Author: Ayesha Mehta

In what authorities described as a terror assault, two explosions occurred next to the grave of military leader Qasem Soleimani on Wednesday in the Iranian city of Kerman, killing at least 95 people. The explosions happened four years after Soleimani was killed in an American airstrike, and state TV said that the blasts were at least partially caused by explosives. Tensions in the region have risen since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, and this might exacerbate them. According to Iran's official news agency IRNA, Iranian Health Minister Bahram Eynollahi lowered the death toll down from 103 on Thursday to 95 and stated that 211 people had been wounded. As pilgrims were visiting the site, the first explosion occurred 2,300 feet (700 meters) from Soleimani's grave, an...

As early as this week, the identities of several dozen individuals connected to Jeffrey Epstein are anticipated to come to light, potentially shattering the veil of secrecy that had protected a large portion of the alleged sex trafficker's well-known network of acquaintances and business associates from public scrutiny. More than four years have passed since Epstein, a convicted sex offender who yet maintained an elite company, passed away in jail while awaiting federal sex trafficking charges. The anticipated discoveries in a cache of court records have surfaced. Many of Epstein's accusers and friends had their names erased from court records for years, and they were only identified as John or Jane Does. However, a federal court in New York ruled this month that the records be ma...

Anyone who has travelled to Italy knows that there are unwritten conventions that must be followed, and the most significant of these are related to food. After 11 a.m., a cappuccino? only visitors should use. Bolognese spaghetti? A terrifying idea. On your pizza, pineapple? Heresy, that is, up until this point. But according to Gino Sorbillo, the famed Naples pizzaiolo (pizza master), who has introduced the feared "ananas" to his menu on Via dei Tribunali, the most famous pizza strip in the pizza capital of the world, 2024 may just be the year that pineapple pizza finally makes its way to Italy. "Margherita con Ananas," a creation by Sorbillo, costs seven euros ($7.70). This isn't your typical Hawaiian pizza, though; instead, it's a Bianca, devoid of the tomato layer, topped with th...

In what authorities described as a terror assault, twin explosions near the grave of military leader Qasem Soleimani on Wednesday left at least 73 people dead and 170 injured in the Iranian city of Kerman, according to state television. As pilgrims were visiting the shrine, the first explosion occurred 700 meters from Soleimani's grave, and the second occurred a kilometer (0.6 miles) distant, according to IRNA. Soleimani was assassinated on Wednesday, April 4, 2017, at Baghdad International Airport by a US airstrike that was authorized by the previous president, Donald Trump. The Deputy Governor for Political and Security was quoted by IRNA as adding that it's not apparent if a terrorist assault or a gas explosion caused the tragedy. Allen Weisselberg Former CFO of Trump Organi...

At the end of the previous year, BYD surpassed Tesla to become the world's largest seller of electric cars (EVs), capping an incredible ascent for the Chinese automaker. In the three months leading up to December 31, it produced more completely electric cars than Tesla for the first time, and it cut Elon Musk's company's sales lead for the whole year. Thus, what allowed a relatively unknown Chinese battery manufacturer to rise to prominence and overtake Tesla as its main rival? BYD, a modest former scholar who is still in charge of the business, was created in 1995 and is headquartered in the Chinese megacity of Shenzhen. The initials BYD, according to Wang, stand for nothing specific. To differentiate it from other businesses, he claimed to have gone with a "rather strange" name....

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, will make his third statement since October 7. The speech was supposed to honor Iranian Revolutionary Guard chief Qasem Soleimani, who passed away in 2020 after a US airstrike, but it was given the day after a top Hamas commander, Saleh Al-Arouri, was murdered in a strike in Beirut. For background, Hezbollah is an Islamist movement supported by Iran that possesses some of the strongest paramilitary groups in the Middle East. With its primary base on the border between Israel and Lebanon, the group has the potential to play a major role in the Hamas-Israel fight and ignite a larger regional conflict. Before October 7, Nasrallah had not made a public speech in person since a month-long conflict broke out between Israel and Lebanon in...

The closest and most determined opponents of Donald Trump in the primary election are intensifying their assaults, charging him with lying about them, being afraid of debates, and even being a disaster as president. However, with just 12 days until the Iowa caucuses, governors Ron DeSantis of Florida and Nikki Haley of South Carolina, the former governor of South Carolina, would not dare condemn the front-runner Republican for his attack on American democracy, which is his worst weakness and one that might trip him up in a general election and haunt him in history. Their hesitation might be interpreted as unethical behavior throughout the campaign and indicate a lack of political bravery as Trump becomes more and more dictatorial in the lead-up to a potential presidency that he promi...

According to analysts, Iran, which has supplied and funded Hamas, and other Hamas officials will take note of the death of Hamas commander Saleh al-Arouri in a purported drone attack in Beirut. Al-Arouri was a crucial player who had assisted in mending Hamas' ties with Iran and was targeted by Israel even before the current war started. He was the commander of Hamas' military branch in the West Bank and the deputy head of the organization's political council. He and six other members of the group perished on Tuesday as a result of a drone attack that struck his residence in a southern Beirut suburb. Arouri was a very significant individual, both in terms of general leadership and his support for violence, according to Matthew Levitt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy th...

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Wednesday that the Houthi rebels in Yemen launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles into the southern Red Sea on Tuesday night. According to a statement from CENTCOM, no damage was recorded. As part of Hamas' conflict with Israel, the rebels claim that the Houthis are supporting the terrorist organization, and this strike is the most recent among hundreds of attacks on commercial vessels that have occurred since October 7. The strikes put the lives of innocent sailors in jeopardy and continued to "disturb the free flow of international commerce," according to CENTCOM, which also stated that "multiple commercial ships none of the residents reported any damage, however, some reported the impact of the ASBMs into the nearby water." ...