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A group of climate protesters have been arrested in Germany after breaking into an airport and gluing themselves to the runway. 

Six activists broke through security fencing at Munich airport in the German state of Bavaria on Saturday, according to the news outlet dpa.

Approximately sixty flights were canceled after the half-dozen protesters glued themselves to the tarmac, forcing officials to temporarily close the airport.

CLIMATE ACTIVISTS ARRESTED FOR BLOCKING AIRSTRIP IN MASSACHUSETTS

An additional fourteen flights into Munich were forced to divert to other nearby airports to avoid the disruption. 

Climate protest coalition Last Generation took credit for the stunt, claiming it was intended to draw attention to the German government's inaction on the airline industry's environmental impact.

CLIMATE GROUP TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR US OPEN CHAOS, OFFERS WARNING: 'NO TENNIS ON A DEAD PLANET'

All six protesters were arrested and charged by law enforcement.

 "Trespassing in the aviation security area is no trivial offense. Over hundreds of thousands of passengers were prevented from a relaxed and punctual start to their Pentecost holiday," German Airports Association General Manager Ralph Beisel told dpa.

"Such criminal actions threaten air traffic and harm climate protection because they only cause lack of understanding and anger," German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wrote about the protests on social media platform X.

The Munich incident was just one of many similar protests around the world against air transportation. Last Generation has performed at least two similar airport disruptions in Germany since last year.

President Javier Milei of Argentina continues to stun his critics with an economy that has outperformed expectations and continues along an ambitious path for national security, including pursuit of a NATO global partnership. 

"The fact that you have a president, head of state, who is defending the free market, who is defending the role of entrepreneurs and businessmen as creators of value and just defending deregulation when the tendency in Latin America and much of the West has been to regulate the economy . . . I think that's very positive, not only for Argentina, but for the region as a whole and maybe beyond," Daniel Raisbeck, a policy analyst at the CATO Institute, told Fox News Digital. 

Milei won the presidency in November last year and prompted concern from some in the West that he would lead his country down a road to ruin with libertarian policies that would make an already troubled economy even weaker. Voters wanted economic relief from a market hit with some of the highest inflation in the world. 

Those attitudes have shifted just months later as Milei has enacted a raft of policy changes: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to release a tranche of loans due to Argentina under a bailout program thanks to Milei’s government managing to create a fiscal surplus in the previous fiscal quarter and bring inflation down. 

ARGENTINA REPORTS ITS FIRST SINGLE-DIGIT INFLATION IN SIX MONTHS AS MARKETS SWOON AND COSTS HIT HOME

Argentina’s inflation in March alone hit 287%, causing poverty to deepen, and citizens to take to the streets with strikes and protests against his policies. 

Milei then went on to significantly reduce spending with major cuts to public-sector wages as he suspended public works projects and cut subsidies. He also devalued the country’s currency by over 50%, which helped it stabilize in value even as the price of basic goods jumped. 

Argentina recorded a $589 million budget surplus in January and continued to post a surplus for each of the first four months of 2024, even as the margins of those surpluses narrowed to a $299 million surplus in April, Reuters reported. 

Raisbeck stressed that Milei’s primary measure of cutting spending has proven highly effective, while arguing that the significant deregulation in other parts of the economy has helped it revive over those first months of the new administration. 

"Argentina was one of the most regulated economies in the world," Raisbeck said. "So when you have a very well-thought-out package like the one that they introduced . . . and you get rid of as many of those regulations as you can, then it's very positive."

AT LEAST 90 INJURED AFTER PASSENGER TRAIN HITS BOXCAR, DERAILS IN ARGTENTINE CAPITAL

He noted that Milei has not adhered to some of his more aggressive campaign promises, which included a promise to dollarize the economy and shut down the Central Bank, saying that it was a "non-negotiable matter."

Even days after he won the election, Milei appeared to favor more moderate Cabinet members than many would have expected of a man who jolted the international community with his outsider attitude and plans. 

The Wall Street Journal, in December 2023, argued that Milei’s tenure "may turn out to be pretty conventional," with pro-market Economy Minister Luis Caputo leading away from Milei’s more radical plans. 

The promised dollarization has been delayed, and Raisbeck explained that Milei’s approach has relied heavily on using the Central Bank to help regulate the economy, though he argued that Milei’s policies remain libertarian due to the deregulation he has pursued in other areas. 

"Everything related to deregulation is very libertarian, and we’ve seen great success already in the housing market, for instance," Raisbeck said. "So that obviously brought a huge amount of supply that was suppressed because of price controls."

Milei also brought Argentina back to the international foreground, with a stronger focus on national security and changing up the country’s goals from the previous administration – most notably, he rejected the invitation to join the China and Russia-led economic bloc BRICS. 

PERUVIAN LAWMAKERS BEGIN YET ANOTHER EFFORT TO REMOVE PRESIDENT DINA BULARTE FROM OFFICE

Milei argued that it was not "opportune" for Argentina to join the bloc as a full member, according to German outlet DW. However, he will continue to develop ties with its members in the meantime. 

"They have a good security minister, Patricia Bullrich, who has experience because she was a security minister in the previous government," Joseph M. Humire, the executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society, told Fox News Digital. "She has been able to get the ball rolling very quickly, and I think that was the benefit of having her in that position." 

Humire explained that Milei’s government has largely focused on clearing out external agitators, particularly those connected to Russian disinformation networks, which remain a paramount concern in most parts of the world as Moscow seeks to expand its influence. 

"The external forces are usually the key," Humire said. "Usually, it’s the Russians. The Russians have probably the biggest disinformation networks to be able to amplify local grievances and turn them into this macro instability, and they did that in Colombia, in Chile." 

"A lot of the specifics of the nation’s security has been in mitigating these agitation networks that create chaos throughout the country, and they have been neutralizing some of these threats while they’re studying others," he added. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

JERUSALEM — The White House is considering the resettlement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the United States, sparking warnings from experts about the potential for terrorism and failed assimilation. 

"We are constantly evaluating policy proposals to further support Palestinians who are family members of American citizens and may want to come to the United States," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced in early May.

Hamas invaded Israel Oct. 7 and murdered nearly 1,200 people, including over 30 Americans. Video footage shows Gazans cheering Hamas terrorists as they returned with over 250 kidnapped people from southern Israel. Palestinian civilians, according to the footage, also desecrated the bodies of dead Israelis and Europeans.

Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip have been steeped in Hamas’s terrorist ideology since 2007, according to experts. The U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hamas has instilled a dangerous mix of antisemitic, anti-Christian, anti-American thinking into large swathes of the over 2 million Gazans.

WHY MIDEAST NEIGHBORS WON'T OFFER REFUGE TO PALESTINIANS STUCK IN GAZA WAR ZONE

Pinhas Inbari, a veteran Arab affairs analyst and correspondent in Israel who spent over 14 years covering the West Bank and Gaza, told Fox New Digital, "I think that the core issue is whether all Gaza is Hamas or as Biden tries to convince us that there is a difference between Hamas and the Gazans, and we have to treat them differently.

"I cannot say all Gazans are Hamas, but you can say they are brainwashed by Hamas. Muslims are indoctrinated with Islam and jihad [in Gaza]. You can’t take them as they are now and plant them in the U.S. Biden has to see Europe to understand."

Inbari pointed to the late April march of over 1,000 radical Islamists in the northern German city of Hamburg. The Islamists announced that "Caliphate is the solution." A Caliphate is an Islamic state where Sharia law governs all walks of life. Inbari is fluent in Arabic. 

It "will take years of education to teach them not be jihadi Muslims," he said. 

He compared Biden’s plan to "taking al-Qaeda to the U.S. They are educated to hate America and Christians. They think if they hate Jews they will not hate Christians. They are mistaken. Al Qaeda hates Christians before Jews."

WHITE HOUSE WALKS DIPLOMATIC TIGHTROPE ON ISRAEL WITH CONTRADICTORY MESSAGING 

Biden’s immigration plan and the pro-Hamas protests on college campuses were recently discussed by some Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel’s TPS-IL news agency published video footage of Gazans speaking about immigration and anti-Israel protests on U.S. campuses.  

"Everything that’s happening here is according to their plan," one elderly Palestinian man said in an apparent reference to Israel. "They attacked Gaza with all of their military might but achieved nothing. But now they’re working on a new plan. They claim their hearts are with the people of Gaza, that they want to bring them out and ease their burdens.

"And this is the core plan of America and the occupation — to force us to emigrate. I will not emigrate — even if the entire universe demands it."

There is no evidence Israel or the United States wishes to push Palestinians to immigrate. Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, and the Palestinian terrorist movement seized power in 2007.

BIDEN'S ARMS EMBARGO ON ISRAEL 'EMBOLDENS' HAMAS MISSILE STRIKES AGAINST JEWISH STATE

A younger man, however, in the TPS video clip states he wishes to relocate. 

"Why stay here? No one will stay. Everything is ruined. Why stay?" he said.

A middle-aged man added, "I am personally 55 years old. I don’t care to emigrate. But for my kids, I’ll tell them to go."

One Palestinian man vehemently opposes immigration. 

"Who’s emigrating? God forbid," he said. "Whoever emigrates has no [love of] country, no religion and no belief. "This is someone who has no loyalty to Gaza … who has no real ties to Gaza or to Palestine."

CRITICS PAN BIDEN PLAN TO BRING GAZA REFUGEES INTO US: 'TERRORISTS ENTERING OUR HOMELAND'

The pro-Hamas protests on American college campuses were addressed by a Palestinian woman, who said, "I think Hamas supports the protests in the USA. Thank you to the students in the USA who stand by the Palestinian people." 

A Palestinian man added, "Surely Hamas supports these college students and should support them for that."

"The United States has provided support for over 1,800 eligible individuals from Gaza who have departed or want to depart," a U.S. State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "This includes U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (LPRs) and their families, many of whom have come to the United States. This also includes particularly vulnerable individuals such as children with serious health conditions, including cancer and physical disabilities, often a result of the war, who require acute or specialized care in the United States or in the region."

The State Department spokesperson made clear all will be carefully checked. 

"Any individuals from Gaza who have traveled or would travel to the United States are thoroughly vetted, as the safety and security of the American people is our top priority," the spokesperson said. "We have been clear and consistent: The United States categorically rejects any actions leading to the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank or the redrawing of the borders of Gaza."

Syrian-born American journalist and Middle East expert Hayvi Bouzo reviewed the interviews on TPS-IL.

"The Biden administration's immigration policies and open border approach have long been problematic due to inadequate vetting for legal immigrants," Bouzo told Fox News Digital. "In Gaza, for nearly two decades, Hamas has controlled the content of textbooks, media and mosque khutbahs (sermons).

"Most people working in Gaza have had to affiliate with Hamas or other radical groups to find employment, complicating efforts to identify those deeply involved with Hamas' terrorist activities. This situation underscores the critical need for thorough vetting to identify potential national security threats, a measure that has yet to be effectively implemented by the Biden administration.

IDF CLAIMS PHOTOS SHOW HAMAS COMBATANTS INSIDE UN COMPOUND IN RAFAH

"The administration's efforts to evacuate civilians from conflict zones in Gaza, which is traditionally, internationally praised as a humanitarian effort to save live — are perceived by many Palestinians and Arabs as a ‘conspiracy’ to force Palestinians from their homes. I believe the Biden administration's policies have not earned gratitude from any party involved are not particularly perceived as helpful to the Palestinians in Gaza, and come with a national security risk.

"On the other hand, Egypt should continue to welcome Gazan refugees, while the U.S. should assist by providing aid, shelter, food and medicine until it's safe for them to return to their homes."

In December, a shocking survey revealed 57% of Palestinian respondents in Gaza and 82% of Palestinians in the West Bank (known as Judea and Samaria in Israel) agree with Hamas’ terrorism attack Oct. 7.

Inbari, an expert on Palestinian society, provided some optimism. He said if the United Arab Emirates, which has diplomatic relations with Israel, takes responsibility for the rebuilding of Gaza, the Emirates "will bring a positive Islam" to the enclave. 

He said there is a possibility "Gazans will learn they were brainwashed by Hamas. I think they will sober up. It happened in Syria with the people who were brainwashed by Assad.

"Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s Baath Party has spent over 50 years socializing Syrians to hate Israel, Jews and the United States. After Assad started to wipe out Sunni Syrians protesting against his regime in 2011, many Syrians "understood that Assad played with them," Inbari said.

Populist Dutch political leader Geert Wilders, of the anti-Muslim immigration Freedom Party in the Netherlands, cobbled together a right-wing coalition government on Wednesday, sending shock waves across Europe’s establishment political system.

Thomas Corbett-Dillon, a political commentator and former adviser to conservative ex-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, told Fox News Digital "The EU elections are just a few weeks away, and the liberal elites are in absolute panic because a sharp jump to the right is inevitable across Europe."

He claimed that "This shift is being led by the youth, who saw these left-wing authoritarians destroy their lives during COVID, consistently suppress their national pride, and invite the Third World into Europe, while they can’t find a job, let alone enough money for a house."

HARD-RIGHT FIREBRAND GEERT WILDERS WINS ELECTION IN NETHERLANDS: 'DUTCH DONALD TRUMP'

Corbett Dillon added "Right Wing parties are rising across Europe. Look at Ireland, Sweden, France, Hungary, Italy…the list goes on and on. The European people have been clear. No more immigration, no more Islamification, no more Green agenda. Enough . Remember those Dutch farmers who rose up and blockaded their capital, demanding their country back? Well, today they won."

Measures targeting immigration were key components of the "Hope, courage and pride" agreement formed by the four Dutch coalition party political factions. "Deport people without a valid residence permit as much as possible, even forcibly," the 26-page document says.

"We are writing history today," Wilders proclaimed, saying he had made sure the three other coalition parties, including the one of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, had accepted the core of his program. "The sun will shine again in the Netherlands," Wilders said. "It is the strongest asylum policy ever."

The "Hope, courage and pride" deal scraps family reunification for refugees and seeks to reduce the number of international students studying in the country.

Wilders will not serve as prime minister in the new government. He said, however, that "My party will be at the center of power. It makes us enormously proud."

Wilders stunned Europe’s mainstream parties when he secured 25% of the national vote in the country’s November election.

HERE'S WHY IRELAND IS AT BOILING POINT OVER MASS IMMIGRATION

Alan Mendoza, the executive director of the London-based The Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital that "The formation of this particular government is of huge importance as it suggests that mainstream Dutch parties have given up trying to prevent populists from being in power and will now respect their vote share. This will be transformative across Europe given the political mood shift within the E.U., and reflects the political class finally accepting that voters’ concerns are real and must be accommodated."

Mendoza, who closely monitors European politics, added, "It remains to be seen if a real difference can be made in the areas of immigration and radical Islam. However, as liberal vested interests in EU countries have a long history of frustrating attempts by others to adopt common sense policies in both fields."

Wilders has backed away from some of his radical positions, including a ban on the Koran and mosques. He also withdrew his advocacy for a plan for the Netherlands to leave the EU, which was dubbed "Nexit" after Britain’s "Brexit" departure from the EU.

Wilders, the so-called "Dutch Donald Trump," has now elevated himself to the kingpin role of Dutch politics in the northern European country of nearly 18 million people. Wilders’ party, along with the three other factions in the coalition, are also looking into the "appropriate timing" to relocate their embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel’s capital in Jerusalem.

TOP UK POLITICIAN SAYS VOTERS, INCLUDING IN US, ARE DEMANDING ‘ROBUST ACTION’ ON MIGRATION CRISIS

Former President Trump moved America’s embassy to Jerusalem in 2018.  The coalition will also introduce mandatory Holocaust education in the Dutch school system after outbreaks of antisemitism in support of the terrorist organization Hamas unfolded in Holland.

Wilder’s party formed a coalition with the conservative-liberal VVD, the centrist New Social Contract and the Farmer Citizens Movement (BBB). The coalition announced in its agreement that "An opt-out clause for European asylum and migration policies will be submitted as soon as possible to the European Commission."

The umbrella organization for left-wing European parties, the Party of European Socialists, said about the new right-wing Dutch government, "As socialists, we condemn these very worrying developments."

The socialists expressed solidarity with former Dutch politician Frans Timmermans, who is known as the "climate pope" for his codifying of rigid environmental goals within the EU.

According to a London Times report, former EU Commissioner Timmermans said the Netherlands has ushered in "the dominance of a radical right-wing party" and "Wilders will be in the center of power. I find that very worrying." 

Timmermans noted, "This country that is so in need of reconciliation and building bridges is now putting someone at the center of power who has been dividing for 20 years."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

U.N. experts say South Sudan is close to securing a $13 billion loan from a company in the United Arab Emirates, despite the oil-rich country’s difficulties in managing debts backed by its oil reserves.

The panel of experts said in a report to the U.N. Security Council that loan documents it has seen indicate the deal with the company, Hamad Bin Khalifa Department of Projects, would be South Sudan’s largest-ever oil-backed loan.

SOUTH SUDAN MEDIATION TALKS LAUNCHED IN KENYA WITH A HOPE OF ENDING CONFLICT

The experts, who monitor an arms embargo against South Sudan, said in the oil section of the report obtained by The Associated Press this week that "servicing this loan would likely tie up most of South Sudan’s revenue (for) many years, depending on oil prices."

Hamad Bin Khalifa Department of Projects, registered in Dubai, has no listed phone number and its website isn’t working. An email address associated with the company bounced back. The UAE Mission to the United Nations declined to comment, saying Hamad is a private company.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 following decades of civil war that cost million of lives, and oil is the backbone of the young nation’s economy.

Soon after independence, South Sudan fought its own civil war from 2013 to 2018, when rivals President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar signed a power-sharing agreement and formed a coalition government. South Sudan is under pressure from the United States and other nations to more quickly implement the 2018 peace deal that ended the civil war and prepare for elections.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest update, South Sudan produced an average of about 149,000 barrels of liquid fuels per day in 2023. The landlocked country uses Sudan's pipelines to transfer its oil to Port Sudan for shipment to global markets in an agreement with the Sudanese government, which pockets $23 per barrel as transit fees for the oil exports.

South Sudanese Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth told reporters in February that outside factors, including the civil war still raging in Sudan, have hurt South Sudan’s oil exports. He also said oil wells, which were water-logged by heavy floods during the past rainy season, weren’t yet fully operational.

The section on oil in the experts report said documents for the loan from the UAE company, signed between December and February by South Sudan’s minister of finance, indicate the loan is split into tranches.

According to the documents, around 70% of the loan is to be allocated to infrastructure projects, with the first payment in excess of $5 billion, the panel said. Following a three-year grace period, "the loan will be secured against the delivery of crude oil for a period of up to 17 years."

The panel of experts raised serious questions about South Sudan’s oil-based debts.

South Sudan lost a case in the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes stemming from a $700 million loan it received from Qatar National Bank in 2012.

When the panel wrote its report, the tribunal had not reached a decision on how much the government would have to pay, but The Sudan Tribune reported Sunday that South Sudan has been ordered to pay more than $1 billion.

The panel of experts said it has also confirmed that the government owes $151.97 million to the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank stemming from a previous oil-related deal.

South Sudan was supposed to hold elections before February 2023, but that timetable was pushed back last August to December 2024.

In early April, South Sudan's president warned lawmakers "not to cling to power just weeks after his former rival turned deputy proposed a further postponement of elections.

The panel of experts said would be "a significant milestone" and warned that the country's leaders are running short of time "to ensure divergent expectations do not fuel further tensions and strife."

The experts also noted South Sudan's humanitarian crisis. in which an estimated 9 million of the country's 12.5 million people need protection and humanitarian assistance, according to the U.N. The country has also seen an increase in the number of refugees fleeing the war in neighboring Sudan, further complicating humanitarian assistance to those affected by South Sudan's internal conflict.

Chileans are bundling up for their coldest autumn in more than 70 years mere days after sunning in T-shirts — a dramatic change of wardrobe brought on this week by a sudden cold front gripping portions of South America unaccustomed to bitter wind chills this time of year.

CHILE SHUTS DOWN A POPULAR GLACIER, SPARKING DEBATE OVER CLIMATE CHANGE AND ADVENTURE SPORTS

Temperatures broke records along the coast of Chile and in Santiago, the capital, dipping near freezing and making this month the coldest May that the country has seen since 1950, the Chilean meteorological agency reported.

An unusual succession of polar air masses has moved over southern swaths of the continent, meteorological experts say, pushing the mercury below zero Celsius (32 Fahrenheit) in some places. It's the latest example of extreme weather in the region — a heat wave now baking Mexico, for instance — which scientists link to climate change.

"The past few days have been one of the longest (cold fronts) ever recorded and one of the earliest ever recorded" before the onset of winter in the Southern Hemisphere, said Raul Cordero, a climatologist at Santiago University. "Typically the incursions of cold air from the Antarctic that drive temperatures below zero occur from June onwards, not so much in May."

The cold front sweeping in from Antartica has collided with warm air pushing in from the northwestern Amazon, helping fuel heavy rainstorms battering Brazil, according to that country's National Meteorological system.

Chile's government issued frosty weather alerts for most of the country and ramped up assistance for homeless people struggling to endure the frigid temperatures on the streets. Snow cloaked the peaks of the Andes and fell in parts of Santiago, leading to power outages in many areas this week.

"Winter came early," said Mercedes Aguayo, a street vendor hawking gloves and hats in Santiago.

She said she was glad for a boost in business after Chile's record winter heat wave last year, which experts pinned on climate change as well as the cyclical El Niño weather pattern.

"We had stored these goods (hats and gloves) for four years because winters were always more sporadic, one day hot, one day cold," Aguayo said.

This week's cold snap also took parts of Argentina and Paraguay by surprise.

Energy demand soared across many parts of Argentina. Distributors cut supplies to dozens of gas stations and industries in several provinces to avoid outages in households, , the country's main hydrocarbon company, CECHA, said Thursday.

A mayoral candidate and five other people were killed when gunmen opened fire at a campaign rally in the violence-wracked southern Mexico state of Chiapas, officials said.

State prosecutors said a young girl was among the six people killed in the gunfire late Thursday, along with mayoral candidate Lucero López Maza. Two others were injured, they said.

MEXICO MAYORAL CANDIDATE MURDERED AFTER HAVING REQUEST FOR SECURITY IGNORED

"A confrontation broke out between armed civilians during a political campaign event," prosecutors said in a statement.

It was unclear whether López Maza was the intended target of the attack, because shootings have become so common and widespread in the area.

The mass shooting took place at a crossroads in the rural town of La Concordia, Chiapas, about 80 miles (125 km) from the border with Guatemala

The area near the Guatemalan border is a major smuggling route for drugs and migrants and Mexico’s two main drug cartels have been fighting for control of the region.

On Sunday, 11 people were killed in mass shootings in a village in the township of Chicomuselo, Chiapas, a few dozen miles (kilometers) away from La Concordia. The killers wiped out one entire family and burned their bodies.

On Friday, the Roman Catholic Church said that drug gangs had carried out the killings in Chicomuselo because residents there had refused to leave their homes or refused to work for the gangs.

"These men and women refused to leave their homes, despite violence, threats and harassment by criminal gangs to make them join their ranks," according to the statement by the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas.

The church statement said the heavily indigenous state of Chiapas "is awash in violence generated by (fights for) territorial control, and the interest on the part of some criminal groups to continue mining."

It did not specify what mines the cartels were trying to run, but the accusation is not outlandish or unprecedented in cartel-dominated regions of Mexico. In 2013, authorities in the western state of Michoacan acknowledged that the Knights Templar cartel had basically taken over iron ore mining in the state. They said exporting ore to China was one of the cartel's main sources of income.

The surge in violence in Chiapas proved embarrassing for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador as he visited the border state Friday for a meeting with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo.

As usual, López Obrador — who has refused to confront the drug cartels — sought to minimize the problem of violence.

"There are those who maintain that Chiapas is on fire, no, as I've explained, the problem is in this region and we are going to solve it," the president said during a news briefing in Tapachula, Chiapas.

Thursday's killings also cast a spotlight on the fact that the runup to Mexico’s July 2 elections has been marred by violence, with about 20 candidates killed so far in 2024.

Again, López Obrador sought to downplay the violence and depicted those who report the killings as "vultures" seeking to smear his administration.

"Fortunately, there have been fewer attacks than in other elections, but nowadays there is a lot of sensationalism, it is very unfortunate, there are a lot of people seeking to profit from the killings and the human suffering," he said. "This is a time of vultures."

Canadian police announced Friday they have linked the deaths of four young women nearly 50 years ago to a now-deceased U.S. fugitive who hid in Canada from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s.

Alberta Royal Canadian Mounted Police Supt. Dave Hall said Friday that Gary Allen Srery might also be linked to unsolved murders and sexual assaults in Western Canada, and authorities are asking the public for more information that may link him to other unsolved cases.

'KILLER CLOWN' JOHN WAYNE GACY'S DEATH ROW ATTORNEY REVEALS WHY HE LIKELY HAD DOZENS MORE VICTIMS — AND HELP

"We are now announcing that we have linked four previously unsolved homicides from the 1970s to a now deceased serial, sexual offender," Hall said at a news conference in Edmonton, Alberta.

Srery died in 2011 in a state prison in Idaho of natural causes while serving a life sentence for sexual assault.

A break in the homicides in Canada came when authorities began comparing DNA of the killer with profiles on ancestry websites, which eventually lead them to a match with Srery, Hall said.

Hall provided details of the four Canadian cases linked to Srery.

He said that in 1976 Eva Dvorak and Patricia McQueen were both 14-year-olds living in Calgary, Alberta attending junior high. He said they were last seen walking together in downtown Calgary and that the following day their bodies were found laying on the road under a highway underpass west of the city.

In the spring of 1976, 20-year-old Melissa Rehorek moved to Calgary from Ontario for new opportunities, Hall said. He said at the time of her death she was a housekeeper living at the YMCA in downtown Calgary and was last seen by a roommate before she went hitchhiking. Hall said the following day her body was located in a ditch in a township west of Calgary.

In 1977, Barbara MacLean was a 19-year-old Calgary resident from Nova Scotia who moved west only six months earlier, Hall said. He said MacLean was working at a local bank and was last seen leaving a hotel bar. He said her body was found six hours later just outside Calgary.

Hall said authorities at the time didn't come up with a cause of death for the two 14-year-olds but said Rehorek and MacLean's deaths were attributed to strangulation.

Semen was collected from all four crime scenes but technology did not exist at the time to find DNA matches, Hall said.

"Were Srery alive today he would be 81 years old," Hall said.

Alberta RCMP Insp. Breanne Brown said Srery had an extensive criminal record including forcible rape, kidnapping and burglary when he fled to Canada from California in 1974. He lived in Canada illegally until his arrest for sexual assault in New Westminster, British Columbia in 1998, she said.

Srery used nine different aliases in his lifetime and frequently changed his appearance, residence and vehicles, Brown said. She said he obtained illegal identification and social assistance though aliases and lived a transient lifestyle. He occasionally working as a cook in Calgary, Alberta from 1974 to 1979 and then in the area of Vancouver, British Columbia from 1979 until his arrest and conviction of sexual assault in New Westminster in 1998, she said.

Srery was deported to the U.S. in 2003 where he was convicted in Idaho for sexually motivated crimes and sentenced to life in prison, where he ultimately died in 2011, Brown said.

"We know that Srery's criminality spanned decades over multiple jurisdictions and numerous aliases. The Alberta RCMP believe there are more victims and we are asking the public to assist in furthering Srery's timeline in Canada," Brown said.

Croatian lawmakers on Friday voted into office a new government that marks a tilt to the right in another European Union nation ahead of the 27-nation bloc's parliamentary election next month.

Although it is still dominated by conservative Croatian Democratic Union, or HDZ, the new Croatian government now also includes hard-right Homeland Movement, a relatively new party that emerged as a kingmaker after an inconclusive parliamentary election in April.

CROATIA DISSOLVES PARLIAMENT AHEAD OF ELECTION SEASON

The new Cabinet of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who started his third consecutive term in office, was approved in a 79-61 vote in the 151-member Sabor, or the Croatian assembly.

The HDZ won the most votes in the April 17 election but not enough to rule alone. A relatively slim majority for the new coalition government could usher in a period of political instability after HDZ's years-long domination.

In his speech, Plenkovic said that his new government will focus on further economic growth and modernization, saying that so far "the citizens have recognized our effort."

Croatia's economy was among the weakest in the EU when it joined the bloc in 2013 but has since managed to join the single currency market last year. The country of 3.8 million people relies heavily on income from tourism along its stunning Adriatic Sea coastline.

For the first time in years, Croatia's government does not include a party representing Croatia's ethnic Serb minority after the Homeland Movement, known as DP, objected to their participation. This has sparked concerns that Croatia's hard-won ethnic balance following the 1991-95 Serb-Croatian war could be disrupted.

Plenkovic pledged that "we will take care of the rights of national minorities, respect them, protect achieved rights and make sure that everyone in Croatia, each and everyone of our citizens, feel good."

But Anja Šimpraga, a former government minister from the Independent Democratic Serb Party, or SDSS, warned during Friday's debate that "already we are witnessing radicalization." Liberal lawmaker Sandra Bencic, from left-green Mozemo, or We Can, party ironically evoked what she described as "homeland spirit" fueling divisions in the society.

The Homeland Movement party is made up mostly of radical nationalists and social conservatives who had left HDZ. The party is led by the hard-line mayor of the eastern town of Vukovar, which was destroyed in 1991 at the start of Croatia’s war for independence after it split from the former Yugoslavia.

The party has demanded that the Croatian state abolish financing of a critical liberal news outlet Novosti, which is issued by the Serb minority and funded from the budget.

The Croatian Journalists’ Association has reported that Novosti journalists have received threats and been deemed as enemies of the state. The organization said the threats are the result of DP’s campaign against Novosti, and have demanded a response from the authorities.

The DP also has advocated a return to the traditional, stay-at-home role for women in Croatia's society, which is predominantly Catholic and conservative, and where women already face problems accessing abortion.

HDZ has largely held office since Croatia gained independence. The Balkan nation became an EU member in 2013, and joined Europe’s passport-free travel area and the eurozone last year.

With hard=right and populist parties now part of or leading a half dozen governments in the EU, they appear positioned to make gains in the June 6-9 election for the European Parliament. The vote takes place as the continent faces a war in Ukraine, climate emergencies, migration and other problems.

Senegal's new prime minister, who was freed from jail weeks before the presidential election earlier this year and propelled his party to victory, has criticized the French military presence in the West African country.

Ousmane Sonko also criticized efforts by France and the West to promote values that he said didn't fit with those held by Senegal and other African countries, including LGBTQ rights and monogamy. Polygamy is widely practiced in Senegal.

FORMER SENEGAL PRIME MINISTER CONCEDES PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TO OPPOSITION CANDIDATE

Sonko was speaking late Thursday at an event held jointly with the French far-left politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the capital, Dakar.

Sonko is known for his criticism of interference by France, which is Senegal's former colonial ruler. His fiery views in a region where other neighbors have already taken steps to cut ties with France helped his chosen candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye win the presidential election in March.

"I want to reiterate Senegal’s desire for self-determination, which is incompatible with the long-term presence of foreign military bases in Senegal," Sonko said.

He said the desire to question the presence of French and other foreign forces didn't undermine existing defense treaties that Senegal has signed with those countries. France has about 350 troops in Senegal.

While Sonko warned that promoting LGBTQ rights could cause conflict between Senegal and France, Mélenchon responded that he had introduced legislation permitting same-sex marriage in France.

"I thought that this freedom to love anyone had to be open to all that wanted to enjoy it," the French politician said.

Senegal is considered a pillar of stability in a region that has experienced a wave of coups in recent years, and Sonko’s remarks are likely to draw attention from Western allies.

Following coups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, all three nations have expelled French troops and turned to Russia instead for help fighting yearslong insurgencies there. The three nations also formed their own alliance of Sahel states, causing a split within the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS.

Sonko, whose party has said ECOWAS needs to be reformed, reiterated criticism of the regional bloc for allowing the divisions to grow.

"We will not abandon our brothers in the Sahel and will do everything necessary to strengthen our ties," he said.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has undergone another operation two days after being shot multiple times and remains in serious condition, officials said Friday.

Fico, 59, was attacked as he was greeting supporters after a government meeting in the former coal mining town of Handlova. A suspected assailant has been arrested.

SLOVAKIA PRIME MINISTER ROBERT FICO SHOT MULTIPLE TIMES, IN 'LIFE-THREATENING CONDITION'

Miriam Lapuníková, director of the University F. D. Roosevelt hospital in Banska Bystrica, where Fico was taken by helicopter after he was shot, said Fico underwent a CT scan and was awake and stable in an intensive care unit. She described his condition as "very serious."

She said the surgery removed dead tissues that had remained inside Fico's body.

"I think it will take several more days until we will definitely know the direction of the further development," Robert Kaliniak, the defense minister and deputy prime minister, told reporters at the hospital.

Still, Kaliniak stressed that the government continues to work.

"The ministries are working on all their duties, nothing is frozen or halted, the country goes on," he told reporters. "The state is stable and today the patient is stable as well."

Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond. His return to power last year on a pro-Russia, anti-American platform led to worries among fellow European Union and NATO members that he would abandon his country’s pro-Western course, particularly on Ukraine.

World leaders have condemned the attack and offered support for Fico and Slovakia. On Friday, the Slovak press agency reported that Pope Francis has sent a letter to President Zuzana Čaputová,

"I condemn this cowardly act of violence and assure you of my prayers to the Lord for the speedy recovery and recovery of the Prime Minister," Francis said in the letter published by the agency.

Earlier Friday, the man charged with attempting to assassinate Fico was escorted by police to his home. Local media reported that it was part of a search for evidence.

Markiza, a Slovak television station, showed footage of the suspect being taken to his home in the town of Levice on Friday morning, and reported that police had seized a computer and some documents. Police didn't comment.

Prosecutors have told police not to publicly identify the suspect or release other details about the case. The suspect's detention will be reviewed at a hearing Saturday at Slovakia's Specialized Criminal Court in Pezinok, outside the capital, Bratislava.

Unconfirmed media reports suggested that he was a 71-year-old retiree who was known as an amateur poet, and may have previously worked as a security guard at a mall in the country’s southwest.

Government authorities on Thursday gave details that matched that description. They said the suspect didn't belong to any political groups, though the attack itself was politically motivated.

Slovakia’s presidential office said Friday that it was working to organize a meeting of leaders of all parliamentary parties for Tuesday. Čaputová, the outgoing president, announced the plan together with President-elect Peter Pellegrini, who succeeds her in mid-June, in an attempt to reduce social tensions in the country.

At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Slovakia was one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, but Fico halted arms deliveries to Ukraine when he returned to power, his fourth time serving as prime minister.

Fico’s government has also made efforts to overhaul public broadcasting — a move critics said would give the government full control of public television and radio. That, coupled with his plans to amend the penal code to eliminate a special anti-graft prosecutor, have led opponents to worry that Fico will lead Slovakia down a more autocratic path.

Thousands of demonstrators have repeatedly rallied in the capital and around the country of 5.4 million to protest his policies.

Fico said last month on Facebook that he believed rising tensions in the country could lead to the killing of politicians, and he blamed the media for fueling tensions.

Before Fico returned to power last year, many of his political and business associates were the focus of police investigations, and dozens have been charged.

His plan to overhaul of the penal system would eliminate the office of the special prosecutor that deals with organized crime, corruption and extremism.

Commuters in Buenos Aires on Friday were hit by an abrupt 360% increase in subway fares, one of the most dramatic price hikes in libertarian President Javier Milei's harsh budget austerity campaign in Argentina.

After weeks of hearings, a judge on Thursday lifted an order that had temporarily blocked the scheduled increase in subway fares. That cleared the way for the change to take effect Friday morning as office workers across Buenos Aires streamed through the turnstiles of South America's oldest subway system.

THOUSANDS PROTEST IN ARGENTINA AS MILEI'S AUSTERITY PLAN HITS UNIVERSITIES

Public transportation fares are a sensitive issue across Latin America, where inequality is deeply entrenched and outrage triggered by subway price hikes have sparked social unrest in the past, such as Chile's 2019 mass protests.

Overnight, the price of a single ride in Buenos Aires more than tripled from 125 pesos (14 cents) to 574 pesos (64 cents), exacerbating a painful cost of living crisis in Argentina. Some commuters complained they were suddenly paying triple for a network that was only deteriorating.

"It obviously affects me because it means more money disappears from my salary every day, but the worst part about it is that there is zero investment in the service," said 35-year-old Sofía Acosta. "We commute in terrible conditions, cramped, delayed, and now we are paying more."

Milei is slashing public spending on everything from subsidies to state companies as part of a radical free-market experiment aimed at rebuilding Argentina's credibility with foreign investors and taming hyperinflation.

But at least in the short term, his deregulation and austerity measures have pushed up inflation — now at 289% annually, among the highest rates in the world — and made life harder for ordinary Argentines as the economy slips into recession.

It's the third time this year that inflationary spikes hit subway fares — just 80 pesos last December — as Milei cuts federal subsidies for public transportation, forcing city governments to raise costs. Prices for buses and trains in the sprawling city of Buenos Aires have also risen steadily, although not in a one-time price bump as with the subway, which is known as Subte.

Municipal officials in Buenos Aires said fares would reach 650 pesos (73 cents) on June 1, but that they would delay until Aug. 1 another price increase to 757 pesos, "with the aim of minimizing the impact on riders' pockets."

Low fares have long been a boon for residents, especially those priced out of central Buenos Aires who commute long distances to work. But the cheap fares — like other subsidies for basic commodities — also constitute a large and growing cost that the heavily indebted government says it can't afford in the midst of Argentina's worst financial crisis in two decades.

The Buenos Aires underground transit system — one of the first to be built in the world — was once a poignant symbol of the city's lavish early 20th-century wealth. But in recent decades it has fallen into disrepair.

Several gunmen opened fire in central Afghanistan late on Friday, killing at least four people, including three foreign nationals, a Taliban spokesman said.

Four suspects were arrested at the scene in Bamyan province, a major tourist area, and an investigation was underway, the official said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the late-evening attack.

TALIBAN PUBLICLY EXECUTE THREE PEOPLE IN FIVE DAYS AS MEANS OF INTIMIDATION: 'THEIR VERSION OF SHARIA LAW'

According to Abdul Mateen Qani, a spokesman for the Taliban’s interior ministry, seven other people, including four foreign nationals were wounded in the attack. He did not elaborate or give the nationality of the foreign citizens.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war.

Blame is likely to fall on the Islamic State group’s affiliate in Afghanistan, a major Taliban rival. IS militants have carried out scores of attacks on schools, hospitals, mosques and minority Shiite areas throughout the country.

Bamiyan is probably best known as the site of two massive Buddha statues that were carved into the cliff face between the 4th and 6th century and which were destroyed by the Taliban at al-Qaida's urging in early 2001.

Taiwan’s parliament descended into a brawl on Friday as lawmakers disagreed over reforms in the chamber. 

Video of the melee appeared to show punches being thrown, a curtain in the chamber being ripped and a lawmaker who was crawling over other members falling on his head. He was rushed to the hospital. 

The fight came just days before the country’s new President-elect Lai Ching-te is set to take office on Monday with his party in the minority. 

Lai Ching-te is succeeding President Tsai Ing-wen. Lai and Tsai are from the same party, with Lai having served as Tsai’s vice president. 

TAIWAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS FOR GLOBAL UNITY AGAINST ‘EXPANSIONISM’ BY CHINA AND RUSSIA 

Lawmakers were also seen jumping over tables and shoving and tackling colleagues. 

One of the more controversial reforms being voted on was the proposal to levy criminal penalties for officials found to be lying in parliament. 

The DPP has claimed the opposition parties are trying to move through reforms without the proper process in an "an unconstitutional abuse of power." 

"The DPP does not want this to be passed as they have always been used to monopolizing power," The KMT's Jessica Chen, countered to Reuters while wearing a military helmet. 

TAIWAN STANDS AS MAJOR LINE OF DEFENSE AGAINST GLOBAL WAR WITH CHINA, CRITICAL FOR US SECURITY

This isn’t the first time Taiwan’s occasionally raucous parliament has descended into chaos. In 2020, pig guts were thrown onto the chamber floor during a dispute over pork imports. 

DPP lawmaker Wang Mei-hui told Reuters he is "worried" about parliament staying civil going forward. 

Lai Ching-te’s Democratic Progressive Party won a minority of seats in the chamber, but the main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), doesn’t have a majority on its own so it’s working with the smaller Taiwan People's Party (TPP). 

The reforms also come at a precarious time in its relationship with China, which sees Taiwan as a Chinese territory, not a sovereign nation. 

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Lai was once a vocal advocate for Taiwan to formerly declare independence in its constitution, although the DPP has shied away from that stance recently, according to Foreign Affairs. 

Reuters contributed to this report. 

The Israeli military said Friday its troops in Gaza found the bodies of three Israeli hostages killed by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack, including German-Israeli Shani Louk.

A photo of 22-year-old Louk's twisted body in the back of a pickup truck ricocheted around the world and brought to light the scale of the militants’ attack on communities in southern Israel. The military identified the other two bodies as those of a 28-year-old woman, Amit Buskila, and a 56-year-old man, Itzhak Gelerenter.

UN ENVOY FOR SEXUAL VIOLENCE UNDER FIRE FOR NO-SHOW AT MEETING ON HAMAS’ HOSTAGES HELD IN GAZA

All three were killed by Hamas while fleeing the Nova music festival, an outdoor dance party near the Gaza border, where militants killed hundreds of people, military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a news conference.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deaths "heartbreaking," saying, "We will return all of our hostages, both the living and the dead."

The military said the bodies were found overnight, without elaborating, and did not give immediate details on where they were located. Israel has been operating in the Gaza Strip's southern city of Rafah, where it says it has intelligence that hostages are being held.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducted around 250 others in the Oct. 7 attack. Around half of those hostages have since been freed, most in swaps for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a weeklong cease-fire in November.

Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more. Israel's war in Gaza since the attack has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.

Netanyahu has vowed to both eliminate Hamas and bring all the hostages back, but he’s made little progress. He faces pressure to resign, and the U.S. has threatened to scale back its support over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Israelis are divided into two main camps: those who want the government to put the war on hold and free the hostages, and others who think the hostages are an unfortunate price to pay for eradicating Hamas. On-and-off negotiations mediated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt have yielded little.

Gen. Charles Brown, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says it is only a matter of time before NATO military trainers are sent to Ukraine, according to a report in the New York Times.

It comes as Ukraine battles to hold the line against Russian offensives in Ukraine's northeast such as the city of Kharkiv as well as in the east and south – and just weeks after the U.S. agreed to send an extra $60 billion in aid to the war-torn country.

Ukrainian officials have asked their U.S. and NATO counterparts to help train 150,000 new recruits closer to the front line for faster deployment, the New York Times reports. 

PRO-UKRAINE RUSSIAN PARAMILITARIES JOIN FIGHT ON FRONT LINES

Brown told reporters on Thursday that a decision to deploy trainers was inching closer.

"We’ll get there eventually, over time," he told reporters, according to the New York Times.

Manpower has long been an issue for Kyiv's military as it fights a much larger and better-equipped foe. The problem has grown more acute in recent months, prompting authorities to introduce stricter measures for draft evaders, while the draft mobilization age has been lowered from 27 to 25, with the upper limit being 60.

The new law offers parole to convicts who sign a contract to join the army, a move that some officials have said could generate a maximum of 20,000 soldiers for the Ukrainian war effort. Those convicted of the most serious crimes, such as the premeditated murder of two or more people, rape and crimes against national security, would still not be allowed to enlist.

But the new recruits need to be trained and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling on the West for help.

UKRAINE LAUNCHES BIGGEST DRONE ATTACK ON RUSSIA AS PUTIN COURTS SUPPORT FROM CHINA

However, the move to deploy trainers could draw the U.S. and Europe more directly into Russia’s war with Ukraine. U.S. leaders have said they will not put U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine and have urged NATO allies not to do so either.

Brown said that such a move now would put NATO trainers at risk and would most likely mean deciding whether to use precious air defenses to protect the trainers — instead of critical Ukrainian infrastructure near the battlefield, the New York Times reports. 

An attack on trainers could force the U.S. to honor its NATO obligations under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, thereby dragging it into war.

Former President Eisenhower sent U.S. advisors to train forces in South Vietnam in 1956 as he was worried about the spread of communism. The U.S. got incrementally sucked into military operations in Vietnam with former President Kennedy deploying 12,000 U.S. military advisors stationed in Vietnam by 1962.

It is unclear which NATO countries are considering sending military trainers and how many would need to be deployed and for how long.  

Fox News Digital reached out to the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for further comment but did not immediately receive a response.

In February, French President Emmanuel Macron said he had not ruled out the possibility of European Union member states sending troops into Ukraine to stave off Russia’s invasion.  

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The latest Russian offensive began last week in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, marking the most significant border incursion since the full-scale invasion began in 2022 and forcing thousands to flee their homes. 

In recent weeks, Moscow’s forces have also sought to build on gains in the eastern region of Donetsk. Taken together, the developments mean the war has entered a critical stage for Ukraine’s depleted army.

Meanwhile, overnight, Ukraine launched its largest-ever kamikaze drone attack on Russia while Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China, killing two people and causing an oil refinery fire in the Black Sea, according to officials. 

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Tens of thousands of Haitians and Venezuelans who fled hunger, violence and natural disasters to seek refuge in southern Brazil are once again struggling to rebuild their lives following severe flooding in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), around 46,000 refugees currently live in the state, including 29,000 Venezuelans and 12,000 Haitians.

Rio Grande do Sul was the third state to receive the most refugees from a government humanitarian program to resettle an influx of people fleeing Venezuela on Brazil's northern border.

WATER RATIONING ORDERED AS SEVERE FLOODING DEVASTATES SOUTHERN BRAZIL

Most of the refugees live in Sarandi, a neighborhood on the north side of Porto Alegre that has been the most ravaged by flooding after a dike collapsed.

The 26,042 Sarandi residents whose homes were flooded are now in various shelters around the city. Many of them are undocumented, having left everything behind in a hurry as the floodwaters rose, adding to the immigrants' worries.

Venezuelan Carina Gonzalez, 27, had to leave a backpack behind when she fled her home in chest-deep water, containing her documents and those of her 11-year-old daughter.

Carina and her husband Xavier have guaranteed jobs but are worried about how to get to work.

They crossed into Brazil in 2018, fleeing political tensions and economic crisis in neighboring Venezuela. Now they are facing upheaval again.

South Africa's election will determine how weary the country has become of the ruling African National Congress party that has been in power since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule 30 years ago.

President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC are struggling to keep their parliamentary majority and opinion polls predict that the party will likely receive less than 50% of the national vote for the first time in the May 29 election.

That doesn't mean that the beleaguered ANC will be out of power in Africa's most advanced economy.

SOUTH AFRICA ENDS RESCUE EFFORTS AT COLLAPSED BUILDING WITH 33 CONFIRMED DEAD, 19 STILL MISSING

Even as the famous organization once led by Nelson Mandela has seen a decline in its popularity, no one has risen to a position to replace it. Instead, South Africans who have turned away from the ANC have gone looking for answers among an array of opposition parties.

So, the ANC is still expected to gain the largest share of votes. But without an outright majority, it would need to form a coalition to stay in government and keep Ramaphosa for a second and final term as president. For a key country on the African continent, that might bring new complications, given some recent coalitions at local level have been spectacular failures.

While most South Africans appear ready to register their disgruntlement with the ANC in a defining moment, a coalition government may not easily solve the country's big problems, which include the world’s highest levels of unemployment and inequality.

South Africans don't vote directly for their president, but rather decide the makeup of Parliament, which is called the National Assembly. They do that by choosing parties and those parties get seats in Parliament according to their share of the national vote. The 400-member National Assembly then elects the president, meaning whichever party has a majority chooses the head of state.

That has always been the ANC since the first all-race elections in 1994, but this time it may need to strike agreements with other parties to get the required 201 votes from lawmakers to reelect the 71-year-old Ramaphosa and form a government.

The election effectively starts on Friday and Saturday, when South African citizens living overseas vote in embassies and foreign missions. The main election will be held on May 29 across all nine provinces. It will decide the makeup of both the national and provincial legislatures.

Just over 27 million of the population of 62 million are registered to vote in what is only the country's seventh fully democratic national election since apartheid was dismantled.

There are 70 political parties registered for the vote, the most ever, and independent candidates will be allowed to stand for the first time.

The ANC's fate is the headline story: Ramaphosa is the party's leader and the face of its campaign. The main opposition is the centrist Democratic Alliance, or DA. It has entered into an agreement with some smaller parties in the hope that their combined vote might force the ANC out of government completely. Polls indicate they are some way off that mark.

The far-left Economic Freedom Fighters, or EFF, is the third-biggest party and led by Julius Malema, a fiery former ANC youth leader.

The DA won around 20% in the last national election and the EFF 10% to the ANC's 57.5%. Neither opposition party appears to have significantly increased in popularity.

That's largely because of the dozens of other parties, many of them new, that have captured small shares. While 80% of South Africa’s population is Black, it is a multi-racial, multicultural society, with five defined racial groups, many ethnicities and 12 official languages. An equally diverse political picture is beginning to appear.

Of the new parties, uMkhonto weSizwe (which means Spear of the Nation) has gained the most attention because it is led by former South African President Jacob Zuma, who has turned his back on the ANC he once led in a bitter battle with Ramaphosa, the man who replaced him.

Unemployment and poverty stand out as the most pressing issues for the majority of people. While South Africa is regarded as Africa's most advanced country, its contradictions are stark. It also has an unemployment rate of 32% — the highest in the world — and more than half of South Africans are living in poverty, according to the World Bank.

That has driven most of the discontent as millions of the poor Black majority feel the ANC has not improved their lives sufficiently three decades after apartheid, which brutally oppressed Black people in favor of the white minority.

Other prominent election issues that are seen as pushing voters away from the ANC are the high rate of violent crime, multiple government corruption scandals over the years, the failure of some basic government services and a crisis within the state-owned electricity supplier that has led to nationwide blackouts at regular intervals to conserve power. The blackouts have eased ahead of the election, but they angered people and further damaged a struggling economy.

Ukraine launched its largest-ever kamikaze drone attack on Russia while Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China, killing two people and causing an oil refinery fire in the Black Sea, according to officials. 

"Fifty-one UAVs were destroyed and intercepted over Crimea, 44 over the Krasnodar region, six over the Belgorod region and one over Kursk region," Russia’s military said in a press release according to Voice of America. 

The wave of drones attacked several targets around the Belgorod region and along the coast of the Black Sea. Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a mother and child were killed while traveling in a car, and authorities managed to extinguish the fire at the Tuapse refinery.

"The child was in critical condition. Doctors did everything possible to save him," Gladkov said. 

PRO-UKRAINE RUSSIAN PARAMILITARIES JOIN FIGHT ON FRONT LINES

Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev announced that he "made a decision to cancel classes in all schools, institutions of secondary vocational education and kindergartens" and warned that periodic blackouts would continue as the region struggled with the damage caused by Ukraine’s attack. 

The Tuapse refinery had undergone several months of repair after a previous fire in January, which Ukrainian sources claimed at the time had resulted from another drone attack, Reuters reported. 

The refinery dumps out around 12 million metric tons of fuel, including fuel oil, vacuum gasoil and high-sulphur diesel, supplying Turkey, China, Malaysia and Singapore. 

Ukraine’s attack occurred as Russia ramps up its pressure on Kharkiv with renewed offensives, though, Putin has claimed he does not intend to take the city; instead, the attack was an alleged attempt to stop Ukrainian attacks. 

TAIWAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS FOR GLOBAL UNITY AGAINST ‘EXPANSIONISM’ BY CHINA AND RUSSIA

Putin visited China this week to court support and emphasize personal ties between the two countries. He thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for "substantive" discussions before taking aim at the U.S. and Ukraine. 

Putin told reporters in China on Friday that "what is happening on the Kharkiv front is their own fault," blaming Ukraine for attacks on Russian villages that forced him to retaliate. 

"Civilians are dying there," Putin said. "It’s obvious. They are shooting directly at the city center, at residential areas. And I said publicly that if this continues, we will be forced to create a security zone, a buffer zone. That is what we are doing." 

Putin insisted that the Moscow-Beijing partnership is a vital part of shaping the "emerging multipolar world" and dismissed concerns that it is a union "directed against anyone." 

BIDEN DRIVING CHINA, RUSSIA INTO ‘SHOCKING’ PARTNERSHIP, EXPERT WARNS: ‘BLUNDER OF THE HIGHEST ORDER’

"It is aimed at one thing: creating better conditions for the development of our countries and improving the well-being of the people of China and the Russian Federation," Putin said. 

Last week, Ukraine had reportedly pushed back an attempted Russian incursion into Kharkiv. White House spokesperson John Kirby at the time told reporters that they should expect "Russia will likely increase the intensity of fires" and increase troop deployments into the region in the coming weeks. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy admitted that Moscow’s forces this week advanced six miles into the Kharkiv region, forcing Kyiv to expand its operations to prevent further penetration towards the country’s second-biggest city, The Telegraph reported. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

A scenic fishing village in southwest England was under instructions to boil its tap water for a third day on Friday after a parasite sickened more than 45 people in the latest example of Britain's troubled water system.

Around 16,000 homes and businesses in the Brixham area of Devon were told to boil water after cryptosporidium, a microscopic parasite that causes diarrhea, was found in the water. At least 46 cases of cryptosporidiosis have been confirmed and more than 100 other people have reported similar symptoms, the U.K. Health Security Agency said. Cases can last more than two weeks.

South West Water’s Chief Executive Susan Davy apologized for the outbreak and said technicians were working around the clock to identify and fix the problem that may have come from a pipe in a cattle pasture.

POTENTIALLY FATAL DOG PARASITE FOUND IN PART OF COLORADO RIVER FOR FIRST TIME, HAVING SPREAD FROM OTHER STATES

"I am truly sorry for the disruption and wider anxiety this has caused," Davy said. "I know on this occasion we have fallen significantly short of what you expect of us."

The crisis is unrelated to Britain’s larger ongoing water woes but emblematic of an aging system in distress.

Water companies have been under fire for more than a year to stop frequent sewage overflows into rivers and oceans that have literally caused a stink, sickened swimmers, polluted fishing streams and led to an outcry from the public to clean up their act.

An environmental group this week reported that 70,000 sewage releases spilled for a total of 400,000 hours along England's coast last year. More than a quarter were within two miles of a swimming spot, Friends of the Earth said in its analysis of government data.

Clean water advocates have blamed the problems on Britain’s privatization of the water system in 1989. They say that companies have put shareholders ahead of customers and not spent enough to update outdated plumbing systems.

Thames Water, the largest of the companies, is on the brink of insolvency and its leaders have said it faces the risk of being nationalized after shareholders refused to inject more cash.

Earlier this week, in another sign of problems, millions of gallons of raw sewage were pumped into England's largest lake. After a fault caused pumps to fail, backup systems then pumped human waste into Lake Windermere, a UNESCO World Heritage site, for 10 hours, the BBC reported.

The cryptosporidiosis outbreak is hardly the first time South West Water has encountered problems, according to authorities.

The company is facing charges in Plymouth Magistrates’ Court alleging 30 offenses for illegal water discharges or breaches of environmental permits between 2015 and 2021, the Environment Agency said.

The recent outbreak appears to come from a damaged air valve in a pipe that runs through a field where cows graze that is close to a reservoir, said Laura Flowerdew, a spokesperson for South West.

A primary school was forced to close Thursday because it didn't have clean drinking water.

The water company is providing free bottled water at three locations and has increased compensation to customers from $19 to $145.

Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said it's likely more people will become ill with cryptosporidiosis in coming days or weeks because of a lag in the incubation period.

"Even if they have stopped all new infections by now, you would expect to see further cases for at least 10 days to two weeks," he told the BBC.

Anthony Mangnall, a Conservative member of Parliament from the area, said residents are likely to have to boil water for another week. He said he was concerned with the water company's response to the outbreak and vowed to hold it accountable.

"They have been slow to act and communication with customers has been very poor," Mangnall said. "This has certainly undermined trust in our water network."