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Gaza militants, Israel in biggest exchange of fire since 2021 war

Palestinian militants fired volleys of rockets from Gaza into Israel, which responded with air strikes in the early hours of Thursday in the biggest escalation since an 11-day war last year.

Horror master Cronenberg makes art from 'beautiful' kidney stones

Canadian film-maker David Cronenberg has been shocking audiences for decades with his graphic "body horror" movies but he has now gone further by creating art from his own insides.

After life of trauma, Liberian lab chimps settle into retirement

Floating on a river boat near a Liberian island, vet Richard Ssuna watches intently as animal carers wade towards the shore hurling fruits and imitating chimpanzee calls as they go.

Hidden in bananas and tea, cocaine departs Ecuador port by the ton

Trying to prevent drug traffickers from hiding cocaine in cargo containers at Ecuador's main port of Guayaquil is becoming an increasingly expensive headache for police and exporters alike.

No joke: Political satire in Venezuela a risky business

A 72-year-old grandmother who named a popular snack after the "widow" of President Nicolas Maduro -- still very much alive -- has become the latest casualty of a Venezuelan hate speech law denounced by rights defenders.

QR codes and cranes: Japan embraces modern cemeteries

Masayo Isurugi settles into a booth on the sixth floor of a sleek Tokyo building, scans an ID card and waits for an automated system to deliver her late husband's ashes.

US Capitol evacuation over false alarm provokes fear, fury

The US Capitol was briefly evacuated Wednesday after authorities sounded a threat alarm over a harmless parachute stunt, prompting top lawmaker Nancy Pelosi to blast aviation officials for an "inexcusable" failure.

Gaza rocket hits Israel, as far-right rally blocked by police

Palestinian militants in Gaza fired a rocket into Israel on Wednesday, the army said, as tensions soared with police in Jerusalem blocking Jewish ultra-nationalist protesters from approaching the Old City's Muslim quarter.

Johnny Depp says ex-wife severed his finger with thrown vodka bottle

"Pirates of the Caribbean" star Johnny Depp testified Wednesday that his ex-wife Amber Heard would regularly "verbally decimate" him and once threw a vodka bottle at him, severing the tip of one of his fingers.

South African flood victims struggle with despair

Wielding shovels, mallets and machetes, they worked for four hours to try to shift the muddy debris, hoping that vehicles could at last get through.

Venice readies day-trip booking system to ease crowds

Venice plans to trial a reservation system for day-trippers, an official said Wednesday, in a bid to ease over-tourism as visitors flock back to the Italian city following the pandemic.

Hong Kong pro-democracy DJ gets 40 months in jail for sedition

A pro-democracy Hong Kong radio DJ was jailed for 40 months on Wednesday for "seditious speech" under a British colonial-era law authorities have embraced as China flattens dissent in the city.

El Salvador NGOs file suit against gag order on gang statements

El Salvadoran NGOs asked the judiciary on Tuesday to declare unconstitutional a new measure that journalists warn could criminalize certain forms of media reporting on gangs.

Chanters in Cyprus carry on 'rich heritage' of Byzantine music

Chanting resonates through a church in the Cypriot resort town of Ayia Napa, darkened but for a few low lights and mobile devices displaying the singers' Byzantine melodies.

Under shadow of drought, Santiago ditches exotic plants

With drought casting a constant shadow over Santiago's 7.1 million residents, there has been a recent rush to replace thirsty, exotic plants with hardier, native ones in the hopes of staving off water rationing.

Brazil readies first carnival since Covid

After two bleak years of lock-downs and loss, Rio de Janeiro will hold its famed carnival this weekend for the first time since Covid-19 hit Brazil, promising a giant, glittering spectacle of pandemic catharsis.

America's weed legalization: five things to know

As pot smokers prepare to light up for "4/20" -- the annual counter-cultural celebration of cannabis held on April 20 -- the United States' legalization experiment blazes ahead.

Roll up: Weed Day explained

Tens of thousands of Americans will gather in parks and city plazas under a fog of marijuana smoke on Wednesday to celebrate a drug that remains illegal in much of the country.

US pot use increasingly normal, but legality is hazy

Buy a T-shirt, get a "gift" of weed: that's how some stores operate in Washington, exploiting a perceived loophole to sidestep a ban on selling cannabis in the US capital.

Johnny Depp rejects 'heinous' abuse charges at US defamation trial

"Pirates of the Caribbean" star Johnny Depp denied ever physically abusing Amber Heard as he took the witness stand on Tuesday at the US defamation trial against his former wife.

French court fines Deliveroo for 'undeclared labour'

A Paris court on Tuesday handed the food delivery group Deliveroo a fine of 375,000 euros ($405,000) after finding it guilty of "undeclared labour" by using freelance delivery riders who should have been considered employees.

S. Africa ministers to the front as flood effort stutters

South Africa's government Tuesday sought to reassure a worried public about efforts to help the east coast, where millions remained without water more than a week after deadly storms pounded the region.

20 million risk starvation as Horn of Africa drought worsens: UN

Twenty million people are at risk of starvation this year as delayed rains worsen an already brutal drought in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, the UN warned Tuesday.

Indonesia rescuers search rubble after mini-market collapse kills 5

Rescue workers in Indonesia were searching for survivors Tuesday after a mini-market collapse killed five people and injured nine, in a country where lax construction standards have raised concerns about building safety.

Iran fights to recover stolen antiquities

Decorated glazed bricks almost 3,000 years old are on display at Iran's National Museum after a four-decade search disrupted by war and an international legal battle.

Washington Mormon Temple to welcome public for first time in half a century

Like something from a science fiction novel, with its six golden spires and pristine white walls rising above the surrounding trees, the Washington Mormon Temple has for decades intrigued those barred from entering.

South Africa floods declared national disaster

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday declared a national state of disaster over the deadly floods on the east coast, warning that rebuilding even basic services will take time.

10,000 soldiers in South Africa flood relief effort

A week after deadly storms started lashing South Africa's east coast, the army said Monday 10,000 troops were on the ground to help restore key services and aid the search for 63 people who remain missing.

What's behind South Africa's flood disaster

South Africa, the continent's most industrialised country, has largely escaped the tropical cyclones that regularly hit its neighbours.

Cruise ships return to Australia after two-year Covid ban

A cruise ship docked in Sydney Harbour on Monday for the first time in more than two years, after a 2020 ban sparked by a mass Covid-19 outbreak was lifted.

Exiled Nicaraguan ambassador 'fed up with cruelty'

Former Nicaraguan ambassador Arturo McFields's defection was spectacular.

Orthodox Palm Sunday brings brief respite to Ukraine's Kramatorsk

For once, the distant thunder of shelling cannot be heard in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. Orthodox Palm Sunday has granted its residents some respite before an expected Russian onslaught.

Flood-struck S.Africans seek Easter Sunday divine 'refuge'

As temperatures climbed and an overcast sky hung over a storm-ravaged township in eastern South Africa, survivors of the deadly floods sought divine solace observing Easter Sunday.

South Africa flood toll rises to 443 as deluge eases

The death toll from floods that have battered South Africa's east coast has risen to 443, including a rescuer, a regional official said on Sunday, as dozens more are still missing.

Over 20 wounded in new Jerusalem violence

More than 20 Israelis and Palestinians were wounded on Sunday in several incidents in and around Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, two days after major violence at the site.

S.Africa deluge easing but flood emergency lingers

Rains were expected to let up in South Africa's flood-ravaged east Sunday after one of the deadliest storms in living memory killed nearly 400 and left tens of thousands homeless

Divers inspect fuel-laden ship sunk off Tunisia

Divers on Sunday inspected the hull of a tanker loaded with 750 tonnes of fuel that sank off southeastern Tunisia, with no leak detected so far, officials said.

Human trafficking raises alarm in divided Cyprus

Cyprus's frozen conflict is providing fertile ground for human traffickers with cases at "alarming" levels in the EU member state, and the breakaway north considered as bad as Afghanistan.

Fuel-laden ship sinks off Tunisia coast

A tanker carrying 750 tonnes of diesel fuel from Egypt to Malta sank Saturday off Tunisia's southeast coast, but officials said a large spill could be avoided.

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