Gaza: Israel kills Hamas leader as deaths mount despite ceasefire

Israel’s military on Saturday said it had killed the chief of Hamas’ military wing in an air strike on Gaza the previous day, the most senior Hamas official killed by Israel since ‌an October US-backed ceasefire agreement that was meant to halt fighting.
A senior Hamas official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed Izz al-Din al-Haddad, who was born in 1970, was killed in the attack. Hamas Gaza spokesperson Hazem Qassem later said in a video statement published on Facebook that…

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Senior IS leader killed in joint operation, US and Nigeria say

Senior IS leader killed in joint operation, US and Nigeria say7 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleMakuochi Okafor,West Africa reporter, LagosandBarry Marston,Jihadism researcherAFP via Getty ImagesThe Nigerian military has increased cooperation with the US in efforts to combat extremist violence (file photo)Nigeria and the United States say they have killed a senior Islamic State (IS) leader in a joint-operation.
Abu-Bilal al-Minuki was described by US President Donald Trump as the “second in command of ISIS globally” and “the most active terrorist in the world”.
IS has radically shifted in recent years, with around 90% of its attacks now taking place in sub-Saharan Africa. Its Nigeria-based branch is by far the most active.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said the two countries had carried out a “daring joint operation that dealt a heavy blow” to IS.
Al‑Minuki was declared a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by Washington in 2023.
He was killed along with “several of hi..

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Harvey Weinstein sex crimes case declared a mistrial after jury deadlocks

For the second time in a year, jurors failed to reach a verdict on whether Harvey Weinstein raped Jessica Mann, prompting a Manhattan judge on Friday to declare a mistrial in one of the final unresolved chapters of the disgraced movie mogul’s sprawling sex crimes cases.
After two days of deliberations, the seven men and five women on the jury told the court they were unable to unanimously decide whether 74-year-old Weinstein was guilty of third-degree rape stemming from Mann’s allegations that he assaulted her at a Manhattan hotel in 2013. Weinstein’s lawyers argued that the encounter was consensual.
Justice Curtis Farber delivered an Allen charge, urging the panel to continue deliberating and reminding jurors that “it wasn’t meant to be easy.”
But by 1 p.m., jurors informed the court they remained hopelessly deadlocked. Farber then declared a mistrial. A hearing was set for June 24 to learn whether prosecutors will choose to go to a fourth trial.
Weinstein’s public downfall in 2017,..

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DOJ to seek death penalty against man accused of killing Israeli Embassy staffers

The Justice Department will pursue the death penalty against the man accused of fatally shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington, prosecutors said Friday.
Elias Rodriguez faces federal hate crime and murder charges in the deaths of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, who were killed after leaving an event at the museum in May.
According to the indictment, Rodriguez shouted “Free Palestine” during the attack and later told police: “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.”
Prosecutors said the charges include a hate crime resulting in death, and the indictment contains special findings that make Rodriguez eligible for the death penalty.
Prosecutors have described the killing as calculated and planned (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)“My message to anyone who seeks to commit political violence in this district — D.C. is not the place. You will be held accountable and you will face the full wrath of the law,” Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the Distric..

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15-year-old Canadian boy built a robotic turtle that can detect underwater environmental threats with 96% accuracy

PC: Google Gemini
A 15-year-old Canadian named Evan Budz took on a significant challenge in marine conservation. At just fifteen, he came up with the invention of the Bionic Underwater Robotic Turtle (BURT). This invention filled a major gap by incorporating the natural swimming kinematics of snapping turtles, creating an autonomous vehicle that could monitor and assess delicate aquatic areas. BURT's design wasn't like the usual heavy submersibles; instead, it moved gently through coral reefs and freshwater habitats without bothering the local creatures. It featured high-quality cameras and machine-learning models to spot invasive species and coral bleaching with a 96 per cent detection accuracy rate, as noted in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Evan's leveraged affordable hardware and biomimicry with advanced data collection methods, paving the way for everyday people to actively participate in environmental protection and fight climate change.The bionic un..

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Trump warns Taiwan against declaring independence, hours after summit with China’s Xi

Trump warns Taiwan against declaring independence, hours after summit with China's Xi50 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleIan AikmanReutersChina's President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump discussed Taiwan during bilateral talks in BeijingDonald Trump has cautioned Taiwan against formally declaring independence from China.
“I'm not looking to have somebody go independent,” the US president told Fox News on Friday, at the end of his two-day summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Trump earlier said he had “made no commitment either way” about the self-governing island – which China claims as part of its territory and has not ruled out taking by force.
The US has long supported Taiwan, including being bound by law to provide it with a means of self-defence, but has frequently had to square this alliance with maintaining a diplomatic relationship with China.
Washington's established position is that it does not support Taiwanese independence,..

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Harvey Weinstein’s third New York rape trial ends in mistrial

AdvertisementSexual harassment and assaultWorldUnited States & CanadaHarvey Weinstein’s third New York rape trial ends in mistrialThe jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict on whether the former Hollywood mogul raped aspiring actress Jessica Mann
1-MIN READ1-MIN ListenReutersPublished: 1:47am, 16 May 2026Harvey Weinstein’s third trial in New York over allegations he used his Hollywood clout to prey upon and sexually abuse women ended ‌in a mistrial on Friday, after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict on a charge he raped the aspiring actress Jessica Mann.
Weinstein, 74, was a top film producer until sexual misconduct allegations led to his downfall and fuelled a wider social movement that encouraged women to come forward with accounts of sexual abuse by ⁠powerful men.
The case, brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, centred on allegations that Weinstein ‌raped Mann in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 while Mann resisted and repeatedly said “No”.
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Scientists discover ‘shy plant’ that can count without even having a brain

PC: Google Gemini
Scientists have discovered that Mimosa pudica, known as the ‘shy plant,’ possesses the capacity for enumeration. This finding suggests intelligence isn't only found in creatures with brains. Professor Peter Vishton's team at William & Mary made this discovery; they learned that these plants don't just rely on time to track and anticipate changes in their environment; they use frequency instead. In experiments, researchers exposed the plants to random light cycles and observed that they exhibited anticipatory leaf-opening behaviour depending on the number of cycles it experienced. Such ‘non-neuronal cognition’ challenges our basic understanding of biology, suggesting that individual cells might learn in complex ways. This breakthrough could change our perspective on how plants perceive, process, and respond to their surroundings.
Scientists tested whether the shy plant can actually ‘count’ eventsAccording to the report published at William & Mary, the r..

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Peru’s leftist Sanchez to face Fujimori in presidential run-off

Peru’s leftist ⁠presidential candidate Roberto Sanchez will face ⁠Keiko Fujimori in the June run-off after narrowly securing second place in April’s first-round vote, official results showed Friday, with 100 per cent of votes tallied.
The month-long count led to allegations of fraud in ‌the politically turbulent South American nation, notably from right-wing candidate Rafael Lopez Aliaga, who narrowly trailed Sanchez for much of the counting process.
Fujimori, the daughter of late former…

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Trump and Xi conclude ‘very successful’ talks but no deals confirmed

Trump and Xi conclude 'very successful' talks but no deals confirmed4 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleSuranjana TewariAsia business correspondentWatch: What did we learn from Trump's visit to China?US President Donald Trump left Beijing after a two-day summit saying he had struck “fantastic trade deals, great for both countries”, but few details have emerged on what the two superpowers agreed.
Trump arrived for a high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday, accompanied by several CEOs: a high-profile business delegation spanning agriculture, aviation, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
Trade was near the top of the agenda despite recent tensions over the Iran war, and businesses hoped for key deals as well as an extension of the tariff truce that is due to expire in November.
The visit was defined by warm rhetoric and symbolism. Trump was wooed with a packed itinerary that included an honour guard, a state banquet, ..

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