At a school in Japan’s snowy northern mountains, reminders of distinguished alumni are everywhere. Banners herald Los Angeles Dodgers megastar Shohei Ohtani and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi, their faces greeting every visitor.

But now, Hanamaki Higashi High School celebrates a new prodigy in its midst – one whose high-school records beat even those of Ohtani and Kikuchi.

Raised in the sleepy town of Hanamaki, Iwate prefecture, Rintaro Sasaki doesn’t know a life without baseball, having grown up playing catch with both his sister and his father, who is a coach.

Once he joined a school known for its elite baseball team, he shared dormitories with teammates and was immersed in the sport – as well as in his predecessors’ towering achievements.

Now aged 18, he has already etched his name into the annals of baseball history with an astounding 140 home runs during his high school career, a feat which surpasses the legends he admires. He was the projected number-one pick for Japan’s professional baseball league.

But unlike his predecessors, Sasaki is charting a different course. Eschewing an immediate professional career, he is instead choosing education: from this autumn, he’ll attend Stanford University in California, with a view to top-level baseball after that.

“I think it could be a place where I can challenge myself in new ways. And I don’t just want to practice baseball, but also study to prepare for my second career when I eventually retire,” he said, drawn to Stanford by the expansive campus that felt like a slice of home and a coaching staff that promised a familial support system.

Sasaki said this pivot to academia was inspired by his father, Hiroshi, who doubles as his coach and the guiding force behind Hanamaki Higashi’s baseball program.

Hiroshi, who mentored Ohtani and Kikuchi before his son, sees in America a land where Rintaro’s unique talents can flourish.

Under his father’s tutelage, Sasaki has grown into a formidable talent. But for his son to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ohtani and Kikuchi, the coach said he needs far more practice.

Ohtani, who during the offseason signed baseball’s richest contract with World Series favorites the Dodgers, has won the American League MVP award twice over the past three seasons as a pitcher and designated hitter with the Los Angeles Angels.

“I had never seen such a level of athleticism before [Ohtani and Kikuchi]. I knew from the moment they entered the team that they would be tremendous athletes if they could build on their muscular strength,” Sasaki said, sitting in the same gym where the two athletes trained under his watch. He doesn’t take much credit for raising the two stars, saying they would’ve excelled anywhere.

Now, with the emergence of three baseball stars from Hanamaki Higashi, Sasaki’s teammates swell with pride at the honor of walking the same corridors.

Despite its status as a public school with a modest baseball budget, Hanamaki Higashi has impressively produced three outstanding athletes. When asked the secret behind this success, Coach Sasaki says it’s not something mystical in the water—rather, a potent mix of rigorous practice and formidable mental strength.

“I think the most important thing is not to blame others and not to make excuses…The other thing I do is set firm goals,” he said.

As the younger Sasaki prepares for this next chapter, he carries with him the ethos of Hanamaki Higashi, a testament to the school’s remarkable legacy of nurturing baseball talent.

“One day, I want to be playing on the same field as Ohtani and Kikuchi,” he said. “That’s what’s driving me.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in “excellent” health following surgery to treat a hernia, according to a statement released Sunday by Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem in Jerusalem.

The procedure “ended successfully” and Netanyahu is “awake, he is talking to his family, and his situation is perfect,” Alon Pikarsky, the hospital’s director of general surgery, said in an early morning video statement.

Netanyahu, 74, was diagnosed with a hernia during a routine examination on Saturday, his office previously said in a statement. He was placed under anesthesia for the procedure, his office said.

The surgery meant Israel’s leader was temporarily out of action with the nation at war with Hamas in Gaza following the October 7 attacks. Israel’s deputy prime minister and justice minister, Yariv Levin, stepped in for Netanyahu while he was incapacitated.

In a news conference Sunday in Jerusalem ahead of the surgery, Netanyahu said he was optimistic about the results of the procedure and that he will return to work “very quickly.”

“I assure you that I will get through this treatment successfully and return to action very quickly,” Netanyahu said.

The operation took place amid renewed talks between Israel and Hamas in Cairo, according to a report in Egyptian media.

The negotiations to secure the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by the militant group in exchange for a ceasefire in the conflict that has seen more than 32,000 Gazans killed had reached an impasse last week.

This is Netanyahu’s second surgery since returning to the premiership in late 2022. A health scare last summer ended with the Israeli leader being fitted for a pacemaker to fix a transient heart block.

Netanyahu previously had a hernia in 2013 that also required surgery.

A hernia is a gap in the abdominal muscular wall that allows something inside the abdomen to protrude outward, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

King Charles III has made his most significant outing since his cancer diagnosis last month, attending the traditional Easter Mattins church service in Windsor on Sunday.

Charles, 75, appeared to be in good spirits as he arrived by car to St. George’s Chapel, a 14th-century building on the grounds of Windsor Castle, around an hour’s drive from London. He was accompanied by his wife, Queen Camilla, for the event – a staple in the royal calendar.

Typically, the extended royal family gathers for Easter at Windsor Castle before heading to church together. Their arrivals are usually watched by staff living at Windsor, either from a nearby grassy bank or from their doorsteps.

The royal couple waved delightedly to a crowd of well-wishers before making their way into the chapel through the Galilee Porch.

One member of the public called out “Happy Easter” to the British monarch, to which he responded, saying: “And to you.”

“He looked wonderful. He smiled at me and had a little laugh, loved the Welsh flag,” she added.

This year’s celebration is a quieter affair with fewer royals in attendance to minimize the King’s contact with others during his treatment.

The King and Queen sat apart from the rest of the main congregation for the one-hour service.

Similarly, the late Queen Elizabeth II sat separately to her loved ones when she attended the funeral of her husband, Prince Philip, which took place amid strict pandemic regulations in 2021.

The King’s siblings were the first family members to arrive. Prince Edward and Sophie – the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh – were accompanied by their son, James, Earl of Wessex. They were followed by the King’s sister, Princess Anne – who gave a quick wave to the crowd – and her husband, Tim Laurence, as well as Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.

Following the service, Camilla was presented with a bouquet of white and yellow flowers by a young boy as the royal couple departed the chapel.

With more cries of “Happy Easter,” Charles thrilled well-wishers by unexpectedly making his way over to them, sparking applause from the public. During the surprise walkabout he appeared at ease, stopping to chat at various points and shaking hands.

It was unclear if Charles would attend the usual post-service family lunch. In the days ahead, he and Camilla will reportedly take a break for Easter.

The King’s presence will be an encouraging sight for many royal-watchers after he temporarily paused public-facing engagements on the advice of his doctors.

He has, however, kept a steady hand on the tiller, seeing to state business and official paperwork with his daily red boxes from the UK government while maintaining a diary of private audiences as well as his regular weekly meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

In recent days, he greeted the new ambassadors of Moldova and Burundi at Buckingham Palace, met with secretary-general of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, as well as sat down with a group of community and faith leaders from around the UK.

Charles sought to reassure the nation he has been handling constitutional matters behind the scenes in a personal message ahead of Easter weekend.

In a recorded audio address for the annual Royal Maundy service on Thursday, he reiterated his coronation pledge “not to be served but to serve” with “my whole heart.”

He also shared his “great sadness” that he wasn’t able to join the congregation, saying the service “has a very special place in my heart.”

The Queen deputized for her husband, distributing the traditional Maundy money – specially-minted coins – to people in recognition of their service to the church and local community.

A notable absence from Sunday’s Easter festivities were the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children. The Waleses attended last year with Prince Louis making his debut at the family outing to the delight of royal-watchers.

The family of five have been laying low since Catherine disclosed a little over a week ago that she had started chemotherapy for cancer found in post-operation tests after a planned abdominal surgery in January.

The Waleses are spending the Easter holidays together as they continue to adjust to Kate’s diagnosis.

A Kensington Palace spokesperson said last Saturday that the prince and princess had been “extremely moved by the public’s warmth and support” and were “grateful for the understanding of their request for privacy at this time.”

Kate has not been seen in an official capacity since Christmas Day. Easter had initially been suggested by Kensington Palace as the period when she would resume duties following her operation. However, her return has been postponed until cleared to do so by her medical team.

Prince William is expected to resume public engagements in mid-April once Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have restarted school.

The threat of ISIS, also known as Islamic State, might have seemed to be waning as headlines turned to Ukraine, Gaza and the next US election. But last week’s attack on a Moscow concert hall reminded the world of the enduring danger of Islamist terrorism and the ambitions of what is known as IS Khorasan (ISIS-K) far beyond its camps in the mountains of Afghanistan.

Analysts believe the group has a growing focus on Europe – and point to events such as this year’s Paris Olympics as potential targets.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the Moscow attack. The fact that Tajik nationals were allegedly involved indicates ISIS-K was responsible; the group draws many members from central Asia and has a record of previous plots in Russia. US officials have also said there is evidence ISIS-K carried out the attack.

ISIS-K was created nine years ago as an autonomous ‘province’ of the Islamic State, and despite many enemies has survived and proved itself capable of launching attacks in Pakistan, Iran and central Asia. Before the Crocus City attack, it had planned others in Europe and Russia. The commander of US Central Command, Gen. Erik Kurilla, assessed recently that ISIS-K “retains the capability and the will to attack US and Western interests abroad in as little as six months with little to no warning.”

UN experts and others – including the Russian security services – estimate the strength of ISIS-K at between 4,000 and 6,000 fighters. Sanaullah Ghafari became the group’s leader in 2020 and, despite occasional reports of his demise, terrorism analysts believe he remains an effective leader.

Both the Taliban and the United States have sought – though not in concert – to expunge ISIS-K from its safe havens in eastern Afghanistan. But a recent analysis in Sentinel, the journal of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, said it “remains a resilient organization, capable of adapting to changing dynamics and evolving to survive difficult circumstances.”

Endurance and expansion

ISIS-K’s most infamous attack until now was the suicide bombing at Kabul airport in 2021 that killed nearly 200 people, including 13 US soldiers guarding the airport.

It has continued a campaign of suicide bombings and assassinations against the Taliban, which it regards as insufficiently radical and beholden to outside powers. Just last week, an ISIS-K suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt among Taliban militia in the Afghan city of Kandahar, inflicting dozens of casualties, according to local accounts.

But ISIS-K has also expanded its orbit. Amira Jadoon, who has written a book about the group, said that over the last three years ISIS-K “has grown more ambitious and aggressive in its efforts to gain notoriety and relevance across South and Central Asia, launching its most aggressive multilingual propaganda campaign and expanding the types of attacks it conducts.”

Last year the group executed a devastating bombing against an election rally in Baujur, Pakistan, in which more than 60 people were killed. It has also established a foothold in the restive Pakistani province of Baluchistan bordering Iran.

In January, ISIS claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings in the Iranian city of Kerman, killing 90 people and injured more than 200. Jadoon, an associate professor at Clemson University, said that given its “proximity to the attacks, its highly sectarian attack strategy, and its diverse membership base, it is highly likely that ISK [as the group is also called] played a role in the Kerman attack.”

The threat to Europe

ISIS-K has ambitions far beyond south Asia, aiming to target Russia, western Europe and even the United States. European security agencies are paying heightened attention to the threat, even if ISIS-K’s capabilities are yet to match its ambitions.

Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, notes that in July last year seven men were arrested in Germany suspected of planning high-profile attacks and being in contact with ISIS-K planners. All the suspects were from central Asia.

This month, two Afghan citizens were detained in Germany, accused of making “concrete preparations” to attack Sweden’s parliament in retaliation for a spate of Koran burnings in the country. One had joined ISIS-K last year, prosecutors asserted, and their plans were made “in close consultation with” ISIS-K operatives.

Christine Abizaid, director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, told Congress last autumn that so far “ISIS-Khorasan has relied primarily on inexperienced operatives in Europe to try to advance attacks in its name.”

Fitton-Brown – former coordinator of UN sanctions and threat assessment regarding ISIS, al Qaeda and the Taliban – agreed that so far the threat in Europe has been “naïve and embryonic” but warned that ISIS-K “has plugged into the central Asian diaspora, primarily in Russia and Turkey and to some extent in Germany.”

He regards the Moscow attack as a “breakthrough success” for the group, demonstrating a level of planning not previously seen beyond south Asia. ISIS claimed that the Crocus City Hall had been intensively reconnoitered.

A leaked US Defense Department assessment last year noted that “ISIS has been developing a cost-effective model for external operations that relies on resources from outside Afghanistan, operatives in target countries, and extensive facilitation networks.”

Following the Moscow attack, France – which hosts the Olympics this year – raised the terrorist threat level to the maximum. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said thousands more soldiers were ready to boost its counter-terrorism force, adding: “The Islamist threat is real…We are constantly preparing for all scenarios.”

Jadoon said the risk of ISIS-K’s “brand resonating with individual sympathizers in Western countries cannot be overlooked.” She explained that as militants see it as “an inspirational and growing force, it may attract individuals from Western nations who are drawn to its ideology. This could lead to attempts by individuals to travel to conflict zones to join its ranks or carry out attacks in their home countries on behalf of the group.”

Hating Putin and the ‘Eastern Crusader’

Russia may be particularly vulnerable to ISIS-K. Ten years ago, then ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi denounced “the crusaders, their allies, and with them the rest of the nations and religions of kufr (infidel), all being led by America and Russia.”

A year later, ISIS’ franchise in Sinai claimed responsibility for the bomb that brought down a Russian charter jet flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg, killing all 224 people onboard.

ISIS’ loathing of Vladimir Putin stems from the Russian role in Syria in support of the Assad regime and the brutal Chechen wars in the early years of the century. Russia’s support for authoritarian regimes in central Asia – which ISIS-K has described as Russia’s “puppets” – has deepened the animus.

ISIS-K has also derided the Taliban for “befriending Russians, the murderers of Chechen Muslims.” In 2022, an ISIS-K suicide bomber attacked the Russian embassy in Kabul, killing two employees.

Now it’s clear that the group is trying to establish itself inside Russia. Earlier this month, the Russian security service – the FSB – said it had that killed two ISIS-K operatives in the region of Kaluga who were planning an attack on a Moscow synagogue.

Fitton-Brown regards Russia as extremely vulnerable to further attacks, with its security services preoccupied by Ukraine and a vast pool of migrant workers from central Asia, at least some of whom have likely been radicalized. All those arrested since the Crocus City attack are Tajik.

Several previous ISIS-inspired or claimed attacks in Russia have involved Tajik, Uzbek or Kyrgyz nationals. In 2017 an Uzbek national carried out a suicide bombing on the St Petersburg metro, killing 15.

The attitude of the Russian government, both pre- and post- the Moscow attack, may not help it confront the threat. After the US warned in early March of the possibility of terror attacks at “large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts,” Putin lambasted “provocative statements by a number of official Western structures…All this resembles blatant blackmail and an intention to sow fear and destabilize our society.”

Schindler at the Counter Extremism Project said that even if the FSB were aware of such plots, protective deployment of security forces at concerts would have smacked of contradicting the Kremlin – and would therefore have been unwise.

After the attack, Putin said it was carried out “by the hands of radical Islamists,” but was sponsored elsewhere, suggesting Ukraine had been involved, something strenuously denied by Kyiv and Washington. And according to the director of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, three countries were behind the terrorist attack: the US, UK and Ukraine.

The narrative from Moscow is that even if ISIS-K or individuals inspired by it step up their campaign in Russia, they’ll be seen as puppets of darker forces. That may distort intelligence-gathering.

For ISIS-K, the Moscow attack is a coup. Rita Katz, executive director of SITE Intelligence, said: “ISIS’ global support rests in no small part on its image as a capable organization, and this devastating massacre in Russia will only feed into that image.”

In another world, Ukraine would be voting today. In a year where billions get the chance to cast a ballot, people here would be giving their verdict on the presidency of Volodymyr Zelensky.

Five years ago, the man whose talents as an actor, comedian and producer had made him a household name in Ukraine was propelled into office. But with Russian forces still inside the country and millions of Ukrainians displaced from their homes, fighting on the frontlines, or living overseas, there is no election in sight.

Some US Republicans have sought to make the upcoming expiration of Zelensky’s term, which happens in May, another reason why military aid should be withheld.

Zelensky himself has said he was open to the idea but in recent months has made it clear it is not something he believes the country can or should do. Although Sunday is the day the constitution says Ukraine should be voting, it also does not allow it during wartime. The alternative would be to suspend martial law for the period of an election.

On Kyiv’s Maidan square on a Friday afternoon, it is chilly. Skies are overcast and there is a hailstorm on the way.

This large open space, through which cuts one of the city’s main thoroughfares, was the cradle of what Ukrainians call the Revolution of Dignity – the uprising ten years ago that pushed out the country’s pro-Putin leader, Viktor Yanukovych, and shifted Ukraine’s focus towards Europe and the United States.

Mykola Lyapin, a 21-year-old student, is having a smoke before the rain comes. He would have voted for Zelensky five years ago if he had had the chance and would vote for him now.  He has no fear that when the time comes the president will move on.

“Our people are free, and we proved it in 2014, when we were dissatisfied with President Yanukovych. We came here to the Maidan, some even lost their lives, but we achieved what we wanted. It is in our genes to defend our position. If the people really believe Zelensky has been running the country for too long a time, we will solve it, even if the war is ongoing.”

Just up the hill, in a bookshop selling Jamie Oliver cookbooks, among other titles, 42-year-old psychologist Kateryna Bilokon is talking with a friend in the small café at the front of the shop. She voted for Zelensky in 2019 and is happy with his performance. She is dissuaded from supporting an election due to the cost.

“It would be a drain on the state budget; it would be better to redirect funds to arm our military,” she says, adding, “There is no one who could replace Zelensky at the moment.”

‘Not the right time,’ says Zelensky

Opinion polls suggest there is little appetite among Ukrainians for a vote – just 15% of respondents told the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology last month the country should hold an election.

Last August, President Zelensky was asked for his position in an interview on Ukrainian television and sounded sympathetic to holding a poll.

“There is a logic to it. If you are defending democracy, then you must think about this defense, even in a time of war. Elections are one of those defenses,” he said, at the same acknowledging that a vote could well prove a divisive distraction from the main goal of defeating Russia.

For a leader sensitive to accusations of wanting to hang on to power, and whose appeal in 2019 came in part from a pledge of greater openness and democratic transparency, shutting down talk of elections is a risk. All the same, in subsequent comments, the president has been less equivocal. “Now is not the right time for elections,” he said last November, and his position has not changed since then.

Oleksiy Koshel, of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, a pressure group which seeks to uphold democratic rights, sees clear-eyed political calculation at work. He believes Zelensky’s team initially wanted to hold elections because the president’s support was so high. But as his ratings started to slip towards the end of the year so  the leadership went cold on the idea.

Recent months have been tough on the battlefield for Ukraine. As the United States Congress continues to dither over new military aid, elections in Ukraine became folded into the debate by some Republicans. Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran for the Republican Party nomination for president, accused of Kyiv of “threaten[ing] to cancel elections … unless the US forks out more money.”

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, despite being a strong supporter of aid for Ukraine, also took an unequivocal stance, telling a press conference in Kyiv last year, “I want to see this country have free and fair elections, even while it is under assault. The American people need to know that Ukraine is different. This has been a very corrupt country in the past.”

Strikingly, on his latest visit to Ukraine earlier this month Graham had moderated his position considerably, saying he now shared the consensus position among Ukrainians.

“Everyone I spoke with said you need to get this war in a better place before you have elections. That makes sense to me, having been on the ground,” he said.

More sensitively, perhaps, are the people living in what Ukraine refers to as the temporarily occupied territories. This is the roughly 20% of the country that is under Russian control.

The impracticalities of facilitating voting there are clear, but the optics of going ahead with a national poll regardless would also be deeply troubling to many. While some Ukrainians might quietly suspect that those who have stayed behind in the occupied territories have done so because they have pro-Russian sympathies, the appearance, nevertheless, would be one of abandonment, of Kyiv willingly disenfranchising those it is seeking to liberate. It is not hard to see how the Kremlin could exploit that.

The other group of people whose participation in the election would provide a challenge are those in the armed forces, especially those in combat positions on the front line.

“It would be unfair to deprive the right to vote in the elections for soldiers who are defending the independence of our country at the cost of their lives and health,” Stefanchuk said.

Soldiers warn against ‘power vacuum’

“The military is afraid that someone may decide to hold elections, either for internal reasons, or under pressure from Western countries […] A power vacuum during the transition period may pose a threat to the management of the military and the functioning of the state,” Oleksandr Voitko, serving with a drone unit, said.

Another soldier, serving with the 47th Brigade near Avdiivka, who preferred to remain anonymous, agreed.

Eventually, though, Ukrainians will return to the polls. Zelensky’s numbers may be off their highs, but he remains popular; 64% of Ukrainians say they trust him as leader.

Even so, Oleksiy Koshel, the voting rights campaigner, believes two years into the war, people are starting to move beyond a natural inclination in times of crisis to place trust in those in power. He expects politicians who emerge from the military such as former Commander in Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi or lesser-known figures to get record results when elections are eventually held.

Anecdotally, too, it is not difficult to find people in Kyiv who believe there should eventually be a reckoning for the full-scale invasion for the current political leadership. A young businessman out with his wife and children, who were visiting him briefly from Italy where they were seeing out the fighting, was scathing about the president.

He had failed to heed the warnings about Russia, the man said, preferring not to give his name.

The result, he said, was that his own children, and those of his friends, were growing up speaking Italian or Czech because the war had driven them abroad to seek safety.

“These children should be speaking Ukrainian,” he said with a mixture of anger and ruefulness.

Maria Kostenko and Victoria Butenko contributed to this report

Armed police raided Peru’s government palace and the private home of President Dina Boluarte in search of Rolexes and other luxury watches as part of a preliminary corruption inquiry.

Police broke down the door to her property late Friday after officials apparently ignored orders to open up, Reuters reported.

The probe was prompted by Peruvian news outlet La Encerrona’s investigation into Boluarte’s watches. After reviewing thousands of photographs of the President, La Encerrona determined that Boluarte owned at least 14 luxury watches.

Peruvian media have since dubbed the incident the “Rolex case.”

Boularte had denied any wrongdoing before the raid, saying anything she owned was a result of her hard work.

“I came to the presidential palace with my hands clean and I will leave with my hands clean as I have promised the Peruvian people,” she said.

Boularte’s office said in a statement early Saturday that the searches were completed “without incident.” Her lawyer, Mateo Castaneda, told Peruvian broadcaster RPP that the police presence was excessive and designed to “make a show.” He added that police had taken photos of approximately 10 watches but he could not confirm what brands.

Castaneda said that Boularte is scheduled to testify at the prosecutor’s office next month.

The president’s political allies were also quick to come to her defense and malign the raid as excessive.

Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen said in an interview with RPP that the raid, conducted late at night on a bank holiday, was an attack on the president’s dignity, while Justice Minister Eduardo Arana told reporters that the searches were unconstitutional.

Peru has in recent years been rattled by political instability, with president after president brought down by allegations of corruption or political malfeasance.

Boluarte succeeded Pedro Castillo, a former teacher and union leader from rural Peru, in December 2022. Castillo was impeached and removed from office after attempting to dissolve Congress and install an emergency government – a tactic that lawmakers slammed as an attempted coup.

He was then accused of rebellion and conspiracy, charges he denies.

Castillo’s election followed a string of emergency and interim leaders after the downfall of former President Martin Vizcarra, who was impeached over allegations of corruption in November 2020. Vizcarra’s predecessor, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, resigned in 2018 due to a corruption scandal involving the massive Brazilian conglomerate Odebrech. And the president before Kuczynski, Ollanta Humala, is currently facing trial on charges of money laundering. Humala has pleaded not guilty.

A prominent exiled Iranian journalist was stabbed outside his home in London on Friday, prompting British police to launch a counterterrorism investigation.

Pouria Zeraati, a television anchor at the UK-based channel Iran International, was reportedly attacked by a group of men outside his home in south-western Wimbledon. The assailants then fled in a car.

London Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Friday that Zeraati’s injuries were not believed to be life-threatening and that he was in stable condition.

The Met said it is too early to determine a motive for the crime, but given the victim’s occupation “coupled with the fact that there has been a number of threats directed towards this group of journalists in recent times,” the department’s counterterrorism command would be investigating.

“We do not know the reason why this victim was attacked and there could be a number of explanations for this. While we continue to assess the circumstances of this incident, detectives are following a number of lines of enquiry,” Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of the command, said in a statement.

While Tehran has not been implicated in the attack, the incident has already fueled concerns it could be involved. Iran has designated the television station a “terrorist entity.” Iranian state media has repeatedly accused the channel of fomenting unrest.

Zeraati’s stabbing comes after an investigation by Britain’s ITV last year revealed that Iranian spies had attempted to pay a people smuggler $200,000 to assassinate two Iran International journalists. The probe prompted the British government in January to sanction seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite paramilitary organization established in the aftermath of the country’s revolution in 1979.

The chair of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Alicia Kearns, and the general secretary of the British National Union of Journalists, Michelle Stanistreet, both issued carefully worded statements that avoided pinning blame on Iran but called for more to be done to protect journalists.

”This brutal stabbing will inevitably raise fears amongst the many journalists targeted at Iran International and the BBC Persian Service that they are not safe at home or going about their work,” Stanistreet said.

“The international community needs to up the pressure on Iran and the UN needs to hold Iran accountable for its actions,” she added.

Kearns noted on Twitter that Iran International had only recently returned to the air from London after having to shut down in the UK.

“This is deeply upsetting,” she said on X. “Whilst we don’t know the circumstances of this attack, Iran continues to hunt down those brave enough to speak out against the regime.”

Iran’s charge d’affaires in the UK, Seyed Mehdi Hosseini Matin, denied “any link to this story of this so called journalist” on X.

Earth’s oceans are teeming with a multitude of life — and mysteries.

To better understand the ocean floor, enterprising marine scientists decided to affix tags equipped with cameras to tiger sharks that patrol the shallow tropical seas of the Bahamas.

Thanks to data collected by these apex predators, researchers revealed the world’s largest known seagrass ecosystem, which covers an area of about 35,000 square miles (92,000 square kilometers), according to a 2022 study.

And as scientists look back over Earth’s history, fossils are painting a portrait of other aquatic ecosystems from the past.

Dig this

When researchers spied unusual rock fragments jutting from the ground near the Napo River in Peru’s Loreto region, they pieced them together and realized they were looking at something unexpected.

“We started screaming: ‘It’s a dolphin! It’s a dolphin!’” said Aldo Benites-Palomino, a doctoral candidate of paleontology at the University of Zurich in Switzerland.

The newly identified dolphin species lived in a freshwater lake in the Peruvian Amazon 16 million years ago. And the creature measured about 11 feet (3.2 meters) long, making it twice the size of some humans.

The find is helping to fill the gaps in the evolutionary history of freshwater dolphins, which are incredibly rare in the fossil record.

A long time ago

Genetic material recovered from the tomb of a sixth century Chinese emperor has enabled scientists to create a 3D reconstruction of the monarch’s face.

Emperor Wu ruled China from 560 to 580 and unified the northern part of China during a chaotic period when dynasties quickly rose and fell.

While a cause of death couldn’t be determined for Wu, who died suddenly at age 36, ancient DNA analysis uncovered that he had a genetic susceptibility to stroke.

Most intriguing to researchers was that Wu belonged to a little-studied nomadic group called the Xianbei, which lived across modern Mongolia and northeastern China.

Solar update

On April 8, astrophotographer Stan Honda will be stationed in Fredericksburg, Texas, armed with four cameras to document the total solar eclipse.

And Honda has tips for those who want to photograph the historic celestial event, whether you’re using a DSLR camera or a smartphone. Grab a safe solar filter for your camera and never look at the sun through an unfiltered camera, even when wearing eclipse glasses.

Honda recommends using manual focus to capture different eclipse phases, such as the “diamond ring” effect, as the moon slowly blocks the sun’s light.

Experts have also warned about counterfeit eclipse glasses entering the market. Here’s how to test your glasses to make sure they are safe, and everything you need to know about eye safety before the eclipse.

We are family

A marble tomb in Mount Vernon, Virginia, is the final resting place of George Washington, the first US president. But questions have remained about the fate of some of his family members, such as Washington’s younger brother Samuel, who died in 1781.

He and 19 other members of the Washington family were buried in the cemetery at Samuel’s Harewood estate near Charles Town, West Virginia. Some of the graves, including Samuel’s, were unmarked, likely to deter grave robbers.

Now, researchers have taken remains excavated from Harewood in 1999 and used new DNA analysis techniques to identify two of Samuel’s grandsons and their mother.

While the location of Samuel’s grave remains a mystery, the latest techniques could help identify unknown remains of those who served in the military.

Unearthed

Meanwhile, new excavations of Pompeii have revealed the site of a home renovation that was likely occurring when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79.

Within the residence, archaeologists found piles of building materials near a reception area decorated with a mythological painting.

The site provides a close look at the Roman construction techniques used thousands of years ago, including sustainable materials and a stronger recipe for concrete, that could be applied today.

Separately, researchers uncovered the remains of what site director Francesca Giarelli of Red River Archaeology Group called a “remarkable” Roman villa complex, including a collection of tiny, tightly coiled lead scrolls, in a village in the English county of Oxfordshire.

Take note

Grab your favorite weekend beverage and settle in with these insightful reads:

— A mind-blowing archive of human brains that range from hundreds to thousands of years old is changing the way researchers understand the intricacies of human health.

— Scientists believe they have located a volcano taller than Mount Everest on the surface of Mars — and the oddly shaped formation was likely hiding in plain sight for decades.

— Dachshunds, Germany’s famous sausage dogs, may be under threat within the country because a new draft law could prohibit the breeding of canines with “skeletal anomalies.”

— Colorful paintings found in an ancient Egyptian necropolis show what daily life 4,300 years ago was like for people living south of Cairo.

The four men accused of a deadly terror attack on Moscow’s Crocus City concert hall last week were quickly identified by Russian authorities as being from Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia.

In the hours after the attack, videos began surfacing on Russian social media channels of the police detaining and brutally abusing the alleged attackers, with one appearing to show a suspect having part of his ear cut off and subsequently forced into his mouth. The men had been in Russia as migrant workers on either temporary or expired visas, authorities said.

Russians are understandably shocked and saddened by the attack. But in the days since, that emotion – combined with the disturbing videos – appears to have unleashed a wave of xenophobia from some towards Central Asian migrant workers in general.

A torrent of abuse has also reportedly been directed towards a barbershop in the city of Ivanovo, where one of the alleged attackers worked. The owner of the shop told Russian journalists that her phone had been ringing “non stop” with death threats, and is quoted by a Russian daily newspaper, Moskovsky Komsomolets, as saying, “I’m pregnant and I don’t know what to do. I’m afraid to go outside.”

As a consequence, Russian President Vladimir Putin now finds himself in an increasingly delicate position with regard to migrant workers, who occupy vital roles in the Russian workforce — particularly while the country is at war.

Perhaps wary of a split in Russian society, Putin on Wednesday called for Russia to remain united.

“We must never forget that we are a multinational, multi-religious country. We must always treat our brothers, representatives of other faiths with respect, as we always do — Muslims, Jews, everyone,” he said.

‘It’s going to be a very, very tough period of time’

Migrants from the former Soviet Union’s Central Asian states — Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan — have traditionally been a valuable source of cheap labour in Russia.

Generally, they’ve occupied the jobs that many Russians feel are beneath them, such as taxi drivers, truck drivers or supermarket workers. The money they send back in the form of remittances has been an important driver of growth in their home countries.

“The police are trying to pretend that they are actively fighting ethnic crime and preventing terrorist attacks. Actually, they’re robbing migrants. I have dozens of complaints about migrants being stopped by police, and (the police) have stolen whatever they liked,” she said.

Human Rights Watch, in their annual world report said that “Russian police continued to racially profile non-Slav migrants and ethnic minorities and subject them to unsubstantiated ID checks and detentions, often prolonged, in inhumane conditions. Some have been physically assaulted”.

“It gave them permission to speak their mind freely and not be shut down or criticized by other parts of society because they’re fighting for Russia … whether it’s online, whether it’s on the real front (in Ukraine),” he said.

In one channel called the GreyZone, which has half a million followers, a user posted a comment saying: “We need to boycott the service they provide: don’t eat in their cafes, don’t get your hair cut with them, don’t ride in their taxi, don’t BUY ANYTHING FROM THEM AT ALL. We need to spread the word.”

A user in another channel, with 200,000 followers, suggested there was no space for anyone to feel sorry for migrants in Russia. “It is important not to forget that they are not victims at all, but the real executioners and murderers of good Russian people,” the user wrote. “There is no reason to feel sorry for them, they only deserve contempt and being immediately kicked back to their home, into the cesspool called Tajikistan.”

Against this backdrop of simmering xenophobia, the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry issued a travel warning for its citizens Monday, saying they should refrain from traveling to Russian territory “until the removal of additional security measures and the regime of enhanced control of passage through the state border.”

According to Umerov, there are some 7 million migrants in Russia, of whom around 80% are from Central Asia.

“Migrants work for much lower salaries than ordinary Russians, and are more willing to work in much more difficult and harsh conditions,” he said.

The salaries offered by Russia, and subsequently the remittances that migrants send back to their families, serve the dual function of filling key jobs in the Russian labour market and boosting GDPs for migrants’ home nations.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development forecast in September 2023 that economic growth in Central Asia would hit 5.9% in 2024, with remittances playing a role. Tajikistan was expected to see the biggest GDP growth in the region, reaching 7.5% in 2023 and 2024, the report said, thanks in part to “the inflow of remittances from Russia.”

Umerov noted that since Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago, the economy’s reliance on migrant workers has increased.

“Migrants are crucial for several sectors of running the Russian economy. In several sectors, it’s impossible to have the level of stability it has without the labour force of migrants,” Umerov said. “Russia crucially needs it – without, it would be just impossible.”

Research by the Institute of Economics at the Russian Academy of Sciences, reported by the Izvestia newspaper in December and cited by Reuters, found Russia was likely short of some 4.8 million workers in 2023, with some of the key sectors affected being construction, drivers and retail.

The invasion of Ukraine has had a significant impact on the available Russian workforce. Thousands of Russian men have been mobilized to fight in Ukraine, where many thousands have already been killed, depending on estimates. Hundreds of thousands more are believed to have fled the country in September 2022, after Putin called for a partial mobilization.

Since the attack on Crocus City Hall, Putin and his advisers, including internal and foreign intelligence chiefs, have sought to level the accusation that Ukraine was somehow involved in the attacks, without presenting any concrete evidence.

Ukraine and Western nations have been quick to shut that notion down.

Putin has not, however, pointed the finger of blame toward Emomali Rahmon, president of Tajikistan, despite all evidence suggesting that the attackers were radicalized by the jihadist group ISIS-K, which is known to target recruits in Tajikistan.

On Sunday, the Kremlin said Putin had spoken with Rahmon and that special services in Russia and Tajikistan “are working closely in the field of countering terrorism, and this work will be intensified.”

Umerov notes that Putin is toeing a fine line. In a world where the Russian president has so few allies, having alienated the West with his war on Ukraine, he cannot be seen to be making enemies out of friends.

“Putin just cannot admit that there are problems in Russia-Tajikistan relations, especially right now,” Umerov said. “Tajikistan is one of the closest allies that Putin has, and when Russia is so isolated, it is not in a position to pick which countries it can be in relationships with.”

A hostage situation involving several people is underway in the central Dutch town of Ede, according to local authorities.

The hostages are being held at a cafe in the center of town. It is not clear how many people are involved but public broadcaster NOS said police assume there is one hostage taker.

The incident triggered authorities to evacuate about 150 homes in the area, local police said. They added the motive remains unclear but said at this time there is no indication of terrorism.

Three hostages were released Saturday morning, but the situation remains ongoing, provincial police said.

Images from the scene show a massive police presence deployed to the area, including heavily armed officers. De Telegraaf reported a negotiator was also deployed.

Ede Mayor Rene Verhulst called the incident a “terrible situation” and said his thoughts and concerns were with those affected.

Authorities have asked residents to stay away from the scene.