Category: World

On April 18, 2025, President Michael D. Higgins turned 84—a milestone that marks not only the passage of time but the enduring legacy of one of Ireland’s most beloved and distinctive leaders. A poet, academic, and social justice advocate, Higgins has been President of Ireland since 2011, shaping the Nation and redefining the role into […]

A Tunisian court has sentenced several opposition leaders, businessmen, and lawyers to prison terms ranging from 13 to 66 years on charges of conspiring to destabilize the country. The harshest sentence, 66 years, was handed to businessman Kamel Ltaif, while opposition politician Khyam Turki received 48 years. Other prominent figures, including Ghazi Chaouachi, Issam Chebbi, […]

A Florida executive pleaded guilty today for his role in a scheme to submit fraudulent applications to enroll consumers in Affordable Care Act insurance plans (ACA plans) that were fully subsidized by the government. The purpose of the scheme was to obtain millions of dollars in commission payments from the insurance company that operated the […]

Romania has emerged as the European Union’s most challenging environment for young job seekers, with the highest youth unemployment rate in the bloc—26.3% as of December 2024, according to Eurostat data analyzed by the Social Monitor, a project of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Romania. The figure places Romania ahead of countries traditionally known for high […]

The United States is taking decisive steps to impose visa restrictions on more than 250 regime officials of the Nicaraguan dictatorship.  With this new set of restrictions, the U.S. government has now taken steps to impose visa restrictions on over 2,000 officials in Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo’s regime, which has deprived the Nicaraguan people […]

The earthquakes – which hit central Myanmar on 28 March – killed at least 3,700 people, injured 4,800 more and left 129 still missing. However, humanitarians warn the true toll is likely much higher due to underreporting and continued challenges in data collection and verification. More than 140 aftershocks – some as high as magnitude […]

On May 24, 2015, Pope Francis signed his encyclical Laudato Si’ – “Praise be to you” in medieval Italian. This letter to Roman Catholic bishops was no half measure: it took many Catholics by surprise with its uncompromising conclusions and call for an in-depth transformation of our lifestyles. In France, it managed to bring together both […]

April 2025 – Tokyo, Japan — Japan has reported a substantial annual trade surplus of $63 billion with the United States, reinforcing its strong export position just as it enters delicate negotiations with the Trump administration over proposed tariffs. According to official trade figures released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance, exports to the U.S. rose […]

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has reported collecting over $500 million in tariff revenues since April 5, 2025, under President Trump’s latest trade measures. This figure significantly contrasts with President Trump’s assertion that the U.S. is generating $2 billion per day from tariffs. Key Points: The discrepancy between reported and claimed tariff revenues raises […]

The finding comes in its latest brief on violence against civilians, which also reveals a similar rise in incidents of conflict-related sexual violence (CSRV). Sources include victims and eyewitness accounts, as well as reports from secondary sources identified during field missions, service providers and protection partners.  Killings, abductions and other horrors Last year, UNMISS documented 1,019 […]