Global oil and gas contract activity boosted with Petrobras’ key upstream contracts. The industry witnessed a significant 47% increase in total disclosed value, rising from $37.3bn in Q1 2024 to $54.91bn in Q2 2024. However, the number of contracts saw a decline of 7%, from 1,473 in Q1 2024 to 1,377 in Q2 2024. Some…
MADRID (Reuters) – Remains found in a tomb in northwestern Spain are likely to belong to a ninth-century bishop believed to have helped create the Camino de Santiago, one of Christianity’s most popular pilgrimages, a new study has found. A combination of bone analysis, carbon dating, stable isotope analysis and DNA testing yielded data that…
BERLIN (AP) — The United Nations’ top human rights official expressed concern Tuesday over arbitrary detentions and “disproportionate use of force” in Venezuela as security forces crack down after the country’s disputed presidential election. Forces loyal to President Nicolás Maduro have rounded up more than 2,000 people for demonstrating against him or casting doubt on…
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of a far-right religious party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, again rejected talks with Hamas during a controversial visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Speaking in a video published on X, Ben Gvir repeated his opposition to negotiations with the radical Palestinian Islamist…
The European Commission on Tuesday announced that it was activating a system for European countries to help Greece and Albania battle ongoing wildfires. At a press conference on Tuesday, a commission spokesman said the support to Greece includes: two planes from Italy, two helicopters from France and Serbia, and ground firefighting crews from the Czech…
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Firefighters in Greece battled scattered fires as Tuesday broke, hoping to contain the remains of the major wildfire that burned into the northern suburbs of Athens, triggering evacuations and leaving at least one person dead. With strong winds that had fanned the flames on Sunday and Monday dying down overnight, the…
BOGOTÁ, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s defense ministry on Monday said 66 soldiers who had been “kidnapped” by villagers in the south of the country were released unharmed and will continue to carry out operations against rebel groups in the province of Guaviare. Colombia’s army has long struggled to defeat rebel groups in the Guaviare area,…
One Israeli hostage was killed and two were injured in two separate incidents involving al-Qassam fighters in Gaza, according to a statement from Hamas’ military wing spokesperson Abu Ubaida. In one incident, a fighter fatally shot a male hostage he was guarding, and in the other, two female hostages were wounded, Abu Ubaida said in…
Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed Monday to drive Ukrainian troops from his country’s territory as more civilians were urged to flee the surprise cross-border assault that has left the Kremlin scrambling and seen Kyiv seize back the initiative in the war. Putin’s first major public intervention on the crisis came as battles raged inside Russia…
Tanzanian police have arrested prominent politician Tundu Lissu and two other opposition Chadema officials, the party has said. It says the three were detained on Sunday in the south-western town of Mbeya, on the eve of their planned rally to mark the World Youth Day. The reported arrests come a year after President Samia Hassan…
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The prices on the menu have been erased at a small hotel in a suburb of Ethiopia’s capital. That was no mistake, the waiters said, as businesses in Addis Ababa struggle to keep up with spiraling inflation since the government implemented a flexible exchange rate policy late last month. Since…
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday warned Iran and Hezbollah to avoid retaliatory strikes against Israel, as the Lebanese militia said it attacked an Israeli training base with drones. “Whoever harms us in a way that has not previously occurred will probably be hit in a way that has not previously occurred,” said Gallant,…
The Israeli army on Sunday urged residents of a northern neighbourhood in Khan Younis to leave the area immediately ahead of a new military operation in the Gaza Strip city. The al-Jalaa neighbourhood of Khan Younis will no longer be considered part of a humanitarian zone due to “significant terrorist activity” there, the Israel Defense…
Paul Kagame has been sworn in for a fourth term as Rwanda’s president after winning 99% of the vote in last month’s election. While some hail Mr Kagame for bringing peace and stability to his country after the 1994 genocide, others accuse him of running a repressive regime in a country where ordinary people are…
The German Foreign Office on Sunday again called for a ceasefire in Gaza, one day after an Israeli airstrike on a school in the territory reportedly killed dozens of civilians. “The reports from Gaza are terrible. The killing of civilians seeking protection is unacceptable. The repeated attacks on schools by the Israeli army must stop…
Officials in Moscow have vowed to impose a “tough response” as a large Ukrainian offensive inside Russian territory entered a sixth day. Foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of “intimidating the peaceful population of Russia” with the offensive, which began on Tuesday. Kyiv’s forces have now advanced up to 30km inside Russia, in what…
Tiny Dancer On a tropical island that’s part of modern-day Indonesia, archaeologist have uncovered a remarkable find: a bone fragment belonging to an archaic adult hominin that stood a diminutive three and a half feet tall. The discovery and identification of this arm bone, detailed in new study in Nature Communicationsreveal important and surprising clues…
Two migrants have died attempting to cross the English Channel in a small boat. The incident happened offshore between Calais and Dunkirk, in France, on Sunday morning, a French maritime official told the BBC. About 50 migrants were rescued from the same small boat and the operation is ongoing. More than 20 people have died…
Mia le Roux has become the first deaf woman to be crowned Miss South Africa following a divisive competition which saw one finalist withdraw after being trolled over her Nigerian heritage. In her acceptance speech, Ms Le Roux said she hoped her victory would help those who felt excluded from society to achieve their “wildest…
At least 12 people are now known to have died after a landslide at a massive rubbish dump in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. Rescuers are continuing to dig through the waste in the hope of finding more survivors after the landslide, which followed weeks of torrential rain. The 36-acre (14-hectare) Kiteezi landfill is the only…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that Ukrainian soldiers are fighting in Russia. In an address to the nation, Zelenskyy referenced operations in the “aggressor’s territory.” Russia declared a state of emergency in the Kursk region following Ukrainian attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed for the first time that Ukrainian troops have taken the…
The Israeli army has urged residents of a northern neighbourhood in Khan Younis to leave the area immediately ahead of a new military operation in the Gaza Strip city. The al-Jalaa neighbourhood of Khan Younis will no longer be considered part of a humanitarian zone due to “significant terrorist activity” there, the Israel Defense Forces…
The sudden deaths of 12 Druze children from a Hezbollah missile attack at a soccer field in the Israeli-held Golan Heights on July 27 brought into relief yet again the ancient and complicated makeup of the Middle East. Who are the Druze? The Druze are a small, distinct religious and Arab ethnic group originating in…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday addressed his forces’ incursion into the southern Russian region of Kursk for the first time, five days after the offensive was reported to have begun. Zelensky said in his evening video address that the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, updated him on the “advance of the…
The Lebanese Hezbollah militia has accused Israel of “lies and deception” following its strike on a school in Gaza City which Palestinian authorities said killed up to 100 people. “The speeches about a ceasefire and new dates for negotiations are nothing but lies and deception,” Hezbollah said. Israel’s “real choice is to kill and carry…
An Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City early Saturday, killing at least 80 people, Palestinian health authorities said, in one of the deadliest strikes in the 10-month-old war between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli military acknowledged the strike on the Tabeen school in central Gaza City, claiming it hit a Hamas command center…
The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has said he is “horrified” after an Israeli airstrike hit a school sheltering residents in Gaza on Saturday, which Palestinian authorities said killed up to 100 people. “At least 10 schools were targeted in the last weeks. There’s no justification for these massacres,” he wrote on X. “We are…
Russia has imposed a “counter-terrorism operation” regime in three regions to try to halt a surprise cross-border incursion by Ukrainian troops. The authorities in the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions on the border with Ukraine now can restrict the movement of people and vehicles and use phone tapping among other measures. This comes as the…
An extremely rare bird has been spotted at a reservoir in Cambridgeshire. A kelp gull was seen at Grafham Water, near Huntingdon, on Tuesday. The seabird first appeared at the reservoir two years ago and was briefly spotted last summer. Kelp gulls are usually found in the southern hemisphere and coastal areas of West Africa….
Gaza’s Hamas-controlled civil defence agency says dozens of people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a shelter in a school in Gaza City. Israel’s military said it had struck the location on Saturday, describing its target as a Hamas command centre embedded in the school. According to Gaza’s civil defence agency, the…
