WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump announced Friday that Ukraine and Russia have agreed to observe a three-day truce starting Saturday and a mutual swap of 1,000 prisoners each. Trump posted on social media that the truce on Saturday, Sunday and Monday would hopefully be &quot;the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War.&quot;<div class="fr-embed"> </div>Russia had previously announced a two-day unilateral ceasefire to mark its May 9 World War II Victory Day on Saturday. Ukraine previously stated that it too had offered a truce but that this had been ignored by Moscow.

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US President Donald Trump announces that Ukraine and Russia have agreed to observe a three-day truce starting Saturday and a mutual swap of 1,000 prisoners each.

Trump announces three-day Ukraine-Russia ceasefire

Shizza Jasmin

A Tamil cinema superstar, C. Joseph Vijay, or Thalapathy Vijay, is set to become Tamil Nadu&rsquo;s Chief Minister, once again blurring the lines between the silver screen and the secretariat. From Kangana Ranaut in the North to the legends of the South, the bridge between stardom and statehood has never been shorter.

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s security forces killed five terrorists in two intelligence-based operations in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military said on Friday, as the country continues its counterterrorism campaign under the &ldquo;Azm-e-Istehkam&rdquo; strategy. In a statement, the military&rsquo;s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations, said the operations were carried out on the night of May 7&ndash;8 in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts following intelligence reports about the presence of terrorists. &ldquo;On reported presence of khwarij, an intelligence-based operation was conducted by security forces in Tank district,&rdquo; the statement said. The military said security forces engaged the location in Tank after an exchange of fire, killing four terrorists. In a separate operation in Dera Ismail Khan, one more terrorist was killed. &ldquo;Another intelligence-based operation was conducted&hellip; In the ensuing fire exchange, one kharji was effectively neutralised,&rdquo; ISPR said. The military said weapons and ammunition were recovered from the dead terrorists, who were involved in multiple terrorist activities in the area. The latest operations come amid Pakistan&rsquo;s intensified security campaign under Azm-e-Istehkam, the national counterterrorism framework approved under the National Action Plan in 2014. Pakistan uses the term &ldquo;Fitna al-Khawarij&rdquo; in official communication for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), drawing on a historical reference to an extremist faction known for violent rebellion and attacks against Muslims. The operations also come as Pakistan maintains pressure on terrorist networks both inside the country and along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, following weeks of cross-border security operations under Operation Ghazab lil Haq. Recent security assessments, including data from the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, have shown a second consecutive monthly decline in terrorist violence, which officials say reflects sustained military pressure on terrorist networks. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the security forces for the successful operations and reiterated support for the ongoing campaign. &ldquo;Under the vision of Azm-e-Istehkam, the security forces are achieving major successes in the fight against terrorism,&rdquo; Sharif said in a statement issued by the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office. &ldquo;In this war against terrorism, the entire nation stands with the Armed Forces of Pakistan,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;The whole nation is united against terrorism and will not rest until all forms of terrorism are completely eradicated from the country,&rdquo; the prime minister said. The military said sanitization operations remain underway in both districts to eliminate any remaining terrorist presence.

Security

Pakistan security forces kill five terrorists in separate intelligence-based operations in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts, as Islamabad continues its nationwide Azm-e-Istehkam counterterrorism campaign amid declining militant violence.

Pakistan kills five terrorists in twin operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Military

GENEVA: Countries prepared Friday to repatriate passengers stranded aboard the MV Hondius after a deadly hantavirus outbreak killed three people and sickened several others during the trans-Atlantic cruise. The Dutch-flagged vessel, carrying around 150 people, is expected to arrive off Tenerife in Spain&rsquo;s Canary Islands on Sunday. Special flights will then take passengers to their home countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) said the outbreak posed a minimal risk to the general public despite confirmation of the Andes virus strain, the only hantavirus known to spread from person to person. Three passengers &mdash; a Dutch husband and wife and a German woman &mdash; have died, while others have fallen sick with the rare disease, which usually spreads among rodents. &ldquo;This is a dangerous virus, but only to the person who&#39;s really infected, and the risk to the general population remains absolutely low,&rdquo; WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters. &ldquo;The virus is not that contagious that it easily jumps from person to person,&rdquo; he added. The WHO said Friday there were five confirmed and three suspected cases of the virus, with an update due later. There are no suspected cases remaining on the ship. A KLM flight attendant who came into contact with an infected passenger and later showed mild symptoms tested negative for hantavirus, the WHO said. The infected passenger &mdash; the wife of the first person to die in the outbreak &mdash; had briefly boarded a Johannesburg-to-Netherlands flight on April 25 before being removed prior to takeoff. She died the following day in a Johannesburg hospital. Spanish authorities said a woman seated two rows behind the infected passenger on that flight was also being tested for hantavirus after developing symptoms in eastern Spain. She is in isolation in hospital. The MV Hondius left Ushuaia, Argentina, on April 1 for a cruise across the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Verde. Three suspected cases, including two crew members who later tested positive, were evacuated from Cape Verde to the Netherlands. German authorities said Friday the third person tested negative but would remain under observation. Two Dutch healthcare workers &mdash; an expert from the European Centres for Disease Control and a WHO representative &mdash; are now aboard the ship conducting a risk assessment. Spanish authorities said the ship will anchor off Tenerife and will not be allowed to dock. Passengers will be transferred to shore on a smaller vessel before being taken by bus to the airport. The evacuation must take place between Sunday and Monday due to likely adverse weather conditions afterward, the Canarian regional government said. Dockworkers in Tenerife protested Friday against the ship&rsquo;s arrival. British health authorities also said Friday there was a suspected case on Tristan da Cunha, one of the world&rsquo;s most isolated settlements with around 220 people.

A bank vole (Myodes glareolus), also known as the forest vole, is a small rodent that can transmit hantavirus, which is dangerous to humans. (AFP)

Countries are preparing to repatriate passengers from the MV Hondius after a deadly hantavirus outbreak killed three people and infected several others during the cruise across the Atlantic Ocean.

Passengers to be repatriated after deadly hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship

WASHINGTON: The United States said Friday it was organizing an evacuation flight for Americans on a hantavirus-struck cruise ship that has sailed to the Canary Islands. &quot;The Department of State is arranging a repatriation flight to support the safe return of American passengers on this ship,&quot; a State Department spokesperson said. The State Department said it was coordinating with the Spanish government as well as other US federal agencies. &quot;We are in direct communication with Americans on board and are prepared to provide consular assistance as soon as the ship arrives in Tenerife, Spain,&quot; the spokesperson said on customary condition of anonymity. It was not immediately clear how many Americans were on the ship. The World Health Organization said earlier that the United States was among 12 countries which had nationals who disembarked the ship at Saint Helena.

US arranges evacuation flight for Americans aboard hantavirus-hit cruise ship headed to Canary Islands

US plans evacuation flight for Americans on hantavirus ship

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon on Friday released a first batch of secret files documenting reported sightings of unidentified flying objects &ndash; some dating back to the 1940s &ndash; fanning speculation over whether extraterrestrial life exists. Reports of flying saucers and discs, and a sighting of an orb that resembled the &quot;Eye of Sauron&quot; are among the incidents in the files, which are from the FBI, State Department and NASA in addition to the Pentagon. Interest in UFOs has been renewed in recent years as the US government investigated numerous reports of seemingly supernatural aircraft, amid worries that adversaries could be testing highly advanced technologies. &quot;These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation &ndash; and it&#39;s time the American people see it for themselves,&quot; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement. More than 160 files were released Friday on the website of the Defense Department, which officially refers to UFOs as &quot;Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena,&quot; or UAPs. One file &ndash; from December 1947 &ndash; contains a series of reports on &quot;flying discs.&quot; &quot;Continued and recent reports from qualified observers concerning this phenomenon still makes this matter one of concern to Headquarters, Air Material Command,&quot; a document in the file said. An Air Force intelligence report &ndash; marked &quot;top secret&quot; &ndash; from November of the following year features information on reported sightings of &quot;unidentified aircraft&quot; and &quot;flying saucers.&quot; &quot;For some time, we have been concerned by the recurring reports on flying saucers,&quot; a document in that file said. Another file summarizes statements from seven federal government employees who separately reported &quot;several unidentified anomalous phenomena&quot; in the United States in 2023. &#39;Most compelling&#39; &quot;The reporters&#39; credibility, and the potentially anomalous nature of the events themselves &ndash; combine to make this report among the most compelling within AARO&#39;s current holdings,&quot; a description of the file said, referring to the Pentagon&#39;s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office. In one of the incidents, three teams of federal law enforcement special agents independently described &quot;seeing orange &#39;orbs&#39; in the sky emit/launch smaller red &#39;orbs.&#39;&quot; In another, two federal special agents witnessed &quot;a glowing orange orb... perched close to a rock pinnacle.&quot; That account included an artist rendering of a red-orange circle with a streak of yellow in its lower third. The object was described as looking &quot;similar to the Eye (of) Sauron from Lord of the Rings, except without&nbsp;the pupil.&quot; President Donald Trump directed US federal agencies in February to begin identifying and releasing government files related to UFOs and aliens, saying the move was &quot;based on the tremendous interest shown.&quot; The Republican president also claimed the same day he issued the release order that one of his Democratic predecessors, Barack Obama, had revealed &quot;classified&quot; information in viral podcast remarks about the existence of extraterrestrial life. &quot;They&#39;re real, but I haven&#39;t seen them and they&#39;re not being kept in... Area 51,&quot; Obama told host Brian Tyler Cohen, referring to the top-secret US military facility in Nevada at the heart of many UFO conspiracy theories. Trump told reporters at the time that Obama &quot;gave classified information, he is not supposed to be doing that,&quot; while saying of his own beliefs: &quot;I don&#39;t know if they are real or not.&quot; No evidence has been produced of intelligent life beyond Earth. In March 2024, the Pentagon released a report saying it had no proof that UAP were alien technology, with many suspicious sightings turning out to be merely weather balloons, spy planes, satellites and other normal activity.

The Pentagon releases previously classified UFO-related records Friday in Washington, renewing public interest in reported sightings of unexplained aerial objects. (AFP)

The Pentagon releases more than 160 files on unidentified anomalous phenomena, including reports dating back to the 1940s, while officials say there is no evidence of extraterrestrial life.

Pentagon releases long-sealed UFO files, renewing public speculation

KYIV: A large forest fire burned through the Chernobyl exclusion zone on Friday following a drone crash near the disaster-tainted nuclear plant the previous day, Ukrainian authorities said. Radiation levels at the site were within &quot;normal limits&quot;, authorities reported, adding that firefighters were working to contain the blaze. Images showed columns of white smoke billowing from the area, parts of which are closed off to the public due to high levels of radioactivity. The site surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear plant has been largely deserted since the plant suffered a catastrophic meltdown in 1986. It has since been converted into a nature reserve. &quot;As of 3:00 pm [1200 GMT] the estimated area of the fire, which broke out after two drones crashed within the Chernobyl nature reserve, is about 1,180 hectares,&quot; the reserve&#39;s director Denis Nesterov said in a post on Facebook. He did not say the origin of the drones. The governor of the neighboring Chernigiv region gave a higher estimate, suggesting the fire had spread across an area spanning 40 square kilometers. &quot;The aggressor is preventing the fire from being extinguished. Their drones are constantly hovering over the area,&quot; Chernigiv governor Vyacheslav Chaus added. Kyiv has repeatedly accused Moscow of recklessly attacking its nuclear sites, including the Chernobyl complex. A Russian drone last year punctured a hole in one of the radiation shells covering the reactor unit that exploded on April 26, 1986. Rescuers were working to prevent the further spread of the fire, Ukraine&#39;s state emergency service said. &quot;Due to strong gusts of wind, the fire is rapidly spreading across the territory, covering new sections of the forest,&quot; it said. &quot;The situation is complicated by dry weather, strong winds and mine danger in certain areas of the territory, which significantly limits the possibility of extinguishing work.&quot; The exclusion zone suffered wildfires in 2020, which lasted several weeks and caused a spike in background radiation. Ukraine only last month marked 40 years since the disaster.

This handout photograph, taken and released by the Ukrainian Chernobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve on May 8, 2026, shows smoke billowing over buildings in the town of Chernobyl from a forest fire in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. (AFP)

Fire burns through Ukraine’s Chernobyl exclusion zone after a drone crash, officials say, with radiation levels normal as firefighters battle the blaze in the restricted area.

Forest fire burns near Chernobyl nuclear plant after drone crash

FRANKFURT: A hostage situation at a German bank ended Friday after a special police unit freed two people unharmed from a vault, but the suspects escaped and are on the run, police said. Officers entered the bank branch in the western town of Sinzig but there was no sign of any suspects, police said. Investigators now believe that &quot;immediately after locking the individuals in the vault, the perpetrator or perpetrators left the scene by means as yet unknown&quot;, they said in a statement. The standoff began around 9:00 am local time, with the Bild newspaper reporting that suspects intercepted an armored van and threatened those inside the bank branch. The driver of the cash transport van was among those locked up by the suspects, according to police. An automatically triggered emergency alarm summoned police, who cordoned off the cobblestoned center of the town. A large contingent of rifle-wielding officers wearing helmets and ballistic vests surrounded the bank. But it now appears the suspects may have already escaped by the time officers arrived. A police spokesman told AFP at the scene that a search of adjoining buildings and the surrounding area had so far drawn a blank. He added that the hunt for the suspects remains active, and the two people freed from inside the bank were receiving care. No description of the suspects was immediately available. The small town of Sinzig is located just west of the Rhine River, roughly halfway between the cities of Bonn and Koblenz in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. In late 2025, a bank robbery took place in Gelsenkirchen, another city in western Germany, resulting in losses of &euro;30 million, according to police.

A police officer stows away a firearm in the trunk of a police car following the robbery and hostage situation at a bank in Sinzig, western Germany on May 8, 2026. (AFP)

German police end a hostage situation at a bank in Sinzig and free two people unharmed, while suspects escape and remain at large.

Hostage-taking at German bank over, no one hurt: Police

NORTH HALMAHERA: Three hikers &ndash; two Singaporeans and a local &ndash; died in an eruption Friday of Indonesia&#39;s Mount Dukono volcano where they found themselves in a no-go zone, officials said. The eruption on Halmahera island sent an ash cloud about 10 kilometers into the air, with no towns or villages near enough to face any immediate threat. Twenty hikers were on the slopes when disaster struck, North Halmahera police chief Erlichson Pasaribu told reporters at a volcano monitoring station in Mamuya village. He said nine were from Singapore and the rest Indonesian. As of Friday evening, 17 climbers &ndash; seven of them foreigners &ndash; have been found alive, according to the head of local rescue agency Iwan Ramdani. Rescue efforts have been paused and will resume Saturday, he said. Tour guide Alex Djangu, who was on the slopes when the eruption happened, said he arrived with a tour group on Thursday and found the volcano acting &quot;a bit strange&quot;. &quot;This was the first time I&#39;d seen it so quiet,&quot; he said by telephone from his hotel not far from the volcano. &quot;I told the guests that a major eruption is going to happen because the volcano is accumulating pressure at the bottom of the crater. And my prediction turned out to be correct.&quot; When the eruption happened, there were two groups of tourists, about 15 in total, at the crater rim, the 48-year-old recounted. &quot;I panicked, I thought they had all died, but it turned out that in the end only three died,&quot; the tour guide added. Djangu was with two German hikers who &quot;survived because we were in the safe radius,&quot; he said, describing this as the biggest eruption of Mount Dukono he had ever witnessed. &quot;Previously, when there was an eruption, there would be a single blast and then it was over. This time, the eruption started at 7:42 and by the time we came down the intensity was still the same, rocks were still coming out of the crater.&quot; Prohibited area Erlichson said the bodies of the three deceased were still on the mountain. &quot;Due to ongoing eruptions, the situation is still considered unsafe for evacuation. So, the joint team is still waiting for the right time to begin the search,&quot; he said. Some of the hikers had suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital for treatment. The group&#39;s guide and a porter were taken to the police station and could face criminal charges for taking hikers into a prohibited area, added the police chief. Since December, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) has warned tourists and climbers not to come within four kilometers of the volcano&#39;s Malupang Warirang Crater after scientists spotted an uptick in seismic activity. Erlichson said the hikers had ignored social media appeals and warning signs put up at the entrance of the trail to stay away. &quot;Local residents understand and don&#39;t want to climb. Many (hikers) are foreign tourists who wish to create (social media) content,&quot; he said. Lana Saria, head of the government Geology Agency, said Friday&#39;s eruption was accompanied by a &quot;booming sound&quot; and a thick column of ash and smoke rising 10 kilometers from the summit of Mount Dukono. &quot;The direction of the ash distribution leans northward, so residential areas and Tobelo City need to be vigilant for... volcanic ash rain,&quot; she said in a statement. The smoke could be dangerous for public health, Lana added, and risked disrupting transportation services. There are no settlements within a radius of about nine kilometers of the volcano. Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific &quot;Ring of Fire&quot; where tectonic plates collide. The Southeast Asian country has nearly 130 active volcanoes. Mount Dukono is on level two of Indonesia&#39;s four-tiered alert system. Erlichson urged hikers to stay away to prevent a repeat of Friday&#39;s avoidable disaster that has forced rescuers to deploy in &quot;tough terrain&quot; even as the volcano continues rumbling. &quot;After this incident, we will be strictly monitoring posts that hikers can pass. So no hiking as long as the status remains at level 2,&quot; he said.

A handout picture taken and released on May 8, 2026 by Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) shows rescue workers standing by after the volcanic eruption of Mount Dukono in North Halmahera, North Maluku. (AFP)

Asia

Indonesia’s Mount Dukono eruption sends ash 10 kilometers into the air as authorities pause rescue operations and prepare to resume recovery efforts once conditions improve.

Indonesia volcanic eruption kills three hikers: Officials

ROME: Three-time champion Iga Swiatek battled into the third round of the Italian Open on Friday with a 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 win over Caty McNally. Swiatek dropped serve in the opening game at the Foro Italico but rattled off the next six to seize control against the 63rd-ranked American. The Pole seemed on course for a routine victory when she pulled 4-2 in front in the second set, but McNally twice broke Swiatek as the Pole served for the match and then snatched the tie-break. Swiatek again nudged ahead with a break for a 3-1 lead in the decider. McNally clawed herself level at 3-all before Swiatek took the final three games to book her place in the next round, to her visible relief. &quot;It was a tough match, Caty really played great,&quot; said Swiatek. &quot;I had to be patient. For sure, some mistakes happened. It was not an easy match. I&#39;m really happy I was solid at the end and in the important moments. I kept it together.&quot; Swiatek will play US 28th seed Emma Navarro or Italy&#39;s Elisabetta Cocciaretto this weekend for a place in the last 16. The Pole suffered her earliest exit in five appearances in Madrid last month when she retired in third round due to a viral illness. She was knocked out at the same stage in Rome last year as defending champion. Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam champion, has not won a clay tournament since capturing the last of her four French Open titles in 2024. Alexandra Eala of the Philippines advanced with a straight-sets win over Chinese 31st seed Wang Xinyu. Canadian 10th seed Victoria Mboko withdrew from the event on Friday due to illness. She will be replaced in the draw by Czech lucky loser Nikola Bartunkova. Novak Djokovic is set for his first appearance on clay this season when he plays 20-year-old Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic. The 38-year-old Djokovic has not played since losing in the last 16 at Indian Wells in March. He pulled out of tournaments in Miami, Monte Carlo and Madrid while recovering from a shoulder injury.

Poland's Iga Swiatek serves to US Caty McNally during their women's singles match of the WTA Rome Open tennis tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome on May 8, 2026. (AFP)

Tennis

Iga Swiatek beats Caty McNally to reach the Italian Open third round in Rome after a tough three-set match, recovering from a second-set loss to finish strongly in the decider.

Trump announces three-day Ukraine-Russia ceasefire

Latest News

How identity politics keeps putting Indian stars in power

Trump announces three-day Ukraine-Russia ceasefire

Pakistan kills five terrorists in twin operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Military

Passengers to be repatriated after deadly hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship

US plans evacuation flight for Americans on hantavirus ship