Majd Kamalmaz, an American man detained in Syria more than seven years ago, has died, according to a statement from the Bring Our Families Home Campaign (BoFH).

“Tragically, he did not survive the brutal conditions of the prisons, enduring seven long years without a case, trial or any form of communication with his family,” read a statement from Jonathan Franks, spokesperson for BoFH, a group that campaigns on behalf of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas.

“He was a kindhearted, loving and caring person who embodied these qualities as a son, husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle.”

Kamalmaz, a Texas psychotherapist, was detained in 2017 at a checkpoint in Damascus, Syria, while on a trip to visit family.

But Kamalmaz did not return home — and the silence since his 2017 detainment persisted.

“We do feel invisible,” said Maryam Kamalmaz, speaking on the first-ever Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day about her father’s disappearance earlier this year.

“For the last seven years, we have been struggling to come to grips with my father’s absence,” Maryam Kamalmaz said in the statement announcing her father’s death.

“The anguish and emotional turmoil that our family has been through has taken a heavy toll on our lives. He will be missed tremendously, yet we hope that his legacy of helping others in need lives on and is carried out by many.”

The FBI did not confirm Kamalmaz’s death but reaffirmed the trauma psychologist had not been heard from since he first went missing.

“In 2017, Majd Kamalmaz, a trauma psychologist who worked with individuals affected by war and natural disasters, traveled to Syria to visit a family member,” a statement from the FBI’s Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell read. “Kamalmaz has not been seen or heard from since his disappearance in Syria in February 2017. No matter how much time has passed, the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell works on behalf of the victims and their families to recover all U.S. hostages and support the families whose loved ones are held captive or missing.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

Tsai Ing-wen never set out to be a leader. Growing up shy, she aspired to become an archeologist, because “people that are dead already wouldn’t jump up and argue with you.”

But instead of picking over the remains of history, the self-described introvert ended up charting a new course for Taiwan in some of the world’s choppiest geopolitical waters.

“At this very moment, Taiwan faces a difficult situation,” Tsai said in her inauguration speech when she became the island’s first female president in 2016. She was handed a flatlining economy, a lagging military and a groundswell of discontent over her predecessor’s push to forge closer ties with neighboring China, an authoritarian giant that has vowed to one day absorb the self-ruled democracy.

Eight years on, as the 67-year-old prepares to step down after two terms in office, she leaves the island of 23 million people with an elevated international profile, a firmer partnership with the United States, ongoing defense reforms and a consolidated sense of its distinct Taiwanese identity.

It is also left with the looming threat of invasion by China, which has grown more assertive and belligerent under strongman leader Xi Jinping. Xi has ramped up pressure on Taiwan and vowed to never renounce the use of force to bring it under control.

While supporters applaud Tsai for standing up to China, defending Taiwan’s sovereignty, freedom and democracy, critics blame her for straining ties with Beijing, stoking cross-strait tensions.

Under Tsai, Taiwan, which has its own past of brutal authoritarian rule and repression of minorities, has championed LGBTQ rights and become a bastion of democracy and liberal values in Asia, offering a stark contrast to Xi’s authoritarian, socially conservative and patriarchal vision for China.

Domestically, there have been mounting public grievances over livelihood issues, especially Taiwan’s stubbornly low wages and unaffordable housing. But according to multiple polls, Tsai is leaving office with a net-positive approval rating – unprecedented among Taiwan’s outgoing leaders in the democratic era.

On Monday, Tsai will hand the baton to her former premier and vice president Lai Ching-te, who will be sworn in as Taiwan’s new president after winning the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) an unprecedented third term in January.

Days before the election, Tsai summed up the island’s transformation over the past eight years in her last New Year’s address as president. “What has changed is that Taiwan is no longer overlooked,” she said. “If someone were to ask me what my legacy for Taiwan is, I would say that I am leaving behind a Taiwan of the world.”

An unconventional politician

Tsai is an unconventional politician in Taiwan. Reserved by nature, she cut a quiet figure in a boisterous democracy known for its festival-like rallies and emotional political speeches. She never married or had children and is an animal lover whose beloved pets frequently featured on her social media accounts, something that endeared her to many young people.

She used to be so shy that she would lower her head to avoid meeting people’s eyes when walking down the street, Wellington Koo, her national security advisor, said in Taiwan in Transition, a documentary on Tsai’s presidency. In another documentary, Invisible Nation, Tsai admitted she never dreamed of becoming a president and dreaded talking to people when she was young.

“I wanted a quiet life. I thought I would become a historian or an archeologist to study things that happened in the past, (because) people that are dead already wouldn’t jump up and argue with you,” she said.

But she ended up studying law and becoming a professor, before working as a trade negotiator for Taiwan and a government minister responsible for China policy. Years working as a non-partisan technocrat imbued her with a “modest, quiet and calm” style of leadership, according to Invisible Nation’s director Vanessa Hope.

Tsai entered politics at 48 years old, when she joined the ruling DPP in 2004. Four years later, the political latecomer faced little competition to become DPP’s chairperson as the party reeled from a crushing presidential election defeat. She first ran for president in 2012, but lost to incumbent Ma Ying-jeou from the Kuomintang (KMT).

She succeeded at the second try, making history not only as Taiwan’s first woman president, but also one of the first women in Asia elected to top office without hailing from a political dynasty.

“People always think that I’m a very cold person,” Tsai said in Invisible Nation. “But the day I was elected president, that was the most emotional moment in my life.”

‘Put Taiwan on the map’

Since Tsai took office, Taiwan has been caught in an intensifying battle for dominance between China and the US, a global pandemic and the geopolitical and economic fallouts from raging wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Through it all, the island has boosted its international standing and recognition, bolstering its role as a key democratic partner and an indispensable link in the global microchip supply chain.

In 2019, Taiwan became the first Asian jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage. In the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, it won international praise for its exemplary response and efforts to help other countries, despite its exclusion from the World Health Organization (WHO). Taipei has also enjoyed a surge of international backing from like-minded partners, including the US, Japan and the Czech Republic.

“She’ll be known as the one who put Taiwan on the map internationally,” said Wen-ti Sung, a Taipei-based fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub.

During China’s rapid rise to become the world’s second-largest economy and a major power, Taiwan had at times found itself something of an afterthought. Now, the island’s strategic importance – it is the world’s largest producer of advanced semiconductors – has thrust it to the center of geopolitical calculations, with peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait becoming a matter of global concern.

Amid hardening global fault lines, Tsai worked to strengthen ties with the US during both the Trump and Biden administrations. The two sides bolstered economic cooperation, reciprocated high-level political visits and expanded US arms sales to Taiwan. Support for Taiwan has become one of the few issues of bipartisan consensus ahead of the US presidential elections.

“We have seen a normative shift in the way that Western governments talk about Taiwan, in ways that legitimize its sovereignty,” said Amanda Hsiao, senior China analyst for the International Crisis Group.

“US-China competition and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were also factors that accelerated this trend. But she took advantage of the geopolitical winds.”

Despite tightening ties with its most important security guarantor, the island lost 10 diplomatic allies to Beijing during Tsai’s tenure. It has also been excluded from the WHO’s annual assembly since 2016, losing its previous observer status since Tsai took office.

Standing up to China

Poaching Taiwan’s dwindling number of diplomatic allies and blocking it from attending the World Health Assembly as an observer is widely seen as part of Beijing’s efforts to pressure Tsai into toeing its political line. Unlike the opposition KMT, Tsai and the DPP have refused to endorse the so-called “1992 consensus” that both Taiwan and the mainland belong to “one China,” but with different interpretations of what that means.

Beijing, which deems the tacit agreement a precondition for dialogue, has cut official contact with Taipei since Tsai took office. In addition to the diplomatic squeeze, Xi has ramped up economic and military coercion, slapping tariffs on Taiwanese imports and routinely sending warplanes close to the island.

Tensions came to a head in August 2022, when China fired missiles into waters around Taiwan and simulated a blockade with fighter jets and warships to show its displeasure with then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei.

But Tsai also maintained a deliberately cautious stance, avoiding provoking Beijing with endorsement of Taiwan’s formal independence, something many in her party openly favor and advocate for. Instead, she argued that Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China, is already “an independent country” and therefore has no need to declare independence.

Analysts say Tsai moved the DPP’s position on cross-strait relations closer to the center of politics in Taiwan, from a more fiercely pro-independence stance.

Polls show growing numbers of Taiwanese – especially young people – view themselves as distinctly Taiwanese and have no desire to be part of China. Less than 10% now support an immediate or eventual unification, and only 3% identify primarily as Chinese – while 67% see themselves as primarily Taiwanese.

But Huang Kwei-bo, professor of diplomacy at Taiwan’s National Chengchi University, criticized Tsai’s pivot toward the US at the expense of ties with China.

“Taiwan needs to work closely with the US…but it would be unwise of Taiwan to lose political communication channels with Beijing,” he said, noting that Taiwan can’t simply rely on deterrence or military operations to defend itself.

“Maintaining political relations with Beijing is another necessary approach to better security for Taiwan,” he added.

Defense reforms

Weeks after Tsai was sworn in, she attended a graduation ceremony at Taiwan’s Military Academy and delivered a stern message: “Our armed forces need to be reformed in a big, bold way…We also need to reform our national defense systems and culture.”

Since then, she has often shown up at military events, sometimes donning bulletproof vests and helmets among soldiers – challenging prejudices that question women’s ability to command the military.

Over her tenure, Tsai has boosted military spending, extended mandatory military service from four months to a year and accelerated the development of its indigenous weapons program to boost combat readiness, including the island’s first domestically produced submarine. These developments “give confidence to Taiwan’s security partners in terms of the island’s determination for its own fair share for providing its own security,” Sung said.

Taipei has also been talking with Washington to establish a “contingency stockpile” of munitions on Taiwanese soil. The US is bound by law to supply Taiwan with weapons to defend itself, and for decades the Taiwanese military has been purchasing fighter jets and missiles from Washington.

But under Tsai, Taiwan has sought to enhance its asymmetric defense capabilities, developing and procuring cheaper and more mobile weapon systems that could be instrumental in halting a potential Chinese invasion.

Taiwanese military experts have increasingly advocated for such an approach, noting that Taiwan can never match China in military might and assets. Despite the increases, Taiwan’s defense budget is still dwarfed by that of China, accounting for less than 10% of Beijing’s military spending.

But Taiwan can still make itself an enormously costly place for China to try and overrun without having to match its far larger, wealthier neighbor. The war in Ukraine has shown Taiwan the effectiveness of portable missiles and drones on the battlefield in fending off a more powerful enemy, experts say.

“The international environment shifted and that contributed to this awareness in Taiwan of how close war could be,” Hsiao said. “Tsai opened the door to defense reform and the idea that defending Taiwan requires a whole-of-society effort.”

Domestic challenges

Tsai has also left a mixed domestic legacy.

Her push to legalize same-sex marriage angered conservatives, especially in rural regions, but made Taiwan the envy of LGBTQ communities across Asia. This week, days before stepping down as president, Tsai invited Taiwanese drag queen Nymphia Wind to perform the first ever drag show at the presidential office, following her win on hit TV series “RuPaul’s Drag Race” last month.

Tsai has also sought to revitalize economic growth and address social inequality, nurturing emerging industries such as renewable energy and launching pension reforms. During her tenure, Taiwan’s economy grew at an average rate of over 3%, but many residents say the economic benefits are little felt in their everyday lives. Instead, Tsai’s administration has faced mounting discontent over stagnant wages, skyrocketing housing prices and cost of living.

She has also been criticized for sluggish judicial reforms, failure to rein in online scams and a plan to phase out nuclear energy, as well as not going far enough in implementing transitional justice and promoting indigenous rights.

“Under her reign, there has been a squeeze on airtime for more local and bread-and-butter issues,” said Sung. “And you see this reflected in the election results as well.”

Tsai’s DPP suffered huge losses in two mid-term elections, where local issues normally trump national security as voters’ primary concern.

Near the end of her first term, Tsai’s approval ratings plummeted and her chance for a second term was looking increasingly uncertain – until pro-democracy protests erupted in Hong Kong in 2019 against Beijing’s tightening grip. She campaigned heavily on promises to not allow Taiwan to become another Hong Kong, and received a landslide victory.

In January’s presidential elections, public grievances over livelihood issues became a focal point of criticism against the DPP, splitting votes – especially from young people – to a third-party candidate who promised a more “scientific and pragmatic” approach in addressing those issues.

The DPP also lost its majority in the national legislature, leaving more potential political gridlock for the incoming Lai administration to push through policies and legislation.

As Tsai hands the baton to Lai, analysts say it might still be too early to draw conclusions on her legacy.

“How we ultimately judge her legacy will depend on what happens in the next administration as well, as in what they do with what Tsai has achieved,” Hsiao said.

The Dominican Republic is days away from a general election that will see voters elect new lawmakers and the president as they weigh the nation’s economy and security.

Among those seeking the Caribbean nation’s highest office on May 19 are the current president, a former president, and a mayor. If no presidential candidate receives over 50% of the vote, a second round will be held on June 30. Here’s a look at the candidates and issues:

President Luis Abinader promises ‘the change continues’

The Dominican Republic’s current president, Luis Abinader, is seeking re-election for a second term that would keep him in office until 2028. The 56-year-old economist and businessman first assumed the presidency in 2020, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic – following in the footsteps of his senator father, a three-time presidential candidate.

Leading the ballot of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) with his slogan “The change continues,” the popular leader is now promising four more years of economic growth and stability. During his first term from 2020 to 2024, the Dominican Republic established a new record in the tourism industry, with more than 10 million tourists visiting the island in 2023.

Experts now expect Abinader to focus on the priorities of his first term, expanding on development, reform, and the fight against corruption. He has promised reforms for the National Police, health sector, and education.

Abinader’s government has shown a commitment to addressing long-standing challenges in the energy sector. But the World Bank says the Dominican Republic has more work to do in increasing transparency, accountability, and efficiency in the sector; continuing with the diversification of the energy matrix among others.

“Abinader has a first rate and well-coordinated economic team,” says economist and former Dominican ambassador to the US, Bernardo Vega. But Vega notes that increased losses in the electric distribution system – and a resulting increase in external debt – have not reflected well on his administration.

Abinader’s handling of a spiraling political and social crisis in neighboring Haiti has also had mixed reviews. For voters living close to the border, the question of whether measures like deportations and closing the country’s border to Haiti have been effective in insulating the Dominican Republic from shocks in Port-au-Prince will be top of mind, according to political analyst Rosario Espinal.

During his 2020 campaign run, Abinader promised to fight corruption, and later appointed what he described as the country’s “first independent”  attorney general.

 Critics argue that his administration’s anti-corruption push focused disproportionately on members of the Dominican Liberation Party, which held power for many years before Abinader’s election.

Nevertheless, experts say the crackdown on corruption, along with his handling of the pandemic, are widely seen as achievements.

Former President Leonel Fernández seeks re-election – for the fourth time

A familiar face to voters will be Leonel Fernández, 70, who has already held the Dominican presidency three times: from 1996 to 2000, from 2004 to 2008 and from 2008 to 2012.

Fernandez is most known modernizing the Dominican Republic’s state institutions and justice system, including the constitutional reform that led to the 2010 Constitution, according to experts.

One of his major contributions was during his first term when Fernandez privatized the energy distribution sector and sold shares to private investors in the electricity companies that until then had been owned by the government, according to Vega.

The ex-president is also recognized in the Dominican Republic for advancing and building national infrastructure, such as the subway system that transformed the capital city of Santo Domingo. As a result, Fernandez’s presidencies had a major impact on tourism in the eastern region, experts say.

But many voters will also likely remember that government corruption ran high during his 12 years as head of state, Vega says.

Today, Fernandez heads the ticket of the Force of the People party, which he founded in November 2019 after losing the party primaries of his former party, the Dominican Liberation Party.

Recently, Fernandez has promised to push forth public policies aimed at reducing poverty, the construction of decent homes, better education, comprehensive health, and citizen security, among others.

His platform has focused on inequality in the country, with “calls for wealth redistribution and social justice,” according to Americas Quarterly. The five-time presidential candidate has also reportedly said he would back a new United Nations peacekeeping mission to Haiti.

Abel Martínez: From prosecutor, deputy, mayor to trying to win the presidency

Abel Martínez, 51, is a Dominican politician, educator and lawyer with a wide-spanning career in public service. Most recently the mayor of Santiago until last month, Martinez got his start as deputy prosecutor in capital city Santo Domingo, and then as a prosecutor in Santiago in the 1990s.

He later became a deputy to the country’s National Congress, serving three terms from 2002 to 2016 and presiding over the Chamber of Deputies for six years.

Martinez is focused on heightening tech across multiple sectors, per Americas Quarterly, as well as strengthening the country’s prison system and surveillance at the border with Haiti.

Martinez is focused on ending hunger and poverty, better education for students and teachers, and fighting crime and citizen safety.

The youngest candidate running for president also campaigns against illegal immigration, especially of Haitians.

Crime and safety and inflation on the ballot

Crime and safety are among the biggest concerns of Dominicans in this election, according to several surveys, although government data indicates that crime has decreased in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2023, with the homicide rate falling by 30.2%.

Since June 2023, the US State Department has maintained a Level 2 travel advisory for the Dominican Republic and recommends tourists exercise increased caution due to crime.

Pablo Flores resides in Santo Domingo and has his own business, a mini market. At one point, rampant crime forced him to temporarily shutter the business, he recalls. Today, for fear of being robbed, he has taken his own precautions; a fence protects the entire perimeter of his small business.

“If I don’t take care of myself, who is going to take care of me? Crime must go down because it’s very high,” says Flores.

Hand-in-hand with street crime are the Dominican Republic’s economic woes.

According to the World Bank, over the last two decades, the Dominican Republic has been one of the fastest-growing economies in Caribbean.

Yet the drivers of this exceptional growth appear to be reaching their limit due to low productivity growth in recent years, insufficient human capital to meet the needs of the business sector, climate change-related disasters, and distortions in key markets, including the inefficient allocation of tax exemptions, according to the World Bank.

And while the Dominican economy grew by 4.9% last year, high inflation rates in both 2022 (8.8%) and 2023 (4.8%) have taken a toll on the population’s quality of life.

Yoely Escarlante, a mechanic, says he is struggling to support his four children, and keeps his small workshop in Santo Domingo open rain or shine.

There are days when he can earn up to $100 (between 5,000 and 6,000 Dominican pesos) in a day, according to his calculations. But some days, he doesn’t earn a dime, he says.

The economic situation is also of great concern for Ney Segura, a public transportation driver. “The money just doesn’t cut it,” he says. In his view, “the poor are poorer.”

More than 40% of Dominicans are economically vulnerable and are at risk of falling into poverty due to climate-related impacts and economic crises, according to the World Bank. Likewise, gender gaps in jobs and wages, shorter working lives, and higher unemployment and unpaid roles contribute to increased poverty among women in particular, it says.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Saturday he blames “everyone who is not doing enough” for Ukraine’s recent setbacks on the battlefield as he admitted the current situation on the frontline was “tough.”

Kuleba’s comments come after Moscow has ramped up its offensive in northern Ukraine. Last week it launched its most surprising operation in two years of war, crossing the northern border in renewed attempts to take Kharkiv, the country’s second most populous city.

Vovchansk, in the northern Kharkiv region, has faced an onslaught, with Russian forces claiming to control surrounding villages, forcing civilians to flee.

It comes as Kyiv’s forces are thinly stretched, with much less artillery than the Russians, inadequate air defenses and a lack of soldiers.

Kuleba described Ukraine’s current position on the frontline as “tough.”

“Russia is strong, we are suffering from… insufficient supplies of military assistance which we are forced to compensate with heroism and sacrifice of our soldiers,” he said.

“So the main message remains the same: send us everything. Because we have proven over these two years that when our soldiers have everything they need, we succeed, and when we don’t have everything that we need, we don’t,” he added.

The foreign minister went on to say the situation on the battlefield would be different if countries did more to assist Ukraine, claiming that if every country were to follow Estonia’s footsteps in allocating 1% of GDP to military aid for Ukraine they would be able to perform better on the battlefield.

“Estonia is a country that proves to the whole world that a small country with a big heart can make a big difference and it’s a paradigm for everyone to follow,” he said.

Kuleba said Ukraine will “work hard on plan A which is the continuation of support and ramping up support to make Ukraine win.”

Dinosaur means “terrible lizard.” The idea that the prehistoric creatures were scaly, sluggish reptiles with sprawling postures that dragged their tails through tropical swamps is deeply imprinted in the collective imagination.

However, science now has a more nuanced understanding of the diversity of dinosaur physiology. Many dinosaurs sported brightly colored feathers like birds. Dinos lived in many different ecosystems, including the Arctic, where they would have encountered snow (if not the ice caps of today) and winters devoid of light.

New research this week is adding fresh detail to one of paleontology’s biggest questions: Did dinosaur blood run hot or cold?

Dino-mite

It’s hard to find evidence that unquestionably shows what dinosaur metabolisms were like. Clues from fossilized eggshells and bones have now suggested that some dinosaurs were warm-blooded and others were not.

Gleaning the answer matters because it sheds light on dinosaur behavior. Warm-blooded animals, such as mammals and birds, are more active than their cold-blooded counterparts.

A new study, based on fossils from 1,000 dinosaur species and paleoclimate information, found that the three main dinosaur groups adapted differently, with two of the groups evolving the ability to regulate body temperature in the early Jurassic Period about 180 million years ago.

The research suggested that meat-eating theropods, which included T. rex, and plant-eating ornithischians, such as Triceratops and Stegosaurus, spread to live in colder climates during the early Jurassic Period, indicating that they may have evolved the ability to generate body heat internally.

A long time ago

Researchers have mapped a 40-mile-long extinct section of the Nile River through satellite radar imaging and analysis of sediment.

Ancient Egyptians erected some 31 pyramids, including Giza’s Great Pyramid, along the banks of the now-defunct arm of the river, which the builders likely used to transport stone and other construction materials.

The discovery, buried deep beneath farmland and not visible in aerial photographs, may help archaeologists locate other Egyptian temples and monuments concealed by fields and desert sands that now cover the riverbed.

Trailblazers

In another feat of mapping, a 3D model of a cubic millimeter of brain tissue — smaller than a grain of rice — is now available in staggering detail and beauty, thanks to a collaboration between Harvard University and Google researchers.

A team led by Dr. Jeff Lichtman, a professor of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard, cut the sample into thin sections one-thousandth the thickness of a human hair. Despite the fragment’s tiny size, it contained 57,000 cells, 230 millimeters of blood vessels and 150 million synapses.

The colorized images make the individual components more visible, but they are otherwise a truthful representation of the tissue.

Eventually, the team hopes that observing the brain in this way could help scientists make sense of unresolved medical conditions such as autism.

Climate changed

The patterns of rings in tree trunks — affected by sunlight, rainfall and temperature — provide a climate history for each year of their lives, going back hundreds or even thousands of years.

Tree-ring data from nine regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including North America and Scandinavia, have allowed scientists to reconstruct annual temperatures for Northern Hemisphere summers between the years 1 and 1849 and compare them with last summer’s temperatures.

The summer of 2023 was warmer than any other summer during this 2,000-year period, according to the study.

The temperature then was at least 0.5 degree Celsius (0.9 degree Fahrenheit) warmer than the warmest summer during the period studied, the year 246 — when the Roman Empire still ruled over Europe and the Maya civilization dominated Central America.

Fantastic creatures

Marine scientists have used artificial intelligence to decode previously unknown complexity in the calls of sperm whales.

The whales produced a catalog of clicking sounds, which the researchers described as akin to a “phonetic alphabet” for sperm whales.

Sperm whales produce clicks by forcing air through an organ in their heads called the spermaceti, and these sounds can be as loud as 230 decibels — louder than a rocket launch and capable of rupturing human eardrums.

What sperm whales are saying with their clicks remains a mystery to human ears, but understanding the scope of their vocal exchanges is an important step toward linking their calls with specific behavior.

The wonder

Kick back with these remarkable reads.

— Astronomers have spotted an unusual giant planet as fluffy as cotton candy about 1,200 light-years from Earth.

— Scientists have solved a mystery about giant South American hummingbirds — with the help of tiny tailor-made backpacks.

— Meet the herpetologist trying to save people in India from the dangers of snakebites.

— Etchings found on a castle door in Dover, England, could include graffiti of Napoleon Bonaparte being hanged, according to English Heritage.

And before you go, here’s a Starliner update: The much-anticipated first crewed mission of Boeing’s new spacecraft has been delayed again.

After 48 years of investigation, Alberta Royal Canadian Mounted Police linked the deaths of four young women killed in the Calgary area in the 1970s to one man – a serial sexual offender who they believe may have committed more violent crimes until his death.

Police say Gary Allen Srery killed junior high school friends Eva Dvorak and Patricia McQueen, both 14 years old, in 1976, before killing Melissa Rehorek, 20, and Barbara MacLean, 19, in the span of a year.

“Srery’s criminality spanned decades, over multiple jurisdictions, under numerous aliases, and the Alberta RCMP believe there may be more victims,” Alberta RCMP said in a news release Friday.

Crime scene DNA was seized during the initial homicide investigations, but due to a lack of DNA technology at the time, police failed to link a suspect to the killings.

About 30 years later, in 2003, police were able to confirm the same suspect was linked to Rehorek and MacLean’s deaths through DNA evidence. And in 2021, resubmitted crime scene evidence from the Dvorak and McQueen investigations unearthed a link with those of Rehorek and MacLean, according to RCMP.

“The same unknown male DNA profile was identified on both victims that matched the unknown male DNA profile from the Rehorek and MacLean murders,” police said in a news release. “In light of this new information, the RCMP believed that the same male offender was responsible for the deaths of all four victims.”

Advancements in forensic science technology and the use of forensic investigative genetic genealogy, which combines DNA analysis with traditional genealogy research, have allowed more breakthroughs with DNA evidence collection.

Police used genetic genealogy to identify, Srery, an American who died of natural causes in an Idaho state prison in 2011 while serving a sentence for rape.

“With assistance from Interpol and Idaho State Police Forensic Services, Srery’s DNA was confirmed as a match to the unknown male DNA profile present on all four Calgary victims,” police said.

At the time of the killings, Srery was living illegally in Canada, having fled the US in 1974 after posting bail for a rape charge in California, according to RCMP. Before coming to Calgary, Srery had an extensive criminal record in the US for sexual offenses, including forcible rape, kidnapping, burglary and sexual perversion.

Srery lived in Alberta and British Columbia from the mid 1970s until he was deported in 2003, police say. He used several aliases, including Willy Blackman and Rex Long.

“For over forty years, investigators did not give up in their pursuit to identify those responsible for these murders,” said David Hall of the Alberta RCMP.

“Identifying the perpetrator does not bring Eva, Patsy, Melissa or Barbara back. It is our hope however, that the families are finally able to have some answers as to what happened to their loved ones all of those years ago,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he wants to work with countries like China with “influence on Russia” as his country faces a renewed Moscow offensive, urging Beijing to attend peace talks next month.

Zelensky said Chinese leader Xi Jinping assured him in a phone call that Beijing supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity – though he did not say when the exchange happened.

He was speaking in an interview with news agency AFP aired on Friday, shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two-day visit to China, during which the two countries pledged deeper strategic cooperation.

Beijing has never condemned Russia’s February 2022 invasion, instead claiming neutrality in the conflict, having released a vaguely articulated 12-point position on its resolution. Ahead of expected peace talks in Switzerland next month, Xi has called for negotiations that take both sides’ positions into account.

Engaging global players like China is crucial because “they have influence on Russia, and the more such countries we have on our side… the more Russia will have to move and [more countries] to reckon with,” Zelensky said.

Noting the assurances he says Xi gave him over the phone about territorial integrity, he added: “They support, but what they will do, we are yet to see.” The only known phone call between Zelensky and the Chinese leader was in April last year.

Zelensky said he would like to see China at the international talks in Switzerland next month, aimed at paving the way for a peace process in Ukraine. The summit has drawn delegations from more than 50 countries so far, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing Swiss President Viola Amherd.

China has not committed to the event, though its ambassador to Switzerland Wang Shihting said in March that Beijing was considering participating.

Russia has not been represented at any of the four rounds of closed-door international peace talks that have taken place so far, and will not be at this one. China has attended one, hosted by its increasingly close strategic partner Saudi Arabia.

During a recent six-day trip to Europe, Xi pushed back against allegations that his country has been supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying China “oppose[s] using the Ukraine crisis to shed responsibility or defame a third country and provoke a new Cold War.”

But he joined French President Emmanuel Macron in calling for a global Olympic truce, which would see a pause in fighting in all conflicts during the upcoming Summer Games in Paris.

Zelensky, however, expressed skepticism about the ceasefire proposal, citing inadequate guarantees against Russian advances.

“Even if we imagine that there is some kind of Olympic truce for two weeks and everyone is standing still, tell me, I told Emmanuel, who can guarantee that Russia will not use this time to bring its forces to our territory,” Zelensky told AFP.

“There is a risk that while we are not fighting them back and not stopping them with artillery fire, even (in the areas) where they are advancing, there is a risk of them bringing more heavy military equipment to our territory.”

The target date for the highly anticipated inaugural crewed mission of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft has moved yet again.

Starliner’s first flight carrying astronauts was expected as soon as May 21 after two previous delays this month, but mission teams need more time to “work through spacecraft closeout processes and flight rationale,” and are now aiming to launch no sooner than 3:09 p.m. ET on May 25, according to a NASA release.

The update comes just days after Starliner teams reported a small helium leak in the service module of the spacecraft. They traced the leak to a flange on a single reaction control system thruster, where helium is used to allow the thrusters to fire. Additional time before launch will give specialists more time to evaluate this issue, though tests thus far have found that the leak doesn’t pose a threat to the mission, according to NASA’s latest update.

“Pressure testing performed on May 15 on the spacecraft’s helium system showed the leak in the flange is stable and would not pose a risk at that level during the flight,” the space agency said in its news release. “The testing also indicated the rest of the thruster system is sealed effectively across the entire service module. Boeing teams are working to develop operational procedures to ensure the system retains sufficient performance capability and appropriate redundancy during the flight.”

This mission, dubbed the Crew Flight Test, could be the final major milestone before NASA deems Boeing’s spacecraft ready for routine operations as part of the federal agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

The historic crewed flight was about two hours from liftoff on May 6 when it was scrubbed due to an issue with the a valve on the second stage, or upper portion, of the Atlas V rocket that Starliner will ride to space.

The NASA astronauts set to crew the mission for a weeklong stay at the International Space Station, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, have been in preflight quarantine but returned to Houston on May 10 to spend time with their families, Boeing said. Williams and Wilmore will fly back to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida closer to the new launch date, according to the space agency’s latest release.

Boeing’s historic aims

The Crew Flight Test is a decade in the making — the culmination of Boeing’s efforts to develop a spacecraft worthy of ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station under NASA’s commercial program.

The launch would mark only the sixth maiden voyage of a crewed spacecraft in US history, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson noted in a news conference earlier this month.

“It started with Mercury, then with Gemini, then with Apollo, the space shuttle, then (SpaceX’s) Dragon — and now Starliner,” he said.

Boeing designed the Starliner to rival SpaceX’s prolific Crew Dragon capsule and expand US options for ferrying astronauts to the space station.

On board, Williams will also make history as the first woman to embark on such a mission.

A rocky start

Development hang-ups, test flight problems and other costly setbacks have slowed Starliner’s path to the launchpad. Meanwhile, Boeing’s rival under NASA’s commercial crew program — SpaceX — has become the go-to transportation provider for the space agency’s astronauts.

Williams and Wilmore were already in their seats aboard the Starliner capsule May 6 when engineers found an issue and halted the launch.

The United Launch Alliance team, which builds the Atlas V rocket, identified a pressure regulation valve on a liquid oxygen tank that needed replacing. The valve has since been replaced, but the latest issue with the helium leak on the Boeing spacecraft that sits atop the rocket has caused further delay.

If the spacecraft does launch next week as planned, it and the astronauts inside will break away from the Atlas V rocket after reaching orbit, as Starliner begins firing its own engines. The vehicle will likely spend more than 24 hours gradually making its way to the space station.

Williams and Wilmore are set to spend about a week at the orbiting laboratory, joining the seven astronauts and cosmonauts already on board, while the Starliner remains docked outside.

The history-making crew will then return home aboard the same Starliner capsule, which is expected to parachute to a landing at one of several designated locations across the southwestern United States.

Bundled-up mannequins stand in the storefronts on the main shopping avenues off Santiago’s central Plaza de Armas. Straphangers at bus stops clutch steaming coffees and huddle for warmth. On the horizon, views of the Andes are as spectacular as ever, their snow-capped peaks gleaming extra bright after an early-season storm.

Santiago is under a record freeze. After an eight-day “cold wave” pushed through the capital region this week, the average temperature for May dropped to 37 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) – the coldest since 1950, according to Angélica Guzáman, a meteorologist with the Chilean Meteorologic Directorate.

Thursday marked the coldest day of the year so far, with one weather station notching a frosty 30 degrees.

Chileans are used to the cold, but not this early in the year. A typical May in Santiago reaches a balmy high of 64 degrees, dipping down to 43 degrees at night. The brunt of the winter arrives in July, when the average low is down to 37 degrees.

A mass of cold air that will last through the weekend is behind the strange forecast, Guzáman said, with below-average temperatures expected to continue.

Authorities have declared a “code blue” throughout the country, opening additional shelters and services for homeless populations.

“We’ve got to be prepared: warm clothes, closed shoes, protection for your hands. Watch the parts of your body that are more exposed, we need to cover them up,” a radio announcer warned on a broadcast Thursday night.

Zipped tight in a puffer by the central La Vega market, Diamira Salas sipped a warm quinoa drink spiced with brown sugar and pineapple that she’d just bought from a street cart, the kind of goopy, stick-to-your-bones beverage perfect to beat back a morning chill.

“It has natural protein and in this cold weather it gives you calories,” Salas, a nurse, said.

Other Santiaguinos have been less thoughtful with their cold-weather diets. “The chocolates are selling, the cookies are selling, lots of coffee,” said Nancy Mujica, who runs a magazine kiosk in the Bellas Artes neighborhood.

At Santo Tisla’s fruit and vegetable stand, the cold has been bad for business. Grapes are freezing into chunks of ice, and when customers stick their hands out to test produce: “Ah! It’s very cold,” Tisla mimicked, recoiling his ungloved hand.

Still, as the seasons change and the tree-lined boulevards start to find their first orange hues of the year, life marches forward in chilly Santiago.

After work Thursday, the retractable-ID-badge crowd gathered as usual for a happy-hour pisco on the sidewalk bars of the posh Lastarria neighborhood. As blue-flamed heat lamps glowed nearby, a street performer in drag sauntered back and forth to blaring Latin pop.

Her costume – a skimpy, spangly two-piece – was mostly covered up, except during the high points of the song, when she shed her fleece and draped it over her shoulder with a twirl.

When British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addressed the nation on Monday, he seemed tetchy and tired.

His speech, ostensibly about national security and the threats facing Britain, was a wide-ranging attack on his chief political opponent Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party.

Sunak said that “the next few years will be some of the most dangerous yet most transformational our country has ever known,” outlining the risks posed by foreign adversaries like Russia, Iran and North Korea, and the rise of new technologies like artificial intelligence.

The key point Sunak wanted to hammer home was that the UK was entering a perilous period and the Labour Party – including Starmer himself – cannot be trusted to keep the nation safe. His evidence ranged from commitments on defense spending to the views of the previous Labour leader.

The PM pointed out that Starmer served in the shadow cabinet of his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn historically had called for the scrapping of Britain’s nuclear weapons and been a critic of NATO. He lost two general elections as Labour leader in campaigns that focused heavily on his views regarding national security. Starmer has since expelled Corbyn from the party over an antisemitism scandal. However, his association with the former leader is still damaging.

Sunak has also talked at length about Starmer’s previous life as a lawyer.

Starmer, who was director of public prosecutions and a leading human rights lawyer, has defended terror suspects and worked to block the deportation of foreign criminals. It is worth noting that in some cases, lawyers do not get to choose who they represent.

The context for Sunak’s attack on Starmer is that the UK will vote in a general election at some point this year. Sunak has yet to announce exactly when that will happen, probably because as things stand he trails Starmer in the polls by double digits.

Nothing Sunak does seems to shift those numbers. He recently suffered humbling losses at local elections and a high-profile defection of an MP to the Labour Party.

Conservative sources say that no one believes Sunak can turn things around, but that attacks on Starmer over national security are the only thing that seems to resonate with voters.

David Gauke, a former Conservative Cabinet Minister, says the challenge facing Sunak is that after 14 years in government, it is possible to blame the Conservative Party for everything that is wrong with the country.

“Making the election a binary choice about security – who can you really trust to keep you safe – is much better for Sunak than a referendum on the past 14 years. The best way to do that is sustained attacks on Starmer’s vulnerabilities,” Gauke said. “He doesn’t have many vulnerabilities, but the Corbyn association is real and still resonates with voters somewhat. I suspect the attacks will get more personal the closer we get to the election.”

The other issue that does seem to cut through with voters is Starmer’s legal work defending terrorists and terror suspects. The most high-profile example of this is when he gave legal advice to the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir in 2008 as they tried to overturn the German government’s decision to ban their activities. The group was proscribed as a terrorist organization in the UK in January after members were seen chanting “Jihad” at a pro-Gaza demonstration.

Sunak took the opportunity to attack Starmer, saying at the time: “I know that he does not like talking about them because they have been a client, but when I see a group chanting ‘jihad’ on our streets, I ban them; he invoices them.”

Starmer told a British newspaper in March: “In the legal world, particularly if you’re doing criminal law, you represent people you don’t agree with. You know how it works in our legal system – it is very important that everybody is represented.” He also said: “I was chief prosecutor for five years. I prosecuted with my team nearly a million cases a year, including terrorists, murderers and drug dealers.”

However tame all this might sound written down, it is extraordinary that the prime minister is accusing the person most likely to succeed him of being a terrorist sympathizer who cannot be trusted with national security.

It is remarkable that the legal career of Britain’s former chief prosecutor – for which he received a Knighthood – is being used as evidence that he is soft on terrorists.

However, politics, as the saying goes, is a contact sport. Conservative campaigners are quick to say that Starmer made a virtue of his legal career, so it’s fair game. They say that he cynically stood by Corbyn, knowing exactly who Corbyn was and what he stood for.

“We will hit back at Sunak, but will have to be careful at how we do it. The public are sick of politics as a game we we will avoid being negative,” the adviser said. “You might see more directly aimed at the PM, but it won’t always have our paw prints on it.”

This is where Sunak’s all-out attack strategy risks backfiring. People across the political spectrum have noticed he is looking increasingly tetchy when questioned in public. A supporter of Sunak said: “He is working very hard and everything is still going wrong. He is just not used to that.”

A Labour source said: “He cannot handle us making fun of him when he says ridiculous things. Like when he says he is the right man for new ideas and change, like he hasn’t been a senior politician for years. It’s just ridiculous and it clearly winds him up when we point it out.”

No one knows for sure when the election campaign proper will start. Until then, Britain is braced for months of mudslinging between Sunak and Starmer. It might all be moderately entertaining for people who like this sort of thing, but it’s unclear how a bitter and nasty election campaign helps a country that has felt in limbo and horribly divided for the best part of three years.