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Sri Lanka's bus and train networks ground to a halt while offices and factories were empty Friday in a nationwide strike demanding the government's resignation over the island's worsening economic crisis. Months of blackouts and acute shortages of food, fuel and pharmaceuticals have seen widespread suffering across the South Asian island nation.
Source: france24.com
American actress Emma Stone and Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos have teamed up once again for a new short, silent film shot on a Greek island in black and white. Tackling loss, necrophilia and rugged Greek landscapes, "Bleat" is the pair's first collaboration since their 2019 brush with the Oscars for "The Favourite". The new 30-minute short film, also starring French actor Damien Bonnard, premieres in Athens on Friday and was shot on the hilltops of the Greek island of Tinos.
Source: france24.com
The death toll from the collapse of a building in central China last week has risen to 26, according to state media reports. Ten people have been pulled alive from the building’s rubble as of Friday morning local time, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday. An unknown number of people are still thought to be missing following the incident in the city of Changsha, Hunan province, on April 29.
Source: aljazeera.com
An ancient manuscript by the French astrologer Michel de Nostredame, better known as Nostradamus, stolen from a library in Rome has been returned to the Italian capital. The manuscript, entitled Nostradamus M Prophecies and dating back about 300 years, was rediscovered last year when it was put up for sale by a German auction house. It is unclear exactly when the 500-page manuscript was stolen from the historical studies centre of the Barnabite fathers of Rome, but it is believed to have been in about 2007.
Source: theguardian.com
Israeli medics have said at least three people were killed in a stabbing attack near Tel Aviv on Thursday night. Police said the attacker fled in a vehicle. Security forces set up roadblocks in the area around where the killings occurred in the town of Elad.
Source: aljazeera.com
WHO data shows the number of excess COVID mortalities to be somewhere between 13.3 million and 16.6 million people from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021. There were 14.9 million excess deaths associated with COVID-19 by the end of 2021, the UN body said on Thursday. This is more than double the official death toll of around six million. There was a higher rate for men (57%) than there was for women (43%), with more excess deaths among the elderly than younger generations.
Source: sky.com
Billionaire Elon Musk has strengthened the equity stake of his offer to buy Twitter with commitments of more than $7 billion from a range of investors, including Silicon Valley heavy hitters like Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. Other investors include Sequoia Capital Fund, which pledged $800 million, and VyCapital, which pledged $700 million, according to a Thursday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. But Ellison, who is also a Tesla board member, is making the biggest contribution, pegged at $1 billion.
Source: apnews.com
The largest cave figures in North America have been discovered in Alabama as a result of advanced photography. In a study published on Tuesday in the journal Antiquity, researchers revealed that a cave in the northern Alabama countryside is home to carvings dating back about 1,000 years. Experts estimate that the carvings were made during the Woodland period. The carvings, some of which extend up to 7ft long, depict various figures, including what appears to be people wearing Native American garments such as headdresses and carrying a rattle or weapon.
Source: theguardian.com
The delayed and over-budget Crossrail project will finally open this month, Transport for London (TfL) has said. The Abbey Wood to Paddington section will open to passengers on 24 May, although initially trains will not run on Sundays or call at Bond Street. Known as the Elizabeth line, it was meant to start running in December 2018 but the £18.8bn project has missed multiple targets amid ballooning costs. The railway will link Reading and Essex via central London.
Source: bbc.com
Pope Francis, who has suffered from pain in his knee, used a wheelchair for the first time at a public event on Thursday. The 85-year-old was wheeled into the Paul VI hall at the Vatican for a meeting of a Catholic organisation of sisters and nuns, according to an AFP journalist. He used a wheelchair after an operation on his colon last summer, but this was the first time he has been pictured in one at an event open to the media.
Source: france24.com
Consumer prices in Turkey soared nearly 70% in April from a year ago, hitting a two-decade high, official figures show. Transport, food prices and household furnishings recorded the sharpest rise in annual inflation - transport costs jumped by 105% over the year. Countries around the world are dealing with a growing cost of living crisis. But Turkey's problems have been made worse by its president's reluctance to raise interest rates - a commonly used tool to help cool inflation.
Source: bbc.com
More than 1,000 Iraqis were rushed to hospital with respiratory ailments on Thursday due to a sandstorm, the seventh to hit the country in the past month, state media said. Residents of six of Iraq's 18 provinces, including Baghdad and the vast western region of Al-Anbar, awoke once again to a thick cloud of dust blanketing the sky. Authorities in Al-Anbar and Kirkuk provinces, north of the capital, urged people to stay indoors, said the official INA news agency.
Source: france24.com
The unidentified woman is the 10th survivor of the disaster in the city of Changsha, in which at least five people have died and an unknown number, possibly dozens, are still missing. She was rescued shortly after midnight on Thursday, about 132 hours after the rear of the six-storey building suddenly caved in on 29 April, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The woman was conscious and advised rescuers on how to pull her out without causing further injury, Xinhua said.
Source: theguardian.com
Heavy rain and flooding has killed 22 and injured 40 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and damaged crops in Afghanistan, which is already facing a humanitarian crisis, a disaster management official said on Thursday. The Taliban government, struggling to cope with the disaster that has affected more than a third of its provinces, will approach international relief organisations for help, officials said.
Source: reuters.com
Karim Benzema scored an extra-time penalty as Real Madrid pulled off another astonishing comeback in the Champions League to stun Manchester City 3-1 on Wednesday and book a showdown with Liverpool in the final.
Source: france24.com
The Vatican will debut a NFT gallery so that audiences around the world can view the art, manuscripts, and other objects held in its collection. The project is a collaboration between Sensorium, a VR company, and Humanity 2.0, a Vatican-led nonprofit that is working toward “human flourishing,” according to its website. It is expected that the gallery, which will be viewable through VR and on desktops, will be available sometime this year.
Source: artnews.com
France's left-of-centre parties on Wednesday reached an alliance deal for June parliamentary polls, aiming for a strong enough showing to hinder President Emmanuel Macron's controversial reform plans. After talks dragged through the night past a Tuesday deadline, the Socialist Party (PS) fell in line alongside the Greens and the Communist Party (PCF) behind the hard-left France Unbowed movement (LFI), who emerged as the dominant force on the left in April's presidential election.
Source: france24.com
The jersey worn by Argentina football legend Diego Maradona when scoring twice against England in the 1986 World Cup, including the infamous "hand of God" goal, was auctioned for $9.3 million, a record for any item of sports memorabilia, Sotheby's said Wednesday. Seven bidders vied for his iconic World Cup jersey in an auction that began on April 20 and ended Wednesday morning, Sotheby's said.
Source: france24.com
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