Airplane passenger fined in Sydney for urinating in a cup ( apnews.com )
A passenger has been fined for urinating in a cup during a delay in deplaning after landing at Sydney Airport....
What's behind China's gold-buying spree? ( www.dw.com )
For more than a year, China's central bank has been buying up large amounts of gold. The move, along with the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, have helped spike the price of the precious metal to new highs....
India appears to confirm extrajudicial killings in Pakistan ( www.theguardian.com )
Defence minister’s comments after Guardian report are first time India has acknowledged any assassinations on foreign soil...
New mass graves in Rwanda reveal cracks in reconciliation efforts, 30 years after the genocide ( apnews.com )
The diggers’ hoes scrape the brown soil, looking for — and often finding — human bone fragments. The women then wipe the bone pieces with their hands as others watch in solemn silence. ...
Argentina battles dengue surge and repellent shortage ( www.bbc.com )
Argentina is facing an insect repellent shortage as the country prepares for its worst-ever dengue season....
The Scottish golf courses disappearing into the sea ( www.bbc.com )
Some of Scotland’s oldest golf courses are in danger of disappearing into the sea due to climate change, according to those trying desperately to save them....
France: Audrey Mondjehi jailed for obtaining Strasbourg attacker's gun ( www.bbc.com )
A man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for helping an Islamist attacker who killed five people at a French Christmas market in December 2018....
UK quit Erasmus because of Brits’ poor language skills ( www.politico.eu )
Britain turned down the offer to remain a member of the cultural exchange program after Brexit....
Finland's eastern border to remain shut indefinitely, including boat harbours ( yle.fi )
As expected, the Finnish government on Thursday decided to extend the closure of the border with Russia....
Ukrainian man jailed for life over role in Russian strike on pizzeria ( www.theguardian.com )
Man provided information on restaurant in Kramatorsk that was hit last June, killing 13 people including novelist Victoria Amelina...
Report Outlines Which Companies Are Most Responsible for Climate Crisis ( www.commondreams.org )
Common dreams.org
President Macron says France and its allies 'could have stopped' the 1994 Rwanda genocide ( apnews.com )
French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that France and its allies could have stopped the 1994 Rwanda genocide but lacked the will to do so, a strong declaration ahead of the African country’s 30th anniversary of the slaughter that left over 800,000 people dead....
Denmark: Faulty missile launcher shuts down shipping lane ( www.dw.com )
A missile launcher which "cannot be deactivated" has prompted the Danish military to close the Great Belt strait, a route used by cargo ships to access the Baltic Sea....
Global Forest Loss Remains High, Despite Recent Progress | Wildfires and agricultural expansion offset big gains in protecting tropical forests last year. ( www.nytimes.com )
Schools close and crops wither as ‘historic’ heatwave hits south-east Asia ( www.theguardian.com )
Governments across region grappling for response as temperatures soar to unseasonable highs...
Chinese presence in a Polish port triggers security fears ( www.politico.eu )
The Polish government is under pressure to designate the terminal as critical infrastructure....
‘No choice’: Ukraine eyes Kerch bridge in Crimea for drone attack ( www.theguardian.com )
Third attack on Kerch bridge between Russia and occupied Crimea ‘inevitable’, say Ukraine’s military intelligence...
Satellite images capture how Russia is shielding its warships in port from threats like Ukraine's exploding drone boats ( www.businessinsider.com )
Satellite images show Russia has placed barriers at its ports to defend the Black Sea Fleet. ...
The EU compromise machine is breaking — and everyone’s blaming Germany ( www.politico.eu )
Berlin’s domestic spats are gumming up the EU’s delicate policymaking process....
Chinese state media stoked allegation Taiwan's president would flee war ( www.reuters.com )
Taiwan's outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen plans to flee in a U.S. plane if war erupts with China, according to an unsubstantiated report first published in 2021 and echoed in the run-up to the island's January 2024 general election....
Turkey’s Erdoğan suffers blow in crucial mayoral elections as secular opposition surges ( www.politico.eu )
Opposition’s triumph in Istanbul, where the president had invested significant electoral resources, boosts a party that was left reeling by a general election defeat last year....
European prosecutors take over Belgian probe into Pfizergate ( www.politico.eu )
European Public Prosecutor’s Office looking into texts between Ursula von der Leyen and boss of Pfizer....
Remains of missing French toddler Emile Soleil found in French Alps ( www.theguardian.com )
Bones were discovered near the hamlet of Le Vernet, close to where the little boy went missing in 2023...
Russia's Putin signs decree on spring military conscription ( www.cnbc.com )
KEY POINTS ...
U.S. eyes change to military command in Japan as China threat looms: Reuters ( www.cnbc.com )
U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will agree next month to tighter military cooperation, including talks on the biggest potential change to Washington’s East Asia command structure in decades, two sources said....
