Nigerian bandit kingpin and 100 followers killed
The crime lord was hiding in a forest, authorities say, after dozens were kidnapped from a village.
‘Camouflaged invasion’: Panama opposition slams security pact with the US
Panama's opposition speaks out against deal that allows the deployment of US troops in the Central American nation.
Police searching for man who allegedly sexually abused corpse on New York subway
Video captured one person robbing corpse on idling train before another person robbed and sexually assaulted it
A man sexually violated a corpse on a New York City subway train after stealing from the body, becoming the second of two people to rob that particular dead person, authorities said recently.
One of the more grotesque US crime stories of late unfolded on a southbound R train near the Whitehall Street station in Manhattan at about 12.20am on Wednesday, when “an unidentified individual had sexual contact with an unconscious and unresponsive adult male” in plain view of surveillance cameras, according to a police statement.
Continue reading...‘I’m super worried’: fewer UK tourists visiting US amid Trump’s policies and rhetoric
Number of Brits crossing Atlantic down 14.3% from 2024 – and the travel industry fears decline could continue
After backpacker Rebecca Burke was arrested and locked up for nearly three weeks by US immigration officials in February, she started urging people not to travel to America.
Britons seem to have listened: UK residents visiting the US were down 14.3% in March compared with the same month in 2024, official figures show.
Continue reading...Hundreds of flights cancelled in China as strong winds hit capital
State media outlets earlier warned that people weighing less than 50kg may be "easily blown away".
Hundreds of flights cancelled in China as strong winds hit capital
State media outlets earlier warned that people weighing less than 50kg may be "easily blown away".
Pope Francis makes prayerful visit to Marian basilica before Holy Week – Catholic News Agency
- Pope Francis makes prayerful visit to Marian basilica before Holy Week Catholic News Agency
- Pope Francis wears black pants, not papal attire, in surprise visit to St. Peter's Reuters
- Vatican heads into a Holy Week of surprises with Pope Francis National Catholic Reporter
- Pope makes another surprise appearance at St. Peter’s, greeting restorers of papal tombs AP News
- Oops, he did it again: Pope makes surprise appearance, in house clothes Crux | Taking the Catholic Pulse
‘A new golden age’: how rightwing media stuck by Trump as global markets collapsed
Trump’s tariffs were sometimes played down, sometimes cheered but rarely seriously questioned by the right
While Donald Trump recently instituted and paused hefty tariffs, sparking a trade war and chaos in financial markets, most of the country’s conservative media either applauded the US president or critiqued the policy but not the person behind it, according to journalists and observers of conservative media.
Meanwhile, economists, business leaders, Democrats and even some Republicans warned that the tariffs, which prompted the largest American stock market drop since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, could cause a recession.
Continue reading...Israel’s Gaza offensive pushes hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into an ever-shrinking bubble – CNN
- Israel’s Gaza offensive pushes hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into an ever-shrinking bubble CNN
- Gazans Face an Excruciating Choice as Israel Orders Them to Evacuate The New York Times
- Israel issues evacuation notice for Khan Younis ahead of strikes Yahoo
- IDF orders Palestinians in central Gaza's Nuseirat to evacuate after rocket intercepted Haaretz
- Israeli army orders evacuation of new areas in southern Gaza Strip Anadolu Ajansı
Flights cancelled, millions told to stay indoors as strong winds lash China
Beijing issues its second-highest gale alert as strong winds hit the capital region.
Three rebels, one Indian soldier killed in Kashmir gun battles
Three Kashmir fighters and an Indian soldier killed in separate firefights in Indian-administered Kashmir.
EU ministers positive on defence fund to ease debt concerns – Reuters
- EU ministers positive on defence fund to ease debt concerns Reuters
- EU Should Use Frozen Russian Assets to Boost Defense, Spain Says Bloomberg.com
- Now is the moment for a multilateral defence bank Financial Times
- Britain’s Reeves calls for closer EU-UK defense ties politico.eu
- Poland calls for fast-tracking of EU defense loans TVP World
Iran and US agree to continue nuclear talks after first indirect round
Iranian foreign minister hails ‘calm and respectful environment’ to mediated talks in Oman
Iran and the US completed a successful opening round of indirect talks in Oman designed to prevent the weaponisation of Iran’s nuclear programme. In a sign the talks over a joint agenda had gone well, they agreed to meet again on 19 April.
A breakdown would have come if Donald Trump had demanded the complete dismantling of Iran’s civil nuclear programme, something that Iran is not prepared to contemplate. Iran insists it is pursuing only a civil nuclear programme, but Donald Trump took the US out of the previous nuclear deal claiming Tehran’s regime was seeking a nuclear weapon.
Continue reading...Menendez brothers ‘have exemplified growth and healing,’ cousin says
The resentencing hearing of Menendez brothers can move forward despite opposition from the district attorney, a Los Angeles court has ruled.
Greek vase ‘looted’ in Italy removed from sale by London gallery
Contact from the Observer prompts withdrawal as dealers urged to do more to stop illicit trade in antiquities
A London antiquities dealer has withdrawn an ancient Greek amphora from sale after evidence arose that links it to a notorious smuggler.
The Kallos Gallery in Mayfair, London, has removed a black-figure amphora – a jar with two handles and a narrow neck made around 550BC – from sale after the Observer contacted it about concerns raised by an expert in the illegal trade of antiquities.
Continue reading...Africa doesn’t need aid. It needs control over its critical minerals
African countries can break aid dependency by simply capturing the full value of their mineral resources.
Sandstorms, high winds prompt Beijing to cancel hundreds of flights and close parks – CBS News
- Sandstorms, high winds prompt Beijing to cancel hundreds of flights and close parks CBS News
- Hundreds of flights cancelled in China as strong winds hit capital BBC
- Beijing Tells City Residents to Stay Home as Strong Winds Hit China The New York Times
- Cold winds sweep Beijing, closing key sites, disrupting travel Reuters
- Stay indoors or risk being blown away, China warns light people Yahoo
Ted Kotcheff, director of First Blood, Weekend at Bernie’s and Wake in Fright, dies aged 94
Prolific Canadian director also made one of the country’s first internationally successful films, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, starring Richard Dreyfuss
Ted Kotcheff, the prolific Canadian director of films including First Blood, Weekend at Bernie’s, Wake in Fright and The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, has died aged 94. His daughter Kate Kotcheff told the Canadian Press that he had died of heart failure on Thursday in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, where he lived. His son Thomas said: “He died of old age, peacefully, and surrounded by loved ones.”
In an amazingly varied career, Kotcheff’s work ranged from hardhitting TV plays and low-budget features in the UK, to hit Hollywood comedies and prestige-laden award-winners and cult films. Kate Kotcheff said: “He was an amazing storyteller. He was an incredible, larger than life character [and] he was a director who could turn his hand to anything.”
Continue reading...National Trust bans coaches from East Sussex beauty spot to cut visitor numbers
More than 600,000 people a year visit Birling Gap, part of Seven Sisters cliffs, which are vulnerable to coastal erosion
The National Trust has banned coaches from one of Britain’s most popular beauty spots in an attempt to reduce the growing numbers of people visiting the site.
Up to 600,000 people a year visit Birling Gap which is part of the Seven Sisters cliffs in East Sussex on England’s south coast.
Continue reading...Gabon votes in first presidential election since the 2023 coup
Thousands of people are seen queueing outside polling stations across capital Libreville to cast their ballots.