LONDON -- Simon Harris was formally appointed as Ireland's prime minister by the parliament on Tuesday, replacing Leo Varadkar who resigned unexpectedly last month for "personal and political" reasons.
Harris, 37, has now become Ireland's youngest-ever prime minister, or Taoiseach. The Fine Gael party leader will lead a coalition government in Dublin, along with Fianna Fail and the Green Party. (Ireland-Politics-PM)
- - - -
ADDIS ABABA -- The Ethiopian Embassy in Djibouti said Tuesday that at least 38 Ethiopian migrants have died off the coast of Djibouti.
In a press statement, the embassy said that the Ethiopian migrants lost their lives Monday when a boat carrying 60 of them capsized. They were being transported by human smugglers from Djibouti to Yemen when the disaster occurred. (Ethiopia-Migrant-Drowned)
- - - -
MOSCOW -- A Ukrainian drone hit the training center of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Tuesday, according to the plant's press service.
The drone hit the roof of the training center building, "where the world's only full-scale reactor hall simulator is located," it said, adding that no one was injured as a result of the attack. (Russia-Zaporizhzhia-Drone Attack)
- - - -
JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel will launch an offensive against Hamas in Gaza's Rafah and "no power in the world" could prevent it.
The Israeli military will "complete the elimination of Hamas battalions, including in Rafah," Netanyahu told newly enlisted soldiers in a military base outside Tel Aviv. (Israel-Rafah-Operation)
- - - -
NEW YORK -- A judge from the New York Court of Appeals on Monday rejected former U.S. President Donald Trump's emergency request to delay a criminal trial on his hush money payments to an adult film star during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to media reports.
Associate Justice Lizbeth Gonzalez from an appellate court in Manhattan denied Trump's bid to delay the criminal trial scheduled for April 15 following a hearing. (US-Trump-Criminal Trail)
