Dozens of traditional boats made as part of a project to reconnect with culture and ‘start of conversation’ on ocean rights
In Octoberin Lifou island, a double-hulled canoe was pushed into the lagoon - a small act that marked a deeply symbolic moment.
It was the first launch of a traditional canoe on Lifou in generations, an event that brought together the island’s three chiefly clans in a rare show of unity.
Hannah Shirley, born in November 1973, was celebrated with Hungry Hungry Hippos-themed party
The San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center is feeling festive, and it has nothing to do with Thanksgiving, but instead a birthday celebration for a hippo that turns 52.
Hannah Shirley, the world’s oldest known living pygmy hippopotamus, turned 52 years old on Thursday, and celebrated with a Hungry Hungry Hippos–themed party. Hannah was surrounded by guests as she played with different-colored balls and presents.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Fina has intensified to a category three system as it closes in on Darwin today, making it the first cyclone of that strength in Australian waters in November in 20 years.
The last cyclone to reach category three in November was tropical cyclone Bertie-Alvin in 2005, according to Weatherzone. Fina was also the equal earliest tropical cyclone to make landfall, as it briefly crossed the Cobourg Peninsula on Friday night before moving back over the ocean.
President called behavior of Mark Kelly, whose wife Gabby Giffords survived assassination bid, ‘punishable by death’
Senator Mark Kelly – whose wife, Gabrielle Giffords, narrowly survived an attempted assassination while she was in Congress in 2011 – says he is worried about “increased threats” to his family’s safety after Donald Trump accused him and other Democratic lawmakers of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH”.
“This kind of language is dangerous, and it’s wrong,” Kelly said on Friday on MS NOW’s Morning Joe, with political violence one of the top topics in the US’s public discourse. He continued: “I’m not going to get into my specific security arrangements, but it would be irresponsible for me not to consider that [Trump’s] words result in increased threats to myself, even to my staff, to my family.
Justice department challenges policy allowing in-state tuition for undocumented students at public universities
The justice department sued California on Thursday for allowing undocumented college students to pay in-state tuition for public universities, alleging the policy harms US citizens.
The lawsuit, filed in the US district court for the eastern district of California, marks the third time this week that the Trump administration has sued California. In addition to challenging the state’s in-state tuition policy, the lawsuit argues that California unlawfully extends eligibility for scholarships and subsidized loans to undocumented students.
Mountbatten-Windsor ‘continues to hide’, US lawmakers say, after deadline they set to receive response passes
Two Democratic lawmakers involved in the US congressional investigation into the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein on Friday condemned Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s “silence” in response to their request that he sit for a deposition.
Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the House oversight committee, and Suhas Subramanyam, a member of the panel, were among the Democrats who earlier this month sent the former British prince a letter seeking his cooperation in their inquiry into Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
US health secretary said he told agency to update website to claim the fact vaccines do not cause autism is not evidence based
Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, said in an interview with the New York Times that he personally instructed the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to change its longstanding position that vaccines do not cause autism.
Countering decades of science showing vaccines to be safe, the US public health agency’s website was changed to say: “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.”
The 52-episode Christian podcast was announced with a number of actors involved yet many claim they had no idea about it
The Fox News announcement of a new podcast series on Jesus Christ has turned into a bizarre holiday tale in Hollywood, as several actors attached to massive, 52-episode project claim their recordings date back 15 years and are being released without their prior knowledge.
The new audiobook titled The Life of Jesus Christ Podcast, announced on Wednesday as part of a splashy rollout for the network’s new Christian vertical called Fox Faith, purports to guide listeners “through the life, teachings, and miracles of Jesus Christ”, with each episode introduced by Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt.
As thousands of ICE agents storm streets, schools and emergency rooms across the country, communities are training up on their rights, recording incidents of abuse and screaming at officers to impede deportations.
As opponents of LGBTQ+ rights try to erase queer history and safe spaces, residents have repainted rainbows across crosswalks paved over by officials and are organising their own record-keeping and mutual aid networks.
Coach’s assistant in tough time at Feyenoord sees parallels with issues his former boss needs to deal with at Anfield
Just over five weeks after Arne Slot’s Feyenoord had lost a tight Conference League final by a goal to Roma in 2022, they suffered a 7-0 home defeat by Copenhagen in their first pre-season friendly. Some of the Dutch club’s internationals were on holiday, seven of their starters from the final would leave that summer and Copenhagen were well ahead in preparations, but even so, the scoreline was bruising. It felt as if Slot had to start all over again.
“I can remember it like yesterday,” says Marino Pusic, Slot’s assistant at Feyenoord and earlier at AZ. “The score could have been even higher – that says enough.” Copenhagen’s then coach, Jess Thorup, described it as more akin to “a training session than an actual friendly match”. Two weeks later a stronger Feyenoord side lost 4-0 to the Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise. Then came home defeats by Lyon and Osasuna.
As most government business halted during the shutdown, immigration agents continued their raids
US immigration officials arrested, detained and deported tens of thousands of people in operations nationwide during the federal government shutdown, new data reveals.
The arrests have led to a marked increase in the number of people held in immigration jails, with more than 65,000 currently detained nationwide – the highest number of people in immigration detention ever.
Officials say the move is ‘long overdue’ and meant to close decades of safety gaps in vehicle crash testing
The transportation department has unveiled a first crash test dummy in the US modeled specifically on female anatomy, a move officials say is meant to close decades of safety gaps in vehicle testing.
Sean Duffy, the US transportation secretary, unveiled the THOR-05F, an advanced female design for a crash-test dummy with upgraded technical specifications. According to the transportation department, the dummy will be incorporated into federal vehicle crash testing once a final rule is published.
Motorist told dispatcher ‘you may not believe me’ and said windshield was shattered while driving on North Carolina highway
A motorist in western North Carolina escaped injury when the carcass of a cat crashed into the passenger side of her front windshield along a highway near the Great Smoky Mountains national park.
In a call to 911, the unidentified driver on US Route 74 in Swain county, near Bryson City, told a dispatcher that a bald eagle dropped the cat. Bryson City is about 65 miles south-west of Asheville.
Climate crisis talks look likely to stretch well into the weekend in Brazil, with countries still far apart on the crucial issues of phasing out fossil fuels and cutting carbon.
The Cop30 president, André Corrêa do Lago, urged ministers and high-ranking officials from more than 190 countries to find common ground: “We need to preserve this regime [of the Paris climate agreement] with the spirit of cooperation, not in the spirit of who is going to win or is willing to lose’” he said. “Because we know if we don’t strengthen this, everyone will lose.”
A fire at Cop30 in Brazil, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, Russian missiles hit Ukraine and a giraffe on the move in Kenya: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists
US president demands that Kyiv accepts plan that would mean giving up territory to Russia
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine faces one of the most difficult moments in its history, after Donald Trump demanded Kyiv accepts within days a US-backed “peace plan” that would force it to give up territory to Russia and make other painful concessions.
Trump confirmed on Friday morning that next Thursday – Thanksgiving in the US – would be an “acceptable” deadline for Zelenskyy to sign the deal, which European and Ukrainian officials have said amounts to a “capitulation”.
The 23-year-old ‘Queen of Tejano music’ was murdered just as her music was set to cross over and revealing new film Selena y Los Dinos: A Family’s Legacy finds new ways to celebrate her
The tragic circumstances surrounding Selena Quintanilla’s death are well documented. In 1995, while on the verge of US pop crossover success, the 23-year-old Queen of Tejano Music was murdered by one of her employees, Yolanda Saldívar.
Selena’s life story has already been told in multiple ways, including through a movie, a musical and a podcast series. However, the touching Netflix documentary Selena y Los Dinos: A Family’s Legacy is the most empathetic and personal look at her life and career to date. Working alongside Selena’s family, who generously opened their archive of rare photos and home videos and sat for extensive interviews, director Isabel Castro uses intimate recollections and vivid primary sources to trace the artist’s ascent.
The wider TV and film industries have a long way to go in including disabled actors and creators, and leaving stereotypes behind
While the entertainment industry has been at pains to address issues of diversity in race, gender and sexuality, disability remains shockingly underrepresented. It’s not just that disabled actors are discounted for many roles. As actors and activists have pointed out, “blacking up” might have become taboo, but “cripping up” is still a shoo-in for awards. In almost 100 years, only three disabled actors have won an Oscar, compared to 25 able-bodied actors who have won for playing disabled characters.
The arrival this weekend of Wicked: For Good, the second part of a prequel story to The Wizard of Oz, has put the importance of authentic casting in the spotlight once more. The story of green-skinned witch Elphaba, and the prejudice she faces, Wicked is a celebration of difference. Yet since the hit musical opened in 2003, only able-bodied actors had played the part of Nessarose, Elphaba’s disabled sister. Last year, Marissa Bode became the first wheelchair-using actor to take the role, in part one of the film adaptation. The child Nessa is also playedby a wheelchair user. The movies give the character greater agency and complexity, amending a scene that suggested she needs to be “fixed”.
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The European Union has imposed sanctions against Russian prison officials responsible for the death of the Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna.
Roshchyna was reporting on Russia’s systematic policy of extrajudicial detention and torture in occupied parts of Ukraine, before falling victim to it herself. She died at the age of 27 last year after more than a year in Russian captivity. Her body was returned earlier this year with some of the internal organs missing.
By the time Mark Wood replaced Jofra Archer the only thing Steve Smith seemed to know for certain was that he wanted to be at the non-striker’s end
After freewheeling at increasing pace for 16 giddy months, the Ashes hypemobile had to run out of road. But instead of letting it come to a juddering halt, the 22 players somehow managed to conjure a fresh acceleration.
It is implausible for something as anticipated as this not to produce disappointment, as anyone who follows England knows far too well. Those memories will have flooded miserably back when Zak Crawley nicked the sixth ball of the day to slip. His wicket marked the start of not only the sudden whoosh of optimism leaking from the English balloon, but of a day of 19 wickets, bowling of impeccable quality (with exceptions) and absurd entertainment.
Talks at the Cop30 climate summit in Brazil were disrupted on Thursday after a fire broke out in the venue, triggering an evacuation just as negotiators were preparing to try to land a deal to strengthen international efforts to address the climate crisis.
Thirteen people were treated for smoke inhalation, organisers said in a statement, after the fire broke out in the pavilion area of the conference centre in Belém, Brazil.
Party’s former leader in Wales admitted taking payments to make statements in favour of Russia
Nigel Farage is facing calls to investigate and root out links between Reform UK and Russia after one of his party’s former senior politicians was jailed for 10 years for accepting bribes from a pro-Kremlin agent.
Keir Starmer said Farage had questions to answer about how this happened in his party. Nathan Gill, a former leader of Reform UK in Wales, admitted taking payments to make statements in favour of Russia.
Robert Garcia, the ranking member on the House oversight committee, has sent a letter to the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, urging the justice department to release the complete trove of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, despite the newly launched investigation into several Democrats’ ties to the late sex offender.
“There is already a concern President Trump will attempt, on dubious legal grounds, to exploit a provision which allows DoJ to withhold information relevant to ongoing investigations,” Garcia wrote.
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