On 8 April, Israel's military launched the psychopathically titled Operation Eternal Darkness against Lebanon, with predictably macabre results. In the span of a mere 10 minutes, Israel struck more than 100 sites across the country, killing more than 300 people and wounding at least 1,150.
The killing spree took place amid the regional ceasefire that had ostensibly taken hold after five weeks of cataclysmic war unleashed on Iran by the US and Israel.
Of course, Israel is not much one for ceasefires - and especially not when it comes to Lebanon. In just seven months following the so-called ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon in November 2024, Israel not only continued to occupy territory in southern Lebanon but also kept up regular air strikes on the country, killing no fewer than 250 people. And things only went downhill from there.
Israel's campaign of terror in Lebanon takes another psychopathic turn
'All changed with the genocide': Palestinian women and girls face brutal abuse in Israeli jails
Once you picture schoolgirls, university students, mothers, aunts and grandmothers lying on their stomachs in prison pyjamas - their hands tied behind their backs, and soldiers looming over them, beating them if they move even slightly - you cannot forget the image.
When you hear a female prisoner say she has "nothing but her heart", you immediately grasp how prison can dismantle lives.
Palestinian Prisoners’ Day is marked every year on 17 April to spotlight ongoing human rights violations - and today, conditions are worse than ever. Since the launch of the Gaza genocide, starvation, isolation, humiliation, strip searches, torture and overwhelming fear have become constant realities for Palestinian women in Israeli prisons.
More than 700 Palestinian women have been arrested in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza since the genocide began in late 2023, according to rights groups. Enduring night raids on their homes or detention at military checkpoints, most have been subjected to physical and psychological abuse both during and after their arrest.
“Everything is different from the prisons of the 1990s. All changed with the genocide,” Ramallah-based lawyer Sahar Francis, who is also the former director of the prisoners’ rights group Addameer, told a recent webinar entitled Women, Prison Sumoud.
Palestine Football Association president denied entry to Canada for Fifa event: Report
The president of the Palestine Football Association (PFA), as well as two other officials from the organisation, have been denied visas to Canada for the annual Fifa Congress, which is being held in Vancouver on 30 April, The Guardian revealed on Friday.
Canada is one of the hosts of this year's World Cup, alongside the US and Mexico.
The PFA has now urged Fifa - football's governing body - to intervene on its behalf.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has said it would not divulge details on individual cases, but that "applications are considered on a case-by-case basis based on the information presented by the applicant".
Last month, after carrying out an investigation based on a 2024 complaint, Fifa insisted that "the final legal status of the West Bank remains an unresolved and highly complex matter under public international law", and therefore, it would "take no action".
In February, the groups Irish Sport for Palestine, Scottish Sport for Palestine, Just Peace Advocates, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, and Sport Scholars for Justice in Palestine filed a 120-page complaint with the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court against Fifa's president, The New York Times reported.
Kyiv Gunman Shot Dead By Police After Killing Six, Injuring 14
A deadly shooting spree in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district ended with the liquidation of the attacker by police special forces after he killed s people and took several hostages in a local supermarket.
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Saturday, April 18 that the perpetrator was neutralized during a storming operation by elite KORD units.
According to the president, 10 people remain hospitalized with various injuries, and four hostages were successfully rescued during the assault. “The circumstances are being clarified. My condolences to the families and friends of the victims,” Zelensky stated, adding that he has instructed the Interior Ministry and the National Police to provide the public with all verified information.
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko identified the attacker as a 58-year-old native of Moscow who utilized automatic weapons. Before barricading himself in the Velmart supermarket, the gunman opened fire on civilians and reportedly set fire to the apartment where he was registered.
Mamdani and Obama make first joint appearance at Bronx child care center
As the two leaders entered the pre-K classroom, a group of 19 students dressed in blue and plaid school uniforms let out squeals upon seeing Mamdani. Their teachers, who knew the mayor was coming but not his special guest, gasped at the sight of the 44th president of the United States.
“My name’s Barack,” the president said, introducing himself to the children. As the two men took seats in front of the kids, the children started shouting out their own names, and with one boy shouting out, “I know who you are, you are Mamdani.”
During the event, which was first reported by Politico, Mamdani and Obama read to the students and joined them in a rousing rendition of the “Wheels of the Bus.” Before meeting with the children, they discussed Mamdani's affordability-focused vision for the city — including universal child care, according to the mayor.
Obama and Mamdani did not take questions.
This marks their first face-to-face meeting and comes months after Obama called Mamdani just before Election Day in November. The former president praised Mamdani's campaign and offered to be a sounding board if he won the election. During the Bronx event, there was also a clear chemistry between Mamdani and Obama, who interacted with the children and teased each other with ease.
Iran says it has closed the Strait of Hormuz again, as ceasefire nears its end
Iran said Saturday it had reinstated control of the Strait of Hormuz, and was reversing course on its decision to reopen the critical waterway until the United States completely lifts its blockade of Iranian ports.
The announcement came the morning after President Donald Trump had said the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports will remain and attacks could resume if no agreement is reached before the current ceasefire with Iran expires next week.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office Saturday, Trump said Iran had tried to get "cute" in taking back control of the Strait of Hormuz.
"They got a little cute, as they have been doing for 47 years. Nobody ever took them on. We took them on," Trump said.
Asked by a reporter aboard Air Force One the previous evening about what he will do if there's no deal before the ceasefire expires, Trump said: "I don't know. Maybe I won't extend it, but the blockade is going to remain. But maybe I won't extend it, so you'll have a blockade and unfortunately we'll have to start dropping bombs again."
Senate Democrats move to stall Trump’s ‘absurd’ bid to install new Fed chair
Democrats have moved to stall Donald Trump’s effort to exert greater control over the US Federal Reserve, condemning the president’s “absurd” bid to install a new leader of the central bank while it is targeted with criminal investigations.
Democratic lawmakers on the Senate banking committee urged its Republican leadership on Thursday to postpone the planned confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh, the financial executive and former Fed governor Trump has nominated to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair.
In a letter to banking committee chair Senator Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, the 11 Democrats called for a hearing currently scheduled for Tuesday to be delayed until investigations into Powell and Lisa Cook, a current Fed governor, are closed.
Powell – whom the president has frequently and publicly chastised over his refusal to dramatically lower interest rates – is facing a criminal investigation into the renovations of the central bank’s headquarters, which he dismissed as a “pretext” tied to the Fed’s refusal to bow to Trump’s demands.
US military prepares to board Iran-linked vessels
The U.S. military is readying to board ships linked to Iran and seize commercial vessels in international waters in the coming days as President Trump looks to expand a naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, a source familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal military planning, told The Hill on Saturday.
The planning comes as the military is already enforcing the naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman, turning back 23 vessels that attempted to leave Iranian ports on Monday.
The expanded enforcement could come as Iran has effectively closed the strait, a vital shipping pathway responsible for the transport of roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply, leading to increase in energy and gas prices.
Iran has reportedly attacked several vessels in the channel, a day after its foreign minister claimed the waterway was “completely” open for commercial ships following the temporary truce reached between Lebanon and Israel. The move caused oil prices to drop dramatically on Friday.
The Hill has reached out to the U.S. Central Command for comment.
Judge rejects DOJ push for Rhode Island voter information
A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.
Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.
McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.
“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”
More Articles...
- Monstrous category 5 typhoon hits US territories
- Iran opens Strait of Hormuz; Thousands return to southern Lebanon as ceasefire takes hold; House rejects Iran resolution by one vote
- Trump says ‘things going very well’ as Iran rejects uranium transfer
- Ukraine Urges Israel to Arrest ‘Stolen Grain’ Shipment Unloaded in Haifa
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