Photos this week: May 29-June 5, 2025
Mount Etna can be seen erupting near Catania, Italy, on Monday, June 2. Although Mount Etna is one of the world's most active volcanoes, there hasn't been an eruption of this magnitude since 2014, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology Observatory.Five-year-old Osama al-Raqab, suffering from severe malnutrition, undergoes treatment at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Saturday, May 31. Israel halted all humanitarian aid into Gaza in early March, with government officials saying their goal was to force Hamas to accept new ceasefire terms and release hostages taken during the militant group's terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The ban meant no supplies entered the territory for 11 weeks, pushing Gaza's 2.1 million people deeper into a hunger crisis. Israel eased its blockade two weeks ago, allowing a small amount of aid to enter Gaza, but the amount of aid trickling in is nowhere near enough to meet the needs of the population, according to Palestinian officials and international aid groups. Haitham Imad/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
This satellite image, taken on Wednesday, June 4, shows destroyed aircraft at an air base in Russia's Irkutsk region. Ukrainian forces destroyed dozens of Russian warplanes parked at air bases thousands of miles from the front lines, according to a source in the country's security services. Maxar Technologies/Handout/Reuters
Climate activist Greta Thunberg is photographed in Catania, Italy, on Saturday, May 31, a day before she and 11 other activists set sail for Gaza. Their ship was going to try to reach the shores of Gaza to bring in some aid and raise 'international awareness' over the ongoing humanitarian crisis, the activists said at a news conference. Alessio Mamo/Redux
The Edmonton Oilers' Leon Draisaitl, right, scores in overtime to lift his team to a 4-3 victory over Florida in Game 1 of the NHL's Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday, June 4. The same two teams played in last year's final. Florida came out on top.A donkey is led past a polling station as a man votes in San Bartolomé Quialana, Mexico, on Sunday, June 1. Mexico's ruling party Morena will gain control of the Supreme Court following the country's first-ever judicial elections, which were marred by low voter turnout and allegations of a power grab. Jorge Luis Plata/Reuters
Young friends Elliott Clark and Gwen Pfeifer ride a mini Ferris wheel at the Good Neighbor Days festival in Washington, DC, on Friday, May 30. Matt Dayhoff/Peoria Journal Star/USA Today Network/Imagn Images
A man walks his dogs as wildfire smoke billows near Highway 97, north of Buckinghorse River, British Columbia, on Friday, May 30. Massive wildfires in western and central Canada forced thousands to flee and sent hazardous smoke toward major cities in the United States. Nasuna Stuart-Ulin/The Canadian Press/AP
A Muslim pilgrim prays while overlooking the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque complex in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Monday, June 2. Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images
Ballroom dancers take part in a monthly Tea Dance in the Great Hall of the Rochdale Town Hall in Rochdale, England, on Wednesday, June 4. Tea dances are social events that combine the traditions of afternoon tea and dancing. They originated in the 1880s. Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images
Montpellier's Thomas Vincent, left, and Racing 92's Max Spring jump to catch the ball during a rugby match in Nanterre, France, on Saturday, May 31. Thibaud Moritz/AFP/Getty Images
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Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Israel says it has killed leader of Palestinian militant group that took part in October 7 attack
The Israeli military says it has killed the leader of a Palestinian militant group that took part in the October 7, 2023, terror attacks on southern Israel. Asaad Abu Sharia, who led the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement and its armed wing the Mujahideen Brigades, was killed in a joint operation with Israel's Shin Bet security agency, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday. His death and that of his brother Ahmed Abu Sharia were confirmed by the militant group hours after Gaza's Civil Defense reported that an Israeli airstrike had hit their family home in the Sabra area of Gaza City. Hamas run Al-Aqsa TV said the strike killed at least 15 people and injured several. Video showed people searching through the debris of a demolished four-story house. The Mujahideen Brigades took part in the October 7 attacks alongside Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups and took hostage some of the most high-profile captives, including a family whose suffering became a symbol of the attack. According to the Israeli military, Sharia was among the militant leaders who stormed Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where many residents were killed or taken hostage during the brutal terror assault that led to Israel's war in Gaza. Despite not being aware of Hamas' plans in advance, fighters from the jihadist group joined in the cross-border assault 'as an extension of the Hamas attack,' the Israeli military said. According to Israel, Sharia was directly involved in the abduction and murders of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas – a family that became one of the most recognizable victims of the attack, partly because of the young ages of Kfir and Ariel, who were nine months and four years old respectively at the time. Kfir was the youngest hostage kidnapped into Gaza and the youngest to have been killed. The boys' mother, Shiri, was 32 at the time of her kidnap. Their father Yarden was also captured, but was released alive in February after 484 days in captivity. Reacting to news of Sharia's killing, the Bibas family expressed their 'heartfelt gratitude' to the Israeli military, saying his death was 'another step on the journey towards closure.' 'While Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir cannot be brought back, we find some measure of comfort knowing these despicable murderers will not harm another family,' the Bibas family said in a statement shared via the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. Israel's military said Sharia was also involved in the abduction of the Israeli-American couple Gad Haggai and Judi Lynn Weinstein Haggai and the abduction and killing of Thai national Nattapong Pinta. The Israeli-American couple were killed near their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the attack in 2023. The body of Nattapong, an agricultural worker who was abducted alive on October 7, was recovered from southern Gaza in a military operation on Friday. Israel said it believes the Mujahideen Brigades are still holding the body of an additional foreign national. The group has previously denied killing their captives.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Italian citizenship referendum polarises country
Sonny Olumati was born in Rome and has lived in Italy all his life but the country he calls home does not recognise him as its own. To Italy, Sonny is Nigerian, like his passport, and the 39-year-old is only welcome as long as his latest residence permit. "I've been born here. I will live here. I will die here," the dancer and activist tells me in what he calls "macaroni" Italian-English beneath the palm trees of a scruffy Roman park. "But not having citizenship is like... being rejected from your country. And I don't think this is a feeling we should have". That is why Sonny and others have been campaigning for a "Yes" vote in a national referendum on Sunday and Monday that proposes halving the time required to apply for Italian citizenship. Cutting the wait from 10 years to five would bring this country in line with most others in Europe. Giorgia Meloni, Italy's hard-right prime minister, has announced she will boycott the vote, declaring the citizenship law already "excellent" and "very open". Other parties allied to her are calling on Italians to go to the beach instead of the polling station. Sonny will not be taking part either. Without citizenship, he is not entitled to vote. The question of who gets to be Italian is a sensitive one. Large numbers of migrants and refugees arrive in the country each year helped across the Mediterranean from North Africa by smuggling gangs. Meloni's populist government has made a big deal about cutting the number of arrivals. But this referendum is aimed at those who have travelled legally for work to a country with a rapidly shrinking and ageing population. The aim is limited: to speed up the process for getting citizenship, not ease the strict criteria. "Knowledge of the Italian language, not having criminal charges, continuous residence et cetera - all the various requirements remain the same," explains Carla Taibi of the liberal party More Europe, one of several backers of the referendum. The reform would affect long-term foreign residents already employed in Italy: from those on factory production lines in the north to those caring for pensioners in plush Rome neighbourhoods. Their children aged under 18 would also be naturalised. Up to 1.4 million people could qualify for citizenship immediately, with some estimates ranging higher. "These people live in Italy, study and work and contribute. This is about changing the perception of them so they are not strangers anymore - but Italian," argues Taibi. The reform would also have practical implications. As a non-Italian, Sonny cannot apply for a public sector job, and even struggled to get a driving license. When he was booked for hit reality TV show Fame Island last year, he ended up arriving two weeks late on set in Honduras because he had had so many problems getting the right paperwork. For a long time, Meloni ignored the referendum entirely. Italy's publicly owned media, run by a close Meloni ally, have also paid scant attention to the vote. There is no substantive "No" campaign, making it hard to have a balanced debate. But the real reason appears strategic: for a referendum to be valid, more than half of all voters need to turn out. "They don't want to raise awareness of the significance of the referendum," Professor Roberto D'Alimonte of Luis University in Rome explains. "That's rational, to make sure that the 50% threshold won't be reached." The prime minister eventually announced she would turn up at a polling station "to show respect for the ballot box" - but refuse to cast a vote. "When you disagree, you also have the option of abstaining," Meloni told a TV chat show this week, after critics accused her of disrespecting democracy. Italy's citizenship system was "excellent", she argued, already granting citizenship to more foreign nationals than most countries in Europe: 217,000 last year, according to the national statistics agency, Istat. But about 30,000 of those were Argentines with Italian ancestry on the other side of the world, unlikely even to visit. Meanwhile, Meloni's coalition partner, Roberto Vannacci of the far-right League, accused those behind the referendum of "selling off our citizenship and erasing our identity". I ask Sonny why he thinks his own application for citizenship has taken over two decades. "It's racism," he replies immediately. At one point his file was lost completely, and he has now been told his case is "pending". "We have ministers who talk about white supremacy - racial replacement of Italy," the activist recalls a 2023 comment by the agriculture minister from Meloni's own party. "They don't want black immigration and we know it. I was born here 39 years ago so I know what I say." It is an accusation the prime minister has denied repeatedly. Insaf Dimassi defines herself as "Italian without citizenship". "Italy let me grow up and become the person I am today, so not being seen as a citizen is extremely painful and frustrating," she explains from the northern city of Bologna where she is studying for a PhD. Insaf's father travelled to Italy for work when she was a baby, and she and her mother then joined him. Her parents finally got Italian citizenship 20 days after Insaf turned 18. That meant she had to apply for herself from scratch, including proving a steady income. Insaf chose to study instead. "I arrived here at nine months old, and maybe at 33 or 34 - if all goes well - I can finally be an Italian citizen," she says, exasperated. She remembers exactly when the significance of her "outsider" status hit home: it was when she was asked to run for election alongside a candidate for mayor in her hometown. When she shared the news with her parents, full of excitement, they had to remind her she was not Italian and was not eligible. "They say it's a matter of meritocracy to be a citizen, that you have to earn it. But more than being myself, what do I have to demonstrate?" Insaf wants to know. "Not being allowed to vote, or be represented, is being invisible." On the eve of the referendum, students in Rome wrote a call to the polls on the cobbles of a city square. "Vote 'YES' on the 8th and 9th [of June]," they spelled out in giant cardboard letters. With a government boycott and such meagre publicity, the chances of hitting the 50% turnout threshold seem slim. But Sonny argues that this vote is just the beginning. "Even if they vote 'No', we will stay here - and think about the next step," he says. "We have to start to talk about the place of our community in this country." Additional reporting by Giulia Tommasi Italy tightens rules for Italian descendants to become citizens Italy faces big setback over migrant camps in Albania
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Dawn French apologises for 'clumsy tone' in Gaza clip
Dawn French has posted a public apology after posting a video about the war in Gaza, and removed the item from her social media. The 40-second video posted earlier this week showed the star of BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley share her views on the conflict, saying "Complicated, no, but nuanced. But bottom line is no." Switching into a high-pitched voice, she continued: "Yeah, but you know they did a bad thing to us, yeah but no. But we want that land... and we have history... No. Those people aren't really even people, are they really? No." Following a backlash with people complaining she was mocking the 7 October attack that ignited the war, French removed the video on Saturday and said she never meant to "mock, or dismiss, or diminish the horror" of the event. "I hope you will understand my intention was not to offend, but I clearly have. For which I am sorry and I have removed the video." French said that she had posted a video in the style that she has been using for social media "in an effort to convey an important point", although she added that she had "clumsily used a mocking tone". "My intention was never to mock, or dismiss, or diminish the horror of what happened on 7 October 2023 and what continues to unfold from that brutal unthinkable, unforgivable, savage attack." She said her intention had been "to point the finger of shame at the behaviour of the cruel leaders on all sides of this atrocious war".
