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Toronto zoo announces birth of pygmy hippo calf, third for mother Kindia

The Toronto Zoo has announced the birth of a female pygmy hippo calf. Kindia, the zoo’s 20-year-old pygmy hippo, started showing signs of labor at around 8.15am last Sunday, it said. Around four hours later, the calf’s feet emerged and after 1.5 hours of active labor, Kindia successfully gave birth to the baby pygmy hippo. Within 15 minutes of birth, the calf began trying to stand and was “confidently navigating the space” a few hours later, the zoo said, adding that the calf was seen nursing approximately 4.5 hours after birth. The zoo has not identified the calf yet, but said that it is doing well alongside its mother. According to the zoo, the newborn is Kindia’s third calf. Kindia became pregnant after she was introduced to a 31-year-old male pygmy hippo named Harvey for eight days in January. “This wonderful news comes with both hope and caution,” the zoo said. “Kindia successfully raised her daughter Penelope in 2018, and calf survival for this species can be challenging. Our team will continue to closely monitor both mom and calf around the clock during these important first days to ensure they continue to progress well together.” Noting the species’ endangered status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list, Dolf DeJong, the Toronto Zoo’s CEO, said: “Welcoming a pygmy hippo calf is far more than a celebration of new life. Pygmy hippos are endangered, and their wild populations continue to decline due to habitat loss and human pressures. “This birth represents the critical role modern accredited zoos play in conservation, scientific collaboration, and maintaining healthy populations that contribute to the long-term survival of the species.” Only approximately 2,000 to 3,000 pygmy hippos are believed to remain in the wild. With adult pygmy hippos weighing anywhere from 330lb to 660lb and standing around 2.5 tall, the species are native to the forests and swamps of west Africa. In recent decades however, pygmy hippos have faced growing threats to their habitat including logging, mining, farming activities as well as human settlement.

Drone carrying explosives at German airport marks ‘new level of danger’, says interior minister

Germany’s interior minister has warned that the discovery of a drone carrying explosives at Leipzig airport marks “a new level of danger” for the country, as authorities examine whether the thwarted attack could have been planned by a foreign power. The discovery of a small drone carrying explosives at Leipzig airport, a leading shipping and military hub, set off alarm and caused flight diversions on Wednesday morning. German police deployed a bomb disposal robot to defuse and destroy the explosive device. In public remarks on Wednesday evening, the interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, said the incident did not appear to be the work of amateurs, and that investigators were treating it as part of a “professional hybrid threat scenario”. “We are dealing here with a competition that may also include foreign powers – this will be part of the investigations – who quite obviously want to contribute to considerable uncertainty in Germany,” Dobrindt said. A DHL cargo plane that had been forced to abort its landing at the airport then collided with an unknown object in mid-air as it was climbing away from the airport. It later landed safely elsewhere. Dobrindt and other German officials did not explicitly mention Russia as a potential suspect in their remarks. But the airport’s status as a Nato and German military logistics hub, as well as the base for Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines in Europe, has directed suspicion toward Russia, which has previously been accused of carrying out sabotage attacks in Europe. Security experts said the incident could amount to a serious escalation in tensions with Russia if it was determined the Kremlin played a role. Investigators said “a drone carrying an unknown explosive device was spotted by an airport employee in the security area of the cargo operations zone near the south runway” of Leipzig airport, a facility classified as “critical infrastructure”. “A suspected second unidentified flying object collided with a cargo aircraft after it had taken off again following the previous closure of the runway. Minor damage was detected on the aircraft after it landed in Hanover,” the investigators said. A Nato official said: “We are aware of the incident, which the German authorities continue to investigate.” The drone, a quadcopter that was fitted with an explosive device, was found near a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane, according to media reports. Some of the Ukrainian aircraft are emblazoned with patriotic slogans including “Be Brave Like Kherson” and “Be Brave Like Bucha”, the site of a civilian massacre early in the full-scale Russian invasion. The tabloid Bild speculated that the explosive could have been fabricated ⁠from fertiliser and petrol, while a team from the public broadcasters NDR and WDR, as well as the Süddeutsche newspaper, said the device had contained pentaerythritol tetranitrate, or PETN – a primary ingredient in semtex that belongs to the same chemical family as nitroglycerin. Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, blamed Moscow. “Who else could it be but Russia?” he told the commercial broadcaster Welt TV. Moscow has not commented so far. Konstantin von Notz, the opposition Green party’s spokesperson on intelligence oversight, called for an investigation to be conducted with the utmost urgency and also hinted at possible Russian involvement. “Should it transpire that a state is behind this action, this would constitute not merely terrorism but state terrorism directed against the federal republic of Germany and its citizens,” he told Der Spiegel. Marc Henrichmann, the CDU chair of the German parliament’s intelligence oversight committee, said the latest incident looked like “an attempt to target a company of importance for Ukraine”. If the details are confirmed, it “would represent a new level of escalation in these sorts of attacks”, he told the Rheinische Post newspaper. Several aircraft, including a passenger plane from Mallorca, were diverted because of the incident. Operations in the northern part of the airport resumed two hours later. The southern runway, where the drone was found, remained closed. Police deployed a bomb disposal robot to examine the object. Police and prosecutors said: “There is no danger to the lives or safety of passengers or airport staff. Passenger air traffic is unaffected.” Germany and other European countries have had a series of suspicious unauthorised drone overflights at airports, military facilities, ports and logistics companies. They have accused Russian agents of being behind some of the flights, which Moscow has denied. Germany is the biggest single national supplier of military aid to Ukraine and has accused Russia of orchestrating a campaign of sabotage, espionage and disinformation against it, which the Kremlin has denied. Last year, a Chinese national was convicted for passing on information about flight schedules and cargo movements at Leipzig/Halle airport to a man spying for Beijing. Separately, Die Zeit reported that Russian secret services were plotting an attack against Stefan Thumann, the head of German drone manufacturer Donaustahl. The report said German investigators were tipped off by a foreign intelligence service at the end of last year and arrested a Ukrainian man and a Romanian woman this spring. Thumann is said to be under police protection. In 2024, US intelligence services reportedly foiled a Russian plot to assassinate the chief executive of Germany’s leading arms manufacturer, an apparent attempt at retaliation over the company’s role in providing a large amount of armaments for Ukraine. The plan to murder Armin Papperger, the chief executive of Rheinmetall, was reportedly one of several Russian government schemes to kill defence industry executives in several countries in Europe that have been supporting Ukraine’s war effort. The plot against Papperger was believed to be the most advanced. Additional reporting by Jakub Krupa

Iran and Oman agree on coordinates of route through strait of Hormuz, says Iranian foreign ministry – as it happened

Iran and Oman have agreed a route for ships transiting the strait of Hormuz and are finalising the draft deal for jointly managing the waterway, Tehran’s foreign ministry said Wednesday. But, spokesperson Esmaeil Baghei stressed that any reopening of the strait would depend on the United States fulfilling what Tehran sees as its commitment to end its own naval blockade of Iran’s ports. A joint statement will be issued from Iran and Oman “if certain parties do not obstruct this process” , Baghei said, apparently referring to the US. Two regional officials briefed on the negotiations told the AP that the potential deal was a temporary solution to the dispute over the strait, and will pave the way for the US and Iran to resume negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program. Israel launched attacks in southern Lebanon after accusing Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire, despite ongoing US-mediated peace talks between Israel and Lebanon in Rome. At least one person was killed and 11 others injured in Israeli strikes on the southern town of Tibnin. The strikes came after the IDF issued a warning for people in the southern village of Mansouri to flee their homes – the first time in more than a month that the military had issued such an order ahead of an imminent strike. It comes as the United Nations said more than 800,000 people displaced by war have begun returning to their homes in Lebanon. Oil prices rose after Yemen’s ⁠Iran-aligned Houthi rebels said they targeted a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea as part of their naval blockade of Saudi Arabia. Brent crude futures were up 81 cents, or 1.02%, at $80.17 a barrel by 12pm GMT. ⁠US West Texas Intermediate futures gained 34 cents, or 0.45%, to $76.11. The Houthis said they had launched a missile attack on a Saudi ‌oil tanker off the coast ‌of Yanbu, a key port for Saudi crude oil exports. This is the eighth ship they have attacked since 22 July, when they announced that they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia.

Exiled PM vows to return to Bangladesh despite execution threat

Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to return home by the end of the year, even though she faces a death sentence. “They may put me in a cell. They may kill me. Anything may happen, but still I have to go,” said Hasina, two years after a student-led uprising toppled her government. Hasina, 78, who has lived under tight security in India since fleeing Dhaka, said on Wednesday she would return in December – Bangladesh’s “month of victory”, marking the defeat of Pakistani forces in the 1971 war of independence. “Whatever fate awaits me, I will return to my people,” the former Awami League leader told a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia in Delhi, speaking via audio link. Her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, told the news conference she was being treated well in exile. “She is staying with the full services and security of a head of state,” he said. “Prime minister [Narendra] Modi’s government has shown her the utmost respect, and for that I am eternally grateful.” India officially distanced itself from the news conference, saying it had no role in organising it and did not endorse the political views expressed. India has been walking a diplomatic tightrope over Hasina, who was one of its closest regional allies. Bilateral ties have deteriorated sharply since her downfall and India has been seeking to mend relations with Bangladesh while resisting demands for her extradition. Hasina’s flight ended more than 15 years of increasingly authoritarian Awami League rule. The Bangladesh Nationalist party, led by Tarique Rahman, the son of the former prime minister Khaleda Zia, swept to power earlier this year in an election that barred the Awami League. The government has said Hasina would probably be arrested the moment she set foot in Bangladesh. Last November, Bangladesh’s international crimes tribunal sentenced her to death in absentia for crimes against humanity over the violent suppression of the protests. The demonstrations began over government-job quotas and snowballed into a mass movement against Hasina’s government. The UN estimates up to 1,400 people may have died. Hasina’s supporters say the death toll was about 800. She has rejected the court’s verdict as politically motivated and said the execution threat would not change her plans. Hasina was imprisoned several times during her fierce rivalry with Zia, who died in 2025. The two women traded claims of using corruption cases and arrests against each other in a “Battle of the Begums”, an honorific title for a senior woman. Bangladesh has prohibited domestic media from broadcasting or publishing Hasina’s statements. She has demanded that the ban on the Awami League be lifted, political prisoners be released and “false cases” against party activists be dropped. Claiming Bangladesh is sinking into lawlessness and economic ruin, she accuses the new government of trying to erase the country’s secular character. The government has been grappling with high inflation and sluggish economic growth while blaming many of the country’s problems on alleged corruption and mismanagement during Hasina’s years in power.

The Leipzig drone bomb marks a dangerous escalation for Europe

The armed drone found at Leipzig airport on Wednesday may not have exploded, but the fact that it got inside the perimeter, close to Ukrainian cargo planes, raises obvious concerns for the security of international aviation. Though the identity of the culprits is unknown, the initial evidence points firmly towards a Russian-orchestrated plot. It is the first time that a drone with explosives has been found in Europe far from the Ukrainian border. Photographs published by German newspapers show a quadcopter, a design familiar from the Ukraine war, with a package attached. It lies a few metres short of a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane, with its easily identifiable yellow and blue trim livery. Police from the German state of Saxony confirmed that the drone was “carrying an unknown explosive device” discovered by an employee in the “secure cargo flight operations area” near the airport’s southern runway. German media reported the attached bomb was made of PETN and semtex plastic explosive – the second of the two being the munition that exploded inside Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie. But the bomb attached to the drone did not explode, because the detonator was faulty. A local newspaper, Leipziger Volkszeitung, said police discovered as much as 800g of explosive. This would be “enough to do considerable damage” to a plane, according to Trevor Lawrence, an explosives expert with Cranfield University, not least because “aeroplane bodies are ridiculously thin, often only 3mm aluminium”. Whether the explosive was specifically semtex, invented in the Czech Republic, or from another country may not have been determined. But any type of plastic explosive has typically only been available to militaries or well-established terror groups, not to reckless amateur drone pilots messing around. A second unidentified flying object, which could well have been another drone, also collided with a DHL cargo plane in the aftermath of the first incident several hundred metres above the ground. The cargo plane only sustained minor damage. Leipzig airport is a sensitive site, the European base of Ukrainian Antonov jets, used for heavy cargo. The airport is also used by Nato and the German military for transport, as well as being a DHL hub, and the Ukrainian planes suggest it may also have been a node for supplies to Kyiv. Nato would only say it was aware of the incident on Wednesday, though it is eye-catching that the western alliance appears to have not been able to prevent drones from flying into and over a strategic airport. It is not the first time Leipzig airport has been involved in a dangerous incident. A firebomb, posted via DHL, exploded at the airport in July 2024 while a second travelled to the UK and caught fire at a warehouse in Birmingham. Two similar packages were also found in Poland. A subsequent pan-European investigation identified 22 suspects in Lithuania and Poland who are suspected of having been employed by Russian intelligence. The investigation found perpetrators were recruited and given instructions online, and frequently paid in cryptocurrency, their knowledge of the full plot apparently limited. Russia has also been behind a string of drone incursions into Europe over the past year, some more blatant than others. Around 20 unarmed Russian delta-wing Gerbera drones crossed into Poland last September, forcing a major alert, with people in two of the country’s eastern provinces told to shelter indoors. An analysis by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) thinktank concluded last month that the Kremlin was behind a concerted drone surveillance campaign that targeted the US airbase at RAF Lakenheath and other key military sites in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. In the first case, Nato jets struggled to shoot down the incoming drones, most of which eventually crashed or lost power and glided to the ground. In the second, western militaries struggled to work out who were the culprits, failing to capture any of the drones or react to the surveillance efforts promptly. Russia, in sum, has so far been able to conduct other firebomb operations, as well as drone harassment and surveillance campaigns with relative impunity. Moscow is already subject to a wide range of sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, and it is likely to believe that the west has little more it is willing to punish the country with. “A drone carrying a charge with a detonator that failed is a different proposition to what we have seen before,” said Charlie Edwards, a senior fellow with the IISS, adding ominously: “It is likely, though not yet certain, that this was intended to function rather than to be found.”

Mexican influencer shot dead while streaming live on social media

A popular Mexican influencer has been shot dead while doing a live stream on social media outside a restaurant in Sinaloa state, where lethal cartel violence has become widespread. César Gastélum, who had nearly 600,000 followers on TikTok and was known for making comedy videos, was filming with two friends outside a fast-food restaurant in the city of Culiacán. The three were dressed in the bright orange jackets and backpacks of food delivery drivers. A motorcycle with a driver and pillion rider suddenly pulled up beside them and the driver pulled out a gun and shot Gastélum at point-blank range. A security official in Sinaloa confirmed Gastélum’s death to Reuters and said a major security operation was under way. The killing is the latest example of bloodshed in Culiacán, which has become an epicentre of violence as factions of the Sinaloa cartel battle for control of the city. Mexico’s security cabinet wrote on X that it was investigating several of Gastélum’s posts, “some of which referred to a faction of a criminal group”. It also said video surveillance footage and other evidence were being analysed to identify and apprehend those responsible. Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said on Wednesday that authorities were investigating the killing and working to identify the killer. “The actual perpetrators, and if applicable the mastermind, must be arrested, and the reason behind this tragic homicide must be uncovered,” she said in her morning press conference. At least 12 social media influencers have been murdered in Culiacán since two factions of the Sinaloa cartel began their battle in September 2024, according to local media. They have also been targeted in Jalisco state. Valeria Márquez, 23, was shot and killed at a beauty salon last year while live-streaming on TikTok, where she had thousands of followers. Authorities announced last week that they had arrested Ramón Ángel Álvarez Ayala, the leader of a criminal cell with links to the Jalisco New Generation cartel, in relation to the killing. They also accused him of ordering and financing the November 2025 assassination of Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan, the second largest city in Michoacán state, in a killing that shocked the country.

Suspect in Washington state wildfire was questioned about blazes last year

The Washington state man accused of starting a wildfire that has destroyed homes and forced thousands to flee around Spokane was previously questioned in connection with two fire investigations last year, according to court documents. Authorities allege that Aaron Farinacci, 37, of Spokane, started Old Trails fire, one of three major wildfires burning in Spokane county in north-eastern Washington. He was arrested on Monday and booked on suspicion of first-degree arson. The Old Trails fire is one of more than a dozen large blazes burning in Washington. The state has faced devastating fires in recent days amid what officials have described as an “extraordinary” fire season in the Pacific north-west due to extreme heat, drought and limited resources. Farinacci has denied that he set the Old Trails fire. The fires burning around Spokane have scorched more than 10,000 acres. Officials reported that cooler weather and higher relative humidity have aided firefighters in recent days, allowing them to establish containment lines along all three fires. Crews are now focused on strengthening containment, and preparing for the return of critical fire weather this week and over the weekend. John Nowels, the Spokane county sheriff, has said Farinacci was first questioned shortly after the Old Trails fire began, after he was identified by witnesses who saw him kneeling in the brush near the fire’s origin. “He was bent over in the brush, acting nervous,” Paul Child, who was driving in the area with his grandson, told the Associated Press. “You get the feeling this guy’s up to something.” Farinacci had waterproof matches, cigarettes and a butane lighter in his posession, authorities say. Police arrested him on Monday after an investigators ruled out other possible causes of the fire, and learned that he had been questioned in connection with other fires. In July 2025, there were several “bus-sized” fires in an area near the Spokane River and Farinacci’s apartment. Police searching for a wildfire suspect at a state park the following month came upon Farinacci sitting on a bench “seemingly out of breath from possibly running”. Law enforcement took photos of him and according to court documents he was wearing a green T-shirt like the one he was seen in on Saturday. While he was questioned in the two investigations, he was not charged. Since Farinacci’s arrest in connection with the Old Trails fire, a clearer picture of his criminal history has emerged. He previously served roughly a decade in prison for manslaughter and aggravated assault in the 2010 killing of his father. At age 21, he shot and killed his father after an argument in a family home in Arizona. He was released from probation in early 2024, and a probation officer said he had a stable residence with his girlfriend and her family, but had not completed a mental health evaluation or domestic violence treatment. Farinacci is currently being held on $1m bail. The Associated Press contributed reporting

Pakistani authorities ban international media from reporting in most of country

Pakistani authorities have imposed severe new restrictions on international media, including barring them from reporting in most of the country, in a move that has provoked a significant backlash from journalist organisations. According to the new rules anyone, including Pakistani nationals, should seek permission first if they want to report from anywhere Pakistan except three cities – Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. Pakistan is ranked 153 out of 180 on the World Press Freedom Index. Successive regimes there have imposed restrictions and censorship on local media. But this is the first time they have put restrictions on international media. The sudden announcement of new rules came after the killing of dozens of protesters in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which was only reported by international media. Al Jazeera’s website was restricted in Pakistan after it reported on the bloody protests and the news that people were boycotting regional elections from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan’s Kashmir. Pakistan’s information ministry derided Al Jazeera’s reporting as “yellow journalism”, a derogatory term used for sensationalised reporting. Authorities have not publicly announced a ban of the news website, but it remains inaccessible without a VPN. The BBC reported from Pakistan-administered Kashmir and quoted protesters and people who accused Pakistani security forces of firing at unarmed protesters. Pakistani authorities issued a strongly worded denial and asked all journalists to immediately leave Kashmir. The new rules, which the ministry of information called the Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines 2026, do not specify a timeframe for how long it would take for journalists to be granted permission to report. Nasir Zaidi, a former general secretary at the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and a senior journalist, said that international media has been objectively reporting on protest movements, crackdowns on opposition parties and the repressive political situation in Pakistan. “For decades, various governments have always tried to kill the news and they failed because of the reporting of international media and now it came up with these repressive rules to curb the movement of journalists. They don’t want the truth to be reported,” said Zaidi. The government denies that the new rules are a blanket restriction on the movement of journalists or constrict media. Zaidi, who was subjected to public flogging during the military dictatorship of Gen Zia ul-Haq for raising his voice for media rights, said that he had never witnessed such times before. “Despite the fact I have worked during martial laws, but, such curbs and restrictions on international media were unseen. It is worse than martial law,” he added. According to the new guidelines, the accreditation and registration is mandatory for international media outlets and journalists in the country. The new rules also state that journalists can lose their accreditation for “acts against ideology, sovereignty, security or public order of Pakistan”. Legal experts and journalists have said that these stipulations are vague and difficult to interpret. “Pakistan is sending a very wrong message to the world with all these rules curbing free speech and freedom of international media,” said Zaidi.