UN official says Israel’s West Bank moves amount to gradual de facto annexation

Top UN official warns of ‘gradual de facto annexation’ as Israel tightens West Bank control; Al‑Aqsa access curbed for Ramadan A senior United Nations official warned the Security Council that recent Israeli steps to expand control over parts of the occupied West Bank administered by the Palestinian Authority amount to “gradual de facto annexation,” escalating diplomatic tensions as Ramadan begins with new limits on access to Jerusalem’s Al‑Aqsa Mosque. “We are witnessing the gradual de facto annexation of the West Bank, as…

Man missing amid flooding as France endures record 35 straight days of rain

France braces for worsening floods as a man went missing in the Loire River and the country marked a record 35 consecutive days of rain, national forecasters said Wednesday, with Storm Pedro set to drive fresh downpours across the west. Meteo-France, the national weather service, said the streak is the longest series of rainy days since measurements began in 1959, surpassing a previous record set in 2023. The relentless precipitation has saturated soils and swollen rivers across western regions, pushing several waterways to…

Environmental groups file lawsuit challenging Trump rollback of climate rule

Environmental and public health groups sued the Trump administration to block its repeal of a cornerstone climate finding that has underpinned federal regulation of greenhouse gases for more than a decade, filing their challenge in a federal appeals court in Washington. The petition argues the administration acted illegally in scrapping the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 “endangerment finding,” a scientific determination that six greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare by driving climate change. The move…

From Banned to Beloved: Choctaw Stickball’s Cultural Renaissance

In the sweltering heat of southeastern Oklahoma, drums thudded as 60 men fanned around a single wooden post, each gripping a pair of hickory sticks. The small rubber ball—faster than it looks, heavier than it seems—pinballed through a scrum of bodies until it cracked against the four-meter post and the sideline exploded. This is stickball, or Ishtaboli to the Choctaw Nation. It is a game, an identity, and a living archive of survival that now binds Oklahoma to Ireland as much as it binds generations of Native players to…

Glove Discovered Near Nancy Guthrie’s Home Shows No DNA Match

DNA from glove yields no match in search for Nancy Guthrie as Arizona abduction probe enters 17th day A promising DNA lead in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie failed to produce a match in a national database, delivering a setback to investigators as the search for the 84-year-old mother of NBC’s Savannah Guthrie reached its 17th day, authorities said. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department, working with the FBI, said a DNA sample taken from a glove recovered last week did not return a “hit” in CODIS, the Combined DNA Index…

Young Ukrainian men weigh moving abroad as war drags on

‘Not now and not anytime soon’: Ukraine’s 18–22 exit rule sends a wave of young men to Poland and beyond On a gray December morning in Warsaw, Vadym, a 22-year-old from Chernihiv, stepped off a bus, opened his phone and started calling. Within days, he had a job with a Ukrainian logistics firm operating in Poland. Within weeks, he had a plan. “As for returning to Ukraine, in my view, not now and not anytime soon after the war ends,” he said. “Now I can only think about what lies beyond its borders.” Vadym is part of a new,…

California avalanche leaves 10 skiers missing as search intensifies

Search crews in California’s Sierra Nevada were racing against fading light and relentless snowfall to find 10 missing skiers after an avalanche swept a guided group on Castle Peak in the Tahoe area, officials said. The slide struck late yesterday morning as a powerful storm pummeled the mountains with heavy snow and high winds. The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said 16 people — four guides and 12 clients — were caught up in the avalanche near the summit west of Truckee. Six have been accounted for, but mountain rescue…

California avalanche leaves ten skiers missing amid urgent search

Rescuers launched a frantic search for 10 missing backcountry skiers after an avalanche swept a guided group on California’s Castle Peak in the Tahoe area, as a powerful Sierra Nevada storm continued dumping heavy snow and driving winds. Authorities said 16 people — four guides and 12 clients — were caught up in the slide late yesterday morning. Six have been accounted for, and mountain rescue teams were attempting to reach them while also combing the area for the others amid whiteout conditions and fresh snowfall. “Highly…

Ukraine, Russia push forward with peace negotiations as Trump applies pressure

GENEVA — Ukraine and Russia wrapped the first of two days of U.S.-mediated peace talks in Geneva after a night of Russian airstrikes that battered Ukraine’s energy grid, with President Donald Trump publicly pressing Kyiv to move quickly toward a deal to end the four-year war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the overnight attacks severely damaged the power network in the southern port city of Odesa, leaving tens of thousands without heat and water. “We are ready to move quickly toward a worthy agreement to end the…

Culleton Wins Temporary Stay in U.S. Deportation Case

Deportation of Irish man Seamus Culleton stayed for at least 10 working days as U.S. government response due A court order has paused the deportation of Irish national Seamus Culleton for at least the next 10 working days, his attorneys said, marking the latest turn in a case that has kept him in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in El Paso, Texas, for nearly five months. In a statement, BOS Legal Group said the court also directed the government to file its response in the case “in the coming days.” The firm…