Israeli troops jailed for desecration of Virgin Mary statue in Lebanon

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IDF says two soldiers will spend weeks in military prison over incident it said was viewed with great severity

Two Israeli soldiers will spend weeks in military prison for the desecration of a Christian object after one stuck a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon and the other photographed it.

The photo of the soldier, a cigarette dangling from his own mouth, went viral and sparked widespread outrage. It was the latest act by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon to be denounced as anti-Christian.

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Supermarket foods claiming to be ‘natural’ or ‘sustainable’ mostly just using marketing terms, researchers find

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Survey of 27,000 Australian supermarket items found some products boasting environmental benefits had significantly higher emissions than unlabelled counterparts

Foods in supermarkets boasting environmental terms such as “natural” or “sustainable” are mostly just using marketing speak, rather than verified claims, Australian researchers have found.

More than 27,000 packaged foods sold at Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, IGA and Harris Farm supermarkets in Sydney were assessed by researchers from the George Institute for Global Health.

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Motorcycle Winds Up Hanging From Traffic Light in Canada After Dramatic Crash With BMW 3-Series – Road & Track

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  1. Motorcycle Winds Up Hanging From Traffic Light in Canada After Dramatic Crash With BMW 3-Series  Road & Track
  2. Motorcyclist seriously injured after crash leaves bike dangling from traffic light near Surrey-Delta border  CBC
  3. Motorcycle left hanging off traffic light after crash in Canada  KFOX
  4. ‘Geometry just launched it up’: Motorcycle instructors weigh in on viral B.C. crash  CTV News
  5. Watch: Motorcycle left dangling from traffic light after crash  LiveNOW from FOX
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Victorian politics still exposed to ‘dark money’ and foreign donations as MPs struggle to agree on urgent reforms

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Exclusive: state is now without caps on political donations or disclosure requirements, months out from November election

“Unlimited dark money” will keep flooding into Victorian politics after Labor failed to reach agreement with the Liberals or the Greens about donation reforms the Allan government vowed to fast-track through parliament.

Victoria is now without caps on political donations or disclosure requirements, months out from the November election after the high court struck down the state’s donation laws last month.

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Royal Opera House calls for release of Georgian bass singer jailed over democracy protests

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Casting director urges Keir Starmer to intervene in case of Paata Burchuladze, 71, jailed for seven years after singing at anti-regime demonstrations

The Royal Opera House in London has urged Keir Starmer to intervene in the case of Paata Burchuladze, a world-renowned bass singer who has been imprisoned in Georgia since October on a charge of leading a coup against the country’s authoritarian leader.

The 71-year-old has performed at the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and collaborated with the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras. He was arrested after joining a protest outside the presidential palace in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Last week he was given a seven-year jail sentence which Burchuladze suggested to the court was equivalent to a life sentence given his age.

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Muslim Votes Matter says anonymous bid to create political party under same name an attempt to ‘mislead’ voters

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Exclusive: Push to register unaffiliated party with identical name to grassroots group follows Avi Yemini’s plan to use ‘Free Palestine party’ to funnel votes to One Nation

Muslim Votes Matter (MVM) has complained to the Victorian Electoral Commission over an anonymous bid to register a political party under the same name ahead of the state election, accusing it of deliberately misleading voters.

MVM was established before the 2025 federal election as a grassroots advocacy and lobbying movement, responding to concerns about the lack of political representation for Muslim and minority groups in Australia.

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Six people found dead inside train car at rail yard near Texas-Mexico border

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Discovery was made by Union Pacific employee inspecting stopped train at the yard in Laredo before it continued its journey north

Rail workers in Texas found six people dead inside a boxcar at a yard close to the Mexican border on Sunday afternoon, officials said.

The discovery was made by a Union Pacific employee inspecting the stopped train at the yard in Laredo before it continued its journey north, a spokesperson for the Laredo police department said, citing the railroad freight company.

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Chicago teen who pushed for parents’ release from ICE custody dies of cancer

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Kevin González, 18-year-old who had terminal colon cancer, died shortly after reuniting with his parents in Mexico

A Chicago-born teen who advocated for his parents’ release from US immigration authorities’ custody while fighting terminal cancer has died shortly after reuniting with them in Mexico, his family has told media outlets.

The parents of 18-year-old Kevin González had been taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in Arizona in mid-April after they crossed the US border from Mexico without permission in an attempt to see him in Chicago as his health waned. González since then traveled to be with relatives in Mexico, and in recent days he had publicly pleaded for them to be released from ICE custody so they could be with him as he battled metastatic stage four colon cancer.

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ICC confirms it has issued arrest warrant for Duterte ally – Reuters

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  1. ICC confirms it has issued arrest warrant for Duterte ally  Reuters
  2. Philippines drug war enforcer urges president to not hand him over to ICC  Reuters
  3. Philippine senator vows to fight International Criminal Court order to arrest him over killings  AP News
  4. Chaos in Philippines as Duterte ally wanted by ICC takes refuge in senate to avoid arrest  The Guardian
  5. Bato dela Rosa: Ex-Philippine leader Duterte's drug war enforcer escapes ICC arrest  BBC
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Latvian defense minister resigns amid leadership turnover on NATO’s eastern flank – politico.eu

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  1. Latvian defense minister resigns amid leadership turnover on NATO’s eastern flank  politico.eu
  2. Baltic nations seek more NATO defence as drone hits Latvian oil tanks  Reuters
  3. Ukrainian drone strike on empty Baltic fuel depot prompts top-level resignation – in Latvia  Defense News
  4. Russia Rehearsing Tactics Along NATO’s Baltic Frontline  The Jamestown Foundation
  5. Latvian Defense Minister Spruds Resigns After Drone Incursions  Bloomberg.com
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Philippine presidential hopeful Sara Duterte impeached for second time

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Vice-president is accused of misusing public funds and threatening the lives of President Marcos Jr and his wife

The Philippine vice-president, Sara Duterte, has been impeached over allegations she misused public funds, amassed unexplained wealth and threatened the lives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his wife, in a case that could complicate her presidential ambitions.

Duterte, the daughter of the detained former president Rodrigo Duterte, was impeached by an overwhelming majority of lawmakers in the House of Representatives, which is dominated by allies of Marcos.

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