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Doctors treated hundreds of victims of heatstroke at hospitals across Pakistan on Thursday after an intense heat wave sent temperatures above normal levels due to climate change, officials said.

Temperatures soared as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit the previous day in Mohenjo Daro. The city, known for its archaeological sites, is in southern Sindh province, which was badly hit by climate-induced monsoon rains and devastating floods in 2022. The heat wave is forecast to continue for at least a week.

Authorities have urged people to stay indoors, hydrate and avoid unnecessary travel. But laborers say they don't have a choice because they need to work to feed their families.

PAKISTAN, US DISCUSS HOW TO TACKLE THE REGIONAL SECURITY THREAT POSED BY IS GROUP AND LOCAL TALIBAN

"Pakistan is the fifth most vulnerable country to the impact of climate change. We have witnessed above normal rains, floods," Rubina Khursheed Alam, the prime minister’s coordinator on climate, said at a news conference in the capital, Islamabad.

Doctors say they treated hundreds of patients in the eastern city of Lahore, while scores of people were brought to hospitals in Hyderabad, Larkana and Jacobabad districts in the southern Sindh province.

"The situation has been getting worse since yesterday, when people affected by heat started coming to hospitals in the Punjab province," said Ghulam Farid, a senior health official. Pakistan has set up emergency response centers at hospitals to treat patients affected by the heat.

The state-run ambulance service is now carrying bottled water and ice to provide emergency treatment to victims of the heat, health officials said.

PAKISTAN'S MILITARY CONDUCTS SUCCESSFUL TEST-FIRE OF NEWLY DEVELOPED ROCKET SYSTEM, ARMY SAYS

Heatstroke is a serious illness that occurs when one’s body temperature rises too quickly, potentially causing some to fall unconscious. Severe heatstroke can cause disability or death.

This year, Pakistan recorded its wettest April since 1961, with more than double the usual monthly rainfall. Last month’s heavy rains killed scores of people while destroyed property and farmland.

Daytime temperatures are soaring 46 degrees Fahrenheit above May's temperatures, raising fears of flooding in the northwest because of glacial melting.

The 2022 floods caused extensive damage in Sindh and Baluchistan provinces, as 1,739 people were killed across the country.

Currently, Pakistan's southwest and northwestern areas are also experiencing the heat wave.

Authorities have shut schools for a week in Punjab. In the city of Lahore people were seen swimming in the roadside canals. Pakistan says despite contributing less than 1% to carbon emissions, it is bearing the brunt of global climate disasters.

Alam said recent erratic changes in weather patterns were the result of man-made climate change.

Leaders of South Korea, China and Japan will meet next week in Seoul for their first trilateral talks in more than four years to discuss how to revive their cooperation, South Korea’s presidential office said Thursday.

Since their inaugural stand-alone trilateral summit in 2008, the three countries were supposed to hold such a meeting among their leaders every year. But the summit has been suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic and often-complicated ties among the Asian neighbors since the last one in December 2019 in China.

The trilateral meeting among South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will take place in Seoul on Monday, Kim Tae-hyo, Seoul’s deputy national security director, told a news conference.

CHINA CRITICIZES SOUTH KOREA, JAPAN FOR LAWMAKERS' VISITS TO TAIWAN

Chinese President Xi Jinping will not be attending.

Li and Kishida were scheduled to arrive in South Korea on Sunday. They were to meet Yoon bilaterally on Sunday afternoon before attending a welcoming dinner banquet with the South Korean president, Kim said.

"This summit will be a turning point for Korea, Japan and China to completely restore and normalize three-way cooperation systems," Kim said.

During the trilateral meeting, Kim said the three leaders were expected to discuss cooperation on six South Korea-proposed topics — personnel exchanges, climate change, trade, health and aging population, technology and disasters. He said these discussions will be included in a joint statement after their summit.

Kim said the three leaders will also discuss unspecified regional and international political issues and how to respond together to a global poly-crisis and contribute to international peace.

Closely linked economically and culturally with one another, the three countries together account for about 25% of the global gross domestic product. But efforts to bolster trilateral cooperation often become snagged because of a mix of issues, including historical disputes stemming from Japan’s wartime aggression and the strategic competition between China and the United States.

South Korea and Japan are both key U.S. military allies, together hosting a total of 80,000 American troops on their territories. North Korea's advancing nuclear program and China's growing assertiveness in the region have forced South Korea and Japan to reinforce their trilateral security partnership with the United States. That has angered China and North Korea.

Ties between South Korea and Japan had fluctuated severely due to issues originating from Japan’s 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. But their relations warmed significantly since 2023 as the two countries took a series of major steps to move beyond that history and boost cooperation in the face of shared challenges like North Korea's nuclear ambitions and supply chain vulnerabilities.

South Korea, Japan and the U.S. want China, North Korea’s major ally and biggest source of aid, to use its leverage to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear program. China doesn't officially support North Korea's nuclear program, but it's suspected of avoiding fully enforcing United Nations sanctions on North Korea and shipping covert assistance to help its impoverished socialist neighbor stay afloat. Experts say China thinks North Korea serving as a bulwark against U.S. influences on the Korean Peninsula will serve its strategic interests.

A Tunisian court on Wednesday sentenced two TV and radio journalists to one year in prison for criticizing the government on their programs and on social networks.

Borhane Bsaïs and Mourad Zeghidi were each given six months' imprisonment for disseminating "fake news" and an additional six months for "making false statements with the aim of defaming others," in reference to Tunisian President Kaïs Saied, court spokesperson Mohamed Zitouna said.

The sentences come less than two weeks after both were arrested. They are among a broader group of journalists, activists and lawyers charged under Decree 54, a law criminalizing the dissemination of "fake news" aimed at harming public safety or national defense.

TUNISIAN LAWYERS STRIKE IN PROTEST, ALLEGING TORTURE OF ARRESTED COLLEAGUE

The law, passed in 2022 to fight cybercrime, has been widely criticized by rights advocates who say the offenses are vaguely defined and are being used to crack down on the president's critics.

Both Bsaïs and Zeghidi denied the allegations. In court, they referred to laws protecting freedom of expression that Tunisia enshrined after its 2011 revolution, when it became the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to topple a longtime dictator. Both said they were simply doing their jobs, analyzing and commenting on political and economic developments in Tunisia.

"I am neither for nor against the president. Sometimes I support his choices, sometimes I criticize them. It’s part of my job," Zeghidi said.

Bsaïs, host of the radio show "Emission Impossible" ("Impossible Program" in English) was accused of undermining the president on the air and in Facebook posts made between 2019 and 2022. It's unclear why authorities targeted old posts like his as they pursue a growing number of Saied's political critics.

He defended his opinions and in court objected to being brusquely arrested last week "like a dangerous criminal."

The trial has drawn international condemnation and sparked criticism in Tunisia, where many journalists gathered in front of the court in a show of support.

"We are all on provisional release because any journalistic work can give rise to prosecution," Zied Dabbar, president of Tunisia's National Journalists Syndicate, said of Decree 54. He said 39 journalists have been prosecuted under the law this year.

Saied has faced criticism for suspending parliament and rewriting the constitution to consolidate his own power three years ago. Critics have spoken out against the government’s approach to politics, the economy and migration in the Mediterranean in the years since.

Norway on Thursday said it will further tighten its restrictions on the entry of people from Russia, saying those with tourist visas issued by Norway before regulations were tightened in 2022 or issued by another European country will be barred from entering the Scandinavian country as of next week.

Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl said the tightening was a response to "Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine."

Norway has a 123-mile-long border with Russia in the Arctic.

RUSSIA'S 'SHADOW WAR' AGAINST THE WEST REQUIRES COLLECTIVE RESPONSE, ESTONIA PM SAYS

Last week, Aftenposten, a major Norwegian daily, said Norway’s domestic security agency, known by the acronym PST, was worried that Russians involved in intelligence gathering were entering at the sole border crossing at Storskog near the town of Kirkenes.

Inger Haugland, head of counterespionage for PST, said Wednesday that "Russia now sees itself benefiting from carrying out sabotage in European countries in order to weaken Ukrainian defense capabilities." He gave no further details.

On Wednesday, PST updated its overall risk assessment, saying "it appears" that the threat of sabotage has increased against Norwegian companies producing weaponry that goes to Ukraine.

Enger Mehl said exceptions to the new entry restrictions will be made, including for people visiting close relatives in Norway or for Russians who work or study in Norway. Those who live along the border have border resident certificates. Other Russians who plan to enter Norway for tourism or "other non-essential purposes" will be refused entry, he said. The ban takes effect next Wednesday.

"Of course, such decisions cannot remain unanswered," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. "The decision is purely discriminatory."

Although not a member of the European Union, Norway is part of the European ID-check-free zone known as the Schengen Area, which allows more than 400 million Europeans and visitors to move within the zone without showing travel documents.

Two years ago, the Norwegian government stopped issuing tourist visas to Russians. In September, it barred Russian-registered passenger cars from entering the Scandinavian country, mirroring EU sanctions against Moscow over its war on Ukraine.

A missile splashed down in the waters of the Red Sea on Thursday, but caused no damage to a passing commercial vessel in an attack likely carried out by Yemen's Houthi rebels, officials said.

The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack, though it can take hours or even days for them to acknowledge their assaults.

The attack happened in the southern Red Sea near the crucial Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.

IRAN-BACKED HOUTHI REBELS IN YEMEN CLAIM THEY SHOT DOWN ANOTHER US DRONE AS ATTACKS INTENSIFY

The private security firm Ambrey similarly reported the attack.

The Houthis have launched attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in recent months, demanding that Israel ends the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostage.

The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the United States Maritime Administration.

Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat. In recent weeks, the tempo of Houthi attacks has dropped, though the rebels have claimed shooting down U.S. surveillance drones.

An explosion at an apartment building in northeastern China killed one person and injured three others on Thursday, state media reported.

Parts of the five-story apartment building in Harbin were damaged, with one apartment’s balcony completely blown off, videos on social media showed. Officials told local media that the explosion was likely from a natural gas tank that was left on.

One woman died of her injuries, according to Jimu News, a state-backed media outlet. Three others were taken to a hospital.

2 DEAD, DOZENS INJURED IN SUSPECTED GAS EXPLOSION OUTSIDE BEIJING

Officials said a family in the apartment did not use their liquid petroleum gas tank properly. The tanks are often used in Chinese homes to supply gas for cooking.

Videos online showed at least one person being taken by first responders into an ambulance and the street covered in debris.

The explosion occurred at roughly 7 a.m. Harbin is the capital of China's northeastern Heilongjiang province.

Many of the more seriously injured people who were on the Singapore Airlines flight that hit severe turbulence need operations on their spines, a Bangkok hospital said Thursday.

Twenty people remained in intensive care and a 73-year-old British man died after the Boeing 777, which was flying from London’s Heathrow airport to Singapore, suddenly descended sharply after hitting the turbulence over the Andaman Sea on Tuesday.

A public relations officer for Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, which has treated more than 100 people hurt from the ordeal, told The Associated Press that other local hospitals have been asked to lend their best specialists to assist in the treatments. He asked not to be named because of hospital policy.

WHAT CAUSES AIR TURBULENCE?

Passengers have described the "sheer terror" of the aircraft shuddering, loose items flying and injured people lying paralyzed on the floor of the plane.

It remains unclear what exactly caused the turbulence that sent the plane, which was carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members, on a 6,000-foot descent in about three minutes. The flight from London to Singapore was diverted to Thailand.

In one of the latest accounts of the chaos on board, 43-year-old Malaysian Amelia Lim described finding herself face down on the floor.

"I was so afraid ... I could see so many individuals on the floor, they were all bleeding. There was blood on the floor as well as on the people," she told the online Malay Mail newspaper.

The woman who had been seated next to her was "motionless in the aisle and unable to move, likely suffering from a hip or spinal injury," she added.

The ICU patients included six Britons, six Malaysians, three Australians, two Singaporeans and one person each from Hong Kong, New Zealand, and the Philippines, Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital said. It said it had provided medical care to a total of 104 people.

Thai authorities said the British man who died possibly had a heart attack. Passengers have described how the flight crew tried to revive him by performing CPR for about 20 minutes.

Most people associate turbulence with heavy storms, but the most dangerous type is so-called clear air turbulence. Wind shear can occur in wispy cirrus clouds or even in clear air near thunderstorms, as differences in temperature and pressure create powerful currents of fast-moving air.

According to a 2021 report by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, turbulence accounted for 37.6% of all accidents on larger commercial airlines between 2009 and 2018. The Federal Aviation Administration, another U.S. government agency, has said there were 146 serious injuries from turbulence from 2009 to 2021.

Tourism and aviation expert Anita Mendiratta, who is based in London, said the extreme turbulence was "extremely unusual."

She said passengers should listen to instructions to keep their seatbelts on, ensure that hand baggage is put away safely when not in use, and reduce items stowed in the overhead compartments.

"When there is turbulence, those doors can open and all of the items up top, whether it’s our hand baggage, our jackets, our duty free items, they become movable and they become a risk to us all," she told The Associated Press.

The Chinese military has begun conducting massive military drills encircling Taiwan in "punishment" for the self-governing island's election of a new president this week.

The two days of drills began Thursday, and Taiwan responded by scrambling jets and placing its army and navy on high alert. China now makes common use of military drills to intimidate and harass Taiwan, which it claims is its sovereign territory.

The drills "serve as a strong punishment for the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence’ forces and a stern warning against the interference and provocation by external forces," a Chinese military spokesman told state media, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The drills come days after the inauguration of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, a candidate who strongly supports Taiwanese independence but also has encouraged talks with Beijing and the prevention of foreign military intervention, namely by the U.S.

CHINA’S FOREIGN MINISTRY BLASTS TAIWAN INAUGURATION, PHILIPPINES STANDOFF IN SOUTH CHINA SEA

Taiwan's foreign ministry condemned the drills in a statement Thursday morning, calling it "irrational provocation" on the part of China.

CHINA SANCTIONS FORMER REPUBLICAN REP MIKE GALLAGHER AFTER TAIWAN PRESIDENT'S INAUGURATION

"This pretext for conducting military exercises not only does not contribute to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, but also shows its hegemonic nature at heart," the ministry's statement said.

In his inauguration address on Monday, Lai called for Beijing to cease its military intimidation and pledged to "neither yield nor provoke" the mainland Communist Party leadership.

"Facing external challenges and threats, we will continue to maintain the values of freedom and democracy," Lai said during a Thursday visit to a marine military base.

LAWMAKERS BRAWL AS TAIWAN'S PARLIAMENT DESCENDS INTO CHAOS

China’s Foreign Ministry warned that Taiwan independence was a "dead-end" on the day of the presidential inauguration.

"No matter under what name or excuse, pushing for Taiwan independence is doomed to fail," the ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin argued at a daily news briefing when asked about Lai's inauguration.

Mainland China has long claimed Taiwan as part of its territory. The island first split from Beijing in 1949, when pro-democracy forces fled there after losing a civil war to the Chinese Communist Party.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Thailand’s Constitutional Court accepted a petition Thursday from members of the country’s outgoing Senate to begin an ethics probe against the prime minister over his appointment of a Cabinet member.

If eventually found guilty, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin could be ousted from his position.

The court ruled that Srettha’s appointment of Pichit Chuenban as minister of the Prime Minister’s Office was in violation of Section 160 of the constitution, which requires those in ministerial positions to "be of evident integrity" and bars those who fail to comply with ethical standards.

THAI PM ORDERS INVESTIGATION AFTER MONARCHY REFORM ACTIVIST DIED IN PRISON

Pichit was jailed for six months in 2008 on contempt of court charges after he tried to bribe a judge presiding over former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s land purchase case with $55,000 in a grocery bag.

Pichit resigned from his post Tuesday in what he described in his resignation letter as an effort to protect the prime minister. The minister of the Prime Minister’s Office is a position similar to the president’s chief of staff in the United States. Pichit had been in the job for 23 days following a cabinet reshuffle in late April.

The petition from 40 senators is seen as the biggest challenge Srettha’s government has faced since it came to power in August 2023. The complaint comes even after the current batch of senators officially ended their terms on May 11. The process of selecting a new Senate began this week and is supposed to be concluded in July.

Srettha survived an initial suspension vote Thursday, after the court voted 5-4 to not suspend the prime minister. Srettha now has 15 days to justify Pichit's nomination to the court. After that, the court will deliberate on his suspension or impeachment.

The Constitutional Court has a record of rulings that favor the country's conservative establishment, which is suspicious of political parties with populist leanings. Srettha and the ruling Pheu Thai Party are part of former Prime Minister Thaksin's political machine. Thaksin was ousted by a military coup in 2006. His electoral popularity was seen as a threat to the influence of the traditional elite, including the army.

His ouster set up years of struggle between his supporters and his opponents, sometimes fought in the streets, and sometimes in the courts. Thaksin-backed parties continue to perform strongly in elections, however.

In July, the political power of the military-appointed Senate was dramatically displayed. In a joint session with the lower house, the Senate blocked the progressive Move Forward Party’s candidate Pita Limjaroenrat from becoming prime minister, even after his party won the most seats in the election and formed a 312-seat coalition in the 500-member lower house.

JERUSALEM – A group of American Jewish students who have experienced some of the worst antisemitism on their college campuses in recent months arrived in Israel on Monday to hear firsthand about the brutal terror attack carried out by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 and brainstorm together ways to combat anti-Jewish and anti-Israel activities at their universities. 

"It is important to visit Israel in person because it is one thing to just hear about what happened here, but it’s completely different to see it in person and get a new perspective," Omer Nativ, 20, who is about to start her senior year at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, told Fox News Digital. 

"I feel like we often become desensitized to the news we hear, and this will be a good wake-up call and encourage everyone visiting to take more action," the finance major said.

At Rutgers, Nativ described how Jewish students have faced death threats and watched powerlessly as anti-Israel demonstrators were allowed to march freely through the school during classroom hours, accuse the college of "funding genocide," and seen their final exams disrupted due to a tent encampment set up on campus to protest Israel.

JEWISH STUDENTS FROM ACROSS US DESCRIBE RAMPANT CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM AT HOUSE HEARING: 'WASTELAND OF HATRED'

Similar disruptions and threats against Jewish students have been reported at campuses across the U.S. since Oct. 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists infiltrated southern Israel from Gaza, murdering, raping and kidnapping hundreds of people. 

However, in recent months, as Israel continues its military response to wipe out the Iranian-backed Islamist group from the Palestinian enclave, the protests at U.S. universities have intensified, with those involved taking out their anger on Jewish and Israeli students, according to reports. 

"I do my best to fight the hate at school, and I am involved in several Jewish organizations, but I want to gain more tools to do so," Nativ said, adding "I think that by actually visiting many of the sites [of the Oct. 7 massacre] and learning more about the history of what is happening here will give me a better overall understanding of everything."

During the weeklong trip, named "Take Action for Israel," 22 students from universities such as Columbia, UPenn, Brandeis, Berkeley, Rutgers, New York, Western Ontario and Texas will meet with top Israeli officials, hear firsthand testimonies from the survivors of Oct. 7, meet the relatives of those still being held hostage by Hamas and visit the communities around the Gaza Strip, including the site of the Nova Music festival.

Joshua Shain, a biology major at Columbia University, said that he decided to join the trip after experiencing multiple antisemitic attacks on his campus and wanted to gather information in order to stand up to those denying the Oct. 7 atrocities.

USC VALEDICTORIAN WHO HAD SPEECH CANCELED ‘NOT APOLOGETIC,’ DEFENDS CALL TO ABOLISH ISRAEL IN ITS CURRENT FORM

"We need to come together, as a community of Jews and non-Jews alike, of everyone who believes rape and the murder of children is wrong, and say to the voices that deny that these atrocities occurred. They happened. I saw the evidence with my own eyes, and you couldn't tell me anything that would change what I saw," the 20-year-old told Fox News Digital.

Shain said there have been so many antisemitic attacks on his campus "I don’t even know where to begin." 

"Since the barbaric atrocities of Oct. 7, my friends and I have been verbally assaulted for wearing Stars of David, we’ve faced insults from total strangers in broad daylight, been spat at, and burned for bringing an American flag," he said, adding that Jewish students have faced death threats, had Swastikas daubed on their doors and received messages of hate via the university’s online forums.

"I grew up less than a mile away from the Columbia Morningside campus, and while my childhood was not free of antisemitism, it is nothing compared to the tidal wave that the Jewish and pro-Israel communities are facing now," he said, describing how last year, as a prospective student, he was told that there was some "Jew hatred and anti-Israeli racism" at Columbia, but that it was easy to avoid it.

"Unfortunately, that is no longer true," Shain said. "It has been impossible to escape and pretend to not hear the voices that want Jews dead."

Jack Landstein, who is entering his senior at the University of Michigan, said that on his campus anti-Israel groups had set up a large encampment featuring a massive banner stating "long live the Intifada." 

ANTI-ISRAEL CAMPUS PROTESTS ARE SPREADING: CALIFORNIA, TEXAS BRACE AFTER ACTIVISTS OVERRUN COLUMBIA, YALE

"These students have followed me around while I attempt to give interview outside of the encampment," said Landstein. "They held up speakers and flags directly behind me in order to intimidate me, but I will not be intimidated by these antisemitic individuals."

Landstein, 21, who works for Michigan’s Hillel Jewish student organization, described how he has been cursed and accused of supporting a genocidal state. He said that the chants used by the pro-Palestinian encampment, including "there is only one solution, Intifada revolution," and "globalize the intifada," "is antisemitic speech that targets Jewish students like me on campus and creates a hostile environment filled with intimidation and hate."

The economics major told Fox News Digital that he hoped being in Israel right now will give "me the skills I need in order to return to the University of Michigan in the fall and help the Jewish community counter antisemitism and hate on campus."

"I really hope the University of Michigan administration works to foster a safe environment for all students and utilizes its numerous resources to foster dialogue," Landstein said. "In order for this to occur, the learning environment must be rid of antisemitism, and this begins by the university enforcing its policies." 

At Columbia, Shain said he would like the administration to "actually enforce campus rules" and Nativ said she was hopeful that Rutgers would do more to aid Jewish professors and students.  

"I wish that in the future, if another "encampment" occurs, the administration will shut it down much more quickly," she said. "I know that freedom of speech is huge but it is not okay for students to be chanting ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ and ‘globalize the intifada,’ because that is threatening not only for Jewish students, but every American as well."

At least nine people were killed and dozens more were injured at a campaign rally in northern Mexico on Wednesday evening after a strong gust of wind toppled the stage.

The rally was being held for long-shot presidential candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, according to The Associated Press. Máynez went to the hospital after the incident, but later announced that he was in good condition.

He also said he has suspended upcoming campaign events, adding that the victims "will not be alone in this tragedy."

"The only important thing at this point is to care for the victims of the accident," he said.

MAYORAL CANDIDATE, 5 OTHERS KILLED BY GUNFIRE AT CAMPAIGN RALLY IN SOUTHERN MEXICO

Nuevo Leon Gov. Samuel García, who is a leading member of Máynez’s Citizens Movement party, said at least nine people, including a child, were killed and 63 were injured. 

He also posted a video message asking residents in the area to shelter in their homes for the next two hours because of the weather.

Videos from the rally showed Máynez waving his arm and the crowd chanting his name when he noticed a giant screen and metal structure falling in his direction, the AP reported. He was able to run toward the back of the stage to escape the toppling structure.

Other campaign attendees, many of whom were screaming, could be seen running away while some climbed out from under collapsed metal poles, according to The AP.

ANOTHER MEXICAN POLITICIAN MURDERED IN LEADUP TO JUNE NATIONAL ELECTIONS

Máynez, who is polling third in the country's presidential race, has been trailing Claudia Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez – both of whom sent their condolences not long after the tragic event took place.

Sheinbaum, who is leading the pack, said she has canceled a Thursday campaign event in the nearby city of Monterrey "in solidarity" with the victims and their families.

Gálvez wrote on social media, "My condolences and prayers with the families of the dead, and my wishes for a speedy recovery to all those injured."

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also shared sympathies, saying he "sends a hug to family members, friends of the victims and political supporters." 

Mexico is at the height of its campaign season as presidential, state and municipal elections will be held on June 2. 

In addition to Wednesday night's deadly weather event, the campaign season has also been plagued by the killings of about two dozen candidates for local offices.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) drew anger over its consideration to issue arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas officials, prompting critics to highlight cases of rogue nations where leaders appear to escape the court’s scrutiny.

"While the ICC has been around for over two decades, it has less than 10 successful prosecutions," Orde Kittrie, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and law professor at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, told Fox News Digital.  

"It’s spent over $2 billion. It’s been really ineffective, and that makes it particularly ironic that it’s going after the officials of Israel. Israel isn’t an ICC member state, and the ICC is prohibited by its charter for going after a state which effectively polices its own alleged violations," Kittrie said. "Israel polices its own alleged violations, so the ICC really has no business going after Israeli officials." 

"It’s obviously, totally politically driven," he added. "The failings are clearly driven by politics and the same anti-Israel animus that has long dominated the U.N. and other international organizations whose filings should be treated as what they are: It’s quintessential lawfare, a political vendetta masquerading as a legal proceeding."

FORMER ISRAELI LEADER URGES ‘DISMANTLING’ OF ICC OVER ARREST WARRANTS: ‘POLITICAL TOOL’

"There’s no way that they should have filed against Israel," Kittrie argued. "The ICC prosecutor decided to do it for political reasons … there’s more pressure on him to file against Israel than there is against far more worthy candidates, so that’s what he does. It's basically law by windsock."

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced this week that he would file an application requesting arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as well as Hamas' terrorist leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and military commander Mohammed Deif. 

Khan said the decision proceeded from a review of evidence by a panel of experts, including human rights attorney Amal Clooney, wife of actor George Clooney. Khan said his office found "reasonable grounds" to believe Israeli officials "bear criminal responsibility for … war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine."

Khan cited alleged crimes of "starvation of civilians as a method of warfare" and "directing attacks against a civilian population."

BIDEN REJECTS ICC ALLEGATIONS AGAINST ISRAEL: 'WHAT’S HAPPENING IS NOT GENOCIDE'

Critics have blasted Khan for what they view as equating the Israeli officials with Hamas by requesting warrants for both groups of leaders. Khan’s office "unanimously concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Hamas leaders … have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including hostage-taking, murder and crimes of sexual violence," according to Clooney’s statement.

As such, many have pointed to some glaring examples of missing cases that they believe the ICC should pursue, such as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and any official from the Iranian regime.

Gabriel Noronha, former State Department adviser on Iran and current Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA fellow), on social media platform X also highlighted Chinese President Xi Jinping for his country’s alleged treatment of the Uyghur population and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who the U.N. accused of committing "crimes against humanity."

The court, meanwhile, has ongoing investigations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Libya, Mali, Afghanistan, the Philippines and Russia's crimes in Ukraine, with cases recently closed and under consideration in Uganda, Central African Republic, Kenya and Georgia. An investigation has remained open in Venezuela since 2021 following a three-year preliminary exam.

HOUSE DEMOCRAT BLASTS IRELAND, SPAIN, NORWAY RECOGNITION OF PALESTINIAN STATE AS ‘GIFT TO HAMAS’

The ICC has previously drawn a clear line on who it can and cannot pursue in cases, depending on membership as determined by signatories of the Rome Statute. The court considered two different cases brought against North Korea – one in 2014 and one in 2016 – and determined that in the first case the court had jurisdiction because South Korea was a signatory, but in the latter case, North Korea alone lay outside jurisdiction as non-signatory, the Korea Herald reported.

The court has, however, acted outside this measure before, most notably when Russia invaded Ukraine and the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin related to alleged involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian children.

Both Ukraine and Russia signed the Rome Statute, but neither ratified it, and Russia withdrew its signature outright in 2016. Ukraine accepted the court’s jurisdiction, though, which allowed the ICC to investigate alleged Russian crimes following the 2022 invasion.

Israel is not a signatory, but the Palestinian Territories, titled the State of Palestine by the ICC, is a signatory and ratified the Rome Statute, which would provide the ICC with its jurisdiction to investigate alleged crimes in the Gaza Strip. The announcement regarding the application for arrest warrants this week also referred to "the Territory of Israel," even though the United Nations (not affiliated with the ICC) does not recognize a Palestinian state and recognizes the state of Israel. The United Nations affords the Palestinian Territories nonmember observer status, but the territories signed onto the Rome Statute in 2015.

AMAL CLOONEY PLAYED KEY ROLE IN ICC ARREST WARRANTS FOR NETANYAHU, HAMAS LEADERS

Fox News Digital reached out to the ICC prosecutor’s office but did not receive a response by time of publication.

China, Syria and Iran are not signatories to the Rome Statute, but Venezuela is. The court sidestepped the 2016 North Korea case because the issue appeared internal, and the China, Syria and Iran cases have largely consisted of internal issues that would provide the ICC with little territorial justification.

Kittrie said the issuing of arrest warrants from the ICC ultimately doesn’t hold much weight, pointing to the fact that the warrant did not dissuade Putin from continuing his war into a third year and that he remains at-large.

"It hasn’t made a difference, it won’t make a difference," Kittrie said, noting that it did give the prosecutor "some sense that he was getting legitimacy from the United States," which also is not a signatory of the Rome Statute.

"I think one of the first things the U.S. is going to do is cut off its assistance to the ICC. No, it doesn’t provide funding to the ICC … but it does provide various types of intelligence and other practical assistance, which are crucial to the ICC ability to have great success."

The first two deaths from waterborne bacterial disease were reported in southern Brazil, where floodwaters were slowly receding, and health authorities warned additional fatalities were likely.

Rio Grande do Sul state's health secretariat confirmed the death of a 33-year-old man due to leptospirosis on Wednesday. On Monday, authorities registered that a 67-year-old man had died from the same infectious disease. Since the beginning of May, 29 cases of the waterborne disease have been confirmed in the state.

WATER RATIONING ORDERED AS SEVERE FLOODING DEVASTATES SOUTHERN BRAZIL

The flooding over about a two-week period killed at least 161 people, with 82 still missing, state authorities said Wednesday. More than 600,000 people were forced from their homes, including tens of thousands who remain in shelters, they said.

Health experts had previously forecast a surge in infectious diseases including leptospirosis and hepatitis B within a couple weeks of the floods, as sewage mixed into the floodwaters.

"There are those who die during the flood and there is the aftermath of the flood," said Paulo Saldiva, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo medical school who researches the impacts of climate change in health. "The lack of potable water itself will mean that people will start using water from reservoirs that is not of good quality."

The unprecedented disaster struck more than 80% of the state’s municipalities and damaged critical infrastructure. Over 3,000 health establishments — hospitals, pharmacies, health centers, and private clinics — were affected, according to a report from the federal government's health research institute Fiocruz released Tuesday.

"The outbreak of leptospirosis cases was somewhat expected due to the number of people exposed to the water, as well as other diseases," said Carlos Machado, a public health and environmental expert who Fiocruz appointed to track the flood’s impact. "We have never seen in Brazil a disaster of this size and with such a large exposed population."

Machado said that even though infrastructure, basic control services and health services have been disrupted, the local health department is working to offer prophylaxis to infectious diseases and guidance to people returning home on how to reduce the exposure risks.

Interruption of health services can also have a lasting impact on patients treating chronic diseases, as treatment and care for chronic patients are discontinued, Machado said. People also often leave home during climate disasters without their prescriptions or identification.

"The health department is working hard to guarantee medication to patients with chronic diseases," he said.

Extreme weather attributed to the El Niño phenomenon is causing a surge in hunger in several countries, including Zambia and Afghanistan, the UN's World Food Programme said Wednesday, and called on donors for much-needed help.

El Niño is a natural, temporary and occasional warming of part of the Pacific that shifts global weather patterns, and studies say that as the world warms, they may get stronger.

POWERFUL EL NIÑO COULD MEAN FEWER ATLANTIC HURRICANES, EXPERTS SAY

Tens of millions of people in southern Africa rely on the weather to grow food to feed themselves.

In a statement, the WFP warned that southern Africa was the "epicenter of the crisis" after a cycle of floods and drought has battered the region over the last three years. Three countries, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia, are the worst affected and have seen between 40-80% of their staple corn crops wiped out by drought this season, leaving millions impacted, according to the UN food agency.

The WFP said executive director Cindy McCain had traveled to Zambia and seen how "severe drought has wiped out harvests in a region where 70% of the population relies on agriculture to survive."

"We can’t ask millions to wait for the next harvest season — a year from now — to put food on their tables," McCain said in a statement. "These families need our support today while we help to build a more resilient future."

WFP said its "teams have started to respond but US$409 million are needed for six months to assist 4.8 million people in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe."

Other countries, including Congo and Afghanistan, are facing similar problems due to changing weather conditions which have led to destroyed crops, livestock deaths and displaced people, causing a surge in hunger, the agency said in a separate statement.

This comes as hunger crises caused by conflict in Gaza and Sudan are already stretching the agency's aid capacity.

The WFP's call for aid came days after the regional Southern African Development Community made a plea for help after a special virtual meeting of leaders and government officials to discuss the impact of the extreme weather.

In a joint statement, the southern African countries said the region needed $5.5 billion to help more than 61 million people.

There had been a "multifaceted and cascading impact of the El Niño-induced drought and floods across multiple sectors," the regional bloc said, noting how it had caused other problems, such as contributing to large and deadly outbreaks of the water-born cholera disease. Countries that depend on hydroelectric generators, like Zambia, are struggling to produce enough electricity because of the drought.

Alongside El Niño, the southern African region has recently seen a series of tropical cyclones that scientists said were likely made stronger and wetter by human-caused climate change and the increase in global temperatures.

While the African continent contributes the least to climate change, it is expected to suffer the most. Poorer countries are generally not as well-equipped to deal with the impact.

Even before the floods and drought, food insecurity and malnutrition were already at alarming levels in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia and humanitarian assistance had stalled because of funding shortages for aid, WFP said.

The three countries have all declared national disasters over this year's drought, and others have provided equally grim assessments.

The United Nations humanitarian agency said this month that around half of Zimbabwe's population of 15 million needed "lifesaving and life-sustaining" help because of the drought.

Last week, the Action Against Hunger non-profit warned that "a hunger crisis may be imminent" in Kenya in East Africa after catastrophic floods displaced more than 250,000 people.

A rare tornado in northern Haiti has injured more than 50 people and destroyed more than 200 homes, the U.N. said Wednesday.

HAITI’S MAIN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT REOPENS NEARLY THREE MONTHS AFTER GANG VIOLENCE FORCED IT TO CLOSE

The tornado hit the community of Bassin-Bleu on Tuesday, leaving more than 300 families homeless, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The office noted that at least 10 people are seriously injured, with local media reporting they were hospitalized.

The office said Haiti’s civil protection agency and the Red Cross were the first responders and are evaluating the damage.

The civil protection agency said heavy rain is expected for most of Haiti, including the area hit by the tornado, warning of possible flooding and landslides.

The families of five female Israeli soldiers being held captive by Hamas have released a graphic video Wednesday showing their abduction by Palestinian terrorists, describing it as "a damning testament to the nation's failure to bring home the hostages." 

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which released the footage, said the five women were all captured at the Nahal Oz base near the Israel-Gaza border during Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023. 

"On that horrific Saturday, 15 female observers were murdered, and seven were abducted alive from the Nahal Oz base," it said. "Ori Megidish was rescued by IDF forces after 23 days in captivity; Noa Marciano was murdered by Hamas terrorists while in captivity, and her body was returned by the IDF for burial in Israel. Five female observers – Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniela Gilboa, and Naama Levy – have been held captive by Hamas for 229 days." 

"The disturbing video has been the reality of Agam, Daniela, Liri, Naama, Karina, and 123 other hostages for 229 days," the group continued. "The video is a damning testament to the nation's failure to bring home the hostages, who have been forsaken for 229 days. There is no greater mission, no more significant achievement, and no chance to restore hope to Israel without the return of all – the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for burial. The Israeli government must not waste even one more moment – it must return to the negotiating table today!" 

FOOTAGE SHOWS HUNDREDS OF PALESTINIANS LOOTING AID CONVOY IN GAZA, BLOCKING DELIVERY FROM US PIER 

The footage, which was taken at the Nahal Oz base, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, begins with the hostages being pressed against a wall with their hands bound. In the same room with them are Hamas fighters, some of whom are holding weapons while others are shouting.  

The video then shows the bloodied faces of the female captives as they engage in conversation with the terrorists. 

The Hamas fighters are seen praying at one point before the hostages are loaded into a vehicle, with gunfire erupting in the background. 

NIGHT OF INTENSE FIGHTING MARKS ISRAELI ADVANCE DEEPER INTO RAFAH 

"The video, which spans 3 minutes and 10 seconds, has been edited and censored to exclude the most disturbing scenes, such as the numerous young men and women murdered at the Nahal Oz base and inside the bomb shelter from which the female observers were taken, as well as many scenes of extreme brutality," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said. 

"The footage reveals the violent, humiliating, and traumatizing treatment the girls endured on the day of their abduction, their eyes filled with raw terror," it added. 

The Israeli government did not respond to numerous requests for comment from Fox News Digital regarding the video. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Ireland, Spain and Norway's decision to recognize Palestinian statehood as a "reward for terrorism" following the Oct. 7 attacks. 

"The intention of several European countries to recognize a Palestinian state is a reward for terrorism," Netanyahu said in Hebrew via a video message, according to the official translation from his office. 

The prime minister said that "80% of the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria support the terrible massacre of October 7," which sparked the current war against Hamas.

"This evil cannot be given a state," Netanyahu continued. "This would be a terrorist state. It will try to repeat the massacre of October 7 again and again; we will not consent to this."

"Rewarding terrorism will not bring peace and neither will it stop us from defeating Hamas," Netanyahu said. 

HOUSE DEMOCRAT BLASTS IRELAND, SPAIN, NORWAY RECOGNITION OF PALESTINIAN STATE AS 'GIFT TO HAMAS'

Ireland, Spain and Norway said Wednesday they would recognize a Palestinian state on May 28, a historic but largely symbolic move that comes the same week the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) already said he would seek arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his defense minister. The International Court of Justice is also considering allegations of genocide that Israel has strenuously denied.

In addition to recalling the ambassadors to the three countries, Israel summoned their envoys, accusing the Europeans of rewarding the militant Hamas group for its Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the European ambassadors would watch grisly video footage of the attack.

NORWAY, IRELAND, SPAIN RECOGNIZING INDEPENDENT PALESTINIAN STATE AS ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR CONTINUES

In that assault, Hamas terrorists stormed across the border, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostage. The ICC prosecutor is also seeking arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders. 

"History will remember that Spain, Norway, and Ireland decided to award a gold medal to Hamas murderers and rapists," Katz said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ministers from Arab states will meet with European Union counterparts in Brussels on Monday to try to forge a common path on ending the war in Gaza and building lasting peace, a senior EU official said.

Representatives from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will join a regular meeting of foreign ministers from the 27-member EU, said Sven Koopmans, the EU's special representative for the Middle East peace process.

Koopmans said the gathering was one of a series at which Arab and European countries were seeking common positions on ways to end the fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

SEAN HANNITY: ISRAEL HAS A RIGHT TO END THE WAR ON TERROR

"Our assignment is to see how we can build a coalition where we try collectively to contribute (to peace efforts) without putting people in a corner," Koopmans told Reuters.

The EU has been riven by divisions over the war in Gaza, which followed Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

Those divisions were on show again on Wednesday when EU members Spain and Ireland - along with Norway - said they would recognize a Palestinian state while France and Germany made clear they did not think the time was right.

Israel made a new push in central Gaza on Monday in a war in which nearly 36,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the enclave's health ministry. Some 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage in Hamas's rampage, according to Israeli tallies. About 125 people are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza.

Koopmans said EU members agreed on core priorities such as ending the war, avoiding a regional war and working towards a peace settlement in which Israel and a Palestinian state would live side by side.

"We may have different positions on recognition but we have unanimity on the need for a Palestinian state," he said.

However, international efforts to agree on plans for Gaza after the war on issues such as who would govern the enclave and who would be responsible for security have floundered.

Koopmans declined to provide details about Monday's discussions but said a major effort involving the United States and Arab and European countries is necessary to establish peace.

"Nobody alone is sufficient. But if we work together, and we are working on doing something concretely together, maybe we're just about sufficient, at least to get things started," he said.

The Biden administration has made clear it also supports a two-state solution as the basis for lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, along with security guarantees for Israel.

Silhouettes of 80 soldiers were etched on sand on a beach in the town of Broadstairs in southern Britain on Wednesday, May 22, ahead of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Pete Gower, a 72-year-old veteran, remembered his father who fought with the Sussex Regiment in Normandy, saying "it must have been horrific for him".

D-DAY: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE HISTORIC WORLD WAR II BATTLE

Britain will mark the 80th anniversary of the 1944 D-Day landings, when 150,000 Allied soldiers invaded France to drive out the forces of Nazi Germany on 6 June.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced a snap election that will take place on July 4 in what could prove a pivotal election for the United Kingdom.

"Earlier today, I spoke with His Majesty the King today to request the dissolution of parliament," Sunak announced outside No. 10 Downing Street on Wednesday. "The king has granted this request, and we will have a general election on the fourth of July." 

"These uncertain times call for a clear plan and bold action," Sunak said. "To chart a course to a secure future, you must choose in this election, who has that plan? Who is prepared to take the bold action necessary to secure a better future for our country and our children?"

Sunak stood in the pouring rain and took the gamble of his political career, discussing the various pitfalls and challenges of his administration, claiming that he was proud of how he and the greater United Kingdom handled them, citing the pandemic crisis and economic turmoil. 

REPORT EXPOSES ‘CATALOG OF FAILURES’ BY UK GOVERNMENT IN INFECTED BLOOD SCNADAL THAT KILLED THOUSANDS

Sunak touted economic successes such as the newly announced low inflation rate and improving economy as reasons to call for an election, saying that "this period of economic stability was only ever meant to be the beginning" and that "now is the chance for Britain to choose its future." 

Rumblings started to grow early Wednesday as cabinet ministers delayed or outright canceled appointments for the rest of the day to attend a 4 p.m. BST meeting with the prime minister, leading to heavy speculation that he would call an early election.

Nicholas Watt, the political editor of BBC Newsnight, tweeted out a thread on social media platform X that the decision has taken the Conservative Party by surprise and caused a wave of anger among its members: A "Tory rebel source" told the editor that the party would submit letters calling for a no confidence vote against Sunak should he announce the election, and that calling an election now was "madness."

"Rishi Sunak has officially launched the U.K. Conservative Party's suicide mission," Thomas Corbett-Dillon, a political commentator and former adviser to Boris Johnson, told Fox News Digital.

UK'S CAMERON LAUDS SHARP DECLINE IN ILLEGAL MIGRATION FROM ALBANIA DURING VISIT

"After 2 years of failed leadership, uncontrolled immigration, and consistently ignoring the will of the people, Rishi has decided now is a good time to call an election," Corbett-Dillon said. "The British Conservatives are on track for a historic loss, and it is not because the country has become more left-wing, it’s because the British Conservative Party no longer represents the right-wing people in the U.K."

"The far-left Labour Party are expected to win, and they make AOC look like Ronald Reagan," he added, saying the Conservative Party now more resembled "American Democrats" than any kind of conservative position. "Labour’s victory will be the final sunset for the Mighty British Empire."

The Conservative Party has suffered heavy defeats in recent local elections, losing even historically strong Conservative districts to the opposition Labour Party. Recent polling shows the Conservatives 20 points behind their rivals, according to The Independent, causing even greater confusion among the party membership as to why Sunak would choose now to announce the election. 

The United Kingdom announced its lowest inflation rate in three years on Wednesday, hitting just 2.3% in April, The New York Times reported. Sunak referenced the low inflation and argued that Britons would feel the effects of economic success soon, urging them to be patient and trust in his plan, which he insisted was "working."  

LONDON MAYOR URGES FOREIGN LEADERS TO CONDEMN TRUMP AS RACIST, SEXIST, HOMOPHOBIC

But some experts had warned as well that the government lacked the flexibility to institute new tax cuts in the coming year, with limited room for such additions in the March budget and likely as much if not less room in the autumn budget, according to Bloomberg. 

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt warned, "As things stand at the moment – things can change – it doesn’t look like I’ll have the kind of room that I had for those very big tax cuts in the autumn."

Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the election, saying that it was time to "change the country" and "secure a better future" with his party after 15 years of Conservative Party rule, ITV reported. 

Sunak took office on Oct. 25, 2022, succeeding the historically brief tenure of Liz Truss, who departed Downing Street after just 44 days in power, and the tumultuous and chaotic tenure of Boris Johnson. 

Johnson won an impressive majority in the last general election, held on Dec. 12, 2019, and due to the election guidelines, despite different prime ministers holding office over the past five years, the U.K. would have to hold a new general election no later than Oct. 31 this year.

This is a developing story.