India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on his way to meditate inside an island shrine for two days to cap weeks of election campaigning – his latest public display of religiosity days after proclaiming he was sent by god.

India’s election is the world’s largest, a mammoth exercise in democracy that has taken place over six weeks. The final day of voting takes place on Saturday and results will be announced three days later.

Modi will visit the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari, a pilgrimage site off India’s southernmost tip, from May 30 to June 1, according to Indian state broadcaster DD News.

The site is where popular Hindu monk and philosopher Swami Vivekananda attained enlightenment.

Modi has twice before ended an election campaign with meditation. But he has recently been making increasingly grand displays of piety, to capitalize on Hindu-nationalist sentiment as he eyes a third consecutive five-year term in power.

In an interview last week with local news channel NDTV, Modi said: “I’m convinced that God has sent me for a purpose, and when that purpose is finished, my work will be done.”

“God doesn’t reveal his cards. He just keeps making me do things,” he continued.

India is constitutionally bound to secularism, but since assuming power in 2014 Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have promoted a strident brand of Hindu nationalism that has deepened religious divides.

When he first contested national elections a decade ago, Modi chose India’s spiritual capital Varanasi as his constituency, making the ancient city the perfect backdrop to meld his religious and political ambitions.

At the end of that campaign, Modi visited Pratapgad in the western state of Maharashtra, where the Hindu-led Maratha forces won a historic battle against the Mughal empire army in the 17th century.

Toward the end of the 2019 national elections, which he also won, Modi went to meditate in the revered Kedarnath shrine dedicated to Hindu deity Lord Shiva high in the Himalayas.

In January, just months before campaigning began, Modi consecrated the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, a controversial Hindu temple that was built on the site of a destroyed mosque, taking on a role typically reserved for priests.

In a country where about 80% of the population are followers of the polytheistic faith, critics say Modi’s brandishing of Hinduism has led to rising Islamophobia and persecution of the country’s more than 200 million Muslims.

Modi and the BJP have increasingly resorted to overtly Islamophobic language during his recent election speeches. In a controversial speech last month, Modi said that if the opposition wins, they would distribute the country’s wealth among “infiltrators” and “those who have more children,” in apparent reference to the Muslim community.

Claudia Sheinbaum, the former head of the government of Mexico City and candidate for the ruling Morena party, is projected to be the country’s first female president, marking a historic achievement in a country known for its deeply patriarchal culture.

The 61-year-old rode the wave of popularity of her longtime political ally, the outgoing leftist Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and their Morena party.

The Electoral Court must still validate the presidential election, and if confirmed, she will start her presidency on October 1.

Sheinbaum, a former climate scientist, entered the campaign as the favorite, according to February and March polls by Mitofsky, Parametría, and De las Heras Demotecnia, which placed her support between 49% and 67% compared to her political rivals.

Sheinbaum holds a degree in physics and a master’s and doctorate in energy engineering. She has received several accolades for her academic career.

Born in Mexico City in 1962, she has two children and one grandchild. Her partner, Jesús María Tarriba, whom she met at university while both were studying physics, is currently a financial risk specialist at the Bank of Mexico.

In 2018, she became the head of government of Mexico City, the first woman elected to this position. Her desire to be part of Mexican politics began in 2000 when she was appointed Secretary of the Environment for the Federal District under Andrés López Obrador’s administration until 2006.

Three year before she became the first woman elected as the head of the Tlalpan borough, serving until 2017. In early 2018, she joined the government of Mexico City as head until June 2023, when she stepped down to run for the presidency with the Morena party, of which she is a founder, aiming to succeed her party colleague, López Obrador.

As part of her campaign within Morena, Sheinbaum is designated the coordinator for the Defense of the Transformation, whose mission, as stated on her LinkedIn profile, is to defend and promote the values of the Fourth Transformation of Public Life in Mexico, the central axis of López Obrador’s policy.

Much of her life has been dedicated to university teaching, focusing on renewable energy and climate change. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to which Sheinbaum contributed, received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Sheinbaum is not only the first female president in Mexico, but the first president with Jewish heritage, although she rarely speaks publicly about her personal background and has governed as a secular leftist.

What challenges lie ahead?

Violence has loomed large in this election, the bloodiest in Mexico’s history. Dozens of political candidates and applicants have been killed by criminal organizations trying to influence those coming into power.

The poll is seen by some as a referendum on the policies of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador who is Sheinbaum’s mentor.

López Obrador’s popular social welfare has helped poorer Mexicans but his “hugs, not bullets” policy of not confronting cartels has not stopped criminal violence.

Mexico’s homicide rate is among the highest in the world, and more than 100,000 people remain missing in the country. It also remains a dangerous place to be a woman, with sky-high femicide rates for the region – with figures showing around 10 women are murdered every day.

Sheinbaum will have to act quickly on Mexico’s organized crime and security issues, said Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“It’s stunning that the governing party could win re-election by a landslide as it seems… given the sweeping violence, the thing is the opposition didn’t seem to put together a much more credible set of proposals about what they would do,” Freeman said.

Sheinbaum comes with a team from her time as Mexico City mayor that has a proven record on improving security but it remains to be seen if she can replicate that on a national scale, Freeman said.

US-Mexico relations

Both Mexico and the US are holding elections in 2024, something that happens only once every 12 years – and comes at a time of transition in the relationship between the two countries.

Sheinbaum will assume office just a month before Americans head to the polls in November, where immigration is a top issue on the ballot for Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Mexico is a key US ally on a range of issues, from trade to cracking down on drug trafficking to managing migration. Current and former US officials have frequently described the relationship between President Joe Biden and Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador as friendly and professional — and anticipate a productive relationship with Mexico’s next president.

But Mexico’s election also comes at a critical time for the Biden administration.

In recent months, the US has relied heavily on Mexico to step up immigration enforcement and help stem the flow of migration to the US southern border. The election in Mexico has raised uncertainty in the minds of some Biden officials about what, if anything, will change with a key partner when it comes to border cooperation.

One of the considerations in rolling out a new border executive action was doing so after Mexico’s election. The administration will likely need buy-in and assistance from Mexico to execute the order.

Officials expect that a new administration in Mexico would likely continue cooperating with the US on migration given years of partnership, but it’s unclear how migrants — and especially, smugglers — might plot their next moves in a moment of government transition.

Wearing a toy whale hat, whale tie and a whale motif shirt, Hideki Tokoro spends much of his days thinking about the world’s largest mammals. But he doesn’t want to protect them. He wants to hunt them.

To do that his company Kyodo Senpaku has built and launched a brand-new whaling $48 million “mothership” – the Kangei Maru.

“We are proud of catching whales and are very proud of this ship which will allow us to begin offshore mothership-style whaling this year,” Tokoro told reporters as he escorted them around the 370-foot, 9,300-ton vessel that set sail last Saturday for an eight-month tour of the country’s northern waters.

The new ship replaces the Nisshin Maru, the infamous whaling factory vessel dubbed by activists as a “floating slaughterhouse” that was decommissioned in 2020 after more than 30 years of service, during which it frequently clashed with anti-whaling activists.

The Kangei Maru is bigger and faster than its predecessor, the company says, and is equipped with state-of-the-art drones able to travel a reported 100 kilometers (62 miles) to allow crews of smaller boats to quickly locate and kill whales.

But activists say the ship’s high-powered features, including a cruising range of 13,000 kilometers (more than 8,000 miles) and its ability to sail for up to 60 days, suggests that Japan is setting its sights on whales far beyond its northern waters.

‘We need to cull whales’

The Kangei Maru boasts a slipway large enough to haul 85-foot whales from the sea that leads to an indoor flensing deck the size of two basketball courts.

There, workers will strip away the blubber before cutting up the whale flesh on enormous cutting boards, before vacuum-packing and storing the meat in 40 industrial freezers, ready for sale.

“Whales are at the top of the food chain. They compete with humans by eating marine creatures that should be feeding other fish,” Tokoro said on the tour.

Besides objecting to the slaughter one of the ocean’s most majestic creatures, marine conservation groups and scientists have highlighted the important role which whales play in helping to tackle the climate crisis through sequestering and storing planet-heating carbon emissions.

“Whales are not just consumers in ocean eco-systems – they recycle a ton of nutrients into the environment which helps stimulate plant-life growth,” said marine ecologist Ari Friedlaender, also rejecting pro-whaling arguments that commercial hunts could be “sustainable.”

“Humans have a very long history of killing whales and have not done a good job of being able to sustainably harvest animals,” he said. “There is no way to sustainably harvest a wild animal like that.”

Why is Japan so determined to keep whaling?

Commercial whaling was banned in 1986 under a moratorium by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) after whale populations were almost driven to extinction by humans.

Japan is one of three countries – along with Norway and Iceland – that continues to hunt whales, and officials argue that the industry is an important part of its culture and history – and also provides food security.

Iceland, which has fiercely defended commercial whaling, said it would end whaling in 2024, citing falling demand for whale meat as well as “high operation costs and little proof of any economic advantage.”

Commercial whaling continues in Norway, which experts say has quietly become the world’s leading whaling nation – killing more whales than Japan and Iceland combined.

For decades, Japan has justified whaling under the guise of “scientific research.”

In 2018, it tried one last time to persuade the IWC to allow it to resume commercial whaling – and failed. So, it withdrew from the body and resumed commercial whaling months later, in defiance of international criticism.

“Within its waters, it has the absolute authority to control the management of living resources – and that includes whales.”

Under Japanese law, three species of whale are permitted to be hunted in its territorial waters and exclusive economic zones – endangered sei whales and threatened minke whales and Bryde’s whales, with endangered fin whales set to be added to kill lists.

“Whales are important food resources and should be sustainably utilized based on scientific evidence,” said government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi this month, as he announced a proposal to hunt fin whales, the second-largest species of whales after blue whales.

The World Cetacean Alliance (WCA) marine conservation group said that whale watching in Japan was “a far more successful industry” than harvesting whale meat.

“Commercial whaling in the 21st century is unjustifiable,” it said.  “The whaling industry in Japan recognizes that it is a challenge to increase whale meat consumption and there is currently no market,” WCA said.

“So why keep slaughtering these wonderful and intelligent animals?”

Demand for whale meat in Japan

Over the years, Kyodo Senpaku has launched aggressive public relation campaigns to promote whale meat and win over new generations of young diners.

Tokoro says he eats whale meat every day.

“Whale meat is not only delicious, it’s good for you,” Tokoro told reporters during the tour of his ship, as he talked up the purported “health benefits” of eating whale, claiming that the meat could cure hair loss and cancer.

“I can definitely say whale meat and rice is a really good (combination) for Japanese people. There is no doubt about that, much better than beef and bun.”

Last year Tokoro, again wearing his whale hat, launched controversial whale meat vending machines, offering whale sashimi, whale steak and whale bacon.

The company has also sponsored influencers from countries such as Russia, Thailand and South Korea – hosting them at a local izakaya in Osaka, where they sampled dishes like whale sashimi and skewers and encouraging them to take the message back to their followers that whale meat was delicious and acceptable.

Japan may have a long and storied history of whaling dating back to the Edo period in the 1600s, but experts say whale meat consumption only really peaked after World War II – when food sources, especially protein, were scarce.

Today, whale meat is now considered more of a “luxury” dish, said Nobuhiro Kishigami, a professor at the National Museum of Ethnology, one of the country’s largest research institutes.

The same goes for dolphin meat, he added. “It’s just a sign of the times. But if we were asked to stop eating blue fin tuna, there would be a huge uproar. We would react very badly to that.”

Japan’s fisheries ministry estimates that between 1,000 and 2,000 tons of whale meat are consumed annually in the country, compared to average annual totals of more than 230,000 tons during the 1960s.

“The demand for whale blubber disappeared after the discovery of oil and petroleum products, so many countries stopped whaling and with international regulations, the number of caught whales decreased and as a result, whale meat production decreased while beef, pork and chicken became more popular,” he said.

Scientists have also expressed concern about the risks of consuming whale meat, with studies pointing to high levels of mercury found in whale and dolphin meat, which could prove dangerous to consumers – especially pregnant women and young children.

Could Japanese whalers return to the Southern Ocean?

Located in deep waters surrounding the entire continent of Antarctica, the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary hosts dozens of whale species including humpbacks, blue whales and fin whales.

It was established by the IWC in 1994 to protect whale species after centuries of hunting, but until 2019 Japan took regular trips to the region to hunt for self-stated “scientific research” purposes.

Japanese whalers killed 333 minke whales in the Southern Ocean in 2018/2019, according to the IWC, before abandoning the region after it left the international body.

“Commercial whaling is not profitable,” he said. “It will take 50 days to get to the Antarctic and back and we are not confident we can make a profit by paying the wages of employees and fuel for 50 days. However, I will go only when the government orders me to go … Until then, I will not go commercial whaling at all.”

But activists aren’t convinced.

“Given the ship’s long-range capabilities and drones, and recent announcements from Japan’s fisheries ministry that it is keen to start hunting fin whales, we believe there is a high likelihood that Japanese whalers will return to the Southern Ocean,” said James Anderson, activist and founder of the Whale Defense Agency (WDA).

“The Southern Ocean is a critical habitat for many whale species that provides a safe haven for breeding and feeding … protecting it is more important than ever due to the increasing threats posed by climate change and illegal whaling.”

Rothwell, from ANU, said that if Japan looks to kill whales beyond its territorial waters, it can expect an international response.

“It would immediately trigger global interest and action about the conservation and protection of whales, especially in waters sanctioned by the IWC as a whale sanctuary,” Rothwell said.

“It’s called the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary for a reason – you don’t kill whales there,” Watson said.

“We want to be able to track them down and intercept them like we’ve done before – and we are more than prepared to do it again.”

Pavlo Kushnirov was among the Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the eastern city of Bakhmut with the 114th territorial defense brigade on a sunny day last winter when Russian shelling changed his life forever.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has killed tens of thousands and left even more with lost limbs and other life-altering injuries since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. German officials estimate there are between 30,000 and 50,000 Ukrainian amputees as a result of the conflict.

Obtaining adequate prosthetic limbs and care is tough inside Ukraine. Now a German non-governmental organization is working to bring wounded Ukrainian soldiers to Berlin so they can be fitted with custom-made artificial limbs and given treatment that will allow them to lead as normal a life as possible.

Kushnirov and Sayko-Kazakov are among the first of 60 severely wounded Ukrainian soldiers who will receive treatment in Germany, thanks to the Berlin-based NGO “Life Bridge Ukraine.” They hope to start what they see as a new life soon. “My doctor called and said there was an opportunity to go abroad for me to receive prosthetics. So, I said OK,” Vitaliy said. “Once there were hundreds of us, now there are thousands of people like me.”

Limbs amputated quickly to save lives

Bending over Kushnirov’s leg stumps, he softly felt along them. “Are you in pain?” he asked. Kushnirov shook his head as a translator relayed the question. “Let me know if anything hurts,” Gänsl said, taking out a tape to measure the stumps. He and other orthopedic technicians assessed the condition of Kushnirov’s limbs.

Battlefield conditions in Ukraine mean limbs must often be amputated quickly to save soldiers’ lives. “The severity of the amputations often leave the survivors with stumps that won’t allow for the fitting of regular-sized prosthetics,” said Gänsl. “And of course we are dealing here with completely different requirements (than what orthopedic technicians are used to in Germany).”

It will be relatively easy to provide a prosthesis for Kushnirov’s right leg, Gänsl said. However, his left leg will be more difficult to treat because it was amputated above the knee.

“I jumped away and pulled my legs into my chest to protect myself from the explosion which I knew was coming. But look at my legs, they are injured badly.”

Sitting in a wheelchair with his left leg amputated and the other one badly bruised and shattered, Omelchenko added: “But at least I am still alive.”

Keen to save his damaged leg, doctors in Germany kept it in a metal frame, or external fixator, at first while it healed. That has just been removed and he will be fitted with a prosthesis on the other leg soon.

A bridge between two capitals

Janine von Wolfersdorff, a Berlin-based financial expert who became involved in humanitarian aid work in Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion, is the initiator of Life Bridge Ukraine, a project which is being run in partnership between the German and Ukrainian capitals. Under its auspices, experts in workshops in Berlin will make new limbs and teach the 60 patients chosen for treatment how to walk and move again.

“We want to give Ukrainian war-wounded soldiers a new life – and simultaneously want to train six Ukrainians for three months here in Berlin, who will learn to build very good quality prosthetics so that they can do it themselves in Kyiv.”

Von Wolfersdorff is collaborating closely with Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko and Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner on the project, hoping that a prosthetics center will be opened in Kyiv later this year. Ultimately, her group wants to open further prosthetics centres in other Ukrainian cities as well. “The trainees learn here first-hand when a stump may need another amputation, another surgery, when a scar needs to be attended to again, and other issues that arise during this very complex process,” Von Wolfersdorff said.

Havrylov said he wants to learn “as much as possible from the Germans and maybe even get better at it so that we can open our center in Kyiv and help there. Unfortunately, there will be more people with injuries. We need good workshops to provide our Ukrainians with a good life. We need to bring them back into society.”

Life Bridge Ukraine has collected around $600,000 in donations for the project, including for the care of the soldiers in Berlin. “It is a long process of recuperation,” Von Wolfersdorff said. “We seek a holistic treatment approach: In addition to a lot of physiotherapy, patients are offered psychological help, as well as nutritional advice, to reintegrate themselves into as normal as possible a life.”

‘Completely new way of learning to walk’

With the help of the medical and orthopedic technician teams Sayko-Kazakov took his first steps using them. “These are cool feet. Really fine work.”

For Kushnirov, the initial fitting was trickier because of the artificial knee joint on one limb. “Unfortunately walking will be more difficult for him,” Gänsl explained. “It is a completely new way of learning how to walk.”

Kushnirov knows his rehabilitation process will take time, but he is determined to keep trying. “It’s a shame I am losing so much time getting rehabilitated and I know it will still take me a lot of time. But of course, my life will improve,” he said. “But it’s hard to say what life will be like after my prosthetics fittings. I know it will be different.”

Sayko-Kazakov, Kushnirov and the other soldiers with new artificial limbs will receive a lot of training on how to move again in the coming weeks in Berlin. Any final adjustments that are needed will be made before they receive their permanent prosthetic fittings and leave to be cared for back home in Ukraine.

“It is a lot of fun working together with our highly motivated patients and Ukrainian trainees, we see so much progress,” Gänsl said. However, there will be challenges ahead for these soldiers even with their final artificial limbs. “Prosthetic fittings need to be adjusted again and again. It is a lifelong process,” he said. “After all, bodies change. Just as we occasionally put on weight over Christmas or lose weight when exercising, a stump does not grow with you.”

Both Sayko-Kazakov and Kushnirov are determined to return to Ukraine soon, walking comfortably with their new artificial limbs. They say they are ready to support their units back home as they fight to fend off Russian forces.

“The war is not yet over. Our work is not yet finished,” Sayko-Kazakov said. “I often think of the guys who worked with me at the front line. So many lost their lives. So many I carried out on my shoulders. It hurts. When we go back, we can be useful on the home front, for example assembling drones.”

Kushnirov acknowledges his limitations. “I know I won’t be able to walk again just like others do. I won’t be able to fight at the front line anymore,” he said, “but there are a lot of other things I can do: I could operate a drone or take care of repair and maintenance works. Wherever I can help, I will do so. I will continue to fight for Ukraine.”

Soccer icon David Beckham exchanged beekeeping tips with King Charles, he said, when the pair met ahead of the former England captain being named ambassador for The King’s Foundation.

Beckham met the King at Highgrove Gardens in the Cotswolds, England, where he also met students of the King’s Foundation, who practice skills such as woodworking and embroidery in specialized workshops on site.

“It was inspiring to hear from The King about the work of His Majesty’s Foundation during my recent visit to Highgrove Gardens – and compare beekeeping tips,” Beckham said in a press release from the foundation.

The former soccer star has discussed his passion for beekeeping in public before. The 2023 Netflix documentary series “Beckham” began with him harvesting honey into an old jam jar.

In his work with The King’s Foundation, Beckham will be hoping to spread awareness of the charity’s mission.

The King’s Foundation was originally called The Prince’s Foundation, and came into existence after a number of Charles’ charitable projects merged into one group in 2018.

The foundation “provides holistic solutions to challenges facing the world today,” its website says, and runs education and training programs in subjects such as traditional arts, architecture, design, science, engineering, horticulture, wellbeing and hospitality.

The charity became embroiled in a cash-for-honors scandal over allegations the then-chief executive of Charles’ charity, Michael Fawcett, helped nominate Saudi businessman Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz for an honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) title.

A spokesperson for Charles at the time maintained that “the Prince of Wales had no knowledge of the alleged offer of honors or British citizenship on the basis of donation to his charities.”

Last year, London’s Metropolitan Police said no further action would be taken in its investigation.

A firefighter died while trying to rescue trapped residents and several thousand people were forced to leave their homes as heavy rain caused flooding in southern Germany.

The 42-year-old man who died was in a rescue boat carrying four firefighters that capsized late on Saturday.

His body was recovered early on Sunday, said a spokesperson for the Bavarian town of Pfaffenbach an der Ilm, around 50 km (30 miles) north of Munich.

Municipalities had days to prepare for the flooding but around 3,000 people had to be evacuated in southern Germany as the water cut off some areas, authorities said.

“We owe our thanks and respect to the rescue workers and helpers who are battling the consequences of the floods in many places,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on X.

Scholz is scheduled to travel to the region on Monday, where he will meet with Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and Bavaria’s premier mid-morning local time to get an overview, a government spokesperson said.

Economy Minister and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck pledged support for the affected regions during a visit on Sunday and noted that climate change is causing more severe weather events.

“Natural disasters have always accompanied mankind. What we are seeing is that the frequency of these events is increasing significantly. Record floods occur every few years … record rainfall every few years,” Habeck, of the Greens Party, told broadcaster n-tv.

Parts of Europe were hit by major flooding in 2021 that killed nearly 200, with Germany bearing the brunt.

The disaster was largely blamed on the consequences of climate change and prompted calls for stricter warning and safety measures.

Mexicans headed to the polls on Sunday to vote in a historic election expected to return the country’s first woman president.

The two leading presidential candidates are women: Claudia Sheinbaum from the leftist Morena party and Xochitl Gálvez, from the conservative PAN party, who is representing a coalition of opposition parties.

The third candidate is Jorge Álvarez Máynez, the youngest in the race, who is representing the center-left Citizens’ Movement.

Sunday’s poll is the largest election in the country’s history. More than 98 million voters are registered to cast a ballot in Mexico, and 1.4 million Mexicans are eligible to vote abroad. More than 20,000 positions are set to be filled with an estimated 70,000 candidates vying to become senators, mayors and governors.

Outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is Sheinbaum’s mentor, greeted supporters as he voted. As Sheinbaum made her way to cast her ballot, she called for Mexicans to vote, telling reporters: “This is a historic day, I am feeling very happy.”

Gálvez told reporters on Sunday that she was not nervous and was happy about the large voter turnout. She added that she was expecting it to be a long day and a very close call.

Polls opened at 8 a.m. local time and will close at 6 p.m., according to Mexico’s National Electoral Institute (INE).

However, on Sunday, some voting stations in parts of the country opened with delays. Long lines were seen in Mexico City, Yucatán, Tuxtla, Cuauhtémoc, and voting centers abroad.

Security concerns on the ballot

Whoever is elected will face several challenges, including security, organized crime, energy, immigration, and strengthening the US-Mexico relationship.

A minute of silence was held on Sunday by the advisers of the INE in memory of the people who have been murdered during this electoral period.

And while the murder rate fell in Mexico between 2019 and 2022, in absolute numbers the country is still reeling from historically high levels of homicides of around 30,000 each year, experts say.

Both Sheinbaum and Gálvez have largely remained coy about their proposals regarding security. Neither has repudiated a nearly two-decades-long approach of relying on the armed forces to tackle organized crime.

The central challenge for the next president will be convincing voters that she can end the culture of impunity in Mexico, where around 95% of all crimes nationwide went unsolved in 2022, according to the think tank Mexico Evalua.

US officials are closely monitoring the presidential election as it comes at a critical time for the Biden administration. A record number of migrants at the US-Mexico border has been seized upon by Republicans who claim it as proof of the Biden administration’s impotence, pushing immigration control to a top election issue.

In recent months, the US has relied heavily on Mexico to step up immigration enforcement and help stem the flow of migration to the US’ southern border. The election in Mexico has raised uncertainty in the minds of some Biden officials about what, if anything, will change with a key partner when it comes to border cooperation.

London’s Metropolitan Police said 53 arrests were made during the UEFA Champions League final at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday.

Five people were arrested for invading the pitch and the “majority of others for attempts to breach security,” the police force said in a statement.

The pitch invasion occurred during the first minute of the game between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.

Footage of the incident shows Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marcel Sabitzer helping to stop one of the invaders from running around the pitch.

A spokesperson for Wembley Stadium condemned the pitch invaders.

“It is illegal to enter the field of play at Wembley Stadium, and we strongly condemn the actions of those who interrupted the UEFA Champions League Final shortly after kick-off,” a Wembley Stadium spokesperson said in a statement issued Saturday.

“All of the individuals have now been arrested. We will support the relevant authorities to ensure appropriate action is taken,” the Wembley Stadium spokesperson added.

While five people were arrested in connection with the pitch invasion, Metropolitan Police Commander Louise Puddefoot said in a statement that most of the arrests were for attempts to breach security, as some fans had tried to force their way into the stadium.

“We are confident that the overwhelming majority of attempts to unlawfully gain access to Wembley this evening were unsuccessful thanks to the efforts of officers, stewards and other stadium staff,” Commander Puddefoot said.

“There is a robust policing operation in place to support the Wembley security plan and officers have worked closely with stewards and stadium staff to maintain security throughout.

“Videos shared online showing groups running into entrances do not necessarily represent successful attempts to enter the stadium. There are typically multiple further levels of security beyond an initial entrance.”

Real Madrid went on to win the match 2-0, giving it a record-extending 15th European Cup.

China’s Chang’e-6 lunar lander successfully touched down on the far side of the moon Sunday morning Beijing time, in a significant step for the ambitious mission that could advance the country’s aspirations of putting astronauts on the moon.

The Chang’e-6 probe landed in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, where it will begin to collect samples from the lunar surface, the China National Space Administration announced.

China’s most complex robotic lunar endeavor to date, the uncrewed mission aims to return samples to Earth from the moon’s far side for the first time.

The landing marks the second time a mission has successfully reached the far side of the moon. China first completed that historic feat in 2019 with its Chang’e-4 probe.

If all goes as planned, the mission — which began on May 3 and is expected to last 53 days — could be a key milestone in China’s push to become a dominant space power.

The country’s plans include landing astronauts on the moon by 2030 and building a research base at its south pole – a region believed to contain water ice.

Sunday’s landing comes as a growing number of countries, including the United States, eye the strategic and scientific benefits of expanded lunar exploration in an increasingly competitive field.

Samples collected by the Chang’e-6 lander could provide key clues into the origin and evolution of the moon, Earth and the solar system, experts say – while the mission itself provides important data and technical practice to advance China’s lunar ambitions.

Chang’e-6 touched down within an impact crater known as the Apollo Basin, located within the sprawling, roughly 2,500-kilometer-diameter South Pole-Aitken Basin, according to Chinese state media Xinhua. It had orbited the moon for about 20 days as part of a larger probe, which is composed of four parts: an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a re-entry module.

It is now expected to use a drill and a mechanical arm to gather up to 2 kilograms of moon dust and rocks from the basin, a crater formed some 4 billion years ago.

The probe will spend two days on the far side of the moon, and 14 hours to collect moon soil samples, Xinhua reported.

To complete its mission, the lander will need to robotically stow those samples in an ascent vehicle that made the landing with it.

The ascent vehicle will then return to lunar orbit, where it will dock with and transfer the samples to a re-entry capsule, according to mission information provided by the China National Space Administration.

The re-entry capsule and orbiter will then travel back to Earth’s orbit and separate, allowing the re-entry capsule to make its expected return later this month to the Siziwang Banner Landing Site in China’s rural Inner Mongolia region.

The technically complex mission is made more challenging due to where it is being conducted. The far side of the moon is out of range of normal communications, which means Chang’e-6 must also rely on a satellite that was launched into lunar orbit in March, the Queqiao-2.

China plans to launch two more missions in the Chang-e series as it nears its 2030 target of sending astronauts to the moon.

Multiple nations are expanding their lunar programs, with a growing focus on securing access to resources and further deep-space exploration.

Last year, India landed a spacecraft on the moon for the first time, while Russia’s first lunar landing mission in decades ended in failure when its Luna 25 probe crashed into the moon’s surface.

In January, Japan became the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the moon, though its Moon Sniper lander faced power issues due to an incorrect landing angle. The following month, IM-1, a NASA-funded mission designed by Texas-based private firm Intuitive Machines, touched down close to the south pole.

That landing – the first by a US-made spacecraft in over five decades – is among several planned commercial missions intended to explore the lunar surface before NASA attempts to return US astronauts there as soon as 2026 and build its scientific base camp.

Iran’s hardline former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has registered to run for president in the country’s June 28 election, organized after the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash last month, Iran’s state television reported on Sunday.

However he could be barred from the race: the country’s cleric-led Guardian Council will vet candidates, and publish the list of qualified ones on June 11.

Ahmadinejad, a former member of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, was first elected as Iran’s president in 2005 and stepped down because of term limits in 2013.

He was barred from standing in the 2017 election by the Guardian Council, a year after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned him that entering was “not in his interest and that of the country.”

A rift developed between the two after Ahmadinejad explicitly advocated checks on Khamenei’s ultimate authority.

In 2018, in rare criticism directed at Khamenei, Ahmadinejad wrote to him calling for “free” elections.

Khamenei had backed Ahmadinejad after his 2009 re-election triggered protests in which dozens of people were killed and hundreds arrested, rattling the ruling theocracy, before security forces led by the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) stamped out the unrest.