A 13-year-old Michigan boy saved his 8-year-old sister from being kidnapped by hitting an attacker with a slingshot. When Owen Burns heard his sister scream from outside, he assumed she was playing with her friends until he heard another scream. Looking out of the window, he saw her being abducted by a person, and in a panic, grabbed his slingshot and pelted him with a marble and a pebble, hitting him in the chest and head. His sister was able to escape and the would-be kidnapper, who suffered visible wounds, has been charged with attempted kidnapping.
Australian television broadcaster and journalist Stan Grant, who is of Aboriginal descent, has left a flagship programme after receiving what he called “relentless” racist abuse following remarks regarding King Charles’s Coronation. During the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) coverage of the event, Grant commented on the “invasion” represented by the British Crown. His observations prompted viewer complaints including claims that the ABC’s commentary was not impartial. The Australian Monarchist League attacked the broadcaster for a lack of balance and respect. Grant’s comments also provoked racist vitriol on social media aimed at him and his family.
The US is set to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine to boost the country's defence against Russia, according to The Telegraph's daily podcast Ukraine: The Latest. The news comes as the Battle for Bakhmut continues and G7 leaders meet in Hiroshima. The leaders revealed they have reaffirmed their commitment to stand together against what they call “Russia's illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine”. The US has previously been reticent about sending warplanes to Ukraine.
Jade Jagger and her boyfriend, Anthony Hinkson, have been convicted of charges related to resisting arrest, wounding and assault, following an altercation with police in Ibiza. Hinkson was given a four-month sentence for assault, but as sentences of less than two years are normally suspended in Spain for first-time offenders, is not expected to serve time. Jagger was fined about £1,250 for a crime of serious resistance and a minor crime of wounding; she must also compensate ￡800 to her victim.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner, a Russian mercenary group, has suggested that the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine is unlikely to be captured by government forces any time soon. Prigozhin has been leading fighting in the city for months. He suggested that Ukrainian troops were currently holed up in a makeshift fortress in the southern part of the city while fighting continued around them. Hanna Maliar, the deputy defence minister of Ukraine, confirmed Russian attacks on the city while insisting that her country’s forces were repelling the assaults.
A report from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) has suggested that Russian forces are using battlefield computers, known as Strelets, to greatly improve the accuracy of their artillery fire, whilst quickly moving out of the way of missiles. The systems allow information from sensors on the battlefield to be fed back to artillery units, and information from drone fleets to report Ukrainian positions. The amount of time Ukrainian soldiers have to get out of the way of incoming fire, once it has been spotted, is between three and five minutes. Smaller, more effective units have been created since the beginning of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine in order to strengthen the Russian defence, and disposable troops have been used to gain tactical advantages in an attempt to capture vast areas of the Ukraine. Thermal camouflage is used to hide armoured vehicles, and Russia's Air Force uses glide bombs. Russia has also reacted to US gifted Himars rocket launcher by moving command and control centres out of the rocket launcher’s range. Russian forces have used time to build defences in the south of the Ukraine.
The remains of a US Marine veteran who went missing in Ukraine over a year ago have been located and returned to his family in eastern North Carolina. Retired Marine Capt. Grady Kurpasi, a 50-year-old Iraq War veteran, had volunteered last year to help evacuate Ukrainian residents before fighting in the Ukrainian Foreign Legion. He disappeared in April 2022 after investigating gunfire near southern Ukraine. His remains were located by the Weatherman Foundation, who flew them via Turkish Airlines from Istanbul to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport before being flown to Wilmington, North Carolina.
ExxonMobil has filed an appeal against a ruling made by a Guyanese court which said the company must set aside hundreds of millions of dollars in the event of an oil spill off the country’s coast. It was ordered to obtain independent liability insurance from its subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production, and seek an unlimited guarantee from parent company Exxon Mobil Corporation. The oil giant claimed the court “failed to consider” Exxon’s ability to fulfil its obligations alongside consortium partners Hess Corporation and China National Overseas Offshore Corporation. In December, the consortium began production on its Stabroek Block venture, with daily output expected to soar to 1.2 million barrels by 2027.
A 13-year-old Michigan boy saved his 8-year-old sister from being kidnapped by hitting an attacker with a slingshot. When Owen Burns heard his sister scream from outside, he assumed she was playing with her friends until he heard another scream. Looking out of the window, he saw her being abducted by a person, and in a panic, grabbed his slingshot and pelted him with a marble and a pebble, hitting him in the chest and head. His sister was able to escape and the would-be kidnapper, who suffered visible wounds, has been charged with attempted kidnapping.
The US and other Group of Seven nations have enacted a new series of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine during a Japan summit. The sanctions include hundreds of people and firms, including those thought to be assisting Russia to evade existing sanctions and export controls. US officials have said the newest sanctions will tighten Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “ability to wage his barbaric invasion and will advance our global contributions to cutting off Russian attempts to evade sanctions,” but critics have pointed out that the effect on Russia is relatively minor.
Toyota has suspended shipments of its Toyota Raize hybrid vehicles produced by Daihatsu Motor after finding improper crash tests for the model. A total of 56,111 vehicles in Japan have been affected by the faulty safety checks, in which results for a pole used to measure impact on the left side were used for the right when both sides needed to be tested. This is the latest in a series of issues that have hit Toyota, after it acknowledged a data breach at its Connected service a week ago and Daihatsu disclosed separate crash test problems affecting 88,123 vehicles sold abroad last month.
AP Photo Editor Anita Baca has curated a gallery of the most compelling images from around the world in the past week, including shots of the Cannes Film Festival, election results in Turkey and Thailand, and more. The images were taken or published by the Associated Press and can be found on the AP News Instagram and AP Images Twitter pages.
The search continues for four Indigenous children who were on a small plane that crashed in the Amazon jungle in Colombia on May 1. The three adults on board died, but the children – members of the Uitoto Indigenous community – have not been found, despite local reports contradicting government statements that the children were safe. Concerns have been heightened by reports of mystery finds in the search area, including a baby bottle one day and a pair of scissors the next day, as well as local reports that the children were heading to a village on a riverboat.
A Wagner soldier speaking with Vans Without Borders claimed that he was used as "cannon fodder" after he was lured to the Ukrainian front to fight with a promise of being pardoned after six months, but ended up fighting in the war since the Russian invasion began in February 2022. The prisoner claimed that he and fellow inmates were given the worst possible stations within the Russian army and described the conditions as "everyday chaos", with "no one is interested in what will happen to you". He said his ex-convict status guaranteed him the worst possible conditions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has gone to meeting leaders of the G7 countries in Japan where they have tightened sanctions on Russia and pledged to increase the pressure. International support is a priority for Ukraine, as it prepares to counterattack against Russia and take back seized territory. Mr Zelensky has arrived in Japan on a French government jet and will meet US President Joe Biden who is expected to announce a new $375m military aid package for Ukraine, including warplanes and more artillery shells, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was welcomed to Hiroshima for a visit to the G7 summit by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who said that the trip demonstrates how, despite Russian aggression, freedom and sovereignty will never succumb. Additionally, Joe Biden has allowed allies to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, and Britain is due to begin training Ukrainian pilots to boost their combat air capabilities within the next two months. Russia has warned the West that if it supplies the jets, it will be taking "colossal risks".
Robert F Kennedy Jr has earned a significant amount of support since he launched his presidential campaign, according to polls. The 69-year-old vaccine opponent and environmentalist is now supported by approximately 20% of Democrats. Additionally, almost half of Democratic voters do not want to see a re-run of President Biden, with concerns over his age being a significant factor. While Kennedy has a weak chance of beating out Biden for the Democratic nomination, his strong support is embarrassing for the Biden campaign and could highlight the president’s electoral vulnerabilities.
France's interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, has called on the US for increased security assistance in dealing with the ongoing threat posed by Islamist terrorism, particularly in advance of next year's Olympic Games in Paris. Darmanin warned of the risk of a Bataclan-style attack or stabbings at bakeries from operatives infiltrating France for terror attacks. He urged greater US-French collaboration on intelligence, cautioning that Sunni terrorism remains the "primary risk".
Guest leaders from the so-called Global South have joined discussions at the Group of Seven (G7) summit, which also convened private sector executives, offering "an alternative to financing from China with investments in a transparent and fair manner," according to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Some countries, including India and Brazil, have called for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Ukraine, while increasing energy imports from Russia, and new power struggles are emerging as the US, UK and EU face criticism over funding to poorer countries for infrastructure projects.
Ukraine's military has developed the Toloka TLK-150, a drone submarine reportedly capable of so-called "loitering torpedo" attacks. The drone can travel just below the surface, where it is harder to detect and intercept. Its explosive payload targets the point below the waterline, potentially increasing the odds that any struck ship could be sunk, said naval expert HI Sutton. The Toloka TLK-150 is the first underwater drone completely designed and built in the Ukraine. If it proves successful, the manufacturer Brave1 will develop two more Toloka-class submarine drones.
