Sudan conflict drives mass exodus, with desperate refugees risking their lives crossing the Mediterranean to Europe.

Metropolitan City of Milan

EU braces for unprecedented migrant arrivals

Plucked from stormy Mediterranean seas this week, these young men have escaped the fighting in Sudan. This southernmost Italian island is brace for a potentially record-breaking summer of migrant arrivals. The Sudanese sail from Tunisia, where there's a sophisticated and profitable smuggling network. God willing, there'll be much more work compared to the past, this smuggler tells us. Last year, more than 100,000 migrants crossed the central Mediterranean, according to the European Union. I've organised a lot of trips where things didn't go as expected because the boat was overweight, and that's why so many died. There were no life vests or inner tubes. A hundred people lost their lives in two trips. Lampedusa's migrant holding centre, managed by a local cooperative, has struggled to handle the large volume of arrivals. So now the Red Cross has taken over, with plans to provide a more professional and humane service. It's in charge of us to re-insure them and tell them that they are safe, because from their eyes we realise that they need people that say to them, you are finally safe. The smugglers say they're also improving their operations. To stop the loss of life, we've reorganised how we work. We've got rid of the risks that might cause a boat to sink. Before, we didn't have people who could read a compass. Now we look to assign a captain who knows how to use one, and we don't overload boats anymore. It's all safety first. Those who make it now face a more hostile reception from Italy's nationalist government. Newcomers will find it much harder to get a two-year special protection residency permit if they don't qualify for full asylum. Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni won power last year promising to crack down on boat migrants. Human Rights Watch calls Italy's new immigration law repressive and inhumane. It's intended to dissuade migrants from coming here. It's not having any effect. More than 45,000 people have arrived in Italy since the start of this year. It was 12,000 in the same period last year. Bernard Smith, Al Jazeera, Lampedusa, Italy.

There are fears of renewed bloodshed in Sudan, after a diplomatic source claimed the army had suspended ceasefire negotiations with its paramilitary rival, the Rapid Support Forces.

Khartoum

Sudan Civil War

Sudan army suspends truce talks

Republican presidential candidate and Florida governor Ron DeSantis stepped up his attack on opponent Donald Trump, saying the former president has decided to "move left" on some issues.

Iowa

DeSantis steps up attack on opponent Trump

A North Korean satellite launch on Wednesday ended in failure, sending the booster and payload plunging into the sea, North Korean state media said, and the South's military said it had recovered parts of the launch vehicle.

Pyongyang

North Korean satellite launch failure

The man set to become Western Australia's next Premier will face one of his final hurdles on his way to the top job today. Deputy Premier Roger Cook has emerged as the lone candidate to replace Mark McGowan, who will retire at the end of the week.

Perth

Roger Cook to become WA Premier

Russian authorities are accusing Ukraine of launching drone strikes in Moscow that damaged some buildings and alarmed residents. Ukraine, which has endured a series of deadly airstrikes this month, denies any involvement.

Moscow

Ukraine Invasion

Moscow hit by drone swarm, blames Ukraine

More NATO troops are on their way to keep the peace in Kosovo as tensions between ethnic Serbs and Albanians heat up. Recent clashes have raised fears of a return to the violence of the late 1990s.

Belgrade

NATO deploys more troops to Kosovo amid violence

A key Republican hardliner on the powerful House Rules Committee said on Tuesday that he would support sending the bipartisan debt ceiling deal to the floor for a vote, a critical first step in advancing Speaker Kevin McCarthy's agreement with President Joe Biden and avoiding a catastrophic default.

Washington

'A bad deal': Debt limit faces Republican test

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has arrived in China, as he makes his first trip to the world's second largest economy in over three years. The multi-billionaire met China's foreign minister Qin Gang within hours of arriving in the country. He arrived is also expected to visit Tesla's huge manufacturing plant in Shanghai.


Shanghai

Elon Musk in China for Tesla talks

The debt-limit agreement forged by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy heads into a crucial final stretch with less than a week to win congressional passage before a June 5 default deadline. Both Biden and McCarthy will be lobbying their party to pass the measure.

Will Congress pass the debt-Limit deal?

President Vladimir Putin says a series of drone strikes deep inside Russia are the work of 'Ukraine terrorists' designed to scare and provoke the country. Ukraine, however denies responsibility and some experts say it may be a 'false flag attack'. Putin meanwhile has vowed to strengthen air defences around the capital.

Large scale drone attack hits Moscow

The world-famous ruins of Pompeii still have many secrets for us to discover. Recent discoveries have been made thanks to The Great Pompeii Project, launched in 2012 to stop the deterioration of the archaeological site.

Pompei

More victims uncovered in Pompeii ruins

Sudan’s warring sides on Monday agreed to extend a shaky cease-fire in their battle for control of the country, after two key international mediators signalled impatience with persistent truce violations.

Sudan truce extended for five days

North Korea will launch its first military reconnaissance satellite in June for monitoring U.S. activities, state media KCNA reported on Tuesday, drawing criticism over its potential use of banned missile technology. 

N.Korea to launch first military spy satellite

Russia claimed that Ukraine launched its biggest ever drone attack on Moscow on Tuesday, but said air defenses destroyed all eight of the drones. It brings the 15-month war in Ukraine to the heart of Russia's capital. Meanwhile, Kyiv was also hit by air for the third time in 24 hours. 

Ukraine war comes to Moscow 

Ukrainian defense forces said they shot down more than 20 drones during a fresh wave of Russian air attacks on Kyiv early Tuesday (May 30) which killed at least one person and injured four others when their apartment building was hit and caught fire.

Kyiv

'Relentless': Kyiv endures more air attacks

Residents have been forced to drive through thick smoke and fire to escape a fast-moving blaze in the Halifax-area that has destroyed hundreds of homes. Thousands of locals were ordered to evacuate immediately as the fire closed in. It comes as as the Canadian Government called for international help, admitting it doesn't have enough fire crews to protect communities.

Hammonds Plains

Climate Crisis

'Leave, now': Canadians flee through the flames

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has signed one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ laws. Other nations have been quick to condemn the new law, which includes the death penalty for 'aggravated homosexuality.'

Pretoria

Global criticism of Uganda's anti-LGBTQ laws

'Media bias and ongoing restrictions to freedom of expression created an unlevel playing field, and contributed to an unjustified advantage of the incumbent', the OSCE said on Monday.

Ankara

Turkish election 'free but not fair', observers say

The NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force on Monday said that 25 of its troops, including 11 from Italy, were injured in the clashes with ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo who were trying to take over the offices of one of the municipalities where ethnic Albanian mayors took up their posts last week.

NATO troops injured in Kosovo clashes, 3 critical

Police say they can't rule out the possibility that people may have died in last week's inferno in inner Sydney. They're still trying to find two homeless people who may have slept there.

Surry Hills

'There could be bodies': Search after CBD fire

After 30 years in public life, six of those as Western Australia’s Premier, Mark McGowan says he's burnt out and has lost his fighting spirit. He'll depart by the end of the week.

Mark McGowan stands down as WA Premier

Explosions were heard in the skies over Kyiv in a rare daytime barrage of Russian missiles and the Kremlin's 16th attack on the Ukrainian capital this month. People rushed to underground shelters and have been told by the mayor to remain there.

Another night of missiles unleashed on Kyiv

Uganda has enacted one of the world's toughest anti-LGBTQ laws, including the death penalty for certain same-sex acts. It has drawn Western condemnation and risks sanctions from aid donors. 

Kampala

Uganda enacts harsh anti-gay law, death penalty

French President Emmanuel Macron warns that global plastic pollution is a 'time bomb' as delegates begin five days of talks in Paris aimed at reaching an international treaty to end plastic waste.

Paris

Global talks to end plastic waste

It's seventy years since the first ascent of Mount Everest by Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay from Nepal, with descendants of the men visiting the famed peak to mark the occasion. Since 1953, over 6,000 climbers have reached the summit of Everest, but 

Lobuche

Everest was first climbed 70 years ago

Bola Tinubu was sworn in as Nigeria's president on Monday following a disputed election. He faces pressure to quickly improve economic and security conditions. 

Abuja

Nigeria's Tinubu sworn in as president

Fears of a U.S. government shutdown are easing after President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy struck an ‘agreement in principle’ to raise the country’s legal debt ceiling. Both sides made compromises that may prove difficult to sell to their respective parties before the projected June 5 deadline to sign off on the deal.

'Catastrophic' U.S default off the table after deal

Turkey’s incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will serve an historic third time after his runoff election win against opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu on Sunday. In power for more than 20 years, Erdoğan’s increasingly authoritarian policies have prompted growing unrest and political protest.

İstanbul

Erdoğan wins Turkey’s runoff election

The authorities in Venice are trying to discover how the waters of the Grand Canal turned bright green. Locals and tourists woke over the weekend to a distinct colour change in the water, with people warned not to enter the water.

Venice

Mystery over Venice canal waters going green

North Korea notified Japan that it is planning to launch a satellite in the coming days. The action is being seen by many as a possible attempt to put Pyongyang’s first military reconnaissance satellite into orbit.