One rescued crew member has died and seven others are still missing after two Japanese military helicopters appeared to have crashed during a drill late Saturday, Japan’s Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said.

“It is very unfortunate that this situation has come to this point,” Kihara told reporters on Sunday. “As for the other seven people, we are doing our utmost to search and rescue them.”

According to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), two of its helicopters, each carrying four crew members on board, are believed to have crashed during a training exercise in the Pacific Ocean late Saturday.

Kihara said that “there is a high possibility of a collision,” and the flight recorders of the two helicopters were found and recovered from the area.

“What is believed to be part of the aircraft has been confirmed at sea, and the two aircraft are thought to have crashed,” Kihara said. “The cause is unknown at this time, but we will do our utmost to save lives first.”

The US government has offered assistance with the search and rescue operation, the US ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“We will stand together, side by side, with our friend and ally, Japan. My thoughts are with the crew members, and their families and friends during this challenging time,” he added.

Communication with one of the helicopters was lost at 10:38 p.m. local time on Saturday off Japan’s Izu Islands, an archipelago that stretches south into the Pacific Ocean.

At 11:04 p.m., communication with the other aircraft was also lost in the same area, according to the JMSDF.

The SH-60K helicopters are mainly stationed on and operated from destroyers, and the two aircraft were conducting night-time training to search for submarines, according to the JMSDF.

Global sport’s anti-doping watchdog has slammed as “outrageous” and “completely false” allegations that it mishandled a 2021 case in which more than 20 elite Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) made the comments after US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) chief Travis Tygart accused the agency and Chinese officials of having “swept these positives under carpet” and failing to follow the rules around drugs in sport.

The dispute – which centers on the extremely sensitive issue of doping in high-level sport – follows a New York Times report that brought to light how 23 Chinese swimmers were cleared to continue competing, including in the Tokyo Olympics later that year, despite the positive test months earlier.

The report, released in coordination with German public broadcaster ARD, said the athletes who tested positive included nearly half of the swimming team that China sent to the Tokyo Games and that several went on to win medals, including three golds.

WADA in a statement Saturday said it “stands by the results of its rigorous scientific investigation” into the case and was “astonished by the outrageous, completely false and defamatory remarks made by (Tygart), who has made very serious accusations against WADA in connection with the case.”

In a statement earlier that day following the publication of media reports, the agency said it had “carefully reviewed” a decision from Chinese authorities to allow the swimmers to continue to compete after the positive tests and had also responded to subsequent queries about the cases from USADA and the independent International Testing Agency.

The China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) said recent media reports about the cases were “misleading,” according to Chinese state agency Xinhua, citing a statement Saturday.

According to the statement, CHINADA conducted doping tests at a national swimming event in 2021 and found swimmers testing positive for an “extremely low concentration” of trimetazidine (TMZ), Xinhua said.

The substance, a heart medication that has been banned by WADA since 2014, affects metabolism and is believed to help with endurance in physical activity. It was thrust into the global spotlight during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics after star Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was handed a four-year ban for a positive test ahead of the event.

In the case of the Chinese swimmers, CHINADA decided the athletes should not be held responsible for the results after its “immediate” investigation concluded the swimmers were inadvertently exposed to the substance through contamination, its statement said, according to Xinhua.

In its statement Saturday, WADA said it was notified in June 2021 of CHINADA’s ruling on the swimmers who had tested positive earlier that year.

“As part of its review, WADA collected additional, unpublished scientific information on TMZ and consulted with independent scientific experts to test the contamination theory and also whether low doses of TMZ could have benefited the athletes during a swimming competition event,” the agency said in its statement.

“WADA ultimately concluded that it was not in a position to disprove the possibility that contamination was the source of TMZ and it was compatible with the analytical data in the file,” the statement said, adding that “in all transparency” it shared its findings with internal and external investigators.

In a second statement Saturday, Tygart of the USADA accused WADA and CHINADA of leaving “clean athletes in the dark” by not being transparent about the findings.

“When you blow away their rhetoric, the facts remain as have been reported: WADA failed to provisionally suspend the athletes, disqualify results, and publicly disclose the positives,” Tygart said in a statement posted on the USADA’s account on social media platform X.

“These are egregious failures even if you buy their story that this was contamination and a potent drug ‘magically appeared’ in a kitchen and led to 23 positive tests of elite Chinese swimmers,” Tygart said, referencing details included in The New York Times’ article citing a report from Chinese investigators.

In its earlier response to Tygart, WADA said it had “no choice but to refer this matter to its legal counsel for further action” following Tygart’s “false allegations.”

It also said “media coverage” of the situation was “misleading and potentially defamatory,” in an apparent reference to the New York Times report.

Under the searing New Delhi sun, more than a dozen of India’s top opposition leaders joined hands in a rare show of unity imploring voters to “save democracy.”

Standing before thousands of supporters at the city’s historic and politically important Ramlila Maidan, the March 31 rally marked the opposition’s strongest attempt yet to sway voters against electing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a third straight term.

The consequence of continued Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rule, they say, would be the erosion of the very foundation upon which modern India was built: democracy.

“This election is for saving democracy and we must fight united,” main opposition party Indian National Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge told the crowds, who were waving the party flag of orange, white and green. “There is no level playing field in this election.”

It echoed a similar rally more than 40 years earlier on the same spot, when opposition leaders fired up huge crowds to help change the course of the 1977 election – ending the 10-year rule of India’s powerful third prime minister and political scion Indira Gandhi.

Gandhi had imposed a state of emergency, jailed key opposition leaders and curtailed civil freedoms. To some, India’s future was perched on a needle point between autocracy and democracy. She lost the election and, in the eyes of many, India’s democracy was saved.

To many supporters in the crowd three weeks ago, India is now at a similar crossroads with this high-stakes election deciding which path the country follows.

Democracy under threat?

Unless there is a major upset, Modi’s BJP is set to win its third straight five-year term thanks to his potent, populist mix of economic empowerment and Hindu nationalism.

According to 2023 Pew research, about eight in 10 Indian adults have a favorable view of Modi, including 55% who have a very favorable view. Such levels of popularity for a two-term incumbent prime minister defy all modern conventions, both in India and throughout much of the democratic world.

But India’s opposition leaders accuse Modi’s right-wing government of becoming an electoral autocracy by attempting to rig the vote, weaponizing state agencies to stifle, attack and arrest opposition politicians, and undermining democratic principles ahead of elections, which began on April 19 and run until June 1, with results counted on June 4.

They also warn Modi’s brand of Hindu nationalism is uncorking dangerous religious divides in a country with a long and tragic history of sectarian bloodletting.

Modi and the BJP have denied political interference, with one senior party leader saying it was a “process of law” to take “appropriate action against corruption.”

To counter the BJP, the opposition has formed a 27-member bloc — the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or INDIA.

But so far that alliance has proved lackluster, observers say. It has been beset by ideological differences, has seen a host of defections to the BJP and, even with the election in full swing, has yet to even name a prime ministerial candidate.

“What kind of a democracy can you have if you don’t have a vibrant opposition, a robust opposition that can question the government?” asks Arati Jerath, an independent political commentator and journalist.

“That’s why it’s not really a question of whether Modi wins or not, it’s a question of keeping the opposition alive to fight another day so that democracy in India survives.”

‘Scorched earth’

Among those leading the charge for the opposition alliance is Rahul Gandhi, longtime face of the Congress and the latest member of his family to bid for power.

He is the son of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. His grandmother Indira was India’s first female leader, and his great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, was the country’s founding prime minister.

“If the BJP wins these fixed elections and changes the constitution, the country will be on fire. Remember this,” Rahul Gandhi told the crowd in Delhi last month.

The BJP and its allies are gunning for a supermajority of more than two-thirds of the seats in India’s parliament, the Lok Sabha. A rising fear among critics is that this would give the BJP the power to change India’s constitution, which is rooted in the democratic principles of justice, liberty, equality and – crucially – secularism.

The BJP has repeatedly denied it has plans to change the constitution.

“When I say that I have big plans, no one should be scared. I don’t take decisions to scare or run over anyone, I take decisions for the wholesome development of the nation,” Modi said in an interview with Indian news agency ANI earlier this week.

But the party has already begun publicly pulling India’s government away from its secular foundation and leading BJP figures have openly advocated for the country to be declared a Hindu nation.

“There shouldn’t be politics on the basis of religion in any country, they should talk about real issues. Until people’s financial situation improves, there won’t be any social reform,” said voter Mohammad Irfan at the opposition rally in Delhi.

Opposition parties have found themselves facing a slew of legal and financial challenges in the run-up to this year’s election.

Gandhi’s Congress – the largest party in the INDIA alliance — has accused the BJP of “tax terrorism” and crippling its ability to campaign after its accounts were frozen by the tax department, leaving it unable to use some $20 million in funds. It has also been landed with a $218 million tax bill.

Then came the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi chief minister and head of the popular Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Kejriwal’s detention on graft allegations came after the announcement of the general election last month, sparking protests in the capital. Analysts say it’s the first time in post-independence history that an Indian chief minister has governed from behind bars.

Kejriwal has denied the allegations, claiming they are politically motivated. He is just one of several prominent members of the opposition, including three other senior AAP leaders, that have also been arrested or investigated by state agencies in moves decried as political by their parties.

“I think there are very serious concerns about how free and fair the elections are going to be in India this time around,” said Atishi, Delhi minister of education for the AAP, who goes by one name.

Reports have emerged of opposition party members being coerced into joining the BJP with the threat of arrest, while they were under investigation by state agencies. Other reports suggest politicians have had their probes dropped after switching sides.

Atishi said she was also approached to switch to the BJP. “Either you join the ruling party, and then the cases are closed or put into cold storage or if you don’t, like the Aam Aadmi Party leaders, then the cases go ahead and you’re arrested and put into jail,” she said, without specifically naming who approached her.

In his interview with ANI, Modi denied any sliding of democracy under his rule and emphasized the independence of the Election Commission and state agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, saying political leaders make up just 3% of cases.

“Shouldn’t we let the ED work independently when it is supposed to do so?” he said. “I am convinced that corruption has destroyed the country. We should fight against corruption with our full strength.”

Analyst Jerath said a BJP-led campaign to weaken the opposition was part of Modi’s “scorched earth policy.”

“Just wipe out whatever comes in your way so that this juggernaut can move on without any kind of challenge, without any obstruction,” she said.

Gandhi ‘not a contender’

Modi is enduringly popular, analysts say, appealing to both the poor and the affluent, especially among much of the roughly 80% of India’s population who are Hindu.

During his 10 years in power, he has launched a raft of welfare policies including free food handouts, housing, cheap gas cylinders for women and infrastructure projects.

India is also the world’s fastest-growing major economy and Modi’s presence on the world stage — including hosting the G20 — has cemented the country as a modern global power, along with a history-making moon landing.

“There is a sense in India, a constant sense, of vulnerability, a lack of self-esteem. So to be recognized as a great power in spite of everything, (that) is attributed to him,” he said.

That does not mean there aren’t key issues the opposition could rally around, analysts say, including the BJP’s failure to increase education opportunities or improve health infrastructure – especially following the coronavirus pandemic, which hit India especially hard.

Youth unemployment also remains a huge problem, close to 50% among 20-to-24-year-olds.

But the INDIA alliance has failed to capitalize on these weak spots, Jerath said.

“They haven’t been able to weave together a cohesive kind of campaign, come up with a catchy slogan that will fire the imagination of the voting public,” she said.

Congress leader Gandhi is one of the few opposition figures considered to have the kind of star power and name recognition to stand against Modi.

But though he may have the name, Gandhi lacks leadership skills, some analysts say.

Rasheed Kidwai, journalist and author of “24 Akbar Road,” a history of the Congress party, said it’s a winner-takes-all election and there is “no silver medal in politics.”

“The problem with INDIA alliance is there is nobody who has that kind of hunger, who has that kind of personal(ity), who has that kind of inner sense of belonging or ownership to go in this election. Rahul is doing it but is not a contender,” he said.

Gandhi recently completed a 6,713-kilometer (4,200-mile) walk across the country, starting in the violence-hit northeastern state of Manipur, to raise issues of poverty, unemployment, diversity and democracy with voters.

Despite these efforts, the BJP has dominated the campaign narrative.

A key gauge of opposition strength will be in those parts of India where the BJP has historically failed to make inroads.

Regional opposition heavyweights, such as the West Bengal chief minister and All India Trinamool Congress head Mamata Banerjee and the south’s Tamil Nadu chief minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin, will be vying to block a BJP takeover in their respective states.

But the only other major national party is the Congress, which has been the main opposition since 2014.

Congress governed the country for much of the 77 years since independence, and while it was once a powerful political force with its legacy rooted in the formation of modern India, it now finds itself in the doldrums, dogged by infighting and accusations of corruption within the party.

“In the Congress, the best and brightest are not fighting the election,” Kidwai said.

Analysts say that during a decade in opposition, Congress has failed to rebuild its organization and political machinery to effectively take on the BJP.

The Congress organization has “decayed and almost died over the years, particularly in north India, and particularly in Uttar Pradesh, which is the largest, most populous state,” Jerath said.

“There was a time after independence, and for many years after independence, that they used to say that you would find a Congress flag in every single village in India,” she said. “That’s no longer true.”

Still, there is optimism from some.

The AAP’s Atishi said that despite repeated attacks against her party, it has been able to defeat the BJP in Delhi again and again.

“Democracy becoming an autocracy … That is what we are fighting against,” she said. “I think that the people of India have always voted very sensibly, and we hope that they do so this time.”

An ambulance driver from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society was killed while transporting Palestinians injured in an attack by settlers in the West Bank on Saturday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.

In a separate incident the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) detained another ambulance crew at the entrance of the Thabet Thabet hospital in Tulkarm, West Bank, the PRCS reported.

In pictures shared by the organization, the ambulance crew is seen siting inside an IDF vehicle while surrounded by IDF soldiers. PRCS says the crew was detained and interrogated while trying to carry out “humanitarian work.”

Earlier on Saturday, the IDF said security forces had killed “10 terrorists” in an ongoing operation at the Nur Shams refugee camp, just East of Tulkarm, in the occupied West Bank.

It said in a statement that “IDF and Israel Border Police forces are continuing extensive counterterrorism activity in the area of Nur Shams. Thus far, the security forces eliminated 10 terrorists during encounters, apprehended eight wanted suspects, exposed explosive devices and routes, and conducted searches in structures.”

It said eight IDF soldiers and one Border Force officer were lightly or moderately injured.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health condemned both the detention of the ambulance crew and “the deliberate killing of an ambulance driver…on Saturday evening, while he was performing his humanitarian duty in transporting (people with) injuries from settler gunfire near the town of Al-Sawiya, south of Nablus.”

The ministry said in a statement that it “urgently calls on international health organizations, human rights institutions, and the International Committee of the Red Cross to urgently act to curb the escalating practices of the occupation and settlers against treatment centers and medical crews, and to allow them to perform their humanitarian duty.”

“The targeting of medics, ambulances, treatment centers, medical staff, obstructing their movement, and preventing them from reaching the wounded, constitutes a blatant and clear violation of international humanitarian law and international norms and treaties,” the ministry said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu have thanked US lawmakers after they voted in favor of new aid packages for their countries worth billions of dollars.

“Thank you, America!” Zelensky wrote on his Telegram on Saturday, shortly after the House of Representatives passed the long-delayed Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act by a vote of 311-112.

The bill was part of a wider $95 billion package providing foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific region. It provides nearly $61 billion to help Ukraine and others in the region fight Russia, while the House also passed funding worth $26.4 billion for Israel and $8.1 billion to counter China’s actions in the Indo-Pacific.

Zelensky said the decision would keep “history on the right track.”

“Democracy and freedom will always have global significance and will never fail as long as America helps to protect it. The vital US aid bill passed today by the House will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger. Just peace and security can only be attained through strength,” Zelensky added.

Meanwhile, the House passed the Israel Security Supplemental with a vote of 366-58.

“Thank you friends, thank you America!” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a post on social media, adding that the bill demonstrates “strong bipartisan support for Israel and defends Western civilization.”

However, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesperson for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the aid package for Israel, describing it as a “dangerous escalation” and act of aggression that would lead to more Palestinian casualties in Israel’s war on Hamas.

The measures still need approval from the Senate, which could begin voting on them as soon as Tuesday.

US President Joe Biden said the House passage of the foreign aid bills sent a “clear message” about America’s leadership to the globe, and urged the Senate to “quickly send this package to my desk so that I can sign it into law.”

Turning point for Ukraine?

The passing of the measures for Ukraine following months of resistance by some Republicans is seen by some as a potential turning point in the country’s fight against Russia’s invasion.

“This is a historic day, when not only Ukraine got a boost of hope, but also the United States and all of the free world,” Dmytro Kuleba said.

Ensuring Russian President Vladimir Putin is defeated in Ukraine would protect the security and prosperity of Americans, he added.

“Enabling Ukraine to push back Russian aggression is equal to preventing a larger war in Europe and averting the risk of all wannabe aggressors plunging our world into chaos,” Kuleba said.

“The allocation of US military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan will exacerbate global crises: military aid to the Kyiv regime is direct sponsorship of terrorist activity, to Taiwan is interference in China’s internal affairs, and to Israel is a direct path toward escalating unprecedented aggravation in the region,” the statement read.

‘A great morale booster’

“We thought that our partners had forgotten about us,” an intelligence officer with the call sign Bankir, currently serving in the Zaporizhzhia region, said in a phone conversation. “This news gives us a sense of support and understanding that we have not been forgotten.”

An artillery reconnaissance commander with the 110th mechanized brigade, who spent two years defending the industrial town of Avdiivka before it fell to Russia in February, had a similar message.

He went on: “To win, we need ammunition … we really need artillery shells because we have an artillery hunger. We also need drones, both reconnaissance and attack drones.”

Another soldier, Dmytro Kurylovich, fighting in eastern Ukraine with the National Guard, identified air defense and artillery as top priorities.

“Morale changes depending on whether there is ammunition,” he added, throwing into sharp relief the impact on Ukraine’s soldiers of being outgunned by Russian forces ten to one – a ratio recently reported by Ukraine’s president in an interview.

The intelligence officer Bankir also described how frontline soldiers would feel more secure knowing the rest of the country was better protected from Russian missile strikes.

“We need air defense systems. Here at the front, we need to be sure that our families in the back are protected and safe. Then we can fight,” he said.

In Kyiv, gratitude tempered with realism

Yulia, 32, thanked US lawmakers for their support but said delays had resulted in unnecessary deaths on the front lines as well as in the country’s major towns and cities. She also highlighted a widespread concern among Ukrainians that conflicts in other parts of the world have put Ukraine’s plight in the shadows.

“It is essential that the issue of assistance to Ukraine does not become secondary to the war in Israel, meaning we fade into the background. It is important that the aid does not stop, important that it continues,” she said.

Roman, 49, was even more circumspect, describing his frustrations with Ukraine’s reliance on Western support. He referenced a decision taken in 1994, shortly after independence, when Kyiv gave up the nuclear weapons stationed on its territory during Soviet times – now seen by many Ukrainians as a calamitous mistake.

“It seems to me that this [vote on military aid] should not have taken this long. Back in the day, Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons under pressure from the United States, and it was under US pressure that we destroyed all our aviation and handed some of it over to Russia. It is these aircraft that are now launching missile strikes against our country – missiles that we handed over to Russia,” he said, adding that US pressure back then meant Washington should feel an obligation to help Ukraine now.

“The war has taught us not to trust anyone. We became realists and fatalists a long time ago. I will believe that there is aid when it actually enters Ukraine,” he added.

‘It is a war of the entire world’

Hanna, 42, was more upbeat.

“At last! We have been waiting for this for so long. The last six months have been very difficult, we lacked everything – equipment, ammunition, weapons. This is not only Ukraine’s war. It is a war of the entire world,” she said.

Danylo, 23, also struck a more positive note, saying the entire country felt relief knowing US military aid would likely start flowing again after the House vote.

“All Ukrainians have been waiting for this bill to finally pass. Ukraine has been without American aid for a long time. Without US assistance, Ukraine has little chance of success on the battlefield,” he said.

“We hope that after the adoption of this law, Ukraine will seize the initiative and save as many human lives as possible and finally be able to liberate our lands from Russian occupation.”

An expression of Ukrainian relief also came at Kyiv’s National Palace of Arts on Saturday evening. In a break between songs at a concert given by popular singers Oleksandr Ponomariov and Mykhailo Khoma, the event emcee took to the stage to announce the result of the US House vote.

The news triggered cheering among the three thousand plus audience and a sustained round of applause.

Ukraine launched attacks on eight Russian regions with long-range strike drones in the early hours of Saturday morning, targeting a fuel depot and power substations, according to a statement from a Ukrainian special services source.

The overnight attacks, which were confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry, come amid a renewed effort by Moscow to disable Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and plunge its citizens into darkness, using the freezing temperatures as a weapon of war.

“Russian Defense Ministry is complaining that dozens of Ukrainian drones popped up in some eight regions – Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, Tula, Smolensk, Ryazan, Kaluga regions, and even Moscow region. At least three power substations and a fuel storage facility were damaged and caught fire,” the source said, adding that the attacks were part of a joint operation by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Defence Intelligence, and the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The source added that the “energy infrastructure that feeds the Russian military-industrial facilities was the target. Some areas experienced troubles with power and water supply following the attacks.”

Video shared on social media showed the aftermath of drone strikes on a fuel depot in Russia’s Smolensk region, which caught fire in the early hours of the morning.

“At around 2 a.m. this morning, there was an attempted attack by Ukrainian UAVs on a fuel and energy facility in Kardymovsky district. Air defense forces shot down the aerial devices. Information on casualties is being clarified,” Smolensk regional governor Vasiliy Anokhin wrote on Telegram.

According to Anokhin, the falling UAV debris caused a fire in a fuel and lubricants tank, and crews with Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations were responding to the blaze.

In a separate post, the governor of Smolensk reported that air defenses repelled one more UAV attack on the regional center later Saturday morning.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported intercepting one drone over the Smolensk region, and said that its air defense systems intercepted or destroyed 50 Ukrainian drones in the past day.

Aleksandr Bogomaz, governor of the southwestern region of Bryansk in Russia, reported on Saturday that “a downed Ukrainian UAV caused a fire at an energy infrastructure facility.”

“Fire and rescue units and emergency crews of PJSC Rosseti are operating at the site, ensuring uninterrupted power supply to consumers,” Bogomaz said in a Telegram update on Saturday.

Ukrainians were waiting Saturday in anticipation of a highly-anticipated vote in the US House of Representatives that could finally unlock nearly $61 billion of military aid for the country, as frontline troops find themselves withdrawing from key terrain, or getting pounded from the air as they try to hold on to important towns.

Of that total, about $23 billion would be used to replenish US weapons, stockpiles and facilities, and more than $11 billion would fund current US military operations in the region. Nearly $14 billion included in the bill would help Ukraine buy advanced weapons systems and other defense equipment.

The largest gold heist in Canadian history was carried out with remarkable ease: A fraudulent shipping document for a load of farm-raised Scottish salmon was used to brazenly snatch $14.5 million in gold bars and nearly $2 million in bank notes.

The precious cargo arrived at Toronto Pearson International Airport from Zurich, Switzerland, a year ago last Wednesday. It was hauled nearby to a secure Air Canada cargo warehouse, where, hours later, a hulking white box truck backed into a loading dock.

The truck driver wore dark clothing, a high-visibility vest and a face mask. He stepped out with a clipboard holding a duplicate of a consignment bill for a seafood shipment picked up the previous day.

A forklift loaded a tightly sealed container into the back of the five-ton truck, where the driver nudged the load with his body to make sure it was secure. He pulled down the rear door and drove away.

“This story is a sensational one,” Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said Wednesday in announcing charges against nine suspects in the heist. “One which we jokingly say belongs in a Netflix series.”

The heist actually was a sophisticated caper allegedly involving Air Canada insiders. It morphed into an international operation that, in the words of one official, worked a kind of reverse alchemy to turn gold into guns trafficked from the US intended for use by criminals on the streets of Canada.

“This isn’t just about gold. This is about how gold becomes guns,” said the official, Nando Iannicca, head of the Peel regional government, which is responsible for the airport. “It turns into people who are harmed or killed.”

In September, the man who allegedly drove the truck in the gold theft was arrested following a traffic stop in Pennsylvania with a cache of 65 guns – purchased in Florida and Georgia with proceeds from gold melted down after the heist – that he allegedly intended to smuggle into Canada.

Keeping those guns off the streets of Canada “saved lives without a doubt,” Duraiappah said. “This is a dotted line to people’s well being anywhere in this country wherever those firearms ended up.”

Details of the heist were gleaned from statements and interviews with Canadian and US law enforcement officials, court documents and surveillance footage and images released by police.

Theft rivals Canada’s great maple syrup heist

In the annals of Canadian crime, only the great maple syrup heist of 2012 – in which millions of dollars worth of the sweet stuff were stolen from a warehouse holding Quebec’s strategic syrup reserves – garnered as much attention around the world. That heist was the subject of an episode on a Netflix series.

The gold heist is “almost out of an ‘Ocean’s 11’ movie or ‘CSI,’ ” Patrick Brown, the mayor of Brampton, a city near Toronto Pearson International Airport, said as he stood with a group of police officers and other elected officials in front of the truck used in last year’s heist.

At 3:56 p.m. on April 17, 2023, a plane from Zurich landed in Toronto with a shipment of 6,600 gold bars weighing nearly 900 pounds and about $1.9 million in bank notes.

The gold bars from a precious metals refining company in Switzerland were destined for a bank in Toronto. The bank notes were headed to the Vancouver Bullion & Currency Exchange.

At 6:32 p.m., the suspect in the white box truck arrived at the Air Canada warehouse with a copy of an airway bill that had been printed out earlier at the same facility.

The document said the shipment came from a seafood company in the United Kingdom that – according to the company website – specializes in the finest Atlantic salmon. It’s destination was one of Canada’s largest seafood distribution companies, which caters to luxury hotels and restaurants as well as chain and independent retailers.

Instead of a load of farm-raised seafood, the truck driver pulled away from the loading dock with loot.

“They needed people inside Air Canada to facilitate this theft,” Peel Regional Police Det. Sgt. Mike Mavity said.

At about 9:30 p.m., a Brink’s security company armored truck arrived with the actual waybill for the shipment of pure gold and bank notes. Air Canada employees couldn’t find the container and an internal investigation was started. The theft was reported to Peel police at 2:43 a.m.

Investigators tracked the truck on video

For weeks after the heist, investigators leading what police dubbed “Project 24 karat” painstakingly went over surveillance video from more than 200 businesses and residences along the side roads and highway route the truck had taken.

“We’re trying to find businesses that their video cameras obviously are focused on the highway, but capture the highway in the background. And we could perhaps sometimes see just a little snippet of the truck passing by and then we just kept following it,” Mavity said.

“Every time the highway would meet a major intersection, we’d have to go to video of that intersection and see if the truck got off. If it didn’t we keep leapfrogging along. So it was very, very time consuming. These sort of investigations, it’s not like TV at all.”

Investigators were able to track the truck on separate snippets of video for about 20 miles before it vanished as the vehicle wound up way into rural Canada.

“I think they must have definitely thought they got away with it,” Mavity said in an interview.

Early in the investigation, days after the theft, a 31-year-old former Air Canada manager who police later identified as one of two alleged inside men in the heist led officers on a tour of the warehouse. He appeared stressed. The ex-manager resigned last summer, traveled to Dubai and is now believed to be in India.

“We didn’t understand what the cargo warehouse looked like. And we had a lot of questions on how the goods came in, and then moved through there and went out,” Mavity recalled.

“An officer actually noticed that he was sweating profusely and thought it was kind of strange but didn’t think anything of it,” Mavity said of the former manager. “We had our suspicions at the time but, as far as our investigation, we weren’t in a position to act on those suspicions yet.”

Last year Brink’s sued Air Canada over the theft, claiming millions of dollars in damages after an “unidentified individual” presented a “fraudulent” waybill at the warehouse and “absconded with the cargo,” according to the statement of claim.

“No security protocols or features were in place to monitor, restrict or otherwise regulate the unidentified individual’s access to the facilities,” said the statement, adding Air Canada accepted the fraudulent document “without verifying its authenticity in any way.”

Air Canada, in a statement, confirmed two employees charged in the theft worked at the warehouse. One was suspended, the other resigned. In its legal response to the Brink’s lawsuit, Air Canada has denied it was “careless” and its security lax.

“As this is now before the courts, we are limited in our ability to comment further,” the statement said.

In a statement, the Brink’s company thanked Peel Regional Police and said, “We will continue to cooperate with them as this investigation continues to unfold.”

‘Something that you don’t see everyday’

A big break in the case came on September 2, 2023, when the 25-year-old man who allegedly drove the truck in the gold heist was arrested in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Canadian police had identified him as the truck driver early in the investigation but had not been able to locate him.

A Pennsylvania state trooper stopped a rental car for a minor traffic violation. The driver bolted on foot and, after he was caught, troopers found 65 guns – including two fully automatic rifles and considered machine guns – in the car. The man has been charged with conspiracy to illegally traffic firearms into Canada.

Authorities contacted police in Canada after finding the driver’s name in a law enforcement database.

“That kind of set everything in motion in terms of his whereabouts, what his activity was at least in the states, which then led to some cooperation with the Canadian law enforcement agency,” said Eric DeGree, special agent in charge of the Philadelphia field division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “Obviously 65 firearms is something that you don’t see every day… So that’s kind of how they got us involved.”

Eleven of the firearms were stolen, one had an obliterated serial number and five were ghost guns, which are assembled to make homemade weapons.

“Had he not been stopped by that Pennsylvania state trooper I don’t know if he would have been intercepted at the border,” Mavity said of the man arrested in Pennsylvania.

Each illegal handgun, purchased for a few hundred dollars in the US, can be sold on the streets of Canada for up to $6,000.

“The buyers could be anyone from a street gang or drug traffickers all the way to more coordinated individuals,” Duraiappah said. “They’re not just the typical type of firearms that are used at … a pharmacy robbery or a carjacking. Without a doubt, you know, not knowing where they would have ended up in Canada, one or all of them would have been used in the facilitation of another crime.”

Canadian Investigators learned a Toronto jeweler charged in the heist allegedly helped melt down the gold bars, which had serial numbers, in smelting pots seized by the police. The gold was then sold to buy guns across the border. Only six crude bangle bracelets made of pure gold and worth about $65,000 remained of the 6,600 gold bars.

Less than a week after the gold heist, the truck driver was using an encrypted messenger app to arrange with another suspect his illegal entry into the US to buy firearms, according to an indictment filed in the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

The exchanges included travel arrangements and accommodations and photos of large amounts of Canadian currency wrapped in rubber bands, with the message,“Just picked up the change for you going… to exchange the change to USD,” the indictment said.

Another exchange in August 2023 had the truck driver discussing the purchase of several firearms for “3500,” with one suspect responding: “Get it…Good to go.” There were photos of firearms and large amounts of cash.

That same month, a text message from the driver talked about the acquisition of “45 stick,” presumably referring to firearms. Another suspect expressed concern about the truck driver “getting pulled,” the indictment said.

US law enforcement officials are still trying to identify the source of the stolen guns.

Of the nine heist suspects – who Canadian investigators said had been enjoying a lavish lifestyle, including trips to Dubai and India – five were arrested and released because they could not be held on bail on the theft charges. They were ordered to appear in court at a later date.

On August 30 and 31, the indictment said, surveillance footage from a U-Haul storage facility in Atlanta captured the truck driver carrying a backpack. Two days later, on September 2, the same backpack was found in the truck of his rental car with more than 30 firearms inside.

“This investigation isn’t done,” Peel Deputy Police Chief Nick Milinovich said.

Still, Duraiappah said, his investigators in recent days have been joking about what actors would play them in a Netflix series.

Nigerian chess champion and child education advocate Tunde Onakoya has broken the record for the longest chess marathon after playing for an extraordinary 60 hours nonstop under the bright lights of New York City’s Times Square.

The Guinness World Record organization has not yet confirmed Onakoya’s attempt, which can sometimes take weeks, but for many Nigerians, the 29-year-old is already considered something of a national hero.

Onakoya is attempting to raise $1 million for a charity to support education for children across Africa.

He had aimed to play for 58 hours but continued until hitting the 60-hour mark in the early hours of Saturday morning, surpassing the previous record of 56 hours, 9 minutes and 37 seconds set in 2018 by Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad of Norway.

Onakoya took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to announce his intention to play for longer, saying, “We’re pushing to 60 hours, guys. We’re not stopping yet. Let’s keep going. We have a fundraising goal to meet for the education of African children around the world. This is our why – the reason we are doing this.”

Chess in Slums Africa, the charity Onakoya founded in 2018, aims to help educate 1 million children in slum communities across the continent.

Onakoya played against Shawn Martinez, a US chess champion, in accordance with the Guinness World Record guidelines that any attempt to break the record must be made by two players who play continuously for the duration.

Fueled by Nigerian jollof rice, Afrobeats music and messages of support from across the globe, Onakoya won every game against Martinez. Among those who came out to cheer him on in Manhattan were Nigerian Afrobeats superstar Davido and singer Adekunle Gold.

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu was among those who congratulated Onakoya online, praising him for “setting a new world chess record and sounding the gong of Nigeria’s resilience, self-belief, and ingenuity at the square of global acclaim,” in a statement shared by his aide Ajuri Ngelale.

“I celebrate this Nigerian Chess Champion and founder of Chess in Slums Africa for his rare feat, but especially for the reason driving this compelling demonstration of character, which is raising funds for African children to learn and find opportunity through chess,” Tinubu added.

The match drew significant attention in Nigeria and was broadcast across multiple locations in Lagos, the country’s largest city, featuring watch parties and digital billboards.

Onakoya founded Chess in Slums Africa, which seeks to empower children in underprivileged communities by using chess to enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills, in Lagos.

In February this year, the chess master captivated the global chess community with his viral performance at the Digital–Life – Design conference in Berlin. After overcoming visa challenges, he showcased his skills by playing (and winning) simultaneous matches against 10 players, including distinguished Bulgarian scientist and politician Solomon Passy.

Onakoya also sits on the board at The Gift of Chess, founded by US chess coach Russell Makofsky, which hopes to distribute one million chess sets to communities worldwide by 2030.

Life must seem bleak for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak these days.

With just two weeks until local elections that will likely go badly for his governing Conservative Party, there is a growing sense that Sunak is a man to whom the epithet “in office but not in power” applies.

Sunak has said that he will hold a general election this year, but has yet to confirm its date. Received wisdom is that he is hanging on as long as possible to avoid a catastrophic loss that could force his party into a decade of political irrelevance. The assumption is that the longer he leaves it, the better the chance he can turn public opinion around.

The problem for Sunak is that everything he does seems to backfire in some way.

Take an example from this week: his world-leading smoking ban, which, if approved by parliament’s upper house, will be a key part of his political legacy.

It was only voted through by MPs because it has the support of the opposition Labour Party. Members of his own cabinet – mostly those considered to be eyeing up his job – voted against the legislation. His two predecessors publicly ridiculed him. Former PM Boris Johnson told a Canadian audience: “The party of Winston Churchill wants to ban [cigars]? Donnez-moi un break, as they say in Quebec. It’s just mad.”

Liz Truss, who had spent the week lobbing grenades at Sunak in the guise of promoting her new book, called the ban a “virtue-signalling piece of legislation.”

In total, nearly half of Sunak’s MPs failed to vote in favor of the plan, an astonishing open display of division for the Conservatives, who used to call themselves the natural party of government. Allies of Sunak deny it, but the idea that he has any authority over his party, his government or his country is increasingly laughable.

He seems to have bad luck. This week, for example, inflation fell and his flagship immigration policy took a step closer to becoming legislation. Instead of headlines championing these successes, the political agenda was dominated for days by the launch of Truss’s book.

Some of the bad luck he creates himself. Last month, his party’s deputy chairman left the Conservatives to join rival right-wing party Reform UK. Lee Anderson was a key ally for the prime minister, as he represented something Sunak himself cannot.

Anderson is a working-class former miner who is from a part of the country that traditionally votes for the opposition Labour Party. Indeed, Anderson used to be a Labour politician. Brexit, among other things, pushed many of these traditional Labour voters to the right, leading to many of them supporting the Conservative Party in 2019.

Sunak, a privately-educated multi-millionaire tech bro, doesn’t immediately appeal to these voters for obvious reasons. However, Anderson was suspended from the Conservative Party after making comments about the Muslim mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, that Sunak clearly believed were beyond the pale. Shortly after this, Anderson made a high-profile defection to a party that is a large obstacle to the Conservatives performing well at the next election.

Of course, Sunak could have chosen to not make Anderson, who has a history of saying controversial things and embarrassing those around him, deputy party chairman. But he did and now that decision looks ridiculous, as Anderson publicly campaigns against his former boss on a daily basis.

Sunak has a habit of keeping people around him who are likely to cause him pain. He had to sack his former home secretary, Suella Braverman, after she wrote an article for a newspaper criticizing the police without the approval of the PM. Following her dismissal, Braverman accused Sunak of “betrayal” over migration policy.

Over time, Sunak has been outflanked on the right by members of his own party so often that he no longer has any authority among the most Conservative voters. He is bizarrely seen as a soft Conservative compared to someone like Johnson, despite his personal politics on many issues being way to Johnson’s right.

It’s hard to argue with that analysis. The polls never seem to improve. Every positive comes with a heavy caveat. Another example: Next week, his controversial policy of sending asylum-seekers to Rwanda while their claims are processed will, probably, finally pass parliament. The most immediate impact of the bill, however, has been a surge in the very same small boat crossings he is determined to halt – up 56% in the first three months of 2024, according to the EU’s Frontex border agency.

European officials privately attribute this to people knowing the bill is likely to pass and that it’s going to be harder to enter the UK. So they are rushing in now while they believe they still can. But the nuance of that will be lost on voters who want to see migration fall. They will just see a 56% increase and a new policy that has insufficient time to make a difference before the next election.

This is probably what the next six months looks like for Sunak. He will try and offer tax cuts that won’t be enough for the right of his party. He will make promises on red-meat right-wing issues that will be ridiculed as weak by people like Braverman and Truss.

Truss, of course, is probably most famous for being the shortest-serving PM in history. Her legacy is forever tied to a comedy lettuce that a newspaper editor bet would outlast her (it did). When even she is openly making fun of you, things must be really bad.

Deserted streets, shuttered shops and silent restaurants. Damaged buildings and craters from missile strikes pockmarking the asphalt. Arrows on house facades signposting the nearest bomb shelters and stock of emergency supplies.

The once-tranquil city of Belgorod, some 25 miles north of Russia’s border with Ukraine, has been transformed into a kind of ghost town, its eerie silence interrupted by the regular wail of missile warning sirens – a reminder that the war raging in neighboring Ukraine looms ever closer.

Reporting from the region is complicated by media restrictions and government control over press freedom. Many Russians are afraid to speak openly for fear of prosecution.

Belgorod has been the launch site for many rocket and missile attacks on Ukraine, and a key military hub for Russia’s invading forces. In 2023, after a year of strikes on its towns and cities, Ukraine changed tactics and expanded its operations more overtly onto Russian territory, putting Belgorod region firmly in its crosshairs.

In recent weeks, the Belgorod region has been subject to almost daily shelling and drone attacks. Russian authorities blame Ukraine and report having repelled the attacks, while also admitting destruction and casualties caused by them. The Belgorod region has borne the brunt of the war compared to more distant Russian regions, which have been relatively untouched.

The governor of Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on March 23 that 24 people had been killed and 152 injured in the span of less than two weeks.

‘Alarmed Belgorod’

At the peak of the shelling of Belgorod, Timur Khaliullin, the 36-year-old organist for the Belgorod Philharmonic, took a rollerblade ride through the city center’s deserted streets to show others what it looked like, in a video titled “Alarmed Belgorod.”

Khaliullin points to the sealed-off doors of shops and restaurants and the arrows leading to shelters, emergency kits and basements where residents can take cover.

Just as he reaches the central square and puts on his rollerblades, the sirens go off. “Can you hear that? That’s how frightening the sirens sound. It’s an air raid alarm. It means there will be incoming fire now, I need to take cover,” Khaliullin says from behind the camera.

He seeks refuge inside one of the empty, white-painted concrete boxes positioned at regular intervals throughout the square, each marked with the word “Shelter.” Screens stationed around the square instruct residents on proper conduct during shelling, offer guidance on administering first aid and echo patriotic encouragements. One of the messages reads, “The battle for Russia persists. Victory will be ours!”

As the sirens stop, Khaliullin resumes his rollerblade ride, filming empty streets, and people waiting at the bus stops. According to locals, those traveling by public transport often spend hours standing at stops until the all-clear signal sounds, allowing buses to run again, and the city to resume its life – until the next missile threat.

Born and raised in Belgorod, Izotova said despite the “terrible fear” she experiences every time the sirens go off, she is hesitant to leave, bound as she is by her work with a local charity helping people with special needs. “You live in a very large cocoon of misunderstanding and fear. At the same time, you don’t really want to leave the city. But the Belgorod you remember no longer exists.”

Now that the city has emptied out, far fewer people dare to step outside unless they have to, she said. “They still try to venture onto the streets, but it’s all getting gloomier. The city is becoming more ghostly.”

Deadly shelling

In mid-March, amid escalating Ukrainian attacks and with warning sirens sounding four to five times daily, Gladkov, the regional governor, announced the closure of malls and schools, and the cancellation of classes for two days in several regions, including the city of Belgorod.

Videos emerging from Belgorod showed scenes of chaos as people drove through thick smoke and burned-out cars, as well as damaged buildings and residents fleeing with their belongings amid the sounds of explosions and distant air-raid sirens.

The main square’s tiled pavement bears shrapnel damage – a reminder of a shell that fell on December 30 during one of the most devastating attacks. Toys and flowers have been placed on the steps nearby in memory of those lost.

Following a major air attack on Ukraine by Russia overnight into December 29, Kyiv retaliated a day later by targeting the Belgorod region. At least 25 people were killed, including three children, and 113 were injured that day, Gladkov said, making it the deadliest shelling within Russia since the war began.

As she left her job at a beverage chain store near the city center, she heard explosions. At first, everyone thought it was the usual sound of air defense operations.

“And then I saw it all: everything on fire, covered in smoke, buses stopped running, and taxis weren’t moving either because the roads were completely blocked,” she recalled.

“At some point, the city just died, no one expected this. Many people perished, and the entire city mourned and continues to mourn to this day.” Life there has not been the same since, she said. Her store has seen fewer customers, with many people afraid to step out of their homes.

‘Lifeless’ city

Like many others in Belgorod, Elizaveta has family in Kharkiv, across the border, with whom she has not spoken since they fell out in the first few months of the war. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, has suffered a recent increase in Russian attacks.

“I long for a return to normalcy, when people feel less fearful and regain a sense of security. The city is lifeless: stepping out to the streets at any hour you don’t see anyone or any vehicles, it’s as if you’re on a deserted island.”

Vasily, a 27-year-old human relations manager who asked only to give his first name for safety reasons, described a pervasive sense of anxiety that accompanies his fellow residents every time they set foot outside the house, the fear of shelling or missile attacks weighing heavily on their minds.

Looting amid chaos

As the situation deteriorated, essential services began to falter. Shops and eateries were closing their doors, and food deliveries were becoming increasingly sporadic. Confronted with the reality of living in a conflict zone, Vasily, like many other residents, contemplated leaving the city but decided to stay because his wife is enrolled at a local university.

“Swathes of people in Belgorod are opting to move either further away from the region or entirely out of it, basically, anywhere far from the border where it should potentially be less dangerous,” Vasily said.

While the authorities have never ordered a general evacuation, Gladkov disclosed on March 30 that 5,000 children had been evacuated to more secure regions, including St. Petersburg, Bryansk and Makhachkala. In total, the authorities were planning to relocate approximately 9,000 children to other regions due to ongoing shelling, state media reported.

Deserted areas have witnessed an escalation of crime and disorder. In early April, the head of the Grayvoron district in Belgorod region sounded the alarm over a rise in looting incidents, with the highest number of such cases reported in the district’s border settlements.

The authorities have since said they aim to restore the border territories in time for Victory Day on May 9, when Russia commemorates the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

Meanwhile, the border villages in Belgorod region remain largely abandoned and in a state of disrepair, and authorities don’t seem in a hurry to encourage residents to return home.

As the war drags on, those who remain in Belgorod become less optimistic about the future.

“Considering that Russia is fighting in a way that what is left behind is scorched earth, I have a great fear that scorched earth may be left from the territory around Belgorod as well,” Vasily said.

Volunteer Izotova voiced a similar sentiment, describing the overwhelming sense of abandonment that has loomed large since the December 30 attack – a feeling that has only grown more pronounced in recent weeks.

In one of his latest references to the Belgorod region, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his “appreciation” and “admiration” for its residents’ courage and pledged support to it and other border regions.

Despite that assurance, according to Izotova, many residents of Belgorod still feel neglected by the media, authorities and the broader Russian population, which appears oblivious to the war.

The challenges faced by Belgorod appear to have been overlooked, she said, which in turn has led even those who oppose the war to feel that sympathy should no longer be extended only to the Ukrainian victims.

“While panic, fear and uncertainty persist, people are still trying to offer help. I think our main task right now is to assist those facing hardship – both Ukrainians (suffering from the Russian aggression) and victims of the conflict within Russia,” Izotova said.

“It is important not to remain silent or divert attention to comparisons of suffering, but rather to acknowledge the reality of war and remember who instigated it. Russia is entrenched in perpetual sorrow, experiencing it internally while also imposing it on others.”