The total solar eclipse has come and gone, but sky-gazers have reason to keep looking up — a meteor shower will peak this week right before a full moon rises. The bright orb may steal some of the Lyrids’ thunder, but experts have some tips on how best to view the celestial spectacle.

The Lyrid meteor shower will be most active Sunday night through the early morning hours of Monday, according to the American Meteor Society. And April’s full moon, also known as the pink moon, reaches the crest of its full phase at 7:49 p.m. ET Tuesday.

During the Lyrids’ peak, onlookers typically catch a glimpse of up to 18 meteors per hour, but this year the moon’s brightness will interfere with the sighting of faint meteors. The shower will be most visible to folks in the Northern Hemisphere, said Ashley King, a postdoctoral researcher of planetary sciences at London’s Natural History Museum. The Lyrids’ radiant, or the point the meteors appear to originate from, will not rise high enough in the Southern Hemisphere’s night sky for high rates of meteors to be seen, he explained.

How to catch sight of a Lyrid meteor

Night owls aiming to view the Lyrids will need to let their eyes adjust by going outside at least 10 to 15 minutes before trying to spot a meteor, King added. Since meteors can appear all over the sky, experts don’t recommended using a telescope or binoculars due to the devices’ small fields of view, according to NASA.

“The best time to go out (to see a meteor) is kind of the very early morning before the sun comes up,” King said. “If you can get somewhere dark and possibly get up high, so you can see lots of the sky, that’s ideal.”

The Lyrids are not known for being the fastest or the brightest meteors, but the shower could still provide a worthwhile celestial light show — and there is always a chance for surprises.

“You never know quite what you are going to see, and seeing a meteor is such a really nice way to see what’s going on and see that the solar system is active,” King said. “In a way, (by seeing a meteor) you’re looking at … some of the oldest materials that formed in the solar system.”

Look to the sky for the pink moon

The pink moon will be visible to everyone across the world, since Earth’s natural satellite will appear to be full for a couple of days.

Despite its name, this full moon will look like any other, said Paul Hayne, a planetary scientist with the University of Colorado Boulder. Any full moon may occasionally take on a reddish hue when near the horizon, due to light passing through Earth’s atmosphere.

The pink moon actually got its moniker due to its annual appearance not long after the start of spring, much like its namesake, a hot pink wildflower called Phlox subulata that blooms in early springtime, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

It’s best to view the full moon with binoculars, or even just the naked eye, as it might be too bright to view through a telescope, Hayne said.

“Our closest celestial neighbor has played a starring role in both human mythologies and the evolution of life on Earth. It’s also one of the most beautiful sights in the night sky that is visible without a telescope,” Hayne said in an email. “Looking up at a full moon is a great opportunity to be reminded of the vastness of space and our connection to the cosmos.”

More full moons this year

Of the 12 full moons in 2024, the September and October lunar events are set to be supermoons, according to EarthSky.

Definitions of a supermoon can vary, but the term generally denotes a full moon that is closer to Earth than normal and thus appears larger and brighter in the night sky. Some astronomers say the phenomenon occurs when the moon is within 90% of perigee — its closest approach to Earth in orbit.

Here are the remaining full moons of 2024:

• May 23: Flower moon

• June 21: Strawberry moon

• July 21: Buck moon

• August 19: Sturgeon moon

• September 17: Harvest moon

• October 17: Hunter’s moon

• November 15: Beaver moon

• December 15: Cold moon

Meteor showers of 2024

Sky-gazers can look forward to a multitude of meteor showers still to come this year, according to the American Meteor Society. Here are the dates when meteor events are expected to peak.

• Eta Aquariids: May 4-5

• Southern delta Aquariids: July 29-30

• Alpha Capricornids: July 30-31

• Perseids: August 11-12

• Draconids: October 7-8

• Orionids: October 20-21

• Southern Taurids: November 4-5

• Northern Taurids: November 11-12

• Leonids: November 17-18

• Geminids: December 13-14

• Ursids: December 21-22

Solar and lunar eclipses

While the most highly anticipated of 2024’s eclipse events was the total solar eclipse on April 8, an annular solar eclipse will occur on October 2 over parts of South America. In this type of eclipse, the moon is at the farthest point from Earth within its orbit as it passes between our planet and the sun, so it can’t completely block the fiery orb. Instead, an annular solar eclipse creates a “ring of fire” in the sky as the sun’s light surrounds the moon.

Meanwhile, a partial lunar eclipse will appear over Europe and much of Asia, Africa, North America and South America between September 17 and 18. During this event, Earth moves between the sun and the full moon in an almost perfect alignment, causing Earth’s shadow to obscure a portion of the lunar surface for those in the eclipse path.

On a slice of the ocean front in west Singapore, a startup is building a plant to turn carbon dioxide from air and seawater into the same material as seashells, in a process that will also produce “green” hydrogen — a much-hyped clean fuel.

The cluster of low-slung buildings starting to take shape in Tuas will become the “world’s largest” ocean-based carbon dioxide removal plant when completed later this year, according to Equatic, the startup behind it that was spun out of the University of California at Los Angeles.

The idea is that the plant will pull water from the ocean, zap it with an electric current and run air through it to produce a series of chemical reactions to trap and store carbon dioxide as minerals, which can be put back in the sea or used on land.

It’s a compelling vision of a potential solution in the face of a worsening climate crisis that has fueled unprecedented heat and devastating extreme weather. Efforts to rein in global heating remain hugely off track, and many scientists are now warning that, in addition to rapidly reducing fossil fuels, the world will also need to remove carbon pollution humans have already pumped into the atmosphere.

This Singapore plant is one example of a slew of recent projects that are looking to the oceans, which already absorb almost 30% of humanity’s planet-heating pollution, as a tool to do this. Other projects include sprinkling iron particles into the ocean to stimulate CO2-absorbing phytoplankton, sinking seaweed into the depths to lock up carbon and spraying particles into marine clouds to reflect away some of the sun’s energy.

But carbon-removal projects are controversial, criticized for being expensive, unproven at scale and a distraction from policies to cut fossil fuels. And when they involve the oceans — complex ecosystems already under huge strain from global warming — criticisms can get even louder.

How it works

Equatic’s technology, which has been tested in small pilot projects in LA and Singapore, requires three main ingredients: seawater, rocks and electricity.

It works like this: The plant pumps in seawater and runs an electric current through it, separating it into four components: two liquids, one acid and one alkaline, and two gases, hydrogen and oxygen.

The acidic water will be mixed with crushed rocks to get the pH back to the same levels as seawater and then sent back into the ocean.

Fans will pump air through the alkaline stream, which causes carbon dioxide to form solid calcium carbonate, the material from which seashells are formed, which will look like a fine sand, as well as dissolved bicarbonate.

The solid and dissolved minerals, which Equatic says can lock up carbon for at least 10,000 years, will be returned to the ocean or used on land. The seawater will also be sent back into the sea, ready to absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

None of the processing happens out in the open ocean, said Gaurav Sant, an Equatic founder and professor of sustainability at UCLA, “this is important because it allows you to measure everything that you’re doing perfectly.” This includes the electricity the plant uses as well as the amount of carbon locked away.

The $20 million facility will be fully operational by the end of the year and able to remove 3,650 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, said Edward Sanders, chief operating officer of Equatic, which has partnered with Singapore’s National Water Agency to construct the plant. That amount is equivalent to taking roughly 870 average passenger cars off the road.

The upfront costs are high but the company says it plans to make money by selling carbon credits to polluters to offset their pollution, as well as selling the hydrogen produced during the process.

Equatic has already signed a deal with Boeing to sell it 2,100 metric tons of hydrogen, which it plans to use to create green fuel, and to fund the removal of 62,000 metric tons of CO2.

Fragile oceans

For some critics, however, the risks far outweigh the benefits.

Lili Fuhr, the deputy director of the climate and energy program at the Center for International Environmental Law, criticized the use of “speculative technology” at a time when “climate change is already killing our oceans.”

The process could also potentially disrupt the delicate balance of ocean chemistry, Niffenegger said. While there is plenty of research into the negative impacts of ocean acidification, there is much less on what might happen if the ocean becomes more alkaline.

There are indications the impacts may be low, he added, but “we’re not going to be able to understand the potential of this solution until we start actually deploying this kind of thing.”

Then there are the energy requirements — as the world moves away from fossil fuels, the demand for clean energy is increasing  exponentially. “Moving seawater would require vast amounts of renewable energy that would be better used to displace fossil fuels in the first place,” Fuhr said.

It’s a point echoed by Gatusso, who said “justice must be considered when precious electricity is used to remove carbon rather than providing it to populations in need.”

Equatic said it filters the seawater to ensure marine life does not enter the system, and that water discharged back into the ocean will have the same composition as normal seawater and will comply with Singapore’s environmental guidelines.

The company also said the production of hydrogen, which could be used to power the process, means its overall energy use is lower than other carbon removal methods.

Equatic’s project encapsulates a broader debate among those who fear rushing into geoengineering could unleash untold damage on ecosystems, versus those who believe the climate crisis is so acute this technology must be an option.

It’s clear which side Equatic is on.

“Inaction is not a climate strategy,” said UCLA’s Sant, adding that it’s vital to be able to make decisions with uncertainty. “If we’re serious about mitigating the trajectory of climate change,” Sant said, “we need to be willing to move, and move quickly at scale.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Democracy under threat?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘Scorched earth’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gandhi ‘not a contender’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Still, there is optimism from some.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turning point for Ukraine?

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

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

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

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

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

‘A great morale booster’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In Kyiv, gratitude tempered with realism

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

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

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

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

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

‘It is a war of the entire world’

Hanna, 42, was more upbeat.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Theft rivals Canada’s great maple syrup heist

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Investigators tracked the truck on video

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘Something that you don’t see everyday’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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