One of the most iconic towers in San Francisco's Chinatown is set to become a new cultural destination. Community and city leaders unveiled plans Thursday to transform the historic Empress of China building into a cultural campus celebrating Chinese-American art, culture and history.

SF Chinatown's historic Empress of China building being revived into cultural campus

A man threatened an attack on a high-speed train in western Germany and lightly injured 12 passengers with firecrackers before being taken into custody in the town of Siegburg near Bonn, police said. The 20-year-old threw pyrotechnic objects filled with plastic pellets on board an Intercity Express (ICE) train travelling from Cologne to Frankfurt on Thursday evening, a police spokesman told dpa, citing witness statements.

Man threatens attack on German high-speed train, 12 lightly injured

Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) belongs to a rare group of sungrazing comets.

Watch comet C/2026 A1 plunge toward the sun online this week

A key engine burn has put NASA's Artemis II astronauts on an irreversible path around the moon.

After toilet and email issues, Artemis II astronauts fire engine to head for the moon

Some airplane passengers had the best seats in the house during NASA's Artemis 2 moon rocket launch. Here are some of my favorite videos captured from the sky.

Lucky airplane passengers capture NASA's Artemis 2 moon launch from the sky

A man threatened an attack on a German high-speed train in western Germany and lightly injured several people before he was detained in the town of Siegburg, police said late Thursday. So-called airsoft firecrackers exploded on an Intercity Express (ICE) train en route from Cologne to Frankfurt, a spokeswoman told dpa.

Several injured as man threatens attack on German high-speed train

A man threatened an attack on a German high-speed train in western Germany and lightly injured several people before he was detained in the town of Siegburg near Bonn, police said late Thursday. So-called airsoft firecrackers exploded on an Intercity Express (ICE) train travelling from Cologne to Frankfurt, a police spokeswoman told dpa.

Man threatens attack on German high-speed train, injures several

More than 250 Kenyans have gone to fight for Russia in Ukraine, mostly willingly, Kenya's foreign minister says.

Sixteen Kenyans missing in Russia after army recruitment

A Radio-Canada reporter noticed his maple syrup tasted odd; testing revealed it was adulterated with cane sugar

Alleged maple syrup scam in Quebec uncovered by Canadian broadcaster

UN experts say Israel ’emboldened by impunity’ for previous journalist killings in Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank.

UN experts urge investigation into Israel’s killing of Lebanese journalists

The Belarus parliament passed a bill Thursday to introduce punishments for people who promote LGBTQ+ causes, in an echo of restrictions set up in neighboring ally Russia.  The upper house gave final approval for the legislation following its passage last month by the lower house, and it goes next to authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko for his expected signature before becoming law.  The bill makes the “propaganda of homosexual relations, gender charge, refusal to have children and pedop

Belarusian parliament passes a bill to crack down on LGBTQ+ rights

The first element of the Fehmarn Belt Tunnel between Germany and Denmark could be lowered off the Danish island of Lolland as early as this spring, Danish state-owned construction company Sund & Bælt said on Thursday. A special vessel that is to sink the tunnel elements has been approved by the Danish Maritime Authority, the company said.

First part of major new German-Danish tunnel cleared for lowering

"You and your friends will pay a very heavy price for the increased shooting at Israeli citizens while they are sitting down to celebrate the Seder Night,” Katz told Qassem in a video message. Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a stark warning to Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Thursday, saying he would not live to see the “very heavy price” for attacks on Israel during Passover and would end up “at the bottom of hell” with other eliminated Iranian proxy leaders.

Katz to Hezbollah chief Qassem: You won't live to see Israel’s full response to Passover attacks

Reports on April Fools' Day of the death of the world’s oldest living land animal — a 193-year-old tortoise called Jonathan — were greatly exaggerated.  Jonathan is still kicking — albeit slowly — on the island of St. Helena.  “It was a hoax,” Anne Dillon, head of communications on the island, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

World's oldest known tortoise still very much alive despite rumor to the contrary

Spain's famous Easter processions are attracting even more foreign tourists than in previous years because the Iran war has led many to cancel plans to visit the Holy Land. While Easter pilgrimages to the Holy Land and holiday trips to the Middle East in general have largely been cancelled because of the US-Israeli war on Iran, Spain is currently seeing a booking boom.

Spain's Easter processions draw more tourists amid Iran war

The first ever Transition Away From Fossil Fuels Conference is taking place in Colombia

The Beginning Of The End For Fossil Fuels Can Start In Colombia

A warship that sunk after it was attacked by Adm. Horatio Nelson and the British fleet 225 years ago has been found off the coast of Denmark in what’s been called a “remarkable” discovery.

Sunken warship found off Danish coast after 225 years in ‘remarkable’ discovery

Russia's military is pressuring students to serve as drone pilots in the war against Ukraine, the independent Telegram channel Faridaily reported on Thursday. It said the Education Ministry has even set a quota requiring universities and colleges to recruit 2% of their students for drone units, which were newly formed in 2025.

Report: Russian military pressuring students to work as drone pilots

Plaid Cymru says that a university lecturer who called Israel a "terrorist state" will remain a candidate.

Lecturer who called Israel a terrorist state to remain Plaid Cymru candidate

By Jemima Denham and George Abbott April 2 (Reuters) - Three paintings by French masters Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse stolen from ‌a museum in northern Italy last week were probably not ‌insured, according to market sources. One fine art underwriter told the Reuters publication The Insurer that ​the paintings, estimated to be worth around $10 million, had previously failed to secure insurance cover due to the cost.

Stolen Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse were probably uninsured, market sources say

Government forces in Burkina Faso killed over twice as many civilians as militant jihadist groups over a two-year period, according to a study by Human Rights Watch, which accused both sides of war crimes and crimes against humanity.  According to the report, of the 1,837 civilians killed in the country between January 2023 and August 2025, more than 1,200 were the result of government forces.  Over 2 million people are estimated to have been displaced since the conflict began, according to the

Burkina Faso forces killed twice as many civilians as jihadists, rights group says

The deepening energy crisis triggered by the US-Israel war with Iran has thrust energy security back onto the political stage in European countries.

Energy security rifts widen in Europe

Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates emphasized the "urgent need to refrain from measures" that risk further inflaming tensions on the ground. Eight Muslim-majority countries "strongly condemned" Israel's move to pass a law making death by hanging a default sentence for Palestinian terrorists convicted in military courts, a joint statement released by Pakistan said on Thursday.

Eight Muslim nations condemn Israel's 'dangerous' new death penalty law

The Israeli military said on Thursday it has killed more than 40 members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon in the last 24 hours. Sources within Hezbollah also reported that dozens of fighters had been killed in close combat with Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.

Israel says 40 Hezbollah members killed as forces advance in Lebanon

Li Xiong, 41, the former chairman of Huione Group and a core member of what Chinese authorities call the Chen Zhi criminal syndicate, was escorted off a China Southern Airlines flight in Beijing on April 1 – shaven-headed, handcuffed, flanked by officers from China’s Ministry of Public Security. The real ...

Alleged Huione Group Money Laundering Boss Extradited to China

Germany is setting up a council to oversee the return of cultural property and human remains taken from former colonies.View on euronews

Germany to create restitution council to return colonia-era acquired cultural artefacts

Several Muslim countries have strongly criticized Israel's new death penalty law passed by parliament earlier this week. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates strongly condemn "the imposition of the death penalty in the occupied West Bank and its de facto application against Palestinians," according to a joint statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Thursday.

Muslim nations condemn new Israeli death penalty law

Human Rights Watch says Capt Traoré, other military leaders and jihadists "may be liable" for the killings.

Over 1,800 killed since junta seized power in Burkina Faso, rights group says

Thousands were killed and wounded during the Battle of Copenhagen, considered one of Adm. Horatio Nelson's "great battles."

Warship sunk by British fleet, remains of sailor found after 225 years

In northern Israel, two men aged 85 and 34 were moderately injured on Thursday morning by shrapnel after a Hezbollah attack, MDA reported. Two infants were lightly wounded by the impact of a ballistic missile's shrapnel after Iranian attacks triggered sirens across Israel four times on Wednesday night.

Two Israeli infants among wounded by shrapnel in overnight Iranian missile barrage

Source: Hezbollah using homes as hiding spots for reconnaissance, launchpads for anti-tank fire • More fighters detained after surrendering to Israeli soldiers The IDF has begun demolishing homes in southern Lebanese villages located along the border with Israel, military sources said on Wednesday morning. According to the sources, the houses targeted by the military were used by the Hezbollah terrorist group as bases to launch anti-tank fire and conduct reconnaissance of Israeli forces.

IDF begins destroying homes used by Hezbollah as forces move deeper into southern Lebanon

The project is developed in collaboration with Orascom Development Egypt and Arabian Peninsula Hospitality.

Accor signs agreement to transform El Gouna resort as Sofitel

A new rule that prohibits Germany's petrol stations from hiking prices more than once day is unlikely to bring down costs for motorists, consumer experts said on Thursday one day after the restriction took effect. "At the moment, it doesn't look as though the new rule will actually make filling up any cheaper," Ramona Pop, head of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations, told dpa.

Consumer experts: German petrol hikes rule won't bring down prices

Following discussions about a proposal for 80% of Syrians in Germany to return home, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani has rejected the idea of forced deporations. He stressed that Syrians in the diaspora "are strategic resources, not a burden.

Syria rejects forced deportations from Germany amid migration debate

After Sri La nka's President Anura Kumara Dissanayake held a press conference in March 2026 on the country's energy shortage caused by the Middle East war, an old video circulated in social media posts falsely claiming it showed his party's secretary Tilvin Silva criticising his response to the crisis. The clip is from 2020 and shows Silva slamming Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the president at the time, over his government's Covid response.

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