The European Union announced Thursday an aid package for Lebanon of 1 billion euros — about $1.06 billion — that will mostly go to boost border control to halt the flow of asylum seekers and migrants from the small, crisis-wracked country across the Mediterranean Sea to Cyprus and Italy.
The deal comes against a backdrop of increasing hostility toward Syrian refugees in Lebanon and a major surge in irregular migration of Syrian refugees from Lebanon to Cyprus.
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump has secured an additional $1.6 billion worth of shares in Trump Media, according to a regulatory filing this week.
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In a mad mix of game-show glitter and marketing flash, Airbnb is offering customers a chance to spend a night in a Paris museum, stay in houses mocked up to look like movie settings, or sleep surrounded by eight Ferrari racing cars.
Full StoryElon Musk's move to lay off the department responsible for Tesla's electric vehicle chargers has touched off worries in the auto industry that EVs from other automakers will have trouble joining Tesla's network.
Several leaders of Tesla's Supercharger team posted social media messages saying they were told Monday night that entire group of about 500 had been laid off by CEO Musk, who seemed to confirm the move in a posting Tuesday on X, the social media site he now owns.
Full StoryIf the war in Gaza stopped today, it would still take until 2040 to rebuild all the homes that have been destroyed in nearly seven months of Israel’s bombardment and ground offensives in the territory, according to United Nations estimates released Thursday.
“Every additional day that this war continues is exacting huge and compounding costs to Gazans and all Palestinians” said United Nations Development Program Administrator Achim Steiner.
Full StoryRegular mammograms to screen for breast cancer should start younger, at age 40, according to an influential U.S. task force. Women ages 40 to 74 should get screened every other year, the group said.
Previously, the task force had said women could choose to start breast cancer screening as young as 40, with a stronger recommendation that they get the exams every two years from age 50 through 74.
Full StoryThe torrential rains and deadly floods that have hit Kenya since March have been some of the most catastrophic in the country in recent years.
At least 169 people have died due to the heavy rains, with at least 91 missing, according to the latest government figures.
Full StoryHuman Rights Watch accused Kenyan authorities on Thursday of not responding adequately to ongoing floods that have killed more than 170 people since the start of the rainy season.
The New York-based rights group said the government "has a human rights obligation to prevent foreseeable harm from climate change and extreme weather events and to protect people when a disaster strikes."
Full StoryMillions of voters in England and Wales will cast their ballots on Thursday in an array of local elections that will be the last big test before a U.K. general election that all indicators show will see the Conservative Party ousted from power after 14 years.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will hope he can point to successes, notably in a couple of key mayoral races, to douse talk that the Conservative Party will change leader again before the United Kingdom's main election, which could take place as soon as next month.
Full StoryRussia struck the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa with ballistic missiles in a nighttime attack, injuring 14 people and starting a massive blaze, local officials and emergency services said.
The third attack on the city in a week hit a sorting depot belonging to Ukraine's biggest private delivery company, Nova Poshta. No staff were injured, the company said, but the strike started a major fire.
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