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At least 30 bodies have been pulled from a river where a boat carrying more than 150 passengers sank in Nigeria. Authorities said only 20 people were rescued when the ferry travelling between Niger state and Kebbi state in the north-west broke in two.

Source: bbc.com

Carla Fracci, an Italian cultural icon and former La Scala prima ballerina renowned for romantic roles alongside such greats as Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov, died Thursday at her home in Milan. She was 84. Milan’s Teatro alla Scala announced her death without giving a cause. Italian news reports said she had been fighting cancer.

Source: apnews.com

The US has told Russia it will not rejoin an arms control deal that permits unarmed aerial flights over dozens of participating countries. The state department said the Open Skies Treaty "has been undermined by Russia's violations" and its failure to return to compliance. Russia denies the allegations, and the country is also expected to withdraw from the treaty this year. The accord allows short-notice flights to monitor military activity.More than 30 nations participate in the treaty which came into force in 2002.

Source: bbc.com

Kathleen Turner joins Michael Douglas on screen for the final season of "The Kominsky Method", a reunion after more than 30 years for the actors who played a divorcing couple in "The War of the Roses". Douglas plays the main character, Sandy Kominsky, in the popular Netflix comedy drama, while Turner joins the cast as his ex-wife Roz.

Source: reuters.com

A group of Muslims, Jews and Christians joined on Thursday to lay the foundation stone for a centre that will house places of worship for each religion in a symbol of interfaith dialogue in the German capital. Days after protests in Berlin over the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza, and at a time when politicians are warning of rising anti-Semitism in Germany, the "House of One" offers a beacon of hope for dialogue, said its founders. The building, with a tall square tower, will contain separate rooms for religious services and a common area for meeting.

Source: reuters.com

César Prieto, one of Cuba's top baseball stars, has abandoned his national team while in Florida for a qualifying event for the Olympics. Prieto left the hotel shortly after he and his team mates had arrived. In a statement, the Cuban Baseball Federation confirmed the 22-year-old had "abandoned" the delegation. Cuban athletes have a long history of defecting, with baseball players, ballet dancers and footballers among those who have left their country.

Source: bbc.com

Gaurav Sharma, 32, shot a video showing his dog attached to balloons, which he then lets go off as the pet starts to fly in the air. A few seconds later, someone in the balcony of the second floor of a building catches the dog. Mr Sharma said he followed all safety measures, but deleted the video after social media backlash. Police say they have arrested Mr Sharma after receiving a complaint against him from animal welfare organisation, People for Animals (PFA).

Source: bbc.com

Spanish side Villarreal won its first major European trophy in Gdansk, Poland, winning a marathon penalty shootout with Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea missing the decisive penalty after all previous 21 penalties had been scored. England international Rashford tweeted after the game that he had been the focus of racial abuse on his social media accounts.

Source: cnn.com

Pope Francis has kissed the tattoo of an Auschwitz survivor during a general audience. Lidia Maksymowicz, a Polish citizen who was deported to Auschwitz from her native Belarus by the age of 3, showed the pope the number tattooed on her arm by the Nazis, and Francis leaned over and kissed it on Wednesday. Maksymowicz told Vatican News that she didn’t exchange words with the pope. “We understood each other with a glance,” she said.

Source: apnews.com

Singer and talk show host Kelly Clarkson will take over Ellen DeGeneres' slot on US TV, network NBC has confirmed. Earlier this month, DeGeneres announced her talk show would come to an end in 2022 after 19 seasons. The presenter said she was leaving because her show was "not a challenge any more". NBC said The Kelly Clarkson Show - now in its second season - will replace DeGeneres' programme from autumn 2022.

Source: bbc.com

Vanessa Redgrave has clarified that she will not be among the cast of The Man Who Drew God, the upcoming Italian film that is set to mark the big-screen comeback of Kevin Spacey. The pic was announced this week by its director, the famed Italian film personality Franco Nero, who confirmed Spacey’s casting to ABC News. The outlet quoted sources in unveiling that Redgrave also would be among the cast, as well as Nero and other Italian actors.

Source: deadline.com

A blind man has had his vision partially restored using optogenetic therapy and engineered goggles -- the first successful case of such therapy in humans. Researchers treated a 58-year-old man who for 40 years had been suffering from retinitis pigmentosa -- a neurodegenerative eye disease where loss of photoreceptors can lead to complete blindness.

Source: cnn.com

The British bank announced Wednesday that it was closing most of its retail banking locations in the country, reducing its current footprint from 148 branches to about 25. Those that will remain will be turned into international wealth management centers. While HSBC (HBCYF) will remain in the United States, its team there will switch the focus of its retail business to "international banking and wealth management" — and specifically the "needs of globally connected affluent and high net worth clients," it said in a statement.

Source: cnn.com

Brad Pitt has been granted joint custody of his children with Angelina Jolie following a lengthy court battle. Ms Jolie filed for divorce in 2016 and the pair have since been engaged in a custody battle largely shielded from public view. Mr Pitt, 57, and Ms Jolie, 45, are parents to Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 14 and 12-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox. The oldest, 19-year-old Maddox, is not subject to the custody decision.

Source: bbc.com

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Kigali on Thursday, hoping to reset ties between the two nations after decades of Rwandan accusations that France was complicit in the 1994 genocide. The visit follows the release in March of a report by a French inquiry panel that said a colonial attitude had blinded French officials and the government bore a "serious and overwhelming" responsibility for not foreseeing the slaughter. However, the report absolved France of direct complicity in the killings of more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.


Source: reuters.com

A southwestern Ohio woman won the state’s first $1 million Vax-a-Million vaccination incentive prize, while a Dayton-area teen was awarded the first full-ride college scholarship offered by the program, the state announced Wednesday night. The winners were selected in a random drawing Monday and had their information confirmed before the formal announcement at the end of the Ohio Lottery’s Cash Explosion TV show.

Source: apnews.com

Naomi Osaka has said she will not take questions from the press at this year’s French Open, saying the nature of news conferences puts an unfair burden on players’ mental health. “We’re often sat there and asked questions that we’ve been asked multiple times before or asked questions that bring doubt into our minds and I’m just not going to subject myself to people that doubt me,” the 23-year-old added.

Source: theguardian.com

Teenagers living in France will receive €300 when they turn 18 to spend on cultural products such as books, video games or festivals, President Macron has announced. When French teens turn 18, they will gain access to the ‘Pass Culture’ application, and will have 24 months to spend the money.

Source: thelocal.fr