DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY, Israel strikes several cities across the Gaza Strip while sirens sound in southern Israel for a fifth consecutive day.Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians and wounded three others in the occupied West Bank as air strikes hit the Gaza Strip for a fifth-straight day. The Palestinian health ministry said the Israeli attack on Saturday occurred in the Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Both men – identified as Adnan Wasim Yousef al-Araj, 19, and Saed Jihad Shaker Mashah – were killed by gunshots to the head, it said. The deadly raid on…
Author: National Tone
Brittney Griner has played with Phoenix Mercury for the first time since 2021, returning to action in a preseason game after nearly 10 months of detention in Russia.The two-time Olympic gold medallist was released from a Russian jail in a high-profile prisoner exchange with the United States late last year after she was arrested in February 2022 on drug charges for possessing cannabis oil. Griner pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to nine years in prison.”I didn’t think I would be sitting here. I didn’t think I would be playing basketball this quickly,” Griner told reporters after Mercury’s…
US federal lawmakers are expanding their efforts to track the potential use of cryptocurrency by Russian leaders and oligarchs to evade sweeping sanctions imposed on the country in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Economic advisers and crypto researchers have warned that bitcoin and other currencies could be used to fund Russia’s war efforts, and protect the wealth of its oligarchs.In a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday, a group of senators, including Elizabeth Warren and Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner, asked about the agency’s plans to monitor crypto networks for evidence of Russian leaders moving money…
Joe Joyce might have to face Zhang Zhilei in China if he presses ahead with plans for an immediate rematch.The British heavyweight has activated a contractual clause for an immediate rematch after he suffered a sixth-round stoppage loss to Zhang at The Copper Box Arena in London last month. But Joyce could now be required to travel to Zhang’s home country, with talks continuing about the potential venue and date for the return bout. Image: Joe Joyce was halted in the sixth round by Zhang Zhang has also been linked with a fight against Tyson Fury, who is without an…
Fears for the safety of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people in path of potentially devastating storm.Thousands of people in Myanmar and Bangladesh are getting ready to evacuate ahead of Cyclone Mocha, which is expected to bring winds as fast as 175km an hour (108 mph) when it makes landfall on Sunday. The storm is currently in the Bay of Bengal and moving northwards. It is expected to cross the coast between Sittwe in Myanmar’s northwestern Rakhine state and Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. Authorities have warned of the danger of flooding, landslides and a storm surge of between 2 and…
Vegas Golden Knights winger Keegan Kolesar earned a five-minute major and game misconduct for boarding Edmonton Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm in the second period of Game 6. .acf-block-preview .instagram-twitter-container width: 340px; margin: 0 auto; With just over 20 seconds remaining in the second, Ekholm took a hard hit from Kolesar in the corner of Edmonton’s defensive zone. Ekholm remained down on the ice and was visibly bleeding from his face following the hit. He had to be met by a trainer on the ice and subsequently headed to the locker room. Ekholm did return to the Oilers’ bench to start…
On Thursday, the State Special Communications Service of Ukraine called claims that Google Maps “labels” were being used by Russia’s military “another fake.” In a post to its official Telegram channel, the country’s intelligence agency debunked a wave of social media rumors that claimed Russian insurgents had tagged airstrike locations on Google Maps of Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.The agency described these false claims as a psychological operation “to sow panic and misinformation among the population.”On Tuesday, responding to claims that its Maps were being used to coordinate Russian military activity in Ukraine, Google began removing user-submitted locations within the…
Sprinkle the sequins and pump up the volume: The annual Eurovision Song Contest reaches its climax on Saturday with a grand final broadcast live from the United Kingdom’s city of Liverpool. There will be catchy choruses, a kaleidoscope of costumes and tributes to the spirit of Ukraine in a competition that since 1956 has captured the changing zeitgeist of a continent. Last year, 161 million people watched the competition, according to the organiser, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), making it one of the world’s most-watched events. Here’s what to expect as acts from across Europe – and beyond – vie…
Facebook and Twitter on Friday were blocked in Russia, amid President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing military invasion of Ukraine.In a statement issued on Friday, Roskomnadzor, the country’s communications regulator, explained the decision was made to “block access to the Facebook network” after at least 26 cases of “discrimination against Russian media and information resources” since October 2020. The agency highlighted Facebook’s recent restriction of Kremlin-tied media sources RT and Sputnik across the EU.“Soon millions of ordinary Russians will find themselves cut off from reliable information, deprived of their everyday ways of connecting with family and friends and silenced from speaking out,”…
Closing of elPeriodico underscores regional trend of governments cracking down on independent media, observers say.One of Guatemala’s oldest and most well-known news organisations has said it will close its doors later this month amid what it described as a campaign of government persecution. ElPeriodico, a 27-year-old investigative news outlet known for reporting on government corruption, said on Friday that it would cease operations on May 15. “With deep sadness, we are forced to stop the daily edition of elPeriodico,” the directors said in a statement. “The persecution has intensified, as has the harassment of our advertisers.” The decision came after Guatemalan…