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France should take back the Statue of Liberty because the US no longer represents the values that led France to offer the statue, a French Euro-deputy said Sunday. "Give us back the Statue of Liberty", centre-left politician Raphael Glucksmann said at a convention of his Place Publique centre-left movement. "We're going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: 'Give us back the Statue of Liberty,'" he told cheering supporters. "'We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home,'" he added. The Statue of Liberty was unveiled in New York City's harbour on October 28, 1886 for the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence as a gift from the French people to America. It designed by Frenchman Auguste Bartholdi. Paris does have a far smaller copy of the statue on a small island...

Yousef, a 36-year-old father of five from northern Gaza, recounted his harrowing experience of being used as a human shield by Israeli soldiers during the recent conflict to Al Jazeera. Yousef's ordeal began when he was separated from his family at the Hamad School in Beit Lahiya, where they had taken shelter. His wife, Amal, had given birth to their youngest child just a week earlier, and the family had been forced to flee their home due to the intense bombing and shelling. As Yousef was taken by Israeli soldiers, he was forced to accompany them on a search mission for fighters in nearby buildings. ""The realisation that I was being used as a human shield was terrifying." Yousef said, recalling the terror he felt as he was forced to open doors and enter classrooms, with soldiers following behind him, ready to shoot. "I was deeply worried about my wife and children. I didn't know anything about them," Yousef recounted. "My wife had given birth ...

Canada is reviewing a major purchase of US-made F-35 combat planes amid serious tensions with the Trump administration, a spokesperson for the Canadian defence ministry told AFP on Saturday. That announcement came two days after Portugal said it too was reexamining a possible purchase of American F-35 fighter jets amid rising international anger over the tariff war President Donald Trump has launched and his wavering support for the Atlantic alliance. Trump rattled America's northern neighbor by imposing 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian products before agreeing to suspend levies on Canadian exports covered by a North American trade pact.  And he has regularly infuriated Canadians by suggesting their country become the 51st US state. In one of his first official acts since taking office Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney has asked the defence ministry "to determine if the F-35 contract, as it stands, is the best investment for Canada, and if there are other options that c...

Newly sworn-in Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday said Canada will "never" be absorbed into the United States, rejecting President Donald Trump's annexation threats. Canada "will never, ever, in any way, shape or form, be part of the United States," Carney said after taking the oath to become Canada's 24th prime minister, while also voicing hope his government could find ways "to work together" with the Trump administration. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) from NDTV News-World-news https://ift.tt/vKFANsh

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday called on Ukrainian troops fighting in the Kursk region to surrender, after US President Donald Trump urged him to "spare" the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. Trump and Putin said that the Russian army had Ukrainian forces surrounded there -- claims rejected by Kyiv, even as President Volodymyr Zelensky conceded that his forces were coming under increasing pressure. Russia has mounted a rapid counteroffensive over the last week, recapturing swathes of land and settlements in the western border region from Ukraine. "We are sympathetic to President Trump's call," Putin said in televised remarks. "If they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and dignified treatment," he added. "In order to effectively implement the US president's call, (there needs to be) a corresponding order from Ukraine's military-political leadership to its military to lay down their arms and surrende...

Heavy rain swelled rivers and flooded streets in an area near Florence on Friday, with authorities issuing a red weather alert for the historic Italian city and its surroundings and urging residents to stay indoors. Eugenio Giani, head of the central Tuscany region that includes Florence and Pisa, told citizens to exercise "maximum care and attention", warning of "intense and persistent rain" during the day. Florence authorities ordered the Uffizi Galleries, the world-famous art museum, to close early, and the Duomo said it was also shutting. The fire service published images of cars partially submerged in the town of Sesto Fiorentino, north of Florence, with Giani telling residents to keep clear of ground floors and basements. More than 500 firefighters were working across Tuscany, the interior minister said, with more than 300 interventions either carried out or planned. Bernardo Gozzini from the Tuscan weather service Consorzio Lamma told the Corriere della ...

A US judge on Thursday ordered six federal agencies to rehire thousands of probationary workers fired as part of Donald Trump's push to slash the size of the government. Judge William Alsup said the justification of "poor performance" for mass lay-offs was "a sham in order to try to avoid statutory requirements," the New York Times reported. Ruling on a lawsuit brought by employee unions, Alsup ordered the departments of the Treasury, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy and Interior to reinstate anyone improperly fired. "It is a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that's a lie," said Alsup at a hearing at the US District Court in San Francisco. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has taken an axe to the US government, cutting spending programs and firing tens of thousands of federal employees. His actions have faced pushback from ...