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Venezuela pro-democracy figurehead Maria Corina Machado was briefly detained by security forces Thursday after emerging from months of hiding to lead a protest in Caracas, defiantly promising after her release that her country “will be FREE!”The 57-year-old engineer-turned-dissident appeared from among a throng of thousands of opposition supporters in the capital, climbing atop a pickup …

Venezuela opposition claims elusive leader briefly detained in Caracas protest Read More »

The world’s largest gathering of humanity begins in India on Monday with the opening of the Kumbh Mela, a six-week Hindu festival organisers expect to attract up to 400 million pilgrims.Organisers say the scale of preparations for the Kumbh Mela is akin to setting up a temporary country from scratch — in this case, one …

India readies for mammoth Hindu festival of 400 million pilgrims Read More »

Massive wildfires that engulfed whole neighborhoods and displaced thousands in Los Angeles raged out of control Thursday, authorities said, as California’s National Guard soldiers readied to hit the streets to help quell disorder.Swaths of the United States’ second-largest city lay in ruins, with smoke blanketing the sky with an acrid smell pervading almost every building.A …

Los Angeles fires rage on as National Guard called in Read More »

When nature calls, Masana Izawa has followed the same routine for more than 50 years: heading out to the woods in Japan, dropping his pants and doing as bears do.”We survive by eating other living things. But you can give faeces back to nature so that organisms in the soil can decompose them,” the 74-year-old …

Japan ‘poop master’ gives back to nature Read More »

Everton avoided FA Cup embarrassment with a 2-0 victory against third tier Peterborough just hours after Sean Dyche was sacked by the struggling Premier League club on Thursday.Dyche was axed less than four hours before the third round tie, with the club’s new owners, the Friedkin Group, reportedly in talks with former Everton boss David …

Everton advance in FA Cup after Dyche dismissal Read More »

ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi has insisted Jannik Sinner’s doping case was “run by the book” with no preferential treatment, and expressed confidence that tennis would survive should the Italian be banned.World number one Sinner twice tested positive for traces of the steroid clostebol in March.He was exonerated by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, which accepted …

ATP chief insists Sinner doping case ‘run by the book’ Read More »

People forced to flee their homes by massive wildfires tearing through Los Angeles were taking turns to patrol their streets to ward off looters on Thursday.At least 20 people have been arrested in the aftermath of massive fires that have razed whole neighborhoods, officials said.Police warned that officers were flooding the affected areas and would …

Survivors patrol as looters prey on fire-wrecked Los Angeles Read More »

A man notorious for shooting up a pizzeria in the US capital where he wrongly believed Hillary Clinton and other Democrats were running a child sex ring has been killed in a traffic stop police shooting, local media reported Thursday.The North Carolina man who died Monday, two days after the incident with police, has now …

US ‘Pizzagate’ conspiracy theory gunman killed by police: media Read More »

Massive wildfires that engulfed whole neighborhoods and displaced thousands in Los Angeles remained totally uncontained Thursday, authorities said, as US National Guard soldiers readied to hit the streets to help quell disorder.Swaths of the United States’ second-largest city lay in ruins, with smoke blanketing the sky and an acrid smell pervading almost every building.A vast …

Los Angeles fires rage on as US National Guard called in Read More »

Armed men tried to storm Chad’s presidential palace when President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno was inside but 18 attackers and two soldiers were killed in the failed attack, the national prosecutor said Thursday.Deby denounced what he called an attempt to “crush” him as national television showed images of more than 10 armed men at the …

Chad says 20 killed in bid to storm presidential palace Read More »