World News in Brief: Sudan drone attacks condemned, South Sudan violence, airstrikes in Ukraine, South Africa Freedom Day

An aid truck from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) that was carrying emergency shelter kits came under attack by a drone on Friday while transiting through the town of Umm Drisaya in North Darfur state.  Although the driver escaped unhurt, all supplies were destroyed in the fire. The truck was heading to the town of Tawila, where 700,000 people have sought safety after fleeing […]

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Office of Public Affairs | Suspect in White House Correspondents’ Dinner Shooting Charged with Attempt to Assassinate the President

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, was arraigned today in U.S. District Court on charges stemming from the April 25, 2026, shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, announced the Department of Justice. Allen is charged by complaint with one count of attempt to assassinate the President of the United States, transportation of a firearm & ammunition in interstate […]

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Office of Public Affairs | Justice Department Secures $510,000 Settlement in Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Kentucky Landlord

The Justice Department announced today that Joseph E. Johnson, the owner and manager of residential rental properties in Lexington, Kentucky, agreed to pay $510,000 to resolve a lawsuit alleging that he sexually harassed female tenants in violation of the Fair Housing Act. “The Justice Department will not tolerate violations of our federal fair housing laws, including […]

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Office of Public Affairs | Boise Cascade Pleads Guilty and Is Sentenced for Violating the Lacey Act for Its Role in a Timber Trafficking Scheme

The Boise Cascade Company (Boise Cascade) pleaded guilty and was sentenced today for a felony violation of the Lacey Act for its role in a timber trafficking scheme to evade countervailing and anti-dumping duties. Boise Cascade was sentenced to pay a fine of $6,382,000, representing twice the gross profits it derived from the illegal wood […]

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As warheads proliferate, decades old nuclear weapons treaty must evolve, warns UN chief

For the first time in decades, the number of nuclear warheads is on the rise. Nuclear testing is back on the table and global military spending jumped to $2.7 trillion in 2025. Addressing the General Assembly, António Guterres said the cornerstone of efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons has been eroding, with commitments unfulfilled and trust […]

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Office of Public Affairs | Prolific Chinese State-Sponsored Contract Hacker Extradited from Italy

Note: View the indictment in U.S. v. Xu Zewei et al. here. Xu Zewei (徐泽伟), 34, of the People’s Republic of China was extradited to the United States this weekend and appeared today in U.S. District Court in Houston on a nine-count indictment related to his involvement in computer intrusions between February 2020 and June 2021. […]

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Central Sahel: Millions of children in humanitarian need, UNICEF official warns

UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban issued the warning following a visit to Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali.  “After a 14-day visit to the Central Sahel, I have witnessed firsthand a region rich in possibilities, yet continuously affected by insecurity, climate shocks, and socio-economic crises,” he said in a statement on Sunday.  Mali turmoil exemplifies the crisis  Recent reports of violence in Mali “are another example of the […]

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Chornobyl 40 years later: Learning from the past

  In the early hours of 26 April 1986, what should have been a routine test at Chornobyl nuclear power plant, quickly escalated into the world’s biggest nuclear accident. A combination of fatal flaws in the reactor’s design and human error, led to a catastrophic explosion, releasing massive amounts of radiation. The true number of […]

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Renewables rising, Part 1: How four countries are reshaping energy security

Why it matters: Some 20 per cent of the world’s gas and oil supplies pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway which runs between Iran and Oman, and which has been largely closed to marine traffic since the outbreak of the conflict between Iran and the United States. The disruption of those supplies […]

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Mali: Guterres calls for international solutions to curb spread of violent extremism in the Sahel

Gunfire and explosions were reported in the capital Bamako on Saturday and around a large military base outside the capital, as well as Gao and central areas, with gunfire continuing in the northern city of Kidal. Assaults by Tuareg rebels looking to establish a breakaway ethnic state, focused on northern areas while the armed groups […]

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