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A 20-metre-long unfinished escape tunnel has been discovered at an immigration detention centre in Western Australia, refugee advocates say. The nascent tunnel – dug three metres underground – was found on Monday morning, built underneath an accommodation block in Falcon compound of the Yongah Hill detention centre. It is not known who dug the tunnel or with what.

Source: theguardian.com

A US Coast Guard ship fired warning shots at Iranian boats that came close to American naval vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the Pentagon says. The Pentagon said 13 fast boats from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) came within 140m of US vessels on Monday. The Iranian vessels left after 30 warning shots were fired, the Pentagon said. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby accused the Iranian boats of "acting very aggressively" near the US military vessels, which were escorting USS Georgia, a guided-missile submarine.

Source: bbc.com

China’s weak population growth is falling closer to zero as fewer couples have children, government data showed Tuesday, adding to strains on an aging society with a shrinking workforce. The population rose by 72 million people over the past 10 years to 1.411 billion in 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics announced after a once-a-decade census. It said annual growth averaged 0.53%, down by 0.04% from the previous decade.

Source: apnews.com

Edwards and Oxlade-Chamberlain have been in a relationship since the start of 2017.

Source: news.sky.com

Three reporters and two activists from Myanmar have been arrested in Thailand for illegal entry and face possible deportation, the reporters' news organisation and local police said on Tuesday. Broadcaster DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) said the five were arrested on Sunday in the northern city of Chiang Mai and it appealed to Thai authorities not to deport them to Myanmar, where the news organisation has been banned by the junta.

Source: reuters.com

The global energy watchdog revealed that the delivery of renewable energy projects, including windfarms and solar power projects, grew by 45% last year in a step change for the global industry. Wind power capacity doubled over the last year, while solar power grew by almost 50% more than its growth before the pandemic, due to the growing appetite for clean energy from governments and corporations.

Source: theguardian.com

Doctors in India are warning against the practice of using cow dung in the belief it will ward off COVID-19, saying there is no scientific evidence for its effectiveness and that it risks spreading other diseases. In the state of Gujarat in western India, some believers have been going to cow shelters once a week to cover their bodies in cow dung and urine in the hope it will boost their immunity against, or help them recover from, the coronavirus.

Source: reuters.com

U.S. television network NBC on Monday dropped its broadcast of the Golden Globes ceremony in 2022 after a Hollywood backlash over the ethics of the group that hands out the annual awards for film and television and its lack of diversity.

Source: reuters.com

A man was left stranded on a glass-bottomed suspension bridge in north-eastern China after sudden gale-force winds shattered the transparent panels around him. The man was on the 100-metre-high bridge at Piyan Mountain in Longjing city, when it was hit by sudden strong weather, the local tourism department said. Gusts of up to 150km per hour blew out several glass panels, trapping the tourist until he could be rescued by firefighters, police, and forestry and tourism personnel more than half an hour later.

Source: theguardian.com

The Libyan Foreign Ministry said Libya's embassy in London had received the "Persephone Statue" that was smuggled out of Libya and recovered by British authorities in 2011. The Foreign Ministry said the reception of the smuggled statue was done in a ceremony that included the Libyan chargé d'affaires and the Head of Greek and Roman section at the British Museum Peter Hugo. The Persephone Statue is a depiction of an ancient Greek goddess. It was in Shahat in eastern Libya - a UNESCO world heritage site - before it had been smuggled.

Source: libyaobserver.ly

Wembley is being considered as an option for the Champions League final as negotiations continue over moving the showpiece match from Istanbul. Talks are taking place on Monday between Uefa and the UK government over the final, which is to be contested by Manchester City and Chelsea and due to be played on 29 May, with a decision expected in the next 48 hours. The government placed Turkey on its travel red list last week, meaning fans cannot travel to the game, and are understood to prefer that the match be played at the national stadium.

Source: theguardian.com

While Williams has not played since losing to Naomi Osaka in the Melbourne semifinals in February, she has been practicing “very intensely” on clay courts and is ready to “start fresh” in her pursuit of Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles. Preparing to return at this week’s Italian Open to gear up for Roland Garros later this month, Williams on Monday detailed her recent training regimen. Williams, a four-time champion in Rome, will face either French Open semifinalist Nadia Podoroska or German qualifier Laura Siegemund in her opening match at the Foro Italico. She’s in the same quarter of the draw as Osaka and has a first-round bye.

Source: apnews.com

China says it will set up a "line of separation" at the summit of Mount Everest in order to prevent climbers mingling with others from Nepal. It comes less than a week after mountaineers and authorities at base camp in Nepal warned of rising cases of Covid among climbers. Everest stands on the border between China and Nepal and mountaineers climb it from both sides. It is not yet clear how China will enforce the rules on the mountain.

Source: bbc.com

At least 11 people have been killed and dozens injured in the bombing of a bus in Afghanistan’s southern Zabul province. The blast took place late on Sunday night, said Zabul’s provincial governor’s spokesman Gul Islam Sial, adding that 25 people were injured including women and children who were in critical condition. In another attack early on Monday, a blast hit a minibus in Parwan province, just north of the capital, Kabul, killing two people and wounding nine, the interior ministry said.

Source: theguardian.com

Preparations for the Tokyo Olympics have suffered another setback after a poll found that nearly 60% of people in Japan want them to be cancelled, less than three months before the Games are due to open. Japan has extended a state of emergency in Tokyo and several other regions until the end of May as it struggles to contain a surge in Covid-19 cases fuelled by new, more contagious variants, with medical staff warning that health services in some areas are on the verge of collapse.

Source: theguardian.com

Six people were killed in a shooting early Sunday morning during a birthday party at a Colorado Springs, Colorado, mobile home, according to police. The suspected shooter -- believed to be a boyfriend of one of the victims -- is also dead, police said. Police believe the suspect drove to the home where a birthday party was being held and opened fire before killing himself. No children were injured in the shooting.

Source: cnn.com

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has dissolved parliament, a long-awaited step to pave the way for the appointment of lawmakers from formerly warring parties in the country. The move was in line with a peace deal signed to end a civil war that began in 2013. The president dissolved parliament on Saturday and the new body will be formed in "a matter of time, not too long", his spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny told Reuters. According to the deal that ended the civil war, parliament must be expanded from 400 members to 550 and must include members from all parties to the peace accord.

Source: reuters.com

One boat alone was carrying almost 400 men, women and children, Italian news agency Ansa said. The island's Mayor Toto Martello said he believed the rise in arrivals coincided with the good weather. Lampedusa is one of the main arrival ports for people wanting to reach Europe. Some 11,000 migrants have landed on the island since the start of the year.

Source: bbc.com