has launched its most intensive attack on positions in neighbouring since the civil war began in 2011, bringing two of the region’s major powers closer to the brink of direct confrontation than ever before.The early morning bombardment killed 23 people, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said. It was issued in response to what the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said was the first ever Iranian rocket attack on its troops, in the Golan Heights.The confrontation marks the most significant military skirmish between the two enemies to date amid a backdrop of escalating regional...…has launched its most intensive attack on positions in neighbouring since the civil war began in 2011, bringing two of the region’s major powers closer to the brink of direct confrontation than ever before.The early morning bombardment killed 23 people, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said. It was issued in response to what the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said was the first ever Iranian rocket attack on its troops, in the Golan Heights.The confrontation marks the most significant military skirmish between the two enemies to date amid a backdrop of escalating regional...WW…

Horrific pain and suffering inflicted on bred at farms supplying major UK supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Aldi has been claimed after activists released undercover filming.Videos taken just before slaughter shows birds are struggling to walk as their legs buckle and they collapse under their weight while they flap their wings helplessly.Bred to grow faster, they often become lame, suffer heart problems and skin diseases.Other clips show the animals cramped in indoor farms with barely any room to move, with some pressed against walls and other seemingly standing on each other,...…Horrific pain and suffering inflicted on bred at farms supplying major UK supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Aldi has been claimed after activists released undercover filming.Videos taken just before slaughter shows birds are struggling to walk as their legs buckle and they collapse under their weight while they flap their wings helplessly.Bred to grow faster, they often become lame, suffer heart problems and skin diseases.Other clips show the animals cramped in indoor farms with barely any room to move, with some pressed against walls and other seemingly standing on each other,...WW…

In a field beside an abandoned railway station close to the Turkish border in northern Syria, Kurdish fighters are retraining to withstand Turkish air strikes. “We acted like a regular army when we were fighting Daesh [Isis] with US air support,” says Rojvan, a veteran Kurdish commander of the People’s Protection Units (YPG). “But now it is us who may be under Turkish air attack and we will have to behave more like guerrillas.”Rojvan and his brigade have just returned from 45 days fighting Isis in Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria and are waiting orders which may redeploy them to face...…In a field beside an abandoned railway station close to the Turkish border in northern Syria, Kurdish fighters are retraining to withstand Turkish air strikes. “We acted like a regular army when we were fighting Daesh [Isis] with US air support,” says Rojvan, a veteran Kurdish commander of the People’s Protection Units (YPG). “But now it is us who may be under Turkish air attack and we will have to behave more like guerrillas.”Rojvan and his brigade have just returned from 45 days fighting Isis in Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria and are waiting orders which may redeploy them to face...WW…

Sieges are a merciless business, never more so than in Syria. As a UN aid convoy entered Eastern Ghouta, the World Health Organisation said that Syrian government security had forced the removal from its trucks of “all trauma kits, surgical, dialysis sessions and insulin”. Some 70 per cent of the medical supplies being sent were rejected according to a WHO official.There is something disgustingly mean and vicious in targeting those who will die without dialysis or insulin. Depriving the sick of their last hope of life illuminates in the grimmest of ways how the siege of Eastern Ghouta, as...…Sieges are a merciless business, never more so than in Syria. As a UN aid convoy entered Eastern Ghouta, the World Health Organisation said that Syrian government security had forced the removal from its trucks of “all trauma kits, surgical, dialysis sessions and insulin”. Some 70 per cent of the medical supplies being sent were rejected according to a WHO official.There is something disgustingly mean and vicious in targeting those who will die without dialysis or insulin. Depriving the sick of their last hope of life illuminates in the grimmest of ways how the siege of Eastern Ghouta, as...WW…

has lashed out at teenager after the environmental activist was named Time magazine’s person of the year - claiming she needed to "work on her anger management problem".The teenager was lauded by the US magazine for having launched a grassroots campaign that became an international movement to hold governments to account over climate policyHowever Mr Trump - who has previously attacked the teenager for her the stern rebukes she has issued to the international community - referred to the move as "ridiculous" on Twitter.The president wrote on Twitter: “So ridiculous. Greta must work on her...…has lashed out at teenager after the environmental activist was named Time magazine’s person of the year - claiming she needed to "work on her anger management problem".The teenager was lauded by the US magazine for having launched a grassroots campaign that became an international movement to hold governments to account over climate policyHowever Mr Trump - who has previously attacked the teenager for her the stern rebukes she has issued to the international community - referred to the move as "ridiculous" on Twitter.The president wrote on Twitter: “So ridiculous. Greta must work on her...WW…

employees listen to customers’ audio recordings on Google Home smart speakers, the technology giant has admitted.Language experts are employed to analyse “snippets” of recordings made by users, which Google claims helps improve its voice recognition technology.This is then used to develop the Google Assistant artificial intelligence system, which is used in its Google Home smart speakers and Android smartphones.The assistant understands and responds to voice commands given to it, answering queries about the news and weather as well as being able to control other internet-connected devices...…employees listen to customers’ audio recordings on Google Home smart speakers, the technology giant has admitted.Language experts are employed to analyse “snippets” of recordings made by users, which Google claims helps improve its voice recognition technology.This is then used to develop the Google Assistant artificial intelligence system, which is used in its Google Home smart speakers and Android smartphones.The assistant understands and responds to voice commands given to it, answering queries about the news and weather as well as being able to control other internet-connected devices...WW…

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has warned Americans not to trust Donald Trump if he says a coronavirus vaccine is safe, but to rely instead on the word of scientists like Dr Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the US government.“I mean, if doctors and scientists like Dr Fauci are taking that vaccine, of course I will take the vaccine. And I know many Americans will,” the Minnesota Democrat, who has close ties to the Democratic Socialists of America political organisation, said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday.“But we also know that we can't trust the president and take his...…Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has warned Americans not to trust Donald Trump if he says a coronavirus vaccine is safe, but to rely instead on the word of scientists like Dr Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the US government.“I mean, if doctors and scientists like Dr Fauci are taking that vaccine, of course I will take the vaccine. And I know many Americans will,” the Minnesota Democrat, who has close ties to the Democratic Socialists of America political organisation, said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday.“But we also know that we can't trust the president and take his...WW…

again pressed the powers of the Office of the President to a potential legal breaking point, declaring his “authority is total” – a contention experts say is false as the president appears poised to set up a legal showdown over opening the country amid the outbreak.Minutes later, his vice president, , would only say under questioning about whether he agreed, that in times of war and crisis the powers of the presidency are “unquestionably plenary”.But Mr Trump appeared to suggest the office has unlimited power at all times. Legal scholars on both side of the aisle dispute his contention,...…again pressed the powers of the Office of the President to a potential legal breaking point, declaring his “authority is total” – a contention experts say is false as the president appears poised to set up a legal showdown over opening the country amid the outbreak.Minutes later, his vice president, , would only say under questioning about whether he agreed, that in times of war and crisis the powers of the presidency are “unquestionably plenary”.But Mr Trump appeared to suggest the office has unlimited power at all times. Legal scholars on both side of the aisle dispute his contention,...WW…

A Republican consultant, while sitting a few feet from a silent , on Wednesday incorrectly accused two black journalists of killing more African Americans than the ., during a White House event on race relations, was in the middle of slamming media outlets and journalists when he singled out 's and 's . Like Mr Jackson, both cable news hosts are black. Mr Jackson accused the duo of "putting more poison into the black community than any drug dealer."He also contended, without any evidence, that Mr Lemon and Ms Reid are guilty of "killing more black folks than any white person with a sheet...…A Republican consultant, while sitting a few feet from a silent , on Wednesday incorrectly accused two black journalists of killing more African Americans than the ., during a White House event on race relations, was in the middle of slamming media outlets and journalists when he singled out 's and 's . Like Mr Jackson, both cable news hosts are black. Mr Jackson accused the duo of "putting more poison into the black community than any drug dealer."He also contended, without any evidence, that Mr Lemon and Ms Reid are guilty of "killing more black folks than any white person with a sheet...WW…

has extended its lockdown for a further four weeks until 11 May, has announced.In his third televised address about the coronavirus pandemic, the president admitted that France had not been prepared for the crisis and that there had been “failings and insufficiencies” in healthcare systems and elderly care facilities.There have been more than 135,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in France, resulting in 14,967 deaths. Only the US, Spain and Italy have had more confirmed cases of the deadly virus.Mr Macron praised paramedics, nurses and other frontline workers, as well as “all of the French...…has extended its lockdown for a further four weeks until 11 May, has announced.In his third televised address about the coronavirus pandemic, the president admitted that France had not been prepared for the crisis and that there had been “failings and insufficiencies” in healthcare systems and elderly care facilities.There have been more than 135,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in France, resulting in 14,967 deaths. Only the US, Spain and Italy have had more confirmed cases of the deadly virus.Mr Macron praised paramedics, nurses and other frontline workers, as well as “all of the French...WW…