep things private.

St. Clair wants Musk to acknowledge that he is the baby’s father and to finalize an agreement that is best for the child’s well-being.

Musk reacted to the situation with just one word—“Whoa”—after someone suggested that St. Clair had a plan to trap him. St. Clair replied by saying that Musk should focus on truth, rather than talking about rumors. She mentioned that they have been trying to reach him for days but he hasn’t replied.

St. Clair said she shared the news because she felt pressure from the media to do so. She wants reporters to respect her child’s privacy and not invade their lives.

If St. Clair’s claim is true, this would make Musk a father for the 13th time. Musk has already had multiple children with three other women. His children include five from his first wife Justine, three with musician Grimes, and twins with Shivon Zilis, who works at Neuralink. Musk was seen with his children recently during a meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On February 15, Utah’s Governor Spencer Cox signed a new law that stops teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other public workers from negotiating as groups for better pay and working conditions. This decision came after two weeks of protests at the Utah state capitol where many people wanted the governor to stop the law.

Even though federal law protects workers in private jobs, each state can decide its own rules for public employees. Supporters of the new law believe that labor unions are too political and that letting them negotiate for public workers could create unfair situations for taxpayers.

Many members of Utah’s largest teachers union, the Utah Education Association, which represents 18,000 teachers, silently protested outside Gov. Cox’s office when he signed the bill. The union said that the governor and lawmakers did not listen to people’s concerns.

Opposition groups plan to fight back, possibly with a measure to overturn the law. Critics argue that this law is anti-labor and say it makes Utah the worst state for workers. Jack Tidrow, the president of the Professional Firefighters of Utah, expressed his disappointment, saying, “Looks like Utah will become the most anti-labor state in America. Pathetic.”

Republican Rep. Jordan Teuscher, who sponsored the bill, explained that it promotes democratic principles. He added that the law does not get rid of unions. “Teachers and other public workers can still organize and get support from their unions,” he stated.

Teuscher introduced the bill on January 18, and it quickly passed both the house and the senate. Because Republicans hold a majority in the Utah legislature, they were able to push the bill through easily. The law will take effect on July 1.

MONTREAL — Fans in Montreal loudly booed the U.S. national anthem before the game between the USA and Canada on Saturday night. This is the second time fans reacted this way during the international tournament.

Public address announcer Michel Lacroix asked everyone to respect the national anthems, but many still booed throughout the U.S. anthem. U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck, after winning against Finland earlier, said he ignored the booing. “You can say what you want. We sing our anthem for the troops that protect us,” he explained.

U.S. coach Mike Sullivan focused on the game, saying they just want to play well and represent their country.

In Canada, fans have often booed the U.S. anthem since President Donald Trump talked about tariffs, which upset many Canadians. Veteran Canadian player Drew Doughty disagreed with the booing, saying everyone should respect each other’s anthems.

Elon Musk’s father, Errol Musk, recently spoke about his son’s parenting and had some harsh things to say. He called Elon a bad dad who is often absent from his kids’ lives. Errol said that Elon’s first baby, Nevada, sadly died when he was just 10 weeks old because of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and that Elon relied too much on nannies to take care of his children.

“When Elon had five more kids, each of them also had their own nanny,” Errol explained. He felt that because of this, Elon didn’t spend enough time with his kids. He also pointed out that Elon’s kids and his brother Kimbal’s kids needed help crossing the street even when they were older, saying, “We have to hold their hands across the road even when they’re 14.”

Errol mentioned that this strange way of raising kids might be connected to the reasons why one of Elon’s daughters, Vivian, and one of Kimbal’s children are transgender. “Elon’s got to deal with it. It’s a bit worrying,” Errol added.

Vivian, now 20, has spoken out against Elon and distanced herself from him. She was raised by Elon’s first wife, Justine Musk, who has five other kids with him.

Elon does bring his kids into the spotlight sometimes. Recently, he took his son, X, to a press conference at the Oval Office with former President Donald Trump and also brought three of his children to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His ex-partner, Grimes, has shown concern over X being in the public eye, saying, “He should not be in public like this.” Elon has a total of 12 children with different partners.

Three men who were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz will soon be let go. This kibbutz was attacked on October 7, where about 80 out of 400 residents were captured.

Iair Horn, 46, is a dual citizen of Israel and Argentina. He was taken along with his brother, Eitan Horn, who is still in captivity. Sagui Dekel Chen, 36, has both American and Israeli citizenship. He was working outside when the attack happened, and his wife had to hide in a safe room with their two daughters. She later gave birth to their third daughter two months later.

The third hostage is Alexander “Sasha” Troufanov, 29. He has Israeli and Russian citizenship and was captured with his grandmother, mother, and girlfriend. The three women were released during a short ceasefire in November 2023. Unfortunately, Sasha’s father was killed during the attack.

Among the more than 300 Palestinian prisoners set to be released is Ahmed Barghouti, 48. He was a close helper of Marwan Barghouti, a well-known Palestinian leader. Israel sentenced Ahmed to life in prison for sending suicide bombers to attack Israeli civilians during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s. He was arrested with Marwan Barghouti in 2002

President Donald Trump is taking big steps to change how countries tax and regulate trade, which could shake up the world economy. On Thursday, he instructed his top economic team to think about new US tariffs (taxes on imported goods) based on how much other countries’ tariffs and rules hurt US exports. These new “reciprocal” tariffs will be different for each country and will target those with whom the US has the biggest trade deficits.

Trump said, “The numbers are going to be very fair but staggering. They’re going to be large.” This new plan replaces his earlier idea of a single tariff for all countries, putting the European Union, China, India, Mexico, and Vietnam on notice.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen criticized Trump’s plan as harmful to Americans because it raises costs and could slow down economic growth. Other countries were quick to react; Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced they would begin trade talks with the US, while Japan and Taiwan expressed interest in strengthening ties with America.

If Trump’s new rules are put in place, it will change how the US has handled tariffs for nearly a century and could upset established international trading rules. Until now, countries typically helped each other by keeping tariffs low; Trump’s plan flips this idea by seeking high tariffs against certain countries.

Trump’s advisors believe this change is necessary. For example, they argue that value-added taxes (VAT)—a tax many countries use—give foreign companies an unfair advantage. Over 160 countries use these taxes, while the US taxes income instead. Trump claimed, “A VAT tax is a tariff,” but many economists disagree, saying VAT applies equally to domestic and foreign products.

Economic experts worry that adding VAT to existing tariffs could increase US tariffs significantly, possibly leading to US inflation rising to around 4%. Some countries affected most would be India, Brazil, and those in the EU.

Trump’s focus on VAT reignites an old trade conflict with Europe about how these taxes are handled. The US and EU have argued about VAT rules since the 1960s. Experts like Erica York from the Tax Foundation explain that VAT does not discriminate against foreign goods.

The new approach could lead to complications and backlash against the US, with former trade officials warning that trying to dictate other countries’ tax rules could create resentment. Jennifer Hillman noted, “We’re just going to make America hated again,” emphasizing how other nations might react to US interference.

In summary, Trump’s changes could lead to higher prices for Americans and complicated trade relationships.