Piracy

Mamata Banerjee says Narendra Modi’s party ‘forcefully captured’ election that ended her party’s 15 years in powerA political showdown is taking place in the Indian state of West Bengal as the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee – India’s most powerful female politician – has dramatically refused to resign after she lost elections to the prime minister’s party this week.On Monday, Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) won an overwhelming victory in the state elections in West Bengal, where Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress party (TMC) have been in power for 15 years. Continue reading...

A tidal wave of conspiracy theories hit social media as soon as news broke that shots were fired at the Washington Hilton hotel during the White House Correspondents' dinner Saturday. That was to be expected, but some say the dynamics are shifting, with theories coming from liberals and progressives as well as right-wing accounts that are critical of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Pirates appear to be taking advantage of international naval strength being diverted elsewhere in regionThree vessels have been hijacked off the coast of Somalia in the past week, raising fears of a resurgence in piracy around the Horn of Africa – and adding to the woes of the global shipping industry.The merchant vessel Sward was taken over on 26 April, a day after a dhow was seized. These followed the 21 April hijacking of Honour 25, a motor tanker carrying 18,000 barrels of oil, according to the Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean (MSCIO), the tracking service of the EU’s naval force. Continue reading...

Neither political party is immune to conspiracies in a time of intense distrust in government and media, experts say After an armed man attempted to breach the ballroom where Donald Trump was set to speak to White House journalists on Saturday, conspiracies immediately spread about whether the event was staged.The rhetoric has become a common refrain from both sides of the aisle in an era of deeply fractured politics and intense distrust in political institutions and media, and in the president himself. Continue reading...

• Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard intensified accusations that former President Barack Obama and top administration officials—including former FBI Director James Comey, DNI James Clapper, and CIA Director John Brennan—conspired to subvert Trump's 2016 election victory. • Gabbard claimed to have unveiled new evidence of a plot to undermine the democratic will of the American people through intelligence community actions. • The allegations signal continued politicization of intelligence agencies and ongoing disputes over 2016 election interference investigations.

Claim of nefarious plot draws attention of lawmakers and president – but are disappearances and deaths really linked?Are the disappearances or deaths of at least 11 US scientists, each allegedly connected in some way to space, defense and nuclear research, really linked in a nefarious plot: one that involves the Chinese or other state enemies, or possibly links back to UFOs?A conspiracy theory positing exactly that has roared through sections of the US population in recent weeks, spreading rapidly from the internet into rightwing media and hence into the mainstream press and prompting an inquiry from Congress and questions from Donald Trump. Continue reading...

• US naval forces seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Iran to label the action as 'bullying behaviour' and 'act of piracy'. • The operation occurred two days before a two-week ceasefire with Iran was set to expire, amid fragile diplomatic efforts and threats of retaliation. • Tehran insists on securing freedom of navigation in the strait, vital for one-fifth of global oil trade, before engaging in US talks, heightening energy security risks.