Author: Corey Marc Mendoza

Deborah Matias and her husband Shlomi died protecting their son from gunmen who broke into their home. They are among 31 Americans and six Canadians known to have been killed in the Hamas attacks. “She was so full of life,” said her father, Ilan Troen in a BBC interview. “She could have become a doctor but she once said to me ‘Dad, I have to do music because it’s in my soul.” His daughter, a 50-year-old musician from Missouri, and her husband fell on top of their 16-year-old son Rotem after their kibbutz near the border with Gaza came under…

US President Joe Biden’s administration is to build a section of border wall in southern Texas in an effort to stop rising levels of immigration. About 20 miles (32km) will be built in Starr County along its border with Mexico, where officials report high numbers of crossings. Building a border wall was a signature policy of Donald Trump as president and fiercely opposed by Democrats. In 2020, Mr Biden promised he would not build another foot of wall if elected. ADVERTISEMENT His administration passed a proclamation soon after taking office that said building a wall across the southern border “is not a…

A judge in Florida has ruled in favor of voting rights groups that filed a lawsuit against a congressional redistricting map approved by Ron DeSantis in 2022. Voting rights groups had criticized the map for diluting political power in Black communities. In the ruling, Leon county circuit judge J Lee Marsh sent the map back to the Florida legislature to be redrawn in a way that complies with the state’s constitution. “Under the stipulated facts (in the lawsuit), plaintiffs have shown that the enacted plan results in the diminishment of Black voters’ ability to elect their candidate of choice in violation of the Florida…

A 3-year-old child riding one of Texas’ migrant buses has died while on the way to Chicago, officials have said, the first time the state has announced a death since it began shuttling thousands of refugees and migrants from the US-Mexico border last year. Texas authorities confirmed a child’s death in a statement on Friday but did not say where the child was from or why they became ill. CBS News reported that she was a girl from Venezuela. “Every loss of life is a tragedy,” the Texas Division of Emergency Management said in a statement. “Once the child presented with health…

A US judge will hear an appeal from a conservative think tank which argues that the Duke of Sussex’s visa application should be made public following revelations of past drug use. The federal court hearing will take place in Washington DC on Tuesday and will be open to media. Prince Harry wrote of using marijuana, cocaine and psychedelic mushrooms in his memoir Spare, which was released in January. This is significant because past drug use may be considered grounds to deny a US visa application, although in reality the situation is more complex. The US hearing is separate to the…

An explosion at a chocolate factory in West Reading, Pa., on Friday has killed three people and left four missing, authorities have said. Police Chief Wayne Holben had earlier said rescuers found one person alive, offering hope for finding more as rescue efforts continue. The explosion just before 5 p.m. Friday at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant destroyed one building and damaged another nearby. The cause of the explosion is under investigation, Mayor Samantha Kaag said. Rescuers are moving debris and using canines to search for the remaining five missing people. BREAKING: Massive #explosion at the RMPalmer Factory in West Redding. Our weather…

Ask a water expert if California’s drought is finally done, and the answers sound something like this: “Yes and no.” “Kind of.” “Depends what you mean by drought.” The state has been deluged by storms this winter, hit by 12 atmospheric rivers that have led to evacuation orders, rising rivers and broken levees. In some parts of the Sierra Nevada, more than 55 feet of snow have fallen. With reservoirs filling up, many Californians are eager to put the severe, 3-year drought behind them. A major water supplier in Southern California recently lifted mandatory conservation rules that limited outdoor watering. Large parts of the…

Moldova, a small European nation to Ukraine’s western border, has found itself increasingly caught in the crosshairs of Russia’s war, following the collapse of its government last week. President Maia Sandu on Monday accused Russia of plotting a coup to overthrow her pro-European Union government using “foreign saboteurs.” Sandu said authorities had confirmed allegations first voiced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week, who warned his intelligence agencies have uncovered “a detailed Russian plan to undermine the political situation in Moldova.” Analysts said it is entirely possible that Moscow is using Moldova — and separatist groups in its pro-Russian breakaway…

The lawyer of embattled MEP Marc Tarabella has requested the dismissal of the Belgian judge leading the investigation into the cash-for-favours scheme that allegedly involved cash payments from Qatar and Morocco to influence the European Parliament. Tarabella, who used to sit with the parliament’s socialist group, was detained last week and charged with participation in a criminal organisation, corruption and money laundering. His lawyer, Maxim Töller, claims the investigating magistrate, Michel Claise, is biased and has infringed Tarabella’s presumption of innocence by assuming the lawmaker shifted his political positions on Qatar after the alleged cash exchanges began to take place…