In the latest, Finland has become the newest member of the North Atlantic Treaty organisation (NATO).&nbsp;In a tragic incident, at least seven tourists died while 20 tourists were injured, when they were hit by an avalanche in India's Sikkim on Tuesday afternoon. In other news, Florida has allowed concealed&nbsp;guns without permit in public.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/finland-signs-accession-documents-becomes-31st-nato-member-579043">Finland signs accession documents, becomes 31st NATO member</a>

<img alt="pic" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0d4cf0de-4ca6-41f3-902c-0e95f31fdcc0" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/343161-untitled-design-2023-04-04t182928846.jpg" />

Finland is now the 31st member of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO. Finland's Foreign Minister signed the accession document and gave it to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, following which the country's flag will soon be raised at the NATO headquarters.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/avalanche-in-sikkim-six-tourists-including-one-child-dead-several-feared-trapped-578997">Avalanche in Sikkim: Seven tourists including one child dead, several feared trapped</a>

<img alt="pic" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e72f99af-1ba3-4172-a69f-ef79c1cfaad9" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Fs3NR82agAEQNGy.jpg" />

Tsongmo, a well-known tourist spot in Sikkim, close to Nathula Pass&nbsp;has been hit by a major avalanche on Tuesday. According to&nbsp;PTI, seven&nbsp;people, including a child have&nbsp;died as a result of the natural disaster.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-indictment-live-da-alvin-bragg-arrives-at-manhattan-court-for-arraignment-proceedings-579050">Donald Trump indictment LIVE | Arraignment proceedings to begin soon</a>

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Things are heating up in New York. Former US president Donald Trump&nbsp;arrived in New York on Monday (April 3rd)&nbsp;for an arraignment hearing in the hush money case involving porn star Stormy Daniels. The businessman will be surrendering today&nbsp;(Tuesday,&nbsp;April 4th).&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/amidst-increasing-mass-shootings-florida-allows-concealed-guns-without-permit-in-public-579113">Amidst increasing mass shootings, Florida allows concealed guns without permit in public</a>

<img alt="pic" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="f9b32339-b996-4723-8e27-66757347c7b0" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/343203-new-wion-20.jpg" />

Even as the United States reels under the burden of copious amounts of mass shootings and deaths due to firearms, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill, allowing residents to carry concealed guns without a permit. The bill as per ABC News gives the Republican a legislative victory as he prepares to run for US president next year. The governor reportedly signed the bill in a private ceremony in his ceremony.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/credit-suisse-chairman-apologises-for-banks-demise-in-last-shareholders-meeting-579096">Credit Suisse chairman apologises for bank's demise in last shareholders' meeting</a>

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Chairman of Credit Suisse apologised to shareholders in their final meeting on Tuesday (April 4). Axel Lehmann, the chairman faced shareholder anger over demise of the bank that was among symbols of Switzerland.

The hastily arranged takeover by Zurich-based UBS, for which Switzerland invoked emergency legislation, bypassed Credit Suisse shareholders, who would otherwise have had a say, and all but wiped them out.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/new-zealands-jacinda-ardern-to-tackle-online-extremism-as-special-envoy-for-christchurch-call-579047">New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern to tackle online extremism as special envoy for Christchurch Call</a>

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Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand, will assume a new position where she will work with other governments and social media companies to combat extremist and terrorist content online.&nbsp;

Ardern was named special envoy for the Christchurch Call, a newly created position, by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on Tuesday night, reported the Guardian.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/british-telecoms-firm-virgin-media-suffers-major-outages-across-uk-cause-still-unclear-578958">British telecoms firm Virgin Media suffers major outages across UK, cause still unclear</a>

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Virgin Media, a British telecom company, announced on Tuesday that there was an issue affecting its broadband services after hundreds of users reported widespread internet connectivity disruptions and the company's website seemed to be down.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/global-pharma-fda-claims-indian-company-linked-to-eye-drop-deaths-violated-us-safety-standards-579082">Global Pharma: FDA claims Indian company linked to eye drop deaths violated US safety standards</a>

<img alt="pic" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="3ad1d6df-e099-4949-8a22-3ba0743de746" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/343182-the-battle-for-kyiv-10.jpg" />

The United State's top regulator has alleged that the Indian manufacturer of eye drops connected to three deaths and serious infections in the country&nbsp;violated a number of safety standards.&nbsp;

After visiting the Global Pharma plant in Chennai, India, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a report last week. as reported by the BBC.&nbsp;After an FDA suggestion, the company recalled the drops in February.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/richard-bransons-virgin-orbit-files-for-bankruptcy-578950">Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit files for bankruptcy</a>

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Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US on Tuesday. The satellite launch company failed to secure new investment after a rocket launch failed in January. The California-based company had stopped operations weeks ago and lodged the filing in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. It is trying to secure a buyer for its assets.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ipl-2023-rishabh-pant-gets-grandstand-welcome-in-dcs-first-home-game-fans-unveil-special-banner-579119">IPL 2023: Rishabh Pant gets grandstand welcome in DC's first home game; fans unveil special banner</a>

<img alt="pic " data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="115996c5-7e6d-4a0c-96ec-70cbc90a3b17" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/343206-untitled-design-7.jpg" />

Delhi Capitals’ injured skipper Rishabh Pant was given a grandstand welcome by the fans as he made his way to the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi for his team’s first home clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Pant, injured in a near-fatal crash in December, has been ruled out of the season while David Warner takes charge of the side. Fans were also seen unveiling a special banner that saw Pant’s remembered fondly by the fans in Delhi.

In the latest, Finland has become the newest member of the North Atlantic Treaty organisation (NATO). In a tragic incident, at least seven tourists died while 20 tourists were injured, when they were hit by an avalanche in India's Sikkim on Tuesday afternoon.

In the latest, Finland has become the newest member of the North Atlantic Treaty organisation (NATO). In a tragic incident, at least seven tourists died while 20 tourists were injured, when they were hit by an avalanche in India's Sikkim on Tuesday afternoon. In other news, Florida has allowed concealed guns without permit in public. Finland signs accession documents, becomes 31st NATO member Finland is now the 31st member of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO. Finland's Foreign Minister signed the accession document and gave it to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, following which the country's flag will soon be raised at the NATO headquarters. Avalanche in Sikkim: Seven tourists including one child dead, several feared trapped Tsongmo, a well-known tourist spot in Sikkim, close to Nathula Pass has been hit by a major avalanche on Tuesday. According to PTI, seven people, including a child have died as a result of the natural disaster. Donald Trump indictment LIVE | Arraignment proceedings to begin soon Things are heating up in New York. Former US president Donald Trump arrived in New York on Monday (April 3rd) for an arraignment hearing in the hush money case involving porn star Stormy Daniels. The businessman will be surrendering today (Tuesday, April 4th). Amidst increasing mass shootings, Florida allows concealed guns without permit in public Even as the United States reels under the burden of copious amounts of mass shootings and deaths due to firearms, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill, allowing residents to carry concealed guns without a permit. The bill as per ABC News gives the Republican a legislative victory as he prepares to run for US president next year. The governor reportedly signed the bill in a private ceremony in his ceremony. Credit Suisse chairman apologises for bank's demise in last shareholders' meeting Chairman of Credit Suisse apologised to shareholders in their final meeting on Tuesday (April 4). Axel Lehmann, the chairman faced shareholder anger over demise of the bank that was among symbols of Switzerland. The hastily arranged takeover by Zurich-based UBS, for which Switzerland invoked emergency legislation, bypassed Credit Suisse shareholders, who would otherwise have had a say, and all but wiped them out. New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern to tackle online extremism as special envoy for Christchurch Call Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand, will assume a new position where she will work with other governments and social media companies to combat extremist and terrorist content online. Ardern was named special envoy for the Christchurch Call, a newly created position, by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on Tuesday night, reported the Guardian. British telecoms firm Virgin Media suffers major outages across UK, cause still unclear Virgin Media, a British telecom company, announced on Tuesday that there was an issue affecting its broadband services after hundreds of users reported widespread internet connectivity disruptions and the company's website seemed to be down. Global Pharma: FDA claims Indian company linked to eye drop deaths violated US safety standards The United State's top regulator has alleged that the Indian manufacturer of eye drops connected to three deaths and serious infections in the country violated a number of safety standards. After visiting the Global Pharma plant in Chennai, India, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a report last week. as reported by the BBC. After an FDA suggestion, the company recalled the drops in February. Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit files for bankruptcy Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US on Tuesday. The satellite launch company failed to secure new investment after a rocket launch failed in January. The California-based company had stopped operations weeks ago and lodged the filing in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. It is trying to secure a buyer for its assets. IPL 2023: Rishabh Pant gets grandstand welcome in DC's first home game; fans unveil special banner Delhi Capitals’ injured skipper Rishabh Pant was given a grandstand welcome by the fans as he made his way to the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi for his team’s first home clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Pant, injured in a near-fatal crash in December, has been ruled out of the season while David Warner takes charge of the side. Fans were also seen unveiling a special banner that saw Pant’s remembered fondly by the fans in Delhi.

Top 10 world news: Finland becomes newest NATO member, Sikkim hit by major avalanche, and more

Nepal’s ten-party ruling alliance failed to name new members to the Cabinet on Thursday as disagreement continued among its leaders about the distribution of portfolios. Earlier, the parties had agreed on a formula to share the departments, with the Nepali Congress emerging with the largest chunk of eight ministries.

Nepal: Ruling coalition delays cabinet expansion as speculation continues about PM's India visit

The ruling coalition of Nepal has decided on the number of Ministries after holding a second round of meetings in response to demands from all parties for a large number of seats in the cabinet. Nine political parties will make up the new Council of Ministers. The Nepali government will soon announce the expansion of the cabinet.

Nepal: Nine political parties part of new cabinet expansion

262 members of the house of representatives voted on the motion, out of which 172 voted in favour of PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal . PM Dahal secured the vote of confidence with 36 more votes than the threshold of 136 needed. 89 parliamentarians voted against the pm in floor test while one member abstained.. Ten remained absent from the proceedings..

Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal wins parliamentary confidence vote

Pat Schroeder, a Democratic presidential candidate, a Colorado congresswoman and a long-term Central Florida citizen, passed away on Monday, March 13, 82. According to former Orange County Mayor Linda Chapin, Schroder suffered a stroke in the Osceola County community of Celebration.

Pat Schroeder, a Democratic presidential candidate, a Colorado congresswoman and a long-term Central Florida citizen, passed away on Monday, March 13, 82. According to former Orange County Mayor Linda Chapin, Schroder suffered a stroke in the Osceola County community of Celebration. Later, she was in hospice care at her home. Susannah Randolph, a Democratic operative and congressional candidate, called Patricia Schroeder a 'beacon.' She said, "When I was growing up in the '80s, she was my bedtime story. She was the woman I grew up understanding was the one fighting for all of us." Pat Schroeder represented the Denver area in Congress for 24 years. She moved to Celebration in 2008 and retired from her post-political job as president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers. Pat Schroeder was a prime member of the Central Florida political community. She took younger Democrats under her wing and advised local officials. Here's a deeper look into the life of Patricia Schroeder. Pat Schroeder: Books Pat Schroeder has written two books and multiple written materials in her lifetime. She wrote '24 Years of House Work and the Place Is Still a Mess.' She described her career, life, and details about her victory in the 1972 elections. Pat Schroeder combined her family and politics and narrated her challenge of 'infiltrating the guy gulag of Congress.' Pat Schroeder has also co-authored the book 'Champion of the Great American Family.' She again got candid with the readers about her family needs and other issues, like childcare, birth control, abortion, parental leave, health care, and housing. Apart from the two books, Pat Schroeder also contributed a piece to the 2003 anthology Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women's Anthology for a New Millennium, edited by Robin Morgan. She wrote 'Running for Our Lives: Electoral Politics.' Pat Schroeder: Early Years Patricia Nell Scott, later known as Pat Schroeder, was born in Portland, Oregon, on July 30, 1940. She earned her pilot's license when she was fifteen. Pat Schroeder graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School in 1958. Later, she majored in history at the University of Minnesota. Pat Schroeder: Children Pat married Jim Schroeder, a Harvard Law School classmate, in 1962 and moved to Denver, Colorado, with him to join a law firm. They had two children, Scott William (1966) and Jamie Christine (1970). Both her children pursued non-political careers. Pat Schroeder worked for the National Labor Relations Board from 1964 to 1966. Pat Schroeder: Political Career Pat Schroeder was the first woman politician from Colorado, serving in the US House of Representatives. She was known for her outspoken liberal positions on social welfare, women's rights, and military spending. Pat took her seat in the House of Representatives in 1973 and served 12 terms. Pat Schroeder: Cause of Death Pat Schroeder died at 82 after she suffered a stroke in the Osceola County community of Celebration.

Congresswoman Pat Schroeder dies at 82: Know her cause of death, early life, books, children, political career

Former President Jacob Zuma's son, Duduzane Zuma speaks to WION and shares his plans for president's position.

Politics should be inclusive not just old man's game: Zuma

In the latest, US president Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv, ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war. North Korea has once again fired two&nbsp;ballistic missile in continuation with its string of missile&nbsp;launches. Adding to the existing tensions,&nbsp;Kim Jong Un's sister has warned the US forces to halt military drills, saying the reclusive nuclear state could turn the Pacific into a "firing range." On the Turkey-Syria earthquake front, a group of volunteers have planted red coloured balloons all over the quake debris in remembrance of the kids who lost their lives in the calamity.

Click on the headlines to read more.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-president-joe-biden-arrives-in-kyiv-on-surprise-visit-563870">US President Joe Biden lands in Kyiv on surprise visit, announces more arms supplies for Ukraine</a>

<img alt="pic" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="882089cf-d9f4-48ae-8e11-03a3bbd1df2e" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%20%2818%29_5.png" />

Ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia's war in Ukraine, US President Joe Biden has landed in Kyiv on a surprise visit. This is his first visit to Ukraine since Russia invaded the European country on 24 February last year.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/cyclone-freddy-mauritius-cancels-flights-madagascar-braces-for-heavy-rains-floods-564006">Cyclone Freddy: Mauritius cancels flights, Madagascar braces for heavy rains, floods</a>

<img alt="pic" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="18dee9ea-f0d3-412d-8623-f4ec54f6f099" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%20%2831%29_1.png" />

&nbsp;

Both Mauritius and Madagascar are taking cautionary measures as an approaching Cyclone Freddy is expected to bring heavy rains, floods and landslides to the island nations.&nbsp;While Mauritius has cancelled flights and has shut down its stock exchange, the emergency response teams in four vulnerable regions in Madagascar are in alert mode.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/turkey-syria-earthquake-symbolic-red-balloons-planted-over-quake-debris-563890">Turkey-Syria earthquake: Symbolic red balloons planted over quake debris</a>

<img alt="pic" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="96dee420-e72e-4f83-9da2-be302caf2ee5" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/file7ouc61l3m1g1e2d4fhqa-1-1189114-1675852923.jpg" />

The massive earthquake that hit Turkey-Syria on February 6 has left behind a trail of devastation. The images and videos of the tragedy have&nbsp;been circulating on social media. While multiple rescue stories have made headlines, a sizable number of people have also lost their lives under the debris.

In the latest, a group of volunteers, in an effort to allay the pain of the tragedy have fixed red coloured balloons all over the earthquake debris in Turkey.&nbsp;The gesture is symbolic to the kids who lost their lives in the catastrophe. A video shared by the BBC showed multiple red balloons been planted around the rubble.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/australia-man-uses-fake-names-to-donate-sperm-in-exchange-of-gifts-holidays-563975">Australian man uses fake names to donate sperm in exchange for gifts, holidays; fathers 60 children</a>

<img alt="pic" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c06075b9-cf91-47bf-86a5-5b94559211f6" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%20%2823%29_0.png" />

Science has progressed leaps and bounds; for couples and even singles who are looking to have children, there are a variety of methods available. One of these is sperm banks. These banks serve as a boon for many who are unable to have children by "natural means". The best thing about these so-called "sperm banks" is that prospective parents can choose from legitimate, verified donors with ease. But what if the donor lied?

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/only-russian-president-putin-can-end-this-war-but-polands-foreign-ministry-spokesperson-563764">Exclusive: Only Putin can end Ukraine war, Poland foreign ministry spokesperson&nbsp;tells&nbsp;WION</a>

<img alt="pic" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="760d7d8f-14a1-4b93-a935-231ec3481364" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%20%2824%29_0.png" />

Poland’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lukasz Jasina said that only Russian President Vladimir Putin can end the war against Ukraine, but quickly added that the hopes of achieving peace in the near term was&nbsp;impossible.

Speaking to WION, Jasina expressed hope that Russia will withdraw&nbsp;its troops and come back to the discussion table for achieving lasting peace.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/undercover-investigation-reveals-women-sexual-abuse-on-british-owned-kenyan-tea-farms-563955">Undercover investigation reveals women's sexual abuse on British-owned Kenyan tea farms</a>

<img alt="pic" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="01a4aec4-dcfb-4e4d-8420-c82dc0d9ac10" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%20%2825%29_2.png" />

An investigation by a UK media outlet has uncovered horrifying stories of dozens of women who are being subjected to sexual abuse at British-owned tea farms in Kenya.&nbsp;This was unearthed during an undercover investigation by BBC News Africa with the help of secret filming.

During the investigation, the&nbsp;local supervisors on tea plantations owned by Unilever and James Finlay &amp; Co pressurised an undercover reporter for sex. Over 70 women on these Kenyan tea farms told the media outlet that they had been sexually abused by their supervisors.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/stolen-cambodian-crown-jewellery-resurfaces-in-london-563982">Cambodian crown jewellery stolen by Douglas Latchford resurfaces in London</a>

<img alt="pic" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="6e85e611-27ba-4980-920e-6c37472dcde1" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%20%2821%29_0.png" />

A vast cache of Cambodia's Angkorian crown jewellery from the 7th Century, reappeared in London last summer, as reported by the BBC. The stolen artefacts belonged to British antiquities smuggler Douglas Latchford. Experts revealed that they were stunned to know of the jewellery’s existence.&nbsp;The collection has been discreetly returned to Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, and will be put on display in the country's national museum.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/ind-w-vs-ire-w-t20-wc-harmanpreet-kaur-achieves-huge-feat-becomes-first-player-to-play-150-t20is-563997">IND-W vs IRE-W, T20 WC: Harmanpreet Kaur achieves huge feat, becomes first player to feature in 150 T20Is</a>

<img alt="pic" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b8f6a754-f39f-4e68-b8cf-5d8394ebc290" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%20%2826%29_1.png" />

On Monday (February 20), Harmanpreet Kaur achieved a huge feat when India locked horns with Ireland in their last group stage match of the Women's T20 World Cup 2023 in South Africa. When skipper Harman came out for the coin toss, she became the first male or female player to&nbsp;play 150 T20I matches. The swashbuckling right-hander had surpassed Rohit Sharma (148), the senior Indian men's captain, in the overall list of most T20I matches played by a player during India's previous encounter, versus England, before moving past him to create history.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/australian-professor-taken-hostage-in-papua-new-guineas-highlands-says-pm-marape-563820">Australian professor taken hostage in Papua New Guinea's highlands, says PM Marape</a>

<img alt="pic" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c268ec83-77c2-4dbb-ab71-9032b4c921ef" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%20%2827%29_0.png" />

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape on Monday confirmed that some people have taken an Australian university professor as a hostage in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.&nbsp;

The Australian professor is an archaeologist who was working at an Australian university and had gone on a field trip along with many Papua New Guinean students from a local university who were also kept hostage, according to Reuters.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chinas-toxic-work-culture-a-hurdle-in-countrys-plans-to-lure-talent-563855">China's 'toxic work culture' a hurdle in country's plans to lure talent</a>

<img alt="pic" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b8d9472a-8f87-4c1f-9bed-45135489d965" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%20%2828%29_2.png" />

As China re-opens its doors to the world after a three-year hiatus, it is also looking to lure back talent not just from within country, but also its citizens residing in other countries. However, Chinese companies are facing a mounting problem, that of toxic work culture. This is why several Chinese workers are choosing to look for work outside the country, than dedicate long hours to companies in their home country.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

In the latest, US president Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv, ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war. North Korea has once again fired two ballistic missile in continuation with its string of missile launches.

In the latest, US president Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv, ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war. North Korea has once again fired two ballistic missile in continuation with its string of missile launches. Adding to the existing tensions, Kim Jong Un's sister has warned the US forces to halt military drills, saying the reclusive nuclear state could turn the Pacific into a "firing range." On the Turkey-Syria earthquake front, a group of volunteers have planted red coloured balloons all over the quake debris in remembrance of the kids who lost their lives in the calamity. Click on the headlines to read more. US President Joe Biden lands in Kyiv on surprise visit, announces more arms supplies for Ukraine Ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia's war in Ukraine, US President Joe Biden has landed in Kyiv on a surprise visit. This is his first visit to Ukraine since Russia invaded the European country on 24 February last year. Cyclone Freddy: Mauritius cancels flights, Madagascar braces for heavy rains, floods Both Mauritius and Madagascar are taking cautionary measures as an approaching Cyclone Freddy is expected to bring heavy rains, floods and landslides to the island nations. While Mauritius has cancelled flights and has shut down its stock exchange, the emergency response teams in four vulnerable regions in Madagascar are in alert mode. Turkey-Syria earthquake: Symbolic red balloons planted over quake debris The massive earthquake that hit Turkey-Syria on February 6 has left behind a trail of devastation. The images and videos of the tragedy have been circulating on social media. While multiple rescue stories have made headlines, a sizable number of people have also lost their lives under the debris. In the latest, a group of volunteers, in an effort to allay the pain of the tragedy have fixed red coloured balloons all over the earthquake debris in Turkey. The gesture is symbolic to the kids who lost their lives in the catastrophe. A video shared by the BBC showed multiple red balloons been planted around the rubble. Australian man uses fake names to donate sperm in exchange for gifts, holidays; fathers 60 children Science has progressed leaps and bounds; for couples and even singles who are looking to have children, there are a variety of methods available. One of these is sperm banks. These banks serve as a boon for many who are unable to have children by "natural means". The best thing about these so-called "sperm banks" is that prospective parents can choose from legitimate, verified donors with ease. But what if the donor lied? Exclusive: Only Putin can end Ukraine war, Poland foreign ministry spokesperson tells WION Poland’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lukasz Jasina said that only Russian President Vladimir Putin can end the war against Ukraine, but quickly added that the hopes of achieving peace in the near term was impossible. Speaking to WION, Jasina expressed hope that Russia will withdraw its troops and come back to the discussion table for achieving lasting peace. Undercover investigation reveals women's sexual abuse on British-owned Kenyan tea farms An investigation by a UK media outlet has uncovered horrifying stories of dozens of women who are being subjected to sexual abuse at British-owned tea farms in Kenya. This was unearthed during an undercover investigation by BBC News Africa with the help of secret filming. During the investigation, the local supervisors on tea plantations owned by Unilever and James Finlay & Co pressurised an undercover reporter for sex. Over 70 women on these Kenyan tea farms told the media outlet that they had been sexually abused by their supervisors. Cambodian crown jewellery stolen by Douglas Latchford resurfaces in London A vast cache of Cambodia's Angkorian crown jewellery from the 7th Century, reappeared in London last summer, as reported by the BBC. The stolen artefacts belonged to British antiquities smuggler Douglas Latchford. Experts revealed that they were stunned to know of the jewellery’s existence. The collection has been discreetly returned to Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, and will be put on display in the country's national museum. IND-W vs IRE-W, T20 WC: Harmanpreet Kaur achieves huge feat, becomes first player to feature in 150 T20Is On Monday (February 20), Harmanpreet Kaur achieved a huge feat when India locked horns with Ireland in their last group stage match of the Women's T20 World Cup 2023 in South Africa. When skipper Harman came out for the coin toss, she became the first male or female player to play 150 T20I matches. The swashbuckling right-hander had surpassed Rohit Sharma (148), the senior Indian men's captain, in the overall list of most T20I matches played by a player during India's previous encounter, versus England, before moving past him to create history. Australian professor taken hostage in Papua New Guinea's highlands, says PM Marape Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape on Monday confirmed that some people have taken an Australian university professor as a hostage in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. The Australian professor is an archaeologist who was working at an Australian university and had gone on a field trip along with many Papua New Guinean students from a local university who were also kept hostage, according to Reuters. China's 'toxic work culture' a hurdle in country's plans to lure talent As China re-opens its doors to the world after a three-year hiatus, it is also looking to lure back talent not just from within country, but also its citizens residing in other countries. However, Chinese companies are facing a mounting problem, that of toxic work culture. This is why several Chinese workers are choosing to look for work outside the country, than dedicate long hours to companies in their home country.

Top 10 world news: Biden visits Ukraine unannounced, Cyclone Freddy updates, and more

Nepal's Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has decided to withdraw from the newly-formed government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' with ministers resigning en-masse as the rift widened in the ruling coalition.

Nepal: RSP withdraws from ruling alliance in Nepal

The ruling alliance led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is on the verge of collapse amid growing inter-party differences among its constituent parties over the new president and leadership of the home ministry which was allocated to the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) led by Rabi Lamichhane.

Ruling alliance on the verge of collapse over new president in Nepal, home ministry row : Report

At least seven people died, and several were injured after a stampede occurred during former chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu's roadshow in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday evening.&nbsp;Hundreds of party workers and supporters had gathered at the site to attend Naidu's public meeting.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/2022-year-that-stampedes-shocked-the-world-547473">Also read |&nbsp;2022: Year that stampedes shocked the world</a>

The Nellore Police said that as Naidu arrived at the gathering point, there was pushing and shoving among the gathering,&nbsp;leading some people to jump into the nearby drainage canal to escape the stampede, but as more people jumped, seven died, the Indian Express reported.&nbsp;

After this, Naidu immediately cancelled his local public meeting and visited the hospital to express his condolences.&nbsp;

According to the Twitter post by the TDP, Naidu has announced financial assistance of Rs 10 lakhs ($12,084) to the families of the deceased. Also, his party will be providing education for&nbsp;the children of the victims in NTR Trust&nbsp;institutions.&nbsp;

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అమాయకులు చనిపోవడం బాధ కలిగిస్తోంది.. మృతుల కుటుంబాలకు 10 లక్షల చొప్పున ఆర్థిక సాయం.బాధితుల పిల్లలను ఎన్టీఆర్ ట్రస్టు విద్యా సంస్థల్లో చదివిస్తాం - <a href="https://twitter.com/ncbn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ncbn</a> . <a href="https://t.co/3AWDiisgPT">pic.twitter.com/3AWDiisgPT</a>
— iTDP Official (@iTDP_Official) <a href="https://twitter.com/iTDP_Official/status/1608128596924854272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The 72-year-old former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu held this local gathering as a part of his "Idemi Kharma Mana Rashtranki" programme for his campaigns for the upcoming Assembly elections in 2024.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/who-is-heeraben-modi-pm-narendra-modis-mother-admitted-to-hospital-know-about-her-condition-other-details-547302">Also read |&nbsp;Who is Heeraben Modi? PM Narendra Modi's mother admitted to hospital, know about her condition &amp; other details</a>

Similar instances of stampedes have occurred in India quite a few times this year claiming the lives of many, and injuring hundreds.

One of the collapses occurred in the Morbi district of Gujarat when a newly renovated cable bridge had collapsed, killing nearly 133. The collapse had happened due to overcrowding. Officials in the instance were able to rescue 177.&nbsp;

Gujarat's&nbsp;Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had expressed condolences to the families and announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakhs ($4900) for the families of the deceased and Rs 49,000 ($600) for the injured.

(With inputs from agencies)

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At least seven people died, and several were injured after a stampede occurred during former chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu's roadshow in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday evening.

At least seven people died, and several were injured after a stampede occurred during former chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu's roadshow in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday evening. Hundreds of party workers and supporters had gathered at the site to attend Naidu's public meeting. Also read | 2022: Year that stampedes shocked the world The Nellore Police said that as Naidu arrived at the gathering point, there was pushing and shoving among the gathering, leading some people to jump into the nearby drainage canal to escape the stampede, but as more people jumped, seven died, the Indian Express reported. After this, Naidu immediately cancelled his local public meeting and visited the hospital to express his condolences. According to the Twitter post by the TDP, Naidu has announced financial assistance of Rs 10 lakhs ($12,084) to the families of the deceased. Also, his party will be providing education for the children of the victims in NTR Trust institutions. అమాయకులు చనిపోవడం బాధ కలిగిస్తోంది.. మృతుల కుటుంబాలకు 10 లక్షల చొప్పున ఆర్థిక సాయం.బాధితుల పిల్లలను ఎన్టీఆర్ ట్రస్టు విద్యా సంస్థల్లో చదివిస్తాం - @ncbn . pic.twitter.com/3AWDiisgPT — iTDP Official (@iTDP_Official) December 28, 2022 × The 72-year-old former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu held this local gathering as a part of his "Idemi Kharma Mana Rashtranki" programme for his campaigns for the upcoming Assembly elections in 2024. Also read | Who is Heeraben Modi? PM Narendra Modi's mother admitted to hospital, know about her condition & other details Similar instances of stampedes have occurred in India quite a few times this year claiming the lives of many, and injuring hundreds. One of the collapses occurred in the Morbi district of Gujarat when a newly renovated cable bridge had collapsed, killing nearly 133. The collapse had happened due to overcrowding. Officials in the instance were able to rescue 177. Gujarat's Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had expressed condolences to the families and announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakhs ($4900) for the families of the deceased and Rs 49,000 ($600) for the injured. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE Live TV

India: Seven killed, several injured in stampede at former CM Naidu's roadshow in Andhra Pradesh

In a setback for migrants seeking refuge in the United States, the US Supreme Court has voted to keep Title 42 in place. The Trump-era policy blocked thousands of people from crossing the US-Mexico border. Title 42 gives the US government power automatically expel undocumented migrants seeking entry inside the country.

U.S. Supreme Court rules to keep Title 42 in place

At least five countries conducted general or parliamentary elections, some ushering in new faces and changing the course for a fresh political future, while others do not seem to let go of their old guard. Apart from gunning for the top offices, the continent did suffer setbacks as economies took a nosedive because of various factors.

World of Africa: Turbulent politics, volatile economies | Year Ender 2022

The CDC has been accused of not warning American citizens about monkeys imported from Cambodia which carried deadly pathogens.

Gravitas: CDC accused of importing infected macaques

Sher Bahadur Deuba, the prime minister of Nepal and president of the Nepali Congress, won the parliamentary party (PP) leader election on Wednesday, defeating his main rival, party general secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa, by a margin of 39 votes, according to officials. They asserted that Deuba, 76, received 64 votes while Thapa, 45, only received 25. The party's 89 parliamentarians, in all, cast votes.

With the triumph, Deuba, 76, might serve as the next prime minister after the Nepali Congress won the most votes in the November 20 general elections.

In the recently concluded general elections, the party won 89 seats in the House of Representatives, including 57 in the first past the post system and 32 in the proportional representation voting system.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="Armed guards stop women from entering universities following Taliban ban on higher education for females">Armed guards stop women from entering universities following Taliban ban on higher education for females</a>

On 22 December, according to sources in the parliamentary office, the newly elected members of the House of Representatives (HoR) will take their oaths.&nbsp;

Direct voting was employed to elect 165 of the 275 members of the House of Representatives, while the proportional electoral method was used to elect the remaining 110 members. To put to rest the protracted political unrest in the Himalayan nation, elections were held for the HoR and seven regional assemblies.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Sher Bahadur Deuba, the prime minister of Nepal and president of the Nepali Congress, won the parliamentary party (PP) leader election on Wednesday, defeating his main rival, party general secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa, by a margin of 39 votes, according to officials.

Sher Bahadur Deuba, the prime minister of Nepal and president of the Nepali Congress, won the parliamentary party (PP) leader election on Wednesday, defeating his main rival, party general secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa, by a margin of 39 votes, according to officials. They asserted that Deuba, 76, received 64 votes while Thapa, 45, only received 25. The party's 89 parliamentarians, in all, cast votes. With the triumph, Deuba, 76, might serve as the next prime minister after the Nepali Congress won the most votes in the November 20 general elections. In the recently concluded general elections, the party won 89 seats in the House of Representatives, including 57 in the first past the post system and 32 in the proportional representation voting system. Also read | Armed guards stop women from entering universities following Taliban ban on higher education for females On 22 December, according to sources in the parliamentary office, the newly elected members of the House of Representatives (HoR) will take their oaths. Direct voting was employed to elect 165 of the 275 members of the House of Representatives, while the proportional electoral method was used to elect the remaining 110 members. To put to rest the protracted political unrest in the Himalayan nation, elections were held for the HoR and seven regional assemblies. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Nepal: PM Sher Bahadur Deuba elected leader of Nepali Congress Parliamentary party

ANC presidential elections are getting tighter in South Africa. The country is witnessing a tussle between incumbent president Ramophosa and former health minister Zweli Mkhize. Watch further to know more.

Race to win the ANC elections is getting tighter in South Africa

Sudan's military and civilian leaders signed a deal on Monday aimed at ending a deep crisis that has gripped the northeast African country. Watch this video to know more.

Sudan's military and political parties sign deal to end crisis

Lawrence Wong, Singapore's deputy prime minister, was given a significant role in the ruling party on Saturday, solidifying his position to succeed PM Lee Hsien Loong as leader of the island nation.&nbsp;Wong, 49, was named as Lee Hsien Loong's replacement this year. Lee Hsien Loong is the leader of the People's Action Party (PAP), which has dominated the island country since its independence in 1965.

The party announced the appointment of Wong to the rank of deputy secretary-general, reports Reuters.

70-year-old Lee is the son of Lee Kuan Yew, who led Singapore's fight for independence and ruled for 50 years. According to the younger Lee, Wong will succeed him either before or after the upcoming general election in 2025.

According to political observers, the appointment of Desmond Lee, the minister of national development, and Chan Chun Sing, the minister of education, as assistant secretaries generals suggests they might serve as the future president's right-hand men.

World Business Watch | Singapore's crypto regulations: Vitalik not happy with Singapore rules

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“There’s a good chance that those two would be the (future) deputy prime ministers,” Assistant Professor Walid Jumblatt Bin Abdullah from the Nanyang Technological University’s school of social sciences told Reuters.&nbsp;

The announcements likely will not affect markets or businesses, Walid said. “The party is still around, it is still the same party, the same ideology, and the same people.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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Lawrence Wong, Singapore's deputy prime minister, was given a significant role in the ruling party on Saturday, solidifying his position to succeed PM Lee Hsien Loong as leader of the island nation.

Lawrence Wong, Singapore's deputy prime minister, was given a significant role in the ruling party on Saturday, solidifying his position to succeed PM Lee Hsien Loong as leader of the island nation. Wong, 49, was named as Lee Hsien Loong's replacement this year. Lee Hsien Loong is the leader of the People's Action Party (PAP), which has dominated the island country since its independence in 1965. The party announced the appointment of Wong to the rank of deputy secretary-general, reports Reuters. 70-year-old Lee is the son of Lee Kuan Yew, who led Singapore's fight for independence and ruled for 50 years. According to the younger Lee, Wong will succeed him either before or after the upcoming general election in 2025. According to political observers, the appointment of Desmond Lee, the minister of national development, and Chan Chun Sing, the minister of education, as assistant secretaries generals suggests they might serve as the future president's right-hand men. World Business Watch | Singapore's crypto regulations: Vitalik not happy with Singapore rules “There’s a good chance that those two would be the (future) deputy prime ministers,” Assistant Professor Walid Jumblatt Bin Abdullah from the Nanyang Technological University’s school of social sciences told Reuters. The announcements likely will not affect markets or businesses, Walid said. “The party is still around, it is still the same party, the same ideology, and the same people.” (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Lawrence Wong, Singapore's deputy PM solidifies chances of becoming PM with new party position

In politics, it's a given that some individuals tend to go deep into their own pockets to fund for campaigns for political parties or for their candidates and the news of the collapse of the crypto trading firm FTX comes as a blow for the Democrats.

US: Founder of crypto trading firm FTX was Democrats second biggest donor

US House speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul Pelosi was hospitalised with a skull fracture on Friday after he was attacked. In other news,&nbsp;In a close battle for the US&nbsp;Senate in Georgia, Democrats turned to former President Barack Obama for support. Finally,&nbsp;Russia has finally announced an end to its 'partial mobilisation' for&nbsp;Ukraine.

Click on the headlines to read more:

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/paul-pelosi-undergoes-successful-skull-surgery-biden-calls-attack-despicable-529299">Paul Pelosi undergoes 'successful skull surgery', Biden calls attack 'despicable'</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2022/10/29/306964-untitled-design-77.png" />

“Earlier this morning, Paul Pelosi was attacked at home by an assailant who acted with force, and threatened his life while demanding to see the speaker,” Hammill said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-obama-boosts-democratic-star-power-to-crucial-us-senate-election-in-georgia-529296">Barack Obama campaigns for Democrats in Georgia ahead of midterms</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2022/10/29/306962-2022-10-28t100404z1lynxmpei9r0c6rtroptp4usa-election-obama.JPG" />

Obama, a two-term Democrat&nbsp;who left office in 2017, campaigned in Atlanta for Senator Raphael Warnock, who is up against Republican candidate Herschel Walker, who is sponsored by Donald Trump.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/the-task-set-by-you-has-been-completed-russia-ends-mobilisation-for-ukraine-zelensky-expresses-doubt-529302">'The task set by you has been completed': Russia ends mobilisation for Ukraine, Zelensky expresses doubt</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2022/10/29/306966-2022-10-28t142324z1lynxmpei9r0m7rtroptp4ukraine-crisis-frontline-mortar.JPG" />

During a live meeting in Kremlin, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said, "The task set by you of (mobilising) 300,000 people has been completed. No further measures are planned." He further claimed that no additional actions are needed and nearly 82,000 soldiers have already been sent to the area. He informed President Putin of the same.

Watch |&nbsp;Angry protesters target scholars &amp; clerics as Iranians adopt a new symbol of protest

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Watch |&nbsp;Gravitas: What is Musk's plan for Twitter?

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-what-is-musks-plan-for-twitter-529277/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

&nbsp;

US House speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul Pelosi was hospitalised with a skull fracture on Friday after he was attacked. In other news, In a close battle for the US Senate in Georgia, Democrats turned to former President Barack Obama for support.

US House speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul Pelosi was hospitalised with a skull fracture on Friday after he was attacked. In other news, In a close battle for the US Senate in Georgia, Democrats turned to former President Barack Obama for support. Finally, Russia has finally announced an end to its 'partial mobilisation' for Ukraine. Click on the headlines to read more: Paul Pelosi undergoes 'successful skull surgery', Biden calls attack 'despicable' “Earlier this morning, Paul Pelosi was attacked at home by an assailant who acted with force, and threatened his life while demanding to see the speaker,” Hammill said in a statement on Friday afternoon. Barack Obama campaigns for Democrats in Georgia ahead of midterms Obama, a two-term Democrat who left office in 2017, campaigned in Atlanta for Senator Raphael Warnock, who is up against Republican candidate Herschel Walker, who is sponsored by Donald Trump. 'The task set by you has been completed': Russia ends mobilisation for Ukraine, Zelensky expresses doubt During a live meeting in Kremlin, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said, "The task set by you of (mobilising) 300,000 people has been completed. No further measures are planned." He further claimed that no additional actions are needed and nearly 82,000 soldiers have already been sent to the area. He informed President Putin of the same. Watch | Angry protesters target scholars & clerics as Iranians adopt a new symbol of protest Watch | Gravitas: What is Musk's plan for Twitter?

Morning news brief: Paul Pelosi undergoes successful surgery, Russia ends mobilisation, and more 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday (October 19) that he would never get used to the war in his country. In other news,&nbsp;British Prime Minister Liz Truss told the parliament on Wednesday that she is “a fighter not a quitter” as calls for her resignation continue to grow. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump gave sworn testimony on Wednesday in response to a lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll, alleging that the former leader sexually attacked her in a department store dressing room. Finally,&nbsp;Jair Bolsonaro and the challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are mathematically tied, said a poll published on Wednesday (October 19).

Click on the headlines to read more:&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/will-never-get-used-to-war-says-zelensky-526949">Will never get used to war, says Zelensky</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2022/10/03/300722-volodymyr-zelensky.png" />

"I'm not ready to get used to us suffering to get used to war… (it) motivates me every day to advance towards the victory. And therefore, I want to remain human, " he said.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/liz-truss-says-i-am-not-a-quitter-as-calls-for-her-resignation-grow-in-uk-526823">Liz Truss says 'I am not a quitter' as clamour for her resignation mounts in UK</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2022/10/19/304856-00032lp7rc.jpg" />

During the Prime Minister's Questions sessions at the parliament, several Labour Party lawmakers called for her resignation and opposition leader Keir Starmer questioned her on the measures.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-deposed-in-e-jean-carroll-defamation-case-526929">Trump deposed in E. Jean Carroll defamation case</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2022/10/20/304968-1000-2.jpeg" />

Carroll's attorneys had the opportunity to question Trump during the deposition over the alleged assault as well as remarks he made in 2019 when she first shared her account in public.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/brazil-elections-lula-and-bolsonaro-statistically-tied-says-a-poll-526940">Brazil elections: Lula and Bolsonaro statistically tied, says a poll</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2022/10/20/304983-bolsonaro-lula.jpg" />

Datafolha said Lula now has 49 per cent&nbsp;of voter support against 45 per cent or Bolsonaro. The poll has error margin of 2 per cent up or down, that means both the candidates may be tied at 47 per cent each.

Watch | Mar-A-Lago probe | Trump's admission in audiotapes contradicts his defence: Reports

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&nbsp;

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday (October 19) that he would never get used to the war in his country. In other news, British Prime Minister Liz Truss told the parliament on Wednesday that she is “a fighter not a quitter” as calls for her resignation continue to grow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday (October 19) that he would never get used to the war in his country. In other news, British Prime Minister Liz Truss told the parliament on Wednesday that she is “a fighter not a quitter” as calls for her resignation continue to grow. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump gave sworn testimony on Wednesday in response to a lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll, alleging that the former leader sexually attacked her in a department store dressing room. Finally, Jair Bolsonaro and the challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are mathematically tied, said a poll published on Wednesday (October 19). Click on the headlines to read more: Will never get used to war, says Zelensky "I'm not ready to get used to us suffering to get used to war… (it) motivates me every day to advance towards the victory. And therefore, I want to remain human, " he said. Liz Truss says 'I am not a quitter' as clamour for her resignation mounts in UK During the Prime Minister's Questions sessions at the parliament, several Labour Party lawmakers called for her resignation and opposition leader Keir Starmer questioned her on the measures. Trump deposed in E. Jean Carroll defamation case Carroll's attorneys had the opportunity to question Trump during the deposition over the alleged assault as well as remarks he made in 2019 when she first shared her account in public. Brazil elections: Lula and Bolsonaro statistically tied, says a poll Datafolha said Lula now has 49 per cent of voter support against 45 per cent or Bolsonaro. The poll has error margin of 2 per cent up or down, that means both the candidates may be tied at 47 per cent each. Watch | Mar-A-Lago probe | Trump's admission in audiotapes contradicts his defence: Reports

Morning news brief: Zelensky says he will never get used to war, Trump deposed in defamation case, & more

Palestinian Islamic Jihad supporters wave flags as they attend a rally marking the 35th anniversary of the movement's foundation, in Gaza City.

Palestinians take part in a rally marking Islamic Jihad's foundation

'Cypher' is a keyword in Pakistan politics now. The term that evokes images of secret diplomatic and intelligence communications crept its way into the South Asian country's daily news terminology after claims from former prime minister Imran Khan about a conspiracy to oust him. He was indeed removed from office, but his oft-repeated references to a 'cypher' has led to a controversy that refuses to die down.&nbsp;

The latest development is that a&nbsp;former diplomat on Sunday questioned the federal cabinet's decision to reevaluate the cypher's details in a cabinet report.

The 'cypher controversy' escalated in the wake of recent audio leaks of several political leaders, including that of Khan.&nbsp;

The diplomat in conversation with The Express Tribune said, "By revealing the date and number and stating that it was annexed with the summary, an impression arises that the whole cabinet has read it and thus violated the secrets act."&nbsp;

"Even citing cypher No and date is a violation of the official secret act," the ex-diplomat said.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistan-court-drops-contempt-of-court-case-against-ex-pm-khan-522043">Also read |&nbsp;Pakistan court drops contempt of court case against ex-PM Khan</a>

So what exactly is a cypher?

Simply put, cypher is a secret, restricted diplomatic communication written in some kind of code language, with a specif number and date assigned to it. Deeply encrypted and difficult to decode, a cypher is divided as per its grade. There are two grades for circulation; grade I and grade II. The first grade has limited circulation in comparison to the second one. Cypher details are machine-generated as per the distribution list unless it has been specified by a dignified person.&nbsp;

The original copy is kept at the Foreign Office and making copies is against the law.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;Pakistan: Arrest Warrant issued against former Pak PM Imran Khan

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/pakistan-arrest-warrant-issued-against-former-pak-pm-imran-khan-521618/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The controversy about cyphers revived last week when the current government charged Imran Khan with violating his oath as a prime minister by providing false information on a diplomatic cypher for his political gains. This controversy surfaced when the former PM accused a US diplomat of threatening a Pakistani diplomat, the latter being informed about this through a cypher.&nbsp;

Last week, two audio recordings of Imran Khan, along with his secretary and cabinet ministers, allegedly discussing how to play up the cypher issue went viral on social media. After the leak of the first audio, Khan said that it was good that this audio got leaked and he wanted the cypher to also get leaked.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pak-pm-shehbaz-sharif-refuses-to-inaugurate-flood-relief-dashboard-calls-it-a-joke-522215">Also read |&nbsp;Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif refuses to inaugurate&nbsp;flood relief dashboard, calls it a 'joke'</a>

The Shehbaz Sharif administration on Friday noted that a copy of the cypher was missing from the PM's house.&nbsp;

However, the former diplomat said that the prime mover cannot be held responsible for it, as he doesn't keep the cypher nor do the filing. The cypher is kept in the principal secretary's office, where several others keep an eye on secret communication.&nbsp;

When asked about what happens if the cypher goes missing, a renowned attorney said that it cannot be specially stated.

In Pakistan, leaked audio and video calls have troubled the ruling government, but there has never been a thorough investigation into this to accept or deny the claims. Will this be repeated?

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

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'Cypher' is a keyword in Pakistan politics now. The term that evokes images of secret diplomatic and intelligence communications crept its way into the South Asian country's daily news terminology after claims from former prime minister Imran Khan about a conspiracy to oust him.

'Cypher' is a keyword in Pakistan politics now. The term that evokes images of secret diplomatic and intelligence communications crept its way into the South Asian country's daily news terminology after claims from former prime minister Imran Khan about a conspiracy to oust him. He was indeed removed from office, but his oft-repeated references to a 'cypher' has led to a controversy that refuses to die down. The latest development is that a former diplomat on Sunday questioned the federal cabinet's decision to reevaluate the cypher's details in a cabinet report. The 'cypher controversy' escalated in the wake of recent audio leaks of several political leaders, including that of Khan. The diplomat in conversation with The Express Tribune said, "By revealing the date and number and stating that it was annexed with the summary, an impression arises that the whole cabinet has read it and thus violated the secrets act." "Even citing cypher No and date is a violation of the official secret act," the ex-diplomat said. Also read | Pakistan court drops contempt of court case against ex-PM Khan So what exactly is a cypher? Simply put, cypher is a secret, restricted diplomatic communication written in some kind of code language, with a specif number and date assigned to it. Deeply encrypted and difficult to decode, a cypher is divided as per its grade. There are two grades for circulation; grade I and grade II. The first grade has limited circulation in comparison to the second one. Cypher details are machine-generated as per the distribution list unless it has been specified by a dignified person. The original copy is kept at the Foreign Office and making copies is against the law. Watch | Pakistan: Arrest Warrant issued against former Pak PM Imran Khan The controversy about cyphers revived last week when the current government charged Imran Khan with violating his oath as a prime minister by providing false information on a diplomatic cypher for his political gains. This controversy surfaced when the former PM accused a US diplomat of threatening a Pakistani diplomat, the latter being informed about this through a cypher. Last week, two audio recordings of Imran Khan, along with his secretary and cabinet ministers, allegedly discussing how to play up the cypher issue went viral on social media. After the leak of the first audio, Khan said that it was good that this audio got leaked and he wanted the cypher to also get leaked. Also read | Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif refuses to inaugurate flood relief dashboard, calls it a 'joke' The Shehbaz Sharif administration on Friday noted that a copy of the cypher was missing from the PM's house. However, the former diplomat said that the prime mover cannot be held responsible for it, as he doesn't keep the cypher nor do the filing. The cypher is kept in the principal secretary's office, where several others keep an eye on secret communication. When asked about what happens if the cypher goes missing, a renowned attorney said that it cannot be specially stated. In Pakistan, leaked audio and video calls have troubled the ruling government, but there has never been a thorough investigation into this to accept or deny the claims. Will this be repeated? (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Explained: What's the 'cypher controversy' roiling Pakistan politics? Here's what you should know

Many in power would prefer to kick questions like “what caused the mental health crisis?” And “who benefits?” Out of sight. Don’t let them.

What if the cure for our current mental health crisis is not more mental health care?

The mental health toll of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the subject of extensive commentary in the United States, much of it focused on the sharp increase in demand for mental health services now swamping the nation’s health care capacities. The resulting difficulty in accessing care has been invoked widely as justification for a variety of proposed solutions, such as the profit-driven growth of digital health and teletherapy start-ups and a new mental health plan that the Biden administration unveiled earlier this year.

But are we really in a mental health crisis? A crisis that affects mental health is not the same thing as a crisis of mental health. To be sure, symptoms of crisis abound. But in order to come up with effective solutions, we first have to ask: a crisis of what?

Some social scientists have a term — “reification” — for the process by which the effects of a political arrangement of power and resources start to seem like objective, inevitable facts about the world. Reification swaps out a political problem for a scientific or technical one; it’s how, for example, the effects of unregulated tech oligopolies become “social media addiction,” how climate catastrophe caused by corporate greed becomes a “heat wave” — and, by the way, how the effect of struggles between labour and corporations combines with high energy prices to become “inflation.” Examples are not scarce.

For people in power, the reification sleight of hand is very useful because it conveniently abracadabras questions like “Who caused this thing?” and “Who benefits?” out of sight. Instead, these symptoms of political struggle and social crisis begin to seem like problems with clear, objective technical solutions — problems best solved by trained experts. In medicine, examples of reification are so abundant that sociologists have a special term for it: “medicalisation,” or the process by which something gets framed as primarily a medical problem. Medicalisation shifts the terms in which we try to figure out what caused a problem, and what can be done to fix it. Often, it puts the focus on the individual as a biological body, at the expense of factoring in systemic and infrastructural conditions.

Once we begin to ask questions about medicalisation, the entire framing of the mental health toll of the Covid crisis — an “epidemic” of mental illness, as various publications have called it, rather than a political crisis with medical effects — begins to seem inadequate.

Of course, nobody can deny that there has been an increase in mental and emotional distress. To take two of the most common diagnoses, a study published in 2021 in The Lancet estimated that the pandemic had caused an additional 53.2 million cases of major depressive disorder and 76.2 million cases of anxiety disorder globally.

Let’s think about this. The fact that incidences of psychological distress have increased in the face of objectively distressing circumstances is hardly surprising. As a coalition of 18 prominent mental health scholars wrote in a 2020 paper in The Lancet: “Predictions of a ‘tsunami’ of mental health problems as a consequence of [Covid] and the lockdown are overstated; feelings of anxiety and sadness are entirely normal reactions to difficult circumstances, not symptoms of poor mental health.”

Things get even less surprising when you look more closely at the data: If you bracket the (entirely predictable) spike in psychological distress among health care workers (a fact that itself only reinforces the idea that the major causal vectors in play here are structural), the most relevant predictors of mental health are indexes of economic security. Of course, it’s not simply a question of the numbers on your bank statement — although that is a major predictor of outcomes — but of whether you live in a society where the social fabric has been destroyed.

Before we go further, let me be clear about what I am not arguing. I am not arguing that mental illnesses are fake, or somehow nonbiological. Pointing out the medicalisation of social and political problems does not mean denying that such problems produce real biological conditions; it means asking serious questions about what is causing those conditions. If someone is driving through a crowd, running people over, the smart move is not to declare an epidemic of people suffering from Got Run Over by a Car Syndrome and go searching for the underlying biological mechanism that must be causing it. You have to treat the very real suffering that is happening in the bodies of the people affected, obviously, but the key point is this: You’re going to have to stop the guy running over people with the car.

This principle is what some health researchers mean by the idea that there are social determinants of health — that effective long-term solutions for many medicalised problems require nonmedical — this is to say, political — means. We all readily acknowledge that for diseases like diabetes and hypertension — diseases with a very clear biological basis — an individual’s body is only part of the causal reality of the disease. Treating the root cause of the “epidemic” of diabetes effectively, for example, would happen at the level of serious infrastructural changes to the available diet and activity levels of a population, not by slinging medications or pouring funding into clinics that help people make better choices in supermarkets filled with unregulated, unhealthy food. You’ve got to stop the guy running over people with the car.

But if the public health consensus around diabetes has shifted somewhat in response to what we know, it’s been remarkably hard to achieve the same when it comes to mental health.

Psychiatric sciences have long acknowledged the fact that stress is causally implicated in an enormous range of mental disorders, referring to the “stress-diathesis model” of mental illness. That model incorporates the well-documented fact that chronic stressors (like poverty, political violence and discrimination) intensify the chance that an individual will develop a given diagnosis, from depression to schizophrenia.

The causal relationship may be even more direct. Remarkably, all throughout decades of research on mood disorders, scientists doing animal studies had to create animal models of anxiety and depression — that is, animals who showed behaviours that looked like human anxiety and depression — by subjecting them to weeks or months of chronic stress. Zap animals with unpredictable and painful shocks they can’t escape, force them to survive barely survivable conditions for long enough, put them in social situations where they are chronically brutalized by those higher up in the social hierarchy — and just like that, the animals will consistently start behaving in a way that looks like human psychopathology.

This doesn’t mean that all psychiatric symptoms are caused by stress, but it does mean that a whole lot of them almost certainly are. There is increasingly strong evidence for the idea that chronic elevation of stress hormones has downstream effects on the neural architecture of the brain’s cognitive and emotional circuits. The exact relationship between different types of stress and any given cluster of psychiatric symptoms remains unclear — why do some people react to stress by becoming depressed, while others become impulsive or enraged? — indicating that whatever causal mechanism exists is mediated by a variety of genetic and social conditions. But the implications of the research are very clear: When it comes to mental health, the best treatment for the biological conditions underlying many symptoms might be ensuring that more people can live less stressful lives.

And here is the core of the problem: Medicalising mental health doesn’t work very well if your goal is to address the underlying cause of population-level increases in mental and emotional distress. It does, however, work really well if you’re trying to come up with a solution that everybody in power can agree on, so that the people in power can show they’re doing something about the problem. Unfortunately, the solution that everyone can agree on is not going to work.

Everyone agrees, for instance, that it would be good to reduce the high rate of diabetes plaguing the United States. But once we begin to de-medicalize it, diabetes starts to look like a biological problem arising from a vast swathe of political problems: transportation infrastructure that keeps people sedentary in cars, food insecurity that keeps a racialized underclass dependent on cheap and empty calories, the power of corporate lobbies to defang regulations, and so on. These are problems that people do not agree on how to solve, in part because some are materially benefiting from this state of affairs. This is to say, these are political problems, and solving them will mean taking on the groups of people who benefit from the status quo.

That the status quo is once again benefiting the usual suspects is all too obvious in the booming market of V.C.-backed mental health tech start-ups, which promise to solve the crisis through a gig economy model for psychiatric care that has been criticized for selling psychiatric medication irresponsibly, with little accountability.

But even publicly funded solutions risk falling into the trap of medicalising a problem and failing to address the deeper structural causes of the crisis. President Biden’s plan for mental health, for instance, makes many genuflections to the language of “community” and “behavioral health.” A section outlining a plan for “creating healthy environments” makes a great show of saying the right things, including: “We cannot transform mental health solely through the health care system. We must also address the determinants of behavioral health, invest in community services and foster a culture and environment that broadly promotes mental wellness and recovery.”

But then the plan goes on to focus on several proposals aimed at regulating social media platforms — a strange target that seems relevant only in a downstream way from major infrastructural determinants of health, like wealth inequality and public services — until you remember that it’s one of the few policy goals that both Democrats and Republicans share.

Sure, parts of the proposal do seem to offer genuinely needed care. For instance, a proposal to establish scores of behavioural health clinics that can offer subsidized substance use treatment like methadone tapering is an exigently needed — if depressingly belated — response to the phenomenon of mass opiate addiction pushed by corporations like Purdue Pharma and Walgreens.

But despite the fact that much of the proposal seems to have been drafted with the opiate addiction crisis in mind, the billboard-size implications of the so-called opioid epidemic seem to have failed to register. It is hard to imagine a clearer demonstration of political conditions undergoing the reification switch into a medicalised epidemic than what everyone now knows happened: The despair of the post-industrial underclass was methodically and intentionally milked by pharmaceutical companies for all it was worth. It was so obvious that at last even a political establishment that remains largely indifferent to the poor eventually had to get around to sort of doing something.

And yet when the plan addresses suicide, it focuses on crisis intervention — as if suicide were a kind of unfortunate natural occurrence, like lightning strikes, rather than an expression of the fact that growing numbers of people are becoming convinced that the current state of affairs gives them no reason to hope for a life they’d want to live.

The proposal’s main plan to address the so-called epidemic of suicide has been the rebranding of a national suicide hotline — which will encourage callers on the brink of killing themselves to refrain from doing so, and may or may not connect them to resources like three cognitive behavioural therapy sessions (most likely conducted through teletherapy) that insurance companies will be required to cover for their customers — depending on what the state the caller is in has decided about funding. (Like all of Biden’s proposal, the plan is yet to be passed into law.) It’s not so much that the hotline is a bad idea; it’s that the sheer scale of failure to comprehend the political reality that it displays, the utter inability to register how profoundly the “suicide epidemic” indicts the status quo, is ultimately more terrifying than outright indifference. It’s worth recalling that in the 2016 presidential election, even though Hillary Clinton touted a “suicide prevention” campaign plank, communities most affected by so-called deaths of despair voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump, who addressed, however disingenuously, their economic situation and promised to bring back jobs.

Solving the mental health crisis, then, will require fighting for people to have secure access to infrastructure that buffers them from chronic stress: housing, food security, education, child care, job security, the right to organize for more humane workplaces and substantive action on the imminent climate apocalypse.

A fight for mental health waged only on the terms of access to psychiatric care does not only risk bolstering justifications for profiteering invoked by start-ups eager to capitalize on the widespread effects of grief, anxiety and despair. It also risks pathologising the very emotions we are going to need to harness for their political power if we are going to win solutions.

Many in power would prefer to kick questions like “what caused the mental health crisis?” And “who benefits?” Out of sight. Don’t let them. What if the cure for our current mental health crisis is not more mental health care?

Many in power would prefer to kick questions like “what caused the mental health crisis?” And “who benefits?” Out of sight. Don’t let them. What if the cure for our current mental health crisis is not more mental health care? The mental health toll of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the subject of extensive commentary in the United States, much of it focused on the sharp increase in demand for mental health services now swamping the nation’s health care capacities. The resulting difficulty in accessing care has been invoked widely as justification for a variety of proposed solutions, such as the profit-driven growth of digital health and teletherapy start-ups and a new mental health plan that the Biden administration unveiled earlier this year. But are we really in a mental health crisis? A crisis that affects mental health is not the same thing as a crisis of mental health. To be sure, symptoms of crisis abound. But in order to come up with effective solutions, we first have to ask: a crisis of what? Some social scientists have a term — “reification” — for the process by which the effects of a political arrangement of power and resources start to seem like objective, inevitable facts about the world. Reification swaps out a political problem for a scientific or technical one; it’s how, for example, the effects of unregulated tech oligopolies become “social media addiction,” how climate catastrophe caused by corporate greed becomes a “heat wave” — and, by the way, how the effect of struggles between labour and corporations combines with high energy prices to become “inflation.” Examples are not scarce. For people in power, the reification sleight of hand is very useful because it conveniently abracadabras questions like “Who caused this thing?” and “Who benefits?” out of sight. Instead, these symptoms of political struggle and social crisis begin to seem like problems with clear, objective technical solutions — problems best solved by trained experts. In medicine, examples of reification are so abundant that sociologists have a special term for it: “medicalisation,” or the process by which something gets framed as primarily a medical problem. Medicalisation shifts the terms in which we try to figure out what caused a problem, and what can be done to fix it. Often, it puts the focus on the individual as a biological body, at the expense of factoring in systemic and infrastructural conditions. Once we begin to ask questions about medicalisation, the entire framing of the mental health toll of the Covid crisis — an “epidemic” of mental illness, as various publications have called it, rather than a political crisis with medical effects — begins to seem inadequate. Of course, nobody can deny that there has been an increase in mental and emotional distress. To take two of the most common diagnoses, a study published in 2021 in The Lancet estimated that the pandemic had caused an additional 53.2 million cases of major depressive disorder and 76.2 million cases of anxiety disorder globally. Let’s think about this. The fact that incidences of psychological distress have increased in the face of objectively distressing circumstances is hardly surprising. As a coalition of 18 prominent mental health scholars wrote in a 2020 paper in The Lancet: “Predictions of a ‘tsunami’ of mental health problems as a consequence of [Covid] and the lockdown are overstated; feelings of anxiety and sadness are entirely normal reactions to difficult circumstances, not symptoms of poor mental health.” Things get even less surprising when you look more closely at the data: If you bracket the (entirely predictable) spike in psychological distress among health care workers (a fact that itself only reinforces the idea that the major causal vectors in play here are structural), the most relevant predictors of mental health are indexes of economic security. Of course, it’s not simply a question of the numbers on your bank statement — although that is a major predictor of outcomes — but of whether you live in a society where the social fabric has been destroyed. Before we go further, let me be clear about what I am not arguing. I am not arguing that mental illnesses are fake, or somehow nonbiological. Pointing out the medicalisation of social and political problems does not mean denying that such problems produce real biological conditions; it means asking serious questions about what is causing those conditions. If someone is driving through a crowd, running people over, the smart move is not to declare an epidemic of people suffering from Got Run Over by a Car Syndrome and go searching for the underlying biological mechanism that must be causing it. You have to treat the very real suffering that is happening in the bodies of the people affected, obviously, but the key point is this: You’re going to have to stop the guy running over people with the car. This principle is what some health researchers mean by the idea that there are social determinants of health — that effective long-term solutions for many medicalised problems require nonmedical — this is to say, political — means. We all readily acknowledge that for diseases like diabetes and hypertension — diseases with a very clear biological basis — an individual’s body is only part of the causal reality of the disease. Treating the root cause of the “epidemic” of diabetes effectively, for example, would happen at the level of serious infrastructural changes to the available diet and activity levels of a population, not by slinging medications or pouring funding into clinics that help people make better choices in supermarkets filled with unregulated, unhealthy food. You’ve got to stop the guy running over people with the car. But if the public health consensus around diabetes has shifted somewhat in response to what we know, it’s been remarkably hard to achieve the same when it comes to mental health. Psychiatric sciences have long acknowledged the fact that stress is causally implicated in an enormous range of mental disorders, referring to the “stress-diathesis model” of mental illness. That model incorporates the well-documented fact that chronic stressors (like poverty, political violence and discrimination) intensify the chance that an individual will develop a given diagnosis, from depression to schizophrenia. The causal relationship may be even more direct. Remarkably, all throughout decades of research on mood disorders, scientists doing animal studies had to create animal models of anxiety and depression — that is, animals who showed behaviours that looked like human anxiety and depression — by subjecting them to weeks or months of chronic stress. Zap animals with unpredictable and painful shocks they can’t escape, force them to survive barely survivable conditions for long enough, put them in social situations where they are chronically brutalized by those higher up in the social hierarchy — and just like that, the animals will consistently start behaving in a way that looks like human psychopathology. This doesn’t mean that all psychiatric symptoms are caused by stress, but it does mean that a whole lot of them almost certainly are. There is increasingly strong evidence for the idea that chronic elevation of stress hormones has downstream effects on the neural architecture of the brain’s cognitive and emotional circuits. The exact relationship between different types of stress and any given cluster of psychiatric symptoms remains unclear — why do some people react to stress by becoming depressed, while others become impulsive or enraged? — indicating that whatever causal mechanism exists is mediated by a variety of genetic and social conditions. But the implications of the research are very clear: When it comes to mental health, the best treatment for the biological conditions underlying many symptoms might be ensuring that more people can live less stressful lives. And here is the core of the problem: Medicalising mental health doesn’t work very well if your goal is to address the underlying cause of population-level increases in mental and emotional distress. It does, however, work really well if you’re trying to come up with a solution that everybody in power can agree on, so that the people in power can show they’re doing something about the problem. Unfortunately, the solution that everyone can agree on is not going to work. Everyone agrees, for instance, that it would be good to reduce the high rate of diabetes plaguing the United States. But once we begin to de-medicalize it, diabetes starts to look like a biological problem arising from a vast swathe of political problems: transportation infrastructure that keeps people sedentary in cars, food insecurity that keeps a racialized underclass dependent on cheap and empty calories, the power of corporate lobbies to defang regulations, and so on. These are problems that people do not agree on how to solve, in part because some are materially benefiting from this state of affairs. This is to say, these are political problems, and solving them will mean taking on the groups of people who benefit from the status quo. That the status quo is once again benefiting the usual suspects is all too obvious in the booming market of V.C.-backed mental health tech start-ups, which promise to solve the crisis through a gig economy model for psychiatric care that has been criticized for selling psychiatric medication irresponsibly, with little accountability. But even publicly funded solutions risk falling into the trap of medicalising a problem and failing to address the deeper structural causes of the crisis. President Biden’s plan for mental health, for instance, makes many genuflections to the language of “community” and “behavioral health.” A section outlining a plan for “creating healthy environments” makes a great show of saying the right things, including: “We cannot transform mental health solely through the health care system. We must also address the determinants of behavioral health, invest in community services and foster a culture and environment that broadly promotes mental wellness and recovery.” But then the plan goes on to focus on several proposals aimed at regulating social media platforms — a strange target that seems relevant only in a downstream way from major infrastructural determinants of health, like wealth inequality and public services — until you remember that it’s one of the few policy goals that both Democrats and Republicans share. Sure, parts of the proposal do seem to offer genuinely needed care. For instance, a proposal to establish scores of behavioural health clinics that can offer subsidized substance use treatment like methadone tapering is an exigently needed — if depressingly belated — response to the phenomenon of mass opiate addiction pushed by corporations like Purdue Pharma and Walgreens. But despite the fact that much of the proposal seems to have been drafted with the opiate addiction crisis in mind, the billboard-size implications of the so-called opioid epidemic seem to have failed to register. It is hard to imagine a clearer demonstration of political conditions undergoing the reification switch into a medicalised epidemic than what everyone now knows happened: The despair of the post-industrial underclass was methodically and intentionally milked by pharmaceutical companies for all it was worth. It was so obvious that at last even a political establishment that remains largely indifferent to the poor eventually had to get around to sort of doing something. And yet when the plan addresses suicide, it focuses on crisis intervention — as if suicide were a kind of unfortunate natural occurrence, like lightning strikes, rather than an expression of the fact that growing numbers of people are becoming convinced that the current state of affairs gives them no reason to hope for a life they’d want to live. The proposal’s main plan to address the so-called epidemic of suicide has been the rebranding of a national suicide hotline — which will encourage callers on the brink of killing themselves to refrain from doing so, and may or may not connect them to resources like three cognitive behavioural therapy sessions (most likely conducted through teletherapy) that insurance companies will be required to cover for their customers — depending on what the state the caller is in has decided about funding. (Like all of Biden’s proposal, the plan is yet to be passed into law.) It’s not so much that the hotline is a bad idea; it’s that the sheer scale of failure to comprehend the political reality that it displays, the utter inability to register how profoundly the “suicide epidemic” indicts the status quo, is ultimately more terrifying than outright indifference. It’s worth recalling that in the 2016 presidential election, even though Hillary Clinton touted a “suicide prevention” campaign plank, communities most affected by so-called deaths of despair voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump, who addressed, however disingenuously, their economic situation and promised to bring back jobs. Solving the mental health crisis, then, will require fighting for people to have secure access to infrastructure that buffers them from chronic stress: housing, food security, education, child care, job security, the right to organize for more humane workplaces and substantive action on the imminent climate apocalypse. A fight for mental health waged only on the terms of access to psychiatric care does not only risk bolstering justifications for profiteering invoked by start-ups eager to capitalize on the widespread effects of grief, anxiety and despair. It also risks pathologising the very emotions we are going to need to harness for their political power if we are going to win solutions.

Mental health is political

British politics is poised to bounce back into action with Queen Elizabeth the Second being laid to rest in a funeral on Monday (September 19). Prime Minister Liz Truss, who became last UK PM to be appointed by the late Queen has a deepening economic crisis and anger amid the British people to deal with.

Truss will first fly to New York to attend United Nations General Assembly. This will be the first time Liz Truss will represent UK on a world stage. Towards the end of the week her Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng will present a mini-budget in Britain's House of Commons.&nbsp;

Just hours before Queen Elizabeth's passing was announced on September 8, Truss had unveiled plan to cap domestic energy bills to help UK households. The government will now announce plans to support businesses with their energy bill. The announcement is expected on Wednesday (September 21).

Truss had won praise for her tough stance on Russia in the aftermath of Russian invasion of Ukraine. She was foreign secretary in the government of former UK pm Boris Johnson. It is expected that she will continue to exert political pressure on Russia who is leveraging its position as major energy supplier to Europe to earn political points.

Truss' plans of rewriting Brexit deal may put her at odds with the European Union. It may also have an effect on UK's so-called 'special relationship' with US.

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

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British politics is poised to bounce back into action with Queen Elizabeth the Second being laid to rest in a funeral on Monday (September 19). Prime Minister Liz Truss, who became last UK PM to be appointed by the late Queen has a deepening economic crisis and anger amid the British people to deal with.

British politics is poised to bounce back into action with Queen Elizabeth the Second being laid to rest in a funeral on Monday (September 19). Prime Minister Liz Truss, who became last UK PM to be appointed by the late Queen has a deepening economic crisis and anger amid the British people to deal with. Truss will first fly to New York to attend United Nations General Assembly. This will be the first time Liz Truss will represent UK on a world stage. Towards the end of the week her Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng will present a mini-budget in Britain's House of Commons. Just hours before Queen Elizabeth's passing was announced on September 8, Truss had unveiled plan to cap domestic energy bills to help UK households. The government will now announce plans to support businesses with their energy bill. The announcement is expected on Wednesday (September 21). Truss had won praise for her tough stance on Russia in the aftermath of Russian invasion of Ukraine. She was foreign secretary in the government of former UK pm Boris Johnson. It is expected that she will continue to exert political pressure on Russia who is leveraging its position as major energy supplier to Europe to earn political points. Truss' plans of rewriting Brexit deal may put her at odds with the European Union. It may also have an effect on UK's so-called 'special relationship' with US. You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

With Queen laid to rest, British politics to swing back into action

Even after 21 years, the memories of September 11, or 9/11, remain the same: bitter, horrific, and of one of the worst encounters a country has had with terrorists.

This all began when, on September 11, 2001, two aircraft attacked the World Trade Center in New York, and a third aircraft crashed outside of Washington, DC, into the Pentagon while the fourth went down in Pennsylvania.

Who did this? Al-Qaeda, an Islamic extremist organisation led by Osama bin Laden and known for its terror, hijacked four aircraft and used them as a means for suicide attacks in the United States. It was claimed that Laden provided funds for the attack.

The attack claimed the lives of over 3,000 people and injured thousands more.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/911-attacks-and-a-money-trail-how-terrorists-planned-the-devastating-attacks-412286">Also read |&nbsp;9/11 attacks and a money trail: How terrorists planned the devastating attacks</a>

Here are some facts you need to know about the 9/11 attack:

The CIA had informed President Clinton in his daily brief on December 4, 1998, that Laden was preparing to hijack US aircraft and was planning to conduct strikes.

The World Trade Centre was targeted earlier. On February 26, 1993, a bomb was placed in a car parked at the World Trade Centre, which when blasted claimed the lives of six people and injured over a thousand people. The Sunni terrorist, Ramzi Yousef, who deactivated the device, revealed that he intended to kill over 250,000 people, DNA reported.

The US tried multiple attempts to kill Osama bin Laden before 9/11, but was delayed and then revived, but was hampered by military leaders' reservations about relying on Aghan tribal chiefs.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/grief-is-the-price-we-pay-for-love-how-uks-queen-elizabeth-ii-paid-tribute-to-911-victims-in-2001-515051">Also read |&nbsp;'Grief is the price we pay for love': How UK's Queen Elizabeth II paid tribute to 9/11 victims in 2001</a>

The fire lasted for 99 days at Ground Zero and was entirely put out on December 19, 2001.

Christine Hanson, a two-year-old, was the youngest passenger on United Airlines Flight 172, the hijacked aircraft.&nbsp;

The US lost 343 firefighters of the New York City Fire Department, nearly half of duty deaths in the department's 100-year history.

48 countries organised ceremonies on December 11, 2001, to commemorate the victims.

The renowned World Trade Centre twin towers in New York City were struck by two aircraft. The fall of the building was believed to have been caused by the damage caused by the Twin Towers. However, the structure was hit by the third plane.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Even after 21 years, the memories of September 11, or 9/11, remain the same: bitter, horrific, and of one of the worst encounters a country has had with terrorists.

Even after 21 years, the memories of September 11, or 9/11, remain the same: bitter, horrific, and of one of the worst encounters a country has had with terrorists. This all began when, on September 11, 2001, two aircraft attacked the World Trade Center in New York, and a third aircraft crashed outside of Washington, DC, into the Pentagon while the fourth went down in Pennsylvania. Who did this? Al-Qaeda, an Islamic extremist organisation led by Osama bin Laden and known for its terror, hijacked four aircraft and used them as a means for suicide attacks in the United States. It was claimed that Laden provided funds for the attack. The attack claimed the lives of over 3,000 people and injured thousands more. Also read | 9/11 attacks and a money trail: How terrorists planned the devastating attacks Here are some facts you need to know about the 9/11 attack: The CIA had informed President Clinton in his daily brief on December 4, 1998, that Laden was preparing to hijack US aircraft and was planning to conduct strikes. The World Trade Centre was targeted earlier. On February 26, 1993, a bomb was placed in a car parked at the World Trade Centre, which when blasted claimed the lives of six people and injured over a thousand people. The Sunni terrorist, Ramzi Yousef, who deactivated the device, revealed that he intended to kill over 250,000 people, DNA reported. The US tried multiple attempts to kill Osama bin Laden before 9/11, but was delayed and then revived, but was hampered by military leaders' reservations about relying on Aghan tribal chiefs. Also read | 'Grief is the price we pay for love': How UK's Queen Elizabeth II paid tribute to 9/11 victims in 2001 The fire lasted for 99 days at Ground Zero and was entirely put out on December 19, 2001. Christine Hanson, a two-year-old, was the youngest passenger on United Airlines Flight 172, the hijacked aircraft. The US lost 343 firefighters of the New York City Fire Department, nearly half of duty deaths in the department's 100-year history. 48 countries organised ceremonies on December 11, 2001, to commemorate the victims. The renowned World Trade Centre twin towers in New York City were struck by two aircraft. The fall of the building was believed to have been caused by the damage caused by the Twin Towers. However, the structure was hit by the third plane. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

US: Recounting traumatic memories of 9/11, facts you didn't know about the September attack 

Cooperation between Chinese and Indonesian research institutions is becoming a significant factor in helping Beijing’s "soft power" enhance its image.

It is significant to highlight that Indonesians have a rising mistrust of China due to its assertiveness in the South China Sea, its treatment of Uyghurs in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, and its expanding activity there.

Through the Network of ASEAN-China Think Tanks (NACT), which has 10 Southeast Asian think tanks among its members, China primarily interacts with Indonesian think tanks. The idea of NACT was first initiated in 2013 by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to promote the China-ASEAN strategic partnership.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/no-3-leader-in-chinese-government-to-visit-russia-512809">Also read |&nbsp;China's number 3 leader Li Zhanshu to visit Russia next week</a>

Regular meetings and seminars are held by the NACT with its ASEAN-based member think tanks to discuss the status of China-funded projects and to suggest potential future areas of cooperation.

According to researchers, the think tank has received financing from the Chinese government for staff participation, courses, and workshops. They think that with this, China aims to expand its educational, media, and Islamic diplomacy in Indonesia through sponsoring and coordinating events at Indonesian think tanks.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/how-bidens-curbs-on-chips-to-china-is-part-of-broader-effort-512430">Also read |&nbsp;How Biden's curbs on chips to China is part of broader effort</a>

An Indonesian think tank that regularly collaborates with Chinese counterparts includes The Habibie Centre, the Centre for Chinese Studies, and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, in addition to the ASEAN Studies Centre (CSIS).

China has also collaborated with the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPIC) and the Chinese embassy in Jakarta to host various Chinese events.

However, in Beijing’s opinion, these think tanks can be regarded as a crucial platform to influence Indonesians' opinions and narratives.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Cooperation between Chinese and Indonesian research institutions is becoming a significant factor in helping Beijing’s "soft power" enhance its image. It is significant to highlight that Indonesians have a rising mistrust of China due to its assertiveness in the South China Sea, its treatment of Uyghurs in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, and its expanding activity there.

Cooperation between Chinese and Indonesian research institutions is becoming a significant factor in helping Beijing’s "soft power" enhance its image. It is significant to highlight that Indonesians have a rising mistrust of China due to its assertiveness in the South China Sea, its treatment of Uyghurs in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, and its expanding activity there. Through the Network of ASEAN-China Think Tanks (NACT), which has 10 Southeast Asian think tanks among its members, China primarily interacts with Indonesian think tanks. The idea of NACT was first initiated in 2013 by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to promote the China-ASEAN strategic partnership. Also read | China's number 3 leader Li Zhanshu to visit Russia next week Regular meetings and seminars are held by the NACT with its ASEAN-based member think tanks to discuss the status of China-funded projects and to suggest potential future areas of cooperation. According to researchers, the think tank has received financing from the Chinese government for staff participation, courses, and workshops. They think that with this, China aims to expand its educational, media, and Islamic diplomacy in Indonesia through sponsoring and coordinating events at Indonesian think tanks. Also read | How Biden's curbs on chips to China is part of broader effort An Indonesian think tank that regularly collaborates with Chinese counterparts includes The Habibie Centre, the Centre for Chinese Studies, and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, in addition to the ASEAN Studies Centre (CSIS). China has also collaborated with the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPIC) and the Chinese embassy in Jakarta to host various Chinese events. However, in Beijing’s opinion, these think tanks can be regarded as a crucial platform to influence Indonesians' opinions and narratives. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

China aims to influence Indonesians through its ‘think tank diplomacy’

As&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;students&nbsp;return for the new academic year, veteran&nbsp;teacher&nbsp;Wong is counting down the days until the political maelstrom sweeping the city leaves him no choice but to&nbsp;quit.

Wong, 34, fears he will soon join the exodus of teachers and&nbsp;students&nbsp;triggered by Beijing's tightening grip on&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong, which has started transforming local&nbsp;schools, according to multiple educators.

The latest government figures show more than 4,000 teachers left their jobs in the past&nbsp;school&nbsp;year, a five-year high and a 70 per cent spike from the year before.

"I have no faith in the future of&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;or that of the industry. It is hard to nurture a person in this environment," Wong, who asked to use just his surname, told AFP.

The political crackdown has coincided with the coronavirus pandemic, during which&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;has kept strict zero-Covid rules that fuelled further departures.&nbsp;

Students&nbsp;have pulled out of&nbsp;school&nbsp;in droves, with 30,000 fewer attending primary and secondary&nbsp;school&nbsp;in September 2021 compared to the preceding October.

Wong, who has taught for more than a decade, said five teenagers from his class of 32 withdrew halfway through a term to emigrate.

"The&nbsp;students&nbsp;are leaving not because they dislike the&nbsp;school, but because of&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong's environment."

Patriotic classrooms

China is remoulding once outspoken&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;in its own authoritarian image, following massive and sometimes violent democracy protests in 2019 in which youngsters played a key part.

Teachers have since been ordered to instil patriotism in&nbsp;students&nbsp;and comply with a Beijing-imposed national security law that has criminalised much dissent.

Curriculums are being tweaked to align more closely with Chinese Communist Party ideology.

Earlier this month, teachers were told to "study and learn the key messages" of a recent speech by President Xi Jinping.

Students&nbsp;and parents have also been encouraged to report teachers who might be breaching the security law.&nbsp;

Wong received a letter of reprimand from&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong's Education Bureau last year after his teaching materials analysing the pros and cons of civil disobedience drew anonymous complaints.

"It shattered the trust that was fundamental to teaching," he recalled.

Between 2019 and 2021,&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;authorities received 344 complaints against teachers in relation to the democracy protests, with 55 percent of cases found to be substantiated.

One high-school&nbsp;principal told AFP he would instruct staff to keep their heads down and comply with government guidelines to the letter.

"Everyone is being very careful... If some (teaching materials) may touch on political sensitivities, then we'll skirt around it," said the principal, who requested anonymity.

"Nobody wants trouble and the teachers don't want to be held personally responsible."

Lower standards?

Authorities have rejected the idea of an emigration wave and argue teachers choose to leave their posts for various reasons, including retirement and further study.

Hong&nbsp;Kong's education chief said&nbsp;schools&nbsp;were generally operating smoothly and there were enough qualified teachers despite a "slightly higher" attrition rate.

But a recent survey of 140&nbsp;schools&nbsp;showed each institution&nbsp;on average lost 32&nbsp;students&nbsp;and seven teachers over the past year.

Newspaper Ming Pao surveyed its classified section and found at least 200&nbsp;schools&nbsp;were still looking for teachers in late July. In previous years, most vacancies would be filled by the end of May.

Administrators say some&nbsp;schools&nbsp;have been forced to hire less-qualified candidates.

Schools&nbsp;are also competing to poach&nbsp;students, as their headcount often determines their government subsidies and protects against closure.&nbsp; 
 
And education is not the only sector affected by&nbsp;brain&nbsp;drain.

The city's labour force has dropped about six percent since 2018 to 3.75 million people, according to the latest official figures, the lowest number in nearly a decade.

A new generation of&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;teachers are now weighing options and assessing risks that come with their careers.

University graduate Mak, 23, has spent a year teaching English at a secondary&nbsp;school&nbsp;even though he does not have a&nbsp;teacher's diploma -- a fact his employer did not seem to mind.

"I'll continue teaching for the next few years, but not necessarily in the long term," he said.

Mak feels he has little control over what happens to his profession.

"There's not much that can be changed," he sighed.&nbsp;"You either&nbsp;submit, or&nbsp;quit."

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As Hong Kong students return for the new academic year, veteran teacher Wong is counting down the days until the political maelstrom sweeping the city leaves him no choice but to quit.

As Hong Kong students return for the new academic year, veteran teacher Wong is counting down the days until the political maelstrom sweeping the city leaves him no choice but to quit. Wong, 34, fears he will soon join the exodus of teachers and students triggered by Beijing's tightening grip on Hong Kong, which has started transforming local schools, according to multiple educators. The latest government figures show more than 4,000 teachers left their jobs in the past school year, a five-year high and a 70 per cent spike from the year before. "I have no faith in the future of Hong Kong or that of the industry. It is hard to nurture a person in this environment," Wong, who asked to use just his surname, told AFP. The political crackdown has coincided with the coronavirus pandemic, during which Hong Kong has kept strict zero-Covid rules that fuelled further departures. Students have pulled out of school in droves, with 30,000 fewer attending primary and secondary school in September 2021 compared to the preceding October. Wong, who has taught for more than a decade, said five teenagers from his class of 32 withdrew halfway through a term to emigrate. "The students are leaving not because they dislike the school, but because of Hong Kong's environment." Patriotic classrooms China is remoulding once outspoken Hong Kong in its own authoritarian image, following massive and sometimes violent democracy protests in 2019 in which youngsters played a key part. Teachers have since been ordered to instil patriotism in students and comply with a Beijing-imposed national security law that has criminalised much dissent. Curriculums are being tweaked to align more closely with Chinese Communist Party ideology. Earlier this month, teachers were told to "study and learn the key messages" of a recent speech by President Xi Jinping. Students and parents have also been encouraged to report teachers who might be breaching the security law. Wong received a letter of reprimand from Hong Kong's Education Bureau last year after his teaching materials analysing the pros and cons of civil disobedience drew anonymous complaints. "It shattered the trust that was fundamental to teaching," he recalled. Between 2019 and 2021, Hong Kong authorities received 344 complaints against teachers in relation to the democracy protests, with 55 percent of cases found to be substantiated. One high-school principal told AFP he would instruct staff to keep their heads down and comply with government guidelines to the letter. "Everyone is being very careful... If some (teaching materials) may touch on political sensitivities, then we'll skirt around it," said the principal, who requested anonymity. "Nobody wants trouble and the teachers don't want to be held personally responsible." Lower standards? Authorities have rejected the idea of an emigration wave and argue teachers choose to leave their posts for various reasons, including retirement and further study. Hong Kong's education chief said schools were generally operating smoothly and there were enough qualified teachers despite a "slightly higher" attrition rate. But a recent survey of 140 schools showed each institution on average lost 32 students and seven teachers over the past year. Newspaper Ming Pao surveyed its classified section and found at least 200 schools were still looking for teachers in late July. In previous years, most vacancies would be filled by the end of May. Administrators say some schools have been forced to hire less-qualified candidates. Schools are also competing to poach students, as their headcount often determines their government subsidies and protects against closure. And education is not the only sector affected by brain drain. The city's labour force has dropped about six percent since 2018 to 3.75 million people, according to the latest official figures, the lowest number in nearly a decade. A new generation of Hong Kong teachers are now weighing options and assessing risks that come with their careers. University graduate Mak, 23, has spent a year teaching English at a secondary school even though he does not have a teacher's diploma -- a fact his employer did not seem to mind. "I'll continue teaching for the next few years, but not necessarily in the long term," he said. Mak feels he has little control over what happens to his profession. "There's not much that can be changed," he sighed. "You either submit, or quit."

'Submit or quit': Hong Kong schools witness exodus of teachers and students

The United Arab Emirates said Sunday that its ambassador to Tehran would resume duties within days, six years after ties were downgraded in support of Saudi Arabia.

Ambassador Saif Mohammed al-Zaabi "will resume his duties at the&nbsp;UAE&nbsp;embassy in the Islamic republic of Iran in the coming days to contribute to further advancing bilateral relations", the Emirati foreign ministry said in a statement.

The move seeks to "achieve the common interests of the two countries and the wider region", it added.

With Middle East political alignments shifting,&nbsp;UAE&nbsp;presidential adviser Anwar Gargash in mid-July called for an easing of regional tensions and signalled the ambassador's possible return.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/india-uae-cepa-encourages-trade-through-tariff-elimination-says-uaes-economy-minister-marri-507372">India, UAE CEPA encourages trade through tariff elimination, says UAE's Economy Minister Marri</a>

The&nbsp;UAE&nbsp;scaled back its ties with the Islamic republic in 2016, in solidarity with Saudi Arabia, after Iranian protesters attacked the kingdom's diplomatic missions in Iran following Riyadh's execution of Shiite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

Other Arab Gulf countries including Kuwait made similar moves.

Iran said earlier this month that Kuwait had sent its first ambassador to Tehran since 2016.

In July, the Emirati and Iranian foreign ministers held a telephone conversation and discussed boosting ties,&nbsp;UAE&nbsp;state media reported at the time.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/icmr-detects-monkeypox-virus-strain-a2-among-uae-travellers-what-does-it-mean-504446">ICMR detects monkeypox virus strain A.2 among UAE travellers. What does it mean?</a>

The oil-rich&nbsp;UAE&nbsp;has previously said that Arab Gulf states should take part in "collective diplomacy" to reach an agreement with Iran, which has been in talks with Western powers on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal.

On Tuesday the European Union and United States said they were studying Iran's response to a "final" draft of such an agreement.

In 2020, the&nbsp;UAE&nbsp;established diplomatic relations with Israel, a move which Tehran condemned.

But Abu Dhabi has been pursuing a policy of rapprochement with former regional rivals including Qatar and Turkey as well as Iran, with which it had maintained strong economic ties despite the diplomatic downgrade.&nbsp;

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The United Arab Emirates said Sunday that its ambassador to Tehran would resume duties within days, six years after ties were downgraded in support of Saudi Arabia.

The United Arab Emirates said Sunday that its ambassador to Tehran would resume duties within days, six years after ties were downgraded in support of Saudi Arabia. Ambassador Saif Mohammed al-Zaabi "will resume his duties at the UAE embassy in the Islamic republic of Iran in the coming days to contribute to further advancing bilateral relations", the Emirati foreign ministry said in a statement. The move seeks to "achieve the common interests of the two countries and the wider region", it added. With Middle East political alignments shifting, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash in mid-July called for an easing of regional tensions and signalled the ambassador's possible return. Also read | India, UAE CEPA encourages trade through tariff elimination, says UAE's Economy Minister Marri The UAE scaled back its ties with the Islamic republic in 2016, in solidarity with Saudi Arabia, after Iranian protesters attacked the kingdom's diplomatic missions in Iran following Riyadh's execution of Shiite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Other Arab Gulf countries including Kuwait made similar moves. Iran said earlier this month that Kuwait had sent its first ambassador to Tehran since 2016. In July, the Emirati and Iranian foreign ministers held a telephone conversation and discussed boosting ties, UAE state media reported at the time. Also read | ICMR detects monkeypox virus strain A.2 among UAE travellers. What does it mean? The oil-rich UAE has previously said that Arab Gulf states should take part in "collective diplomacy" to reach an agreement with Iran, which has been in talks with Western powers on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal. On Tuesday the European Union and United States said they were studying Iran's response to a "final" draft of such an agreement. In 2020, the UAE established diplomatic relations with Israel, a move which Tehran condemned. But Abu Dhabi has been pursuing a policy of rapprochement with former regional rivals including Qatar and Turkey as well as Iran, with which it had maintained strong economic ties despite the diplomatic downgrade. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

UAE ambassador to return to Iran after six-year absence

When Liz Truss and Nicola Sturgeon met at Cop26 last year, the Scottish first minister claimed that the UK leadership candidate asked her about how to secure an interview in Vogue magazine.

The minister recalled meeting her favourite leadership candidate at the international climate summit while speaking at an Edinburgh fringe event on Wednesday. Sturgeon admitted to the audience, "I had just done, and this is going to sound really up myself but I don’t mean to … I’d just been interviewed by Vogue, as you do … that was the main thing she wanted to talk to me about, she wanted to know how she could get into Vogue," The Guardian reported.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/both-truss-sunak-willing-to-serve-on-the-others-cabinet-in-case-of-loss-505375">Both Truss, Sunak willing to serve on the other’s cabinet in case of loss</a>

Sturgeon responded, saying that Vogue asked her to do the interview.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/uk-liz-truss-makes-u-turn-on-pledge-first-major-campaign-misstep-502940">UK: Liz Truss makes U-turn on pledge, first major campaign misstep</a>

However, Sturgeon, during the event, responded to the remarks made by her&nbsp;favourite candidate. Liz Truss labelled the Scottish minister as an ‘attention seeker’ and asked people to ignore her. During her second independence referendum, Truss said, "She’s an attention seeker, that’s what she is. What we need to do is show the people of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales what we’re delivering for them and make sure that all of our government policies apply right across the United Kingdom," The Guardian reported.

In a conversation with a political analyst during the fringe event, Sturgeon said that when she told Truss that she’s been featured in Vogue twice, Truss looked as if she ‘swallowed a wasp.’ The minister said that she still remembers the instance because first, they met at the largest climate change conference and secondly because Truss was mostly interested in the Vogue.

(With inputs from agencies)

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When Liz Truss and Nicola Sturgeon met at Cop26 last year, the Scottish first minister claimed that the UK leadership candidate asked her about how to secure an interview in Vogue magazine.

When Liz Truss and Nicola Sturgeon met at Cop26 last year, the Scottish first minister claimed that the UK leadership candidate asked her about how to secure an interview in Vogue magazine. The minister recalled meeting her favourite leadership candidate at the international climate summit while speaking at an Edinburgh fringe event on Wednesday. Sturgeon admitted to the audience, "I had just done, and this is going to sound really up myself but I don’t mean to … I’d just been interviewed by Vogue, as you do … that was the main thing she wanted to talk to me about, she wanted to know how she could get into Vogue," The Guardian reported. Also read | Both Truss, Sunak willing to serve on the other’s cabinet in case of loss Sturgeon responded, saying that Vogue asked her to do the interview. Also read | UK: Liz Truss makes U-turn on pledge, first major campaign misstep However, Sturgeon, during the event, responded to the remarks made by her favourite candidate. Liz Truss labelled the Scottish minister as an ‘attention seeker’ and asked people to ignore her. During her second independence referendum, Truss said, "She’s an attention seeker, that’s what she is. What we need to do is show the people of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales what we’re delivering for them and make sure that all of our government policies apply right across the United Kingdom," The Guardian reported. In a conversation with a political analyst during the fringe event, Sturgeon said that when she told Truss that she’s been featured in Vogue twice, Truss looked as if she ‘swallowed a wasp.’ The minister said that she still remembers the instance because first, they met at the largest climate change conference and secondly because Truss was mostly interested in the Vogue. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

'She wanted to know how she could get into Vogue': Nicola Sturgeon says about Liz Truss

Is&nbsp;Joe&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;too&nbsp;old&nbsp;to be&nbsp;president?

It's a question that has provided ample fodder for Republicans and right-wing outlets, while Democrats and most of the American media have been reluctant to broach it.

But as the oldest person ever elected to the top US office prepares for a grueling Middle East tour, debate is mounting over his apparent desire to run again in 2024.

The issue puts Democrats in a difficult position as there is no clear alternative to&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;-- who turns 80 on November 20.

"He's fit to be&nbsp;president&nbsp;right now. But he's&nbsp;too&nbsp;old&nbsp;for the next election," The Atlantic concluded in recent article, while sharply criticizing right-wing claims that&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;is suffering from dementia.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-administration-says-doctors-must-provide-abortion-services-if-a-mothers-life-is-at-danger-496639">Biden administration says doctors must provide abortion services if a mother’s life is at danger</a>

Disenchantment with&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;runs deep inside his own camp, with a New York Times poll released Monday showing that 64 per cent of Democratic voters would prefer another candidate in 2024. His age was cited as the main reason for those who want a change.

The&nbsp;president&nbsp;would be 82 at the beginning of a second term, and 86 at its conclusion. By comparison, Ronald Reagan was 77 when he left office in 1989.

Biden's "age has become an uncomfortable issue for him and his party," The New York Times wrote on Saturday, describing a White House that has become protective, even anxious.

Like his predecessors,&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;has exhausting responsibilities, from the war in Ukraine and runaway inflation to gun violence plaguing the country and a fiercely conservative Supreme Court.

Quiet weekends

There are certainly many Americans who envy his health, with a checkup last November concluding that he is a "vigorous" man suffering from mild problems with acid reflux and arthritis.

But his appearance betrays the heavy toll taken by the office: his white hair is increasingly thin, his gait cautious.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/gaffe-porn-are-those-making-fun-of-joe-biden-ageist-472738">Gaffe-porn: Are those making fun of Joe Biden ageist?</a>

He sometimes loses his train of thought or stumbles while reading from a teleprompter, and the stutter he overcame as a child periodically resurfaces.

The White House has several times had to walk back inopportune remarks by the&nbsp;president&nbsp;on sensitive diplomatic issues.

Biden&nbsp;gives fewer news conferences and interviews than his predecessors, preferring to publish op-eds in newspapers, the content of which can be carefully controlled.

On the weekends, he often disappears to one of his two homes in Delaware for two or three days. White House correspondents only see him once, at a distance, when he goes to mass.

And when G7 leaders posed for a photo at a June summit, it was impossible to ignore the age gap between&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;and Canadian premier Justin Trudeau, 50, or French&nbsp;President&nbsp;Emmanuel Macron, 44.

Watch |&nbsp;United States: Biden heckled during a White House event by Parkland shooting victim's father

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&nbsp;'Life begins at 80!'

But his aides defend him vigorously, with senior advisor Mike Donilon telling The New York Times that the&nbsp;president&nbsp;wants "to spend four hours planning for how we hit the ground running on domestic policy, when all much younger staff want to do is sleep" on the plane.

Biden, after a minor but much-publicized bike crash on June 18, made a point of getting back in the saddle on Sunday and joking about his misadventure with reporters.

The&nbsp;president&nbsp;is far from the exception in American politics, where many key players are over 70, including his predecessor Donald Trump, who is currently 76.

Trump -- a potential 2024 Republican candidate -- knows the age card plays well, and is keen to use it.

"There are many people in their 80s, and even 90s, that are as good and sharp as ever.&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;is not one of them, but it has little to do with his age. In actuality, life begins at 80!" Trump wrote on his social media platform.

In touch with young voters?&nbsp;

Beyond health issues, there is also the political question of how a&nbsp;president&nbsp;born during World War II can remain in touch with younger Americans.

How does he respond, for instance, to young demonstrators who protested in front of the White House against the Supreme Court removing the federal right to an abortion?

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/flood-of-guns-is-turning-us-communities-into-killing-fields-says-biden-496477">Flood of guns is turning US communities into 'killing fields', says Biden</a>

Biden&nbsp;did not have a clear answer, saying: "Keep protesting. Keep making your point. It's critically important."

According to a Morning Consult poll conducted from in April and May, only 43 percent of Democrats between the ages of 18 and 34 believe&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;is keeping his promises.

But who could replace him? Commentators are skeptical about the chances of 57-year-old&nbsp;Vice President&nbsp;Kamala Harris, who would be a natural candidate if&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;withdraws.

A member of the party's younger guard, such as California Governor Gavin Newsom, 54, or 40-year-old&nbsp;Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, would be another option.

But a frontrunner has yet to emerge from the Democratic camp.

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Is Joe Biden too old to be president? It's a question that has provided ample fodder for Republicans and right-wing outlets, while Democrats and most of the American media have been reluctant to broach it.

Is Joe Biden too old to be president? It's a question that has provided ample fodder for Republicans and right-wing outlets, while Democrats and most of the American media have been reluctant to broach it. But as the oldest person ever elected to the top US office prepares for a grueling Middle East tour, debate is mounting over his apparent desire to run again in 2024. The issue puts Democrats in a difficult position as there is no clear alternative to Biden -- who turns 80 on November 20. "He's fit to be president right now. But he's too old for the next election," The Atlantic concluded in recent article, while sharply criticizing right-wing claims that Biden is suffering from dementia. Also read | Biden administration says doctors must provide abortion services if a mother’s life is at danger Disenchantment with Biden runs deep inside his own camp, with a New York Times poll released Monday showing that 64 per cent of Democratic voters would prefer another candidate in 2024. His age was cited as the main reason for those who want a change. The president would be 82 at the beginning of a second term, and 86 at its conclusion. By comparison, Ronald Reagan was 77 when he left office in 1989. Biden's "age has become an uncomfortable issue for him and his party," The New York Times wrote on Saturday, describing a White House that has become protective, even anxious. Like his predecessors, Biden has exhausting responsibilities, from the war in Ukraine and runaway inflation to gun violence plaguing the country and a fiercely conservative Supreme Court. Quiet weekends There are certainly many Americans who envy his health, with a checkup last November concluding that he is a "vigorous" man suffering from mild problems with acid reflux and arthritis. But his appearance betrays the heavy toll taken by the office: his white hair is increasingly thin, his gait cautious. Also Read | Gaffe-porn: Are those making fun of Joe Biden ageist? He sometimes loses his train of thought or stumbles while reading from a teleprompter, and the stutter he overcame as a child periodically resurfaces. The White House has several times had to walk back inopportune remarks by the president on sensitive diplomatic issues. Biden gives fewer news conferences and interviews than his predecessors, preferring to publish op-eds in newspapers, the content of which can be carefully controlled. On the weekends, he often disappears to one of his two homes in Delaware for two or three days. White House correspondents only see him once, at a distance, when he goes to mass. And when G7 leaders posed for a photo at a June summit, it was impossible to ignore the age gap between Biden and Canadian premier Justin Trudeau, 50, or French President Emmanuel Macron, 44. Watch | United States: Biden heckled during a White House event by Parkland shooting victim's father 'Life begins at 80!' But his aides defend him vigorously, with senior advisor Mike Donilon telling The New York Times that the president wants "to spend four hours planning for how we hit the ground running on domestic policy, when all much younger staff want to do is sleep" on the plane. Biden, after a minor but much-publicized bike crash on June 18, made a point of getting back in the saddle on Sunday and joking about his misadventure with reporters. The president is far from the exception in American politics, where many key players are over 70, including his predecessor Donald Trump, who is currently 76. Trump -- a potential 2024 Republican candidate -- knows the age card plays well, and is keen to use it. "There are many people in their 80s, and even 90s, that are as good and sharp as ever. Biden is not one of them, but it has little to do with his age. In actuality, life begins at 80!" Trump wrote on his social media platform. In touch with young voters? Beyond health issues, there is also the political question of how a president born during World War II can remain in touch with younger Americans. How does he respond, for instance, to young demonstrators who protested in front of the White House against the Supreme Court removing the federal right to an abortion? Also read | Flood of guns is turning US communities into 'killing fields', says Biden Biden did not have a clear answer, saying: "Keep protesting. Keep making your point. It's critically important." According to a Morning Consult poll conducted from in April and May, only 43 percent of Democrats between the ages of 18 and 34 believe Biden is keeping his promises. But who could replace him? Commentators are skeptical about the chances of 57-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris, who would be a natural candidate if Biden withdraws. A member of the party's younger guard, such as California Governor Gavin Newsom, 54, or 40-year-old Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, would be another option. But a frontrunner has yet to emerge from the Democratic camp. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Not just a number: Joe Biden's age in the spotlight

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