World
- WorldAFP
Rivers rise again as rain batters flood-hit south Brazil
River levels rose again Sunday as strong rains lashed waterlogged southern Brazil, where flooding has killed 145 people and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.A total of 132 people have been reported missing and 619,000 have been forced from their homes, civil defense officials said in an update Sunday evening.
3 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Fires used as weapon in Sudan conflict destroyed more towns in west than ever in April, study says
Fires being used as a weapon in Sudan destroyed more villages and towns in the country's west in April than in any other month since the conflict began more than a year ago, an analysis by a U.K.-based rights group said Monday. Sudan Witness, an open-source project run by the nonprofit Center for Information Resilience, said 72 villages and settlements were either destroyed or damaged by fires last month, bringing the total number of settlements hit by fire in Sudan to 201 since the conflict be
2 min read - WorldBBC
Vladimir Putin set to transfer Sergei Shoigu from Russian defence ministry
Sergei Shoigu, a close ally of the president, has played a key role in Russia's hugely costly war in Ukraine.
4 min read - Worlddpa international
Spain Prime Minister Sánchez hails Socialists' win in Catalonia
Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has hailed the victory of the regional offshoot of his national Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in the parliamentary elections in the region of Catalonia. According to projections from votes counted, the big winner of Sunday's election was the Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSC), while the separatist parties were projected to have lost their parliamentary majority in the regional parliament. Sánchez congratulated PSC top candidate Salvador Illa "for this
1 min read - Worlddpa international
Putin sacks defence minister Shoigu, shifts to head Security Council
Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed his defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, from his post to head the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Russian state news agency TASS and the Kremlin reported on Sunday evening. More than two years after the full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, Shoigu replaces Nikolai Patrushev as secretary of the National Security Council, the Kremlin announced. Earlier TASS cited the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, as saying that Sho
3 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Mass shooting causes deaths in crime-ridden township on southern edge of Mexico City, officials say
A mass shooting in a mountain township beset by crime just south of Mexico City resulted in several deaths, authorities said Sunday. Local and state officials did not give a specific death toll, saying only that there were some deaths. The government of the state of Morelos, which borders Mexico City, said the attack occurred late Saturday in Huitzilac.
1 min read - Worlddpa international
Zelensky: Russia turning 'grey zone' areas of war into combat zones
Russia's offensive near the city of Kharkiv is spreading out the front of the war in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, pointing to a development that means more parts of the country facing combat. "There are villages that have turned from a 'grey zone' into a combat zone, and the occupiers are trying to gain a foothold in some of them or simply use them to advance further," Zelensky said, describing the situation in his daily video message on Sunday evening. With this
1 min read - WorldAFP
Images show arrests during taxi strike in SA, not black people detained by separatist political party
As elections loom in South Africa, the Cape Independence Party is licking its wounds after failing to make the provincial ballot despite two court challenges. Posts have surfaced claiming to show party members detaining black people for “walking after hours”. But this is false: the photos are from 2023 and show the arrest of suspects during a violent taxi strike in the Western Cape. Furthermore, South Africa is not under curfew.
3 min read - ScienceExplorersWeb
Mapping Human Migration Across Australia’s Lost ‘Atlantis’
Given Australia’s gigantic scale and wild nature, archaeological research can be difficult and costly. Where to start digging on such a vast continent, where the archaeological sites can often be remote and difficult to reach? Now a joint team of scientists from The University of Sydney, Southern Cross University, Flinders University, and Université Grenoble-Alpes has […]
2 min read - Worlddpa international
Ukraine evacuates 4,000 people from besieged Kharkiv border region
Thousands of residents of the eastern Ukrainian border region of Kharkiv are being evacuated to safety amid Russia's current offensive operations there. Around 4,000 people had already left the area in the last two days, regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram on Sunday. Many of them were able to stay with friends and relatives, while accommodation was being provided for others, he said. Syniehubov also published photos of people who had gathered at assembly points with luggage and s
3 min read - Worlddpa international
Dresden Peace Prize awarded posthumously to Alexei Navalny
The well-known Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny was posthumously awarded the Dresden International Peace Prize on Sunday. His widow Yulia Navalnaya accepted the award on his behalf, which is endowed with €10,000 ($10,774), at the eastern German city's Schauspielhaus theatre. Former German president Joachim Gauck honoured the man who died in prison almost three months ago as a "selfless, almost superhumanly courageous man who shows that there can be another Russia." Navalny's life's work
3 min read - Worlddpa international
German anti-Semitism commissioner condemns Eurovision protests
The German government's anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, has condemned the protests against Israel's participation in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest this weekend. "It is a common anti-Semitic trait to hold Israelis collectively liable for the actions of their government or their army, which they themselves often condemn," he told the Funke Mediengruppe newspaper. "The progressive Israeli cultural scene in particular is already suffering considerably from this and is facing incr
1 min read - WorldBBC
Tunisia lawyer arrested during live news broadcast
There has been growing criticism on the restrictions on free speech under President Kais Saied.
2 min read - WorldAssociated Press
German men with the strongest fingers compete in Bavaria's 'Fingerhakeln' wrestling champion
Despite the threat of dislocated fingers and strained muscles, over 150 Bavarian men came together Sunday to compete in Germany’s unique national championship of “Fingerhakeln,” or finger wrestling. Around 1,000 visitors cheered on the all-male contestants as they gulped down their national beer and world-famous German sausages while Bavarian live music filled the air. Finger wrestling, a well-known competitive sport in Germany’s Alpine region and neighboring Austria, originated as a way to se
1 min read - WorldINSIDER
A Russian drone unit is recruiting members of the Kremlin elite so they can 'sidestep' military service on the front, UK intel says
The unit operates far from the front lines in Ukraine, the UK Ministry of Defence said.
2 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Apartment building partially collapses in a Russian border city after shelling. At least 13 killed
An apartment building partially collapsed in the Russian border city of Belgorod on Sunday, causing at least 13 deaths and injuring 20 other people, officials said. Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said 13 bodies had been recovered from the rubble so far. Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s top law enforcement agency, said in a statement that the 10-story building had been hit by Ukrainian shelling.
1 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Canadian police announce the arrest of a fourth Indian suspect in the killing of a Sikh activist
A fourth Indian national living in Canada has been charged in the slaying of a Sikh separatist leader last June that became the center of a diplomatic spat with India. British Columbia’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said in a release late Saturday that 22-year-old Amandeep Singh was already in the custody of Peel Regional Police in Ontario for unrelated firearms charges. “IHIT pursued the evidence and gained sufficient information for the BC Prosecution Service to charge Amandeep Sin
2 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Flash floods in northern Afghanistan sweep away livelihoods, leaving hundreds dead and missing
Shopkeeper Nazer Mohammad ran home as soon as he heard about flash floods crashing into the outskirts of a provincial capital in northern Afghanistan. The U.N. food agency estimated that unusually heavy seasonal rains in Afghanistan have left more than 300 people dead and thousands of houses destroyed, most of them in the northern province of Baghlan, which bore the brunt of the deluges Friday. Mohammad said Sunday that he found the bodies of his wife and two sons late Friday night on the outs
2 min read - WorldBBC
Children killed as bomb falls near Sudan hospital - MSF
The battle for control of the western city of El Fasher has intensified over the last few days.
2 min read - WorldAssociated Press Finance
A police officer was killed in Pakistan-held Kashmir during protests against price hikes
A protest against rising costs of food, fuel and utility bills turned violent in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, leaving a police officer dead and dozens of people injured, officials said Sunday. Traders in some of the cities in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir pulled their shutters down on Saturday while protesters burned tires to express their anger. A police officer was killed in Dadyal town, authorities said.
1 min read - Worlddpa international
Rocket from Gaza hits residential building in Israel's Ashkelon
A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip has reportedly hit a residential building in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon. Three people were injured in the overnight attack on the city about 10 kilometres north of Gaza, according to Israeli media reports on Sunday. Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas, which carried out the October 7 terrorist assaults on southern Israeli communities that sparked the devastating war in Gaza, has recently increased its attacks on Israeli towns and villages. The Isr
1 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Flash floods and cold lava flow hit Indonesia’s Sumatra island. At least 37 people were killed
Heavy rains and torrents of cold lava and mud flowing down a volcano's slopes on Indonesia’s Sumatra island triggered flash floods that killed at least 37 people and more than a dozen others were missing, officials said Sunday. Monsoon rains and a major mudslide from a cold lava flow on Mount Marapi caused a river to breach its banks and tear through mountainside villages in four districts in West Sumatra province just before midnight on Saturday. The floods swept away people and submerged mor
2 min read - USAssociated Press Finance
A fire burns down a shopping complex housing 1,400 outlets in Poland's capital
A major fire broke out Sunday morning in a vast shopping complex in the Polish capital that housed some 1,400 shops and service outlets and where many of the vendors were from Vietnam. The fire department said that more than 80% of the Marywilska 44 shopping complex burned in the Bialoleka district of Warsaw, and that the roof caved in. The Association of Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in Poland said the blaze meant “great financial losses for merchants,” calling it a “terrible tragedy for thousands
2 min read - WorldAssociated Press
With the shock of Oct. 7 still raw, profound sadness and anger grip Israel on its Memorial Day
Ruby Chen’s son, Itay, was killed in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. The absence of a final resting place is being felt acutely now, as Israel marks its Memorial Day for fallen soldiers, when cemeteries are brimming with relatives mourning over the graves of their loved ones. Memorial Day is always a somber occasion in Israel, a country that has suffered through repeated war and conflict throughout its 76-year history.
5 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Buddha's birthday: When is it and how is it celebrated in different countries?
The birthday of the historical Buddha or Shakyamuni Buddha, known as Vesak in several countries, celebrates the birth of the child who became Prince Siddhartha around the end of the 4th century B.C. This is a holy occasion for all Buddhists, but is celebrated on different dates depending on the school of Buddhism or country to which one belongs. In several Asian countries, it is observed on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunisolar calendar, which this year falls on May 15. Siddharth
5 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Lithuanians vote in a presidential election as anxieties rise over Russia and the war in Ukraine
Lithuanians voted in a presidential election on Sunday at a time when Russian gains on the battlefield in Ukraine are fueling greater fears about Moscow’s intentions, particularly in the strategically important Baltic region. The popular incumbent, Gitanas Nausėda, was favored to win another five-year term in office. Initial voter turnout was 59.4%, higher than in the previous election in 2019, the Central Electoral Commission said.
3 min read - LifestyleNY Post
For guaranteed sunshine on your summer vacation, this appealing European city gets 3,000 hours of sun per year
We're off to sunny Spain.
2 min read - USWGN Chicago
DePaul student protesters and university administrators have stalled in negotiations over protesters’ demands
CHICAGO — DePaul University officials and students protesting against the Israel-Hamas war have stalled in negotiations over the protesters’ demands that the university cut ties with Israel or with companies they say support the war. On Saturday night, pro-Palestinian protesters, known as the DePaul Divestment Coalition, reiterated their demands that the university stop investing in Israel […]
3 min read - WorldReuters
Spain's Socialists hail 'new era' in Catalonia as separatist support dims in elections
BARCELONA (Reuters) -Spain's Socialists won the biggest share of the vote in Sunday's Catalan elections, dealing a serious blow to more than a decade of separatist governance and the independence dreams still nursed by some in the wealthy northeastern region. The Socialists, led locally by Salvador Illa, had 42 seats in the 135-seat chamber with more than 99% of the vote counted, while hardline separatist party Junts was in second place with 35 seats, and the incumbent more moderate separatist
3 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Duchess of Sussex, called ‘Ifeoma’ in Nigeria, speaks with women about her Nigerian roots
Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, says it’s been “humbling” to find out through a genealogy test that she is partly Nigerian as she met with women in the West African nation Saturday. On her second day in Nigeria, where she is visiting for the first time with Prince Harry to also promote mental health for wounded soldiers and young girls, Meghan acknowledged Nigeria as “my country.” “It is a compliment to you because what they define as a Nigerian woman is brave, resilient, courageous, beautiful,
3 min read - WorldBBC
Prince Harry plays sit-down volleyball on Nigeria visit with Meghan
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been welcomed by a charity which helps service personnel in Nigeria.
3 min read - WorldINSIDER
Israeli guards strapped wounded Palestinian detainees to their beds wearing diapers and fed them through straws, report says
A CNN report exposes alleged abuse of Palestinians at Israel's Sde Teiman detention center.
4 min read - WorldINSIDER
How the Israeli Air Force once destroyed over 60 enemy jets and dozens of Soviet missile systems in battle without losing a single fighter
Israel's aircraft, weapons, training, and strategic adaptations are what led to the historic win.
5 min read - WorldReuters
Hamas says another Israeli hostage held in Gaza is dead
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Palestinian Islamist group Hamas said on Saturday that another one of the hostages abducted during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel has died. Hamas released a video saying that Nadav Popplewell, who was taken hostage from the southern Israeli community of Kibbutz Nirim, died after being wounded in an Israeli strike in Gaza. The Israeli military did not offer immediate comment on the latest video.
2 min read - Worlddpa international
UAE lashes out at Netanyahu over joining post-war Gaza administration
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) lashed out on Saturday at a suggestion from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to join a potential civil administration in the post-war Gaza Strip. Netanyahu suggested in a recent interview that a civilian administration with Gazans and possibly with the aid of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other countries could run Gaza after the war. On Saturday, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed said his country denounces Netanyahu's call, adding that Gaza is currently
1 min read - LifestyleWHTM
Did you know the Fountain of Youth exists in Pennsylvania?
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WHTM) – Achieving eternal youth might not be possible, but you can still visit the Fountain of Youth, which happens to be located in the Keystone State. There is no need to travel to South America or recruit the League of Adventurers to locate this Fountain of Youth. It’s located in a public […]
2 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Poland's prime minister vows to strengthen security at EU border with Belarus
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Saturday traveled to the country's border with Belarus, which is also the European Union's external border with the autocratic state, and pledged to do more to strengthen security along its entire eastern frontier. Tusk accused Belarus, Russia's ally, of intensifying what he called a “hybrid war” against the West by encouraging migrants to try to cross into the EU.
2 min read - Worlddpa international
German minister dismisses Islamist claims ahead of Hamburg demo
German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann has dismissed Islamist support for the caliphate as a form of rule as absurd, but does not necessarily consider it a judicial issue in Germany. His comments came ahead of an Islamist demonstration in Hamburg later on Saturday, called by the organization Muslim Interaktiv, and in the wake of controversy following a similar rally last month. "Purely expressing sympathy for a caliphate is something that I consider politically absurd," Buschmann told dpa. But,
3 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Flash floods kill more than 300 people in northern Afghanistan after heavy rains, UN says
Flash floods from unusually heavy seasonal rains in Afghanistan have killed more than 300 people and destroyed over 1,000 houses, the U.N. food agency said Saturday. The World Food Program said it was distributing fortified biscuits to the survivors of one of the many floods that hit Afghanistan over the last few weeks, mostly the northern province of Baghlan, which bore the brunt of the deluges Friday. Videos posted on social media showed dozens of people gathered Saturday behind the hospital
2 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Poor Kenyans feel devastated by floods and brutalized by the government's response
Winnie Makinda, 35, says she is facing the worst crisis and lowest moment of her life because of the Kenyan government's response to floods that devastated her poor community in the capital of Nairobi. The floods are fueled by unusually heavy rainfall during Kenya's rainy season which starts in March and sometimes extends up to June. Hardest hit are people living close to rivers, including the Mathare River running through Nairobi.
5 min read - Worlddpa international
Northern lights seen in rare display across Germany
Germans were able to gain a rare glimpse of the northern lights on Friday night, due to an unusually large solar storm. The phenomenon, lighting the night sky up in magenta, green and shimmering turquoise, may be visible in some regions on Saturday night too. The German Weather Service (DWD) posted an image on X of the Alps in southern Germany lit up in pink, as well as bright rays of light over the Frankfurt skyline. Other images were shared across social media. US meteorologists at the Nationa
1 min read - WorldBBC
Brazil floods drive thousands from their homes
Heavy rains wreak havoc in southern Brazil, leaving many homeless and raising fears of further chaos.
5 min read - BusinessAFP
China consumer prices rise at faster rate in April
China's inflation rate quickened last month, official data showed Saturday, as the government works to boost spending in the world's second-largest economy.A debt crisis in the real estate sector and high unemployment are weighing on the economy and contributing to a slump in demand.
1 min read - WorldThe Hill
Israeli whistleblowers allege abuse of Palestinians at Sde Teiman military base: CNN
Israeli whistleblowers alleged abuse of Palestinians at a military base in Sde Teiman that also serves as a detention center, according to a CNN report. Three Israeli individuals who worked at the base, in which Palestinians are detained amid the war in Gaza, alleged that at the facility, doctors have occasionally amputated prisoners’ limbs and…
2 min read - Worlddpa international
UN Security Council demands investigation into mass graves in Gaza
The UN Security Council on Friday called for an investigation into mass graves discovered near health facilities in the Gaza Strip. Graves containing several hundred bodies were found near the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in recent weeks. Last month the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which cited the Palestinian civil defence, said some bodies had bound hands. Hospitals and other medical establishments are entitled special protections
1 min read - ScienceFuturism
If You Read a Lot of Fiction, Scientists Have Very Good News About Your Brain
It's a big day for bookworms now that scientists have begun to study how reading fiction affects your brain. Spoiler alert: the news is very good. In an interview with PsyPost, Lena Wimmer, a postdoctoral researcher at Germany's Maximilian University, explained that she and her colleagues wanted to lay the groundwork for quantitative studies about fiction's […]
2 min read - WorldBBC
Tata won't change mind on job cuts - FM says
Vaughan Gething travels to India to meet Tata executives over plans to cut thousands of steel jobs.
3 min read - ScienceNY Post
Inside Costa Rica’s ‘cave of death’ which kills all that enters
Think twice before entering. There is a spooky cave in Central America that kills almost all inside.Take a deep breath before trekking here. Deep in the volcanic mountains of Costa...
2 min read - Worlddpa international
German defence minister proposes cooperation with Canada in Arctic
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has invited NATO partner Canada to enter into a joint partnership with Norway to protect infrastructure in the far north. "Let us initiate a trilateral strategic maritime partnership with a focus on securing sea lines of communication through the northern Atlantic and Arctic," Pistorius said on Friday in the Canadian capital Ottawa at a meeting with his counterpart Bill Blair. The initiative could be the umbrella for joint activities. Blair said that the C
2 min read - WorldAssociated Press
NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week
CLAIM: France sent troops to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war. THE FACTS: The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement on X that France has not deployed troops to Ukraine, calling the claim “disinformation.” Reports of the deployment cited a May 3 blog post by Stephen Bryen, a deputy undersecretary for the Department of Defense during the Reagan administration.
5 min read
