Thousands of people celebrate toddler’s cancer recovery in Istanbul
NewsFeed After a long fight against leukaemia, three-year-old Ali Asaf Demir is now cancer-free. Thousands of people in Istanbul heeded his father’s call on social media to gather to release balloons in celebration of his return to health. Published On 26 May 202526 May 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
French farmers protest in Paris for law loosening environmental regulations
Farmers demonstrate against changes to legislation that would ease restrictions on pesticide and water use in farming. French farmers have disrupted highway traffic around Paris and rallied in front of parliament to protest against amendments filed by opposition lawmakers to a bill that would loosen environmental regulations on farming. Members of France’s leading farming union, the FNSEA, parked about 10 tractors outside the National Assembly on Monday to put pressure on MPs, who began debating the legislation in the afternoon. The legislation, tabled by far-right MP Laurent Duplomb, proposes simplifying approvals for breeding facilities, loosening restrictions around water use to promote irrigation reservoirs and reauthorising a banned neonicotinoid pesticide used in sugar beet cultivation that environmentalists say is harmful to bees. The proposed law is part of a wider trend in numerous European Union states to unwind environmental legislation as farmers grapple with rising costs and households struggle with the cost-of-living crisis. More than 150 farmers from the Ile-de-France, Grand Est and Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur regions gathered peacefully in front of the National Assembly, drinking coffee and eating croissants, after blocking the main roads around the capital. Advertisement “This bill to lift the constraints on the farming profession is very important to us,” FNSEA Secretary-General Herve Lapie told the AFP news agency. “What we are asking for is simply to be able to work in a European environment: a single market, a single set of rules. We’ve been fighting for this for 20 years. For once, there’s a bill along these lines. … We don’t have the patience to wait any longer.” The FNSEA and its allies say the neonicotinoid pesticide acetamiprid, which has been prohibited in France since 2018 due to environmental and health concerns, should be authorised in France like it is across the EU because it is less toxic to wildlife than other neonicotinoids and stops crops from being ravaged by pests. Environmental campaigners and some unions representing small-scale and organic farmers say the bill benefits the large-scale agriculture industry at the expense of independent operators. President Emmanuel Macron’s opponents on the political left have proposed multiple amendments that the protesting farmers said threatened the bill. “We’re asking the lawmakers, our lawmakers, to be serious and vote for it as it stands,” Julien Thierry, a grain farmer from the Yvelines department outside Paris, told The Associated Press news agency, criticising politicians from the Greens and left-wing France Unbowed (LFI). Ecologists party MP Delphine Batho said the text of the bill is “Trump-inspired” while LFI MP Aurelie Trouve wrote in an article for the French daily Le Monde that it signified “a political capitulation, one that marks an ecological junction”. Advertisement FNSEA chief Arnaud Rousseau said protests would continue until Wednesday with farmers from the Centre-Val de Loire and Hauts-de-France regions expected to join their colleagues. Protests are also expected in Brussels next week, targeting the EU’s environmental regulations and green policies. Farmers across France and Europe won concessions last year after railing against cheap foreign competition and what they say are unnecessary regulations. Adblock test (Why?)
Lahore Qalandars beat Quetta Gladiators by six wickets for third PSL trophy
The Qalandars chase a record target of 202 against the Gladiators as Raza returns from Test duty to hit the winning runs. All-rounder Sikandar Raza has written his name in Pakistan cricket folklore after hitting the match-winning six as the Lahore Qalandars beat the Quetta Gladiators by six wickets to win the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2025 final at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Raza, who was part of Zimbabwe’s Test team until Saturday afternoon, joined the Qalandars’ playing XI 10 minutes prior to the toss for the final on Sunday evening in Pakistan’s eastern metropolis. The Pakistan-born off-break bowler and lower-middle-order batter took one wicket and scored 22 runs off seven balls as Lahore chased a target of 202 with one ball to spare. Lahore’s run chase was largely built around Kusal Perera’s 62 runs, with support from top-order batters Mohammad Naeem and Abdullah Shafique, but it was Raza’s whirlwind journey from the United Kingdom to Pakistan and his subsequent role in hitting the winning runs that stole the show and Lahori hearts. The 39-year-old recounted his last 24 hours by saying he had “dinner in Birmingham, breakfast in Dubai, lunch in Abu Dhabi and flew straight to Lahore for the PSL final”. Advertisement Raza bowled 25 overs in the Test on Friday and batted for 20-plus overs on Saturday before leaving for Pakistan. “To have a victory like this, I just have no words,” he said after the match. The hosts finished on 204-4 from 19.5 overs to lift their third PSL trophy in four years, making Shaheen Shah Afridi the only captain to win three PSL titles. Earlier, Quetta posted a formidable total of 201-9 in their 20 overs as young batter Hasan Nawaz scored 76 runs off 43 balls and Faheem Ashraf cracked three sixes and two fours in an innings of 28 off eight balls. Afridi was the pick of the Lahore bowlers, taking 3-24 in his four overs. Perera was named player of the match for his instrumental innings that kept Lahore in the match until the last over. Meanwhile, Nawaz was named player of the tournament for amassing 399 runs in the competition. Lahore Qalanders captain Shaheen Shah Afridi lifts the Pakistan Super League trophy after the final [Aamir Qureshi/AFP] Adblock test (Why?)
US citizen charged with trying to attack US embassy branch in Tel Aviv
Joseph Neumeyer, who is also a German citizen, approached the building on May 19 with Molotov cocktails, officials say. A dual United States and German citizen has been arrested on charges that he travelled to Israel and attempted to firebomb the branch office of the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, federal prosecutors in New York have said. Israeli officials deported Joseph Neumeyer to New York on Saturday and he had an initial court appearance before a federal judge in Brooklyn on Sunday. His criminal complaint was unsealed on Sunday. Prosecutors say Neumeyer walked up to the embassy building on May 19 with a backpack containing Molotov cocktails, but got into a confrontation with a guard and eventually ran away, dropping his backpack as the guard tried to detain him. Law enforcement then tracked Neumeyer down to a hotel a few blocks away from the embassy and arrested him, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York. “This defendant is charged with planning a devastating attack targeting our embassy in Israel, threatening death to Americans, and [US] President [Donald] Trump’s life,” US Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “The Department will not tolerate such violence and will prosecute this defendant to the fullest extent of the law.” Advertisement Neumeyer’s court-appointed attorney, Jeff Dahlberg, declined to comment. The attack took place against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing deadly war on Gaza, now in its 19th month. Nearly 54,000 Palestinians have been killed in the blockaded enclave, where a famine is now looming as Israeli forces continue to seal vital border crossings and uphold a crippling blockade on humanitarian aid including food, medicine, and fuel. Neumeyer, 28, who is originally from Colorado and has dual US and German citizenship, had travelled from the US to Canada in early February and then arrived in Israel in late April, according to court records. He had made a series of threatening social media posts before attempting the attack, prosecutors said. During his first term, Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital despite Palestinian objections, in a move that has not been recognised by the international community. He also moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,187
These are the key events on day 1,187 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Here is where things stand on Monday, May 26: Fighting Ukrainian officials say the death toll from the largest Russian aerial attack on Ukraine has risen from 12 to 13, and wounded at least 60 people. The victims included three children aged eight, 12 and 17 in the northwestern region of Zhytomyr. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 298 drones and 69 missiles in its overnight assault, adding that it was able to down 266 drones and 45 missiles. The Russian Ministry of Defence said its troops had taken control of the village of Romanivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. It also said Russian air defences intercepted 110 Ukrainian drones overnight on Sunday, including 13 over the Moscow and Tver regions. Russia and Ukraine completed a three-day exchange of 1,000 prisoners each, in the largest such swap since the war began three years ago. Politics and diplomacy United States President Donald Trump lashed out at his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, following the attack, calling him “crazy” and warning that any attempt at a total takeover of Ukraine would “lead to the downfall of Russia”. Trump also raised the possibility of more punitive measures against Russia, saying he was “absolutely” considering increasing US sanctions on the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged international leaders to increase the pressure on Russia, saying that “the silence of America, the silence of others in the world only encourages Putin”. He also said that additional sanctions “will certainly help”. Trump also criticised Zelenskyy, saying in a post on social media that the Ukrainian leader “is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop.” Germany’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul told public broadcaster ARD that Russia’s latest wave of attacks on Ukraine should be answered with additional Western sanctions. He said the weight of more sanctions on Moscow would get Putin to the negotiating table. The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, also called for “the strongest international pressure” on Russia to stop the war. “Devastating to see children among innocent victims harmed and killed,” she said on X. US Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg said the latest Russian attack was “a clear violation” of the 1977 Geneva Peace Protocols, and called for an immediate ceasefire. Advertisement Military aid The Netherlands says it will send the last one of 24 promised F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine on Monday. Adblock test (Why?)
Oil riches are on the horizon as Suriname chooses its next government
The Gran Morgu project may transform Suriname’s economy, rivalling oil-rich neighbour Guyana by 2028, officials predict. Voters in Suriname, which is on the cusp of a much anticipated oil boom, have begun to elect a new parliament, which will subsequently choose the next president of the smallest nation in South America. Sunday’s elections have already been marked by fraud allegations and have seen little debate about what the next government, which will hold power until 2030, should do with income from the offshore oil and gas Gran Morgu project. It is to begin production in 2028. Experts said Suriname, a country beset by poverty and rampant inflation, is projected to make billions of dollars in the coming decade or two from recently discovered offshore crude deposits. The project, led by TotalEnergies, is Suriname’s first major offshore effort. The former Dutch colony, independent since 1975, discovered reserves that may allow it to compete with neighbouring Guyana – whose economy grew 43.6 percent last year – as a prominent producer. “It will be a huge amount of income for the country,” President Chan Santokhi told the AFP news agency this week. “We are now able … to do more for our people, so that everyone can be part of the growth of the nation.” Advertisement Santokhi is constitutionally eligible for a second term, but with no single party in a clear lead in the elections, pollsters are not predicting the outcome. The party with the most seats will lead Suriname’s next government, likely through a coalition with smaller parties, but negotiations and the choosing of a new president are expected to take weeks. People vote during National Assembly elections in Paramaribo [Ranu Abhelakh/Reuters] Fourteen parties are taking part in the elections, including Santokhi’s centrist Progressive Reform Party and the leftist National Democratic Party of deceased former coup leader and elected President Desi Bouterse. Also in the running is the centre-left General Liberation and Development Party of Vice President Ronnie Brunswijk, a former rebel who fought against Bouterse’s government in the 1980s. Provisional results are expected by late Sunday. Suriname – a diverse country made up of descendants of people from India, Indonesia, China, the Netherlands, Indigenous groups and enslaved Africans – will mark the 50th anniversary of its independence from the Netherlands in November. Since independence, it has looked increasingly towards China as a political ally and trading partner and in 2019 became one of the first Latin American countries to join the Asian giant’s Belt and Road infrastructure drive. United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio made a stopover in Suriname in March on a regional tour aimed at countering China’s growing influence in the region. More than 90 percent of the country is covered in forest, and it is one of few in the world with a negative carbon footprint. Advertisement Santokhi insisted this status is not in danger and Suriname can use its oil windfall “for the transition towards the green energy which we need, also because we know the fossil energy is limited”. “It will be gone after 40 years.” Adblock test (Why?)
Rohingya: The art of survival
In the world’s largest refugee camp, Rohingya artists use art to preserve a culture Myanmar has long tried to silence. In Cox’s Bazar, the world’s largest refugee camp, three Rohingya artists are defying cultural erasure. Through painting, music, and photography, they preserve the memory of a people long persecuted in Myanmar. This Talk to Al Jazeera special looks beyond the headlines of displacement and genocide investigations into the creative resistance of a stateless community. As Myanmar continues to deny them recognition, these artists are fighting back with colour, sound, and story, refusing to let their heritage disappear. Adblock test (Why?)
How desperate is Iran for a deal with the US?
With Iran at its weakest point in decades, political scientist Vali Nasr argues that a deal with the US is imminent. With a battered economy and a restless population, Iran is as desperate as the United States to come together, Johns Hopkins University Professor Vali Nasr argues. Nasr told host Steve Clemons that US President Donald Trump’s administration is eager to reach an arms control deal with Iran, and Iran is eager to grow economically. “Both of them have arrived, after 40 some years, at a juncture where they need to change the direction of their relationship,” Nasr said. Join the conversation on Nasr’s latest book, Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History, which explains how Iran’s anti-Americanism “is not ideological or theological”. Adblock test (Why?)
Arsenal stun Barcelona to win the Women’s Champions League
Arsenal lift the UEFA Women’s Champions League with a 1-0 win that ended Barcelona’s hopes of a three-peat. Arsenal upset defending champions Barcelona 1-0 to win the Women’s Champions League for a second time. Stina Blackstenius scored in the 75th minute after being set up by fellow second-half substitute Beth Mead in the final at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon on Saturday. Arsenal’s title came 18 years after it became the first, and still the only, English club to win the top club title in women’s football. Arsenal’s players embraced on the final whistle and ran to celebrate in front of the red-and-white corner of the stands, which were otherwise mostly dressed in burgundy and blue. “We believed from the moment our Champions League journey started,” Arsenal striker Alessia Russo told broadcaster TNT Sports. “We knew that we had the capabilities. We knew that we could be good enough. It was just about going and doing it. And we’ve done it!” Arsenal’s Swedish striker Stina Blackstenius shoots and scores her team’s first goal [Carlos Costa/AFP] Barcelona were considered the heavy favourite. They were aiming for a fourth title in five years and to become the only team other than Lyon to win three consecutive titles. The team led by two-time Ballon d’Or winners Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas won nine straight in the competition and blew out Wolfsburg and English champion Chelsea in the knockout rounds. Advertisement But Arsenal locked down in defence, except for early in the second half, and created the best chances. Only two superb saves by Barcelona goalkeeper Cata Coll to deny Frida Maanum and Blackstenius kept it scoreless, until Blackstenius finally beat her. The victory marks an incredible finish to a rocky season for Arsenal, which included coach Jonas Eidevall resigning and being replaced by assistant Renee Seglers. Since taking over, Seglers steered the team through a spectacular European campaign. Arsenal built its confidence from come-from-behind wins over Real Madrid and eight-time champion Lyon in the knockout rounds before laying low the almighty Barcelona. The loss was a huge disappointment for the large group of Barcelona fans who filled the stadium that is home to Sporting Lisbon. Blue-and-burgundy shirts and flags outnumbered the red-and-white section, but their calls of “Yes we can!” in the final minutes were not enough to inspire a comeback by the Catalan club. The closest Barcelona came to a goal was a shot by Claudia Pina that hit the crossbar just after halftime when the Spanish team had its best period. Otherwise, the game was to Arsenal’s liking. “We are very sorry for all our fans who have come to support us,” Bonmati told Catalunya Radio in the field before the award ceremony. “We will try to do it again.” Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati looks dejected after walking past the Champions League trophy [Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters] Arsenal shook off some early jitters in defence and soon had Barcelona on the back foot. Arsenal’s pressure up the field stopped Barcelona from getting their possession game going, and Arsenal found spaces with long balls down the left flank. Advertisement England striker Russo was a rock for Arsenal, using her size to win balls and keep the attack going. Arsenal thought it went ahead in the 22nd but a video review waived off an own goal by Barcelona’s Irene Paredes when the referee spotted an offside by Frida Maanum. Maanum then went close with a long shot in the 27th that Coll did well to stretch and push over her bar. Bonmatí was the only Barcelona player who seemed to be in the flow before halftime. Her dribble moves through the middle created a few threats and kept Arsenal on guard in defence. Leah Williamson blocked her best shot deep in the box in the 12th. Barcelona came out of the restart firing. Pina hit the woodwork with her chipped shot from a sharp angle in the 49th. Bonmati forced goalie Daphne van Domselaar to get low to parry her shot, and Ona Batlle bombarded the area with three shots from long range. But Blackstenius set the tone when she had a golden chance when she stole a ball with only Cata to beat, but the goalie got her leg out to block her effort in the 72nd. The Sweden forward would not be denied a second time. Adblock test (Why?)
Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa sworn in for full term, promising a crackdown on gangs
The right-wing Noboa had defeated left-wing candidate Luisa Gonzalez amid allegations of electoral fraud. Daniel Noboa, Ecuador’s youngest-ever president and heir to a prominent banana-exporting fortune, has been sworn in for his first full term in office, pledging to intensify his government’s battle against powerful drug gangs while reviving the struggling economy. In a ceremony at the National Assembly in Quito on Saturday, the right-wing president was sworn in by Assembly President Niels Olsen Peet, who draped the presidential sash across his shoulders before the two raised clasped hands in a symbolic gesture of unity. Noboa, 37, won the election in April’s, securing a new term after completing the final 18 months of his predecessor’s tenure, defeating left-wing candidate, Luisa Gonzalez, despite her allegations of electoral fraud. Speaking to lawmakers, Noboa pledged to make a sharp reduction in violent crime a cornerstone of his administration. “The progressive reduction of homicides will be a non-negotiable goal,” Noboa declared. “We will maintain our fight against drug trafficking, seize illegal weapons, ammunition, and explosives, and exercise greater control at the country’s ports.” Advertisement Ecuador, once considered one of the more stable countries in the region, has in recent years faced a sharp rise in violence, with drug cartels, including the powerful from Mexico, exploiting porous borders and weak institutions to expand their influence. Noboa has responded with militarised crackdowns, deploying the armed forces onto the streets and tightening security at key infrastructure hubs. The president’s security strategy has drawn comparisons to El Salvador’s controversial anti-gang measures, which have been praised by some for reducing crime but condemned by rights groups over mass detentions and alleged abuses. Noboa has cited El Salvador, as well as the United States and Israel, as strategic partners in Ecuador’s security overhaul. His administration has also hired Erik Prince, founder of private military contractor Blackwater, to advise Ecuadorian security forces, a move that has raised alarm among opposition politicians and human rights advocates, who warn of creeping militarisation and lack of oversight. While Noboa has claimed a 15 percent drop in violent deaths during 2024, government figures show a 58 percent increase in killings during the first four months of 2025 compared with the same period last year, with 3,094 recorded deaths. Adblock test (Why?)