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Italy sends first asylum seekers to Albania under controversial arrangement
An Italian military ship docked in Albania to transfer refugees and migrants, marking the first such deployment under a contentious agreement between the two nations that sends asylum seekers outside the European Union while their claims are processed. The ship picked up 16 individuals in Italian waters and arrived at Shengjin port on Wednesday. Italy's right-wing government has hailed the deal as unprecedented, and other EU members looking to tighten immigration rules are considering it. However, rights groups have condemned it as a violation of human rights.
US tech mogul secretly funds global ‘race science’ network
A multinational network of "race science" activists working to influence public debate with discredited theories about race and eugenics has received secret funding from a multimillionaire US computer entrepreneur. Undercover filming has revealed the organization's existence, founded two years ago as the Human Diversity Foundation. Its members have used podcasts, videos, an online magazine, and research papers to spread a "dangerous ideology" regarding the claimed genetic superiority of specific ethnicities.
China and Myanmar have the ‘worst environment’ for internet freedom
According to recent research, global internet freedom has fallen for the 14th consecutive year, with Myanmar and China tied for the poorest record. Freedom House, a pro-democracy research organization based in the United States, claimed in a study released on Wednesday that Kyrgyzstan experienced the most significant drop in 2024 as President Sadyr Japarov cracked down on online organizing and the government sought to muzzle digital media. The Kyrgyz authorities shut down Kloop, an investigative media website that had reported on an opposition leader's charges of torture in jail.
Archbishop warns that the assisted dying bill is hazardous
The Archbishop of Canterbury has described assisted dying as "dangerous" and warned that it may lead to a "slippery slope" in which more individuals feel driven to end their lives medically. The leader of the Church of England was addressing ahead of the first reading of a measure in Parliament that would allow terminally ill people in England and Wales to terminate their lives.
Oxfam: Global conflicts cause 21,000 hunger-related deaths daily
Hunger caused by conflicts throughout the world has reached record highs, according to a new Oxfam report, which accuses warring parties of weaponizing food and preventing relief from reaching victims. According to research published by a UK-based charity on World Food Day on Wednesday, between 7,000 and 21,000 people are likely to die each day from hunger in conflict-affected nations.
Zelensky presents the ‘victory strategy’ to the Ukrainian parliament
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has provided MPs with a long-awaited "victory plan" to strengthen his country's position enough to end the conflict with Russia. Zelensky told lawmakers in Kyiv that the strategy may end the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, by next year.
Netanyahu wants UNIFIL out of Lebanon. Why?
As Israel continues its attacks in southern Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls for the expulsion of UN forces. Experts believe this is intended to remove international observers who could keep track of Israel's actions in Lebanon. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has around 10,000 members stationed throughout a territory spanning more than 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) between Lebanon's de facto southern border and the Litani River.
Hoax bomb warnings cause panic among Indian airlines
Over the last 48 hours, at least ten Indian flights have received phony bomb threats, causing significant delays and diversions. Following a bomb threat, Singapore's Air Force sent two fighter jets to escort an Air India Express plane away from populated areas. Hours earlier, an Air India flight from Delhi to Chicago had to land at a Canadian airport as a precautionary measure.
Scavenging fuel from overturned petrol tanker in Nigeria kills over 100
As petrol prices in Nigeria have risen, buckets and cups to collect fuel from crashed tankers have grown in popularity. More than 100 people were murdered and 50 injured as they hurried to get fuel when a petrol tanker toppled and exploded. The accident occurred late Tuesday night in Majia, a town in the Taura district of northern Jigawa state, after the driver lost control on a highway, according to police spokesman Lawan Adam.
A US judge has blocked Georgia’s mandate to count votes by hand
A judge in Georgia has blocked an order that ballots in the November presidential election be tallied by hand. Judge Robert McBurney found that poll workers would not have received the training to manage millions of ballots and that the last-minute modification would have resulted in "administrative chaos." The hand count rule was approved by the pro-Trump majority on the Georgia election board last month, and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris applauded Tuesday's decision.
Newcastle’s residential street ‘devastating explosion’ kills 7-year-old boy
Police say six more persons were transported to the hospital with "varying injuries" after the bomb and accompanying fire in the early hours of this morning. A seven-year-old boy died at the scene of an explosion in Newcastle's residential street. According to Northumbria Police Superintendent Darren Adams, six other people were transported to the hospital "with varying injuries" as a result of the bomb and fire in Violet Close.
Meta goes down nationwide, preventing Instagram and Facebook use
Meta experienced a massive outage, taking out connectivity for Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram users across the United States. Tens of thousands of Americans reported troubles with the applications and websites. Downdetector, a website that monitors online outages, reported problems on Mark Zuckerberg's platforms around 1 p.m. ET.
