Scientists in Australia have successfully produced the world’s first kangaroo embryo through in vitro fertilization, or IVF, a feat they hailed as a “ground-breaking achievement” that could one day help save endangered species.

The research could be pivotal for Australia’s conservation efforts, given the country’s urgent need to protect its endemic species after having one of the world’s worst extinction records.

Australia has lost at least 33 mammal species since European settlement of the already inhabited continent, according to Australian non-profit Invasive Species Council, a higher rate of extinction than other continent on Earth in recent history.

Scientists at the University of Queensland first assessed how kangaroo eggs and sperm developed in a laboratory, before injecting a single sperm directly into a mature egg, using a technique known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection, the university said Thursday.

Andres Gambini, who led the research into the kangaroo embryo, said the technique could be applied to other animals under the threat of extinction.

“Our ultimate goal is to support the preservation of endangered marsupial species like koalas, Tasmanian devils, northern hairy-nosed wombats and Leadbeater’s possums,” he said, referring to mammals that carry their young in pouches and are an iconic feature of Australia’s unusual fauna.

“Access to marsupial tissues is challenging as they are less studied than domestic animals despite being iconic and integral to Australian biodiversity,” he added.

In 2022, the Australian government announced a 10-year plan to eliminate further extinctions, which included efforts to conserve more than 30% of land mass and protect 110 priority species across the country.

More than 2,200 species and ecosystems in Australia are classified as threatened with extinction, according to a 2023 report by non-profit Australian Conservation Foundation.

The northern English town of Oldham is used to outsiders exploiting it to “drive an agenda,” local councilor Abdul Wahid said.

But people here never expected to be the focus of Elon Musk, who spent much of early January posting about a historic child abuse scandal that plagued this community and many others across the United Kingdom more than a decade ago.

Oldham, home to a large British Pakistani community, has previously been a flashpoint for race riots, riven by divisions that extremists have sought to take advantage of. Now, it’s in the crosshairs of the far-right again over allegations of a cover-up of child abuse, amplified by the world’s richest man.

While Musk’s attention has seemingly shifted elsewhere – he’s since taken up his position in US President Donald Trump’s administration – in Oldham, those personally impacted by the abuse scandal say they are left with old wounds reopened and fading hopes for change.

Many worry Musk’s words have given new momentum to far-right figures bent on using the historic abuse, which was primarily carried out by groups of men of mainly Pakistani heritage, to stir racial hatred.

Musk’s flurry of messages, posted to his social media platform X, falsely accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer of covering up the abuse, called on King Charles III to dissolve parliament and order new elections, and attacked the country’s female safeguarding minister.

Far-right figures capitalized on the firestorm kicked up by the billionaire, with Musk also posting support for the imprisoned, anti-Islam far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson, who is currently serving an 18-months sentence for repeating false accusations about a Syrian refugee and who argues multiculturalism in the UK has failed.

While Musk’s comments have been condemned by many British politicians for spreading misinformation, some abuse survivors say they are grateful that Musk has renewed the focus on their plight.

Walker-Roberts, who has waived her right to anonymity, said that Musk’s interest in the scandal has helped to drive the issue of child sexual abuse to the top of the British political agenda.

If she could meet Musk, Walker-Roberts said, she would ask him to “please continue fighting for us and giving us a voice from your platform.”

Despite a burst of new measures and funding announced by the current UK government to tackle child sexual abuse and the institutional failings of the past, Walker-Roberts and others’ calls for a statutory government-led inquiry in Oldham – like previous inquiries that examined historical cases and compelled witnesses to appear – has not been met. Instead, a locally led review has been promised in Oldham and four other locations.

A national inquiry into historic child sexual abuse, including by gangs, concluded in 2022 that there had been “extensive failures by local authorities and police forces to keep pace with the pernicious and changing problem of the sexual exploitation of children by networks.”

Another government-commissioned inquiry in nearby Rotherham found that at least 1,400 children had been abused over a 16-year period by groups of men in the area.

“It’s really hard to justify why anybody would block a public inquiry of this nature (in Oldham),” local councilor Wahid said. “What we want to achieve is to get this dealt with and learn from it and see the back of it.”

Walker-Roberts still lives in the neighborhood where she was abused and believes that children from vulnerable backgrounds are still being groomed. While one of her abusers was jailed, others were never caught. She said that there are still too few safeguards in place to protect them and regularly speaks to community leaders and politicians about her story to raise awareness.

While she’s grateful that Musk’s intervention has thrust the issue of child sexual exploitation back into the spotlight, she worries that her suffering, her story, and her advocacy have now been overshadowed by those seeking to make the conversation about race.

Musk “needs to say that this is about survivors, not about everyone else. Too many people are jumping on this bandwagon,” Walker-Roberts said, noting that the far-right had hijacked the conversation.

“It’s the victims that need the help, not Tommy Robinson or any other political party,” she added.

Others wish Musk had stayed out of the debate altogether.

Nazir Afzal, who was the chief prosecutor in Northwest England from 2011 to 2015, when much of the abuse first came to light, describes Musk’s involvement as “misinformed and dangerous.”

“Unless Mr. Musk starts talking about the real issues, he’s just stirring up a racist pot,” he said.

Afzal, who successfully prosecuted numerous child abuse cases during his tenure, said that the vast majority of recorded child sexual abuse cases in the UK are carried out by White men.

“When you just focus on the brown guy, you’re telling girls: ‘Beware of the brown guy.’ You’re not telling them that they’re 40 times more likely in this country to be abused by a British White guy,” he said, citing the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre)’s most recent data on child sexual abuse in England and Wales that indicates 2% of perpetrators are of Pakistani backgrounds, whereas 88% are White. The dataset represents the three-quarters of cases where ethnicity was recorded.

But those facts are often drowned out by the “grooming gang” scandal, particularly in towns like Oldham, with larger than national average non-White populations and high rates of poverty.

While high-profile convictions in many historic child sex abuse cases have involved gangs of men from Pakistani or other Muslim immigrant backgrounds, recent police figures on group-based child sexual abuse cases indicate that around 7% of suspects self-reported their ethnicity as “Asian” in 2023, which is broadly in line with the national population ethnic breakdown for England and Wales. Still, data is incomplete and not routinely gathered – with only a third of suspects recording their ethnicity for the 2023 data.

The national child abuse inquiry report, published in 2022, made 20 recommendations for combatting child abuse, the first being the need to record better data on both victims and abusers, including their ethnicity.

As the current government, in power since last July, has yet to implement all of the recommendations, some far-right figures have taken advantage of what’s been perceived as ministers dragging their feet on the issue.

In his blizzard of posts on X, Musk wrongly accused Starmer of being “complicit in the rape of Britain.” Starmer, who was Director of Public Prosecutions at the time of the scandal, staunchly defended his record, saying that he had changed “the entire approach” that had stopped victims from being heard, and had “the highest number of child sexual abuse cases being prosecuted on record.”

“Those that are spreading lies and misinformation, as far and as wide as possible – they’re not interested in victims, they’re interested in themselves,” Starmer said last month.

That political backdrop is not lost on Oldham’s local councilors.

Like survivor Walker-Roberts, Councilor Brian Hobin welcomed the renewed attention prompted by Musk, but said that “the rhetoric of division, and the rhetoric of trying to pitch us against one another, needs to be taken out of it.”

“I think the excuse of community cohesion in the past has actually exacerbated the matter and made the communities feel as though they’re against each other,” he said. At times, he added, it has felt like everyone is “treading on eggshells” because abuse “could be a very divisive topic, and I think not knowing each other’s cultures is not helping that.”

Wahid, who is of Pakistani descent and represents a majority White ward, also supports Musk’s calls for a statutory Oldham inquiry. But the councilor said discourse around the scandal, amplified by the far-right on social media, had wrongly presented the ethnicities of the grooming gang as the central issue and made local “Muslim and Pakistani communities go on the defensive.”

Wahid said more open discussion was needed, but that South Asian-heritage and White communities realize a united front is key. “It’s not the race, it’s not the religion, and it’s not the culture, but there’s a problem, so we need to get to the (root of the) problem,” he said.

Meanwhile, survivors like Walker-Roberts say they are still waiting for justice and for effective action to be taken against child sex abuse.

“We can’t keep going on year after year… decades on and still get nowhere,” she said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backed President Donald Trump’s proposal for the United States to “take over” Gaza, as his defense minister instructed the Israeli military to draw up a plan that would enable the “voluntary departure” of Palestinian residents in Gaza.

“This is the first good idea that I’ve heard. It’s a remarkable idea and I think it should be really pursued, examined, pursued, and done because I think it will create a different future for everyone,” Netanyahu said of Trump’s plan for the future of Gaza, in an interview on Fox News Wednesday.

“The actual idea of allowing first Gazans who want to leave to leave, I mean, what is wrong with that?” he said, adding that Palestinians who left could come back after reconstruction was complete.

Trump announced on Tuesday at a joint news conference with Netanyahu a plan for the US to take “long-term ownership” of Gaza, relocate its residents to neighboring countries, and redevelop the Palestinian territory into what he described as the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

Much of Gaza has been obliterated by 15 months of Israeli bombardment following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attacks.

The proposal raises the question of whether Palestinians could forcefully be removed from their home, and breaks with decades of US foreign policy, which has long emphasized a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.

Critics warn Trump’s plan would also likely break international law, could amount to ethnic cleansing and could result in putting US troops once again into the heart of a Middle Eastern conflict. White House officials have also since walked back many of the details.

Regional leaders, Palestinian officials and many western allies of Washington widely rejected the idea of displacing Gaza’s residents following Trump’s comments. Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said Wednesday that Arab nations were planning to reconstruct Gaza while Palestinians remain in the enclave.

‘Voluntary departure’

On Thursday, Defense Minister Israel Katz directed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to prepare a plan “to enable the voluntary departure of Gaza residents,” according to a Defense Ministry statement.

“I have instructed the IDF to prepare a plan to enable the voluntary departure of Gaza residents,” Katz said, according to a spokesperson.

“I welcome the bold initiative of US President Trump, which could allow a large portion of Gaza’s population to relocate to various destinations worldwide.”

Katz said Trump’s plan “will take many years,” during which Palestinians would be integrated “into host countries while facilitating long-term reconstruction efforts in a demilitarized and threat-free Gaza in a post-Hamas era.”

Trump’s plan flies in the face of the aspirations of Palestinians, who have long advocated for statehood and roundly dismissed Trump’s relocation proposal when he first floated it two weeks ago.

Most of the two million people living in Gaza won’t want to leave, analysts have said, raising the question of whether they could be forcefully removed – which is prohibited under international law.

There are about 5.9 million Palestinian refugees worldwide, most of them descendants of people who fled with the creation of Israel in 1948. Approximately 90% of Gaza residents were displaced in the latest war, and many have been forced to move repeatedly, some more than 10 times, according to the UN.

It’s also not clear how exactly Trump’s proposed land grab would work, and analysts have cast doubt on the feasibility of his plan.

In his interview with Fox, Netanyahu said his government remained committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities in Gaza.

“We have decimated most of Hamas’ military power, not all,” he said, adding “we’ll make sure it is not there when this war ends.”

Despite Israel’s 15-month war against Hamas which has eliminated many of the group’s senior leaders, flattened Gaza and killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, the militant group has remained resilient.

Former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said recently that each time Israel has completed military operations in Gaza and pulled back, Hamas militants regroup and re-emerge.

“We assess that Hamas has recruited almost as many new militants as it has lost. That is a recipe for an enduring insurgency and perpetual war,” he said.

Negotiations on extending the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal – which expires on March 1 –  are in doubt with considerable uncertainty about what the next stage of the fragile truce will look like.

Netanyahu said his government remained committed to releasing all remaining hostages in Gaza.

But the Israeli prime minister has been deeply wary of phase two of that deal, which would see the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the return of the remaining hostages there. His finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has pledged to quit the government if the ceasefire continues.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Australia has introduced strict laws to combat hate crimes, introducing mandatory minimum sentences for a range of terrorism offenses and displaying hate symbols, following a spate of antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.

The new laws passed Thursday toughen punishment for hate crimes, including minimum six-year prison sentences for terrorism offenses, and at least 12-month sentences for less serious hate crimes – such as giving a Nazi salute in public.

The legislation also creates new offenses for threatening force or violence against targeted groups and people based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, religion or ethnicity.

The changes were first proposed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor government last year amid an uptick in antisemitic attacks and calls for tougher penalties for offenders.

At the time, the proposed legislation didn’t include mandatory sentencing, which Albanese has previously vehemently opposed.

However, this week the government finally relented following criticism from Albanese’s political opponents that he wasn’t doing enough to combat antisemitism.

The Law Council of Australia said it was “extremely disappointed” that mandatory sentencing had been included.

“Mandatory sentencing laws are arbitrary and limit the individual’s right to a fair trial by preventing judges from imposing a just penalty based on the unique circumstances of each offense and offender,” council president Juliana Warner said in a statement.

Many among Australia’s 117,000-strong Jewish population are anxious after a series of antisemitic attacks in its two biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne – including arson attacks on a childcare center and synagogues, as well as swastikas scrawled on buildings and cars.

In late January, authorities said they’d foiled a potential “mass casualty” attack with the discovery of a trailer packed with explosives in northwest Sydney, and “some indications” it was to be used against targets in the Jewish community.

While state and federal investigators have been assigned to special taskforces to make arrests, Jewish leaders have been demanding more action from government officials.

Authorities are investigating more than a dozen “serious allegations” among more than 166 reports of antisemitic attacks received since mid-December, when Special Operation Avalite was formed to address rising antisemitism.

Officers are looking beyond suspects accused of carrying out the crimes, to “overseas actors” who may have paid for their services, the police added.

Nearly 3,000 people have been killed in the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the United Nations, after it was captured by rebels following days of fierce fighting with the Congolese army.

Vivian van de Perre, deputy head of the UN mission in DR Congo, said Wednesday that “so far 2,000 bodies have been collected from the Goma streets in recent days, and 900 bodies remain in the morgues of the Goma hospitals.”

“We expect this number to go up,” she told reporters in a video call from the city, which is home to about 2 million people. “There are still many decomposing bodies in certain areas.”

The retrieval of the bodies comes after the rebel coalition, Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) – which includes the M23 armed group – announced a ceasefire from Tuesday “in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the Kinshasa regime,” referring to DR Congo’s government.

The government on Tuesday described the ceasefire as “false communication,” and heavy fighting has continued to be reported in South Kivu province, the UN said Wednesday.

DR Congo – a country of more than 100 million people – has experienced decades of violence driven by ethnic tensions and fights over access to land and mineral resources, causing one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.

Congo, the United States and UN experts accuse neighboring Rwanda of backing M23, which is mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army more than a decade ago.

Since 2022, M23 – which claims to defend the interests of minority communities including the Tutsi – has waged a renewed rebellion against the Congolese government, occupying a large expanse in North Kivu, which borders Rwanda and Uganda.

The province, of which Goma is the capital, is home to rare minerals – including vast deposits of coltan – which is crucial to the production of phones and computers.

Heavy fighting reported

Van de Perre said Wednesday that while the UN hoped the ceasefire would hold, “it appears that is not the case,” with ongoing fighting reported along a main road toward the South Kivu capital of Bukavu.

“In Bukavu, tensions are rising as the M23 moves closer, just 50km north of the city,” Van de Perre told reporters, calling the situation in South Kivu province “particularly concerning.”

Rebel groups appear to continue gaining ground in the mineral-rich eastern region, capturing a town 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Bukavu, the Associated Press reported Wednesday, citing civil society officials and residents.

Van de Perre said the UN is “gravely concerned” at losing Bukavu’s Kavumu airport, which she said is “critical for ongoing civilian and humanitarian use around South Kivu.”

The rebel alliance has emphasized previously it has “no intention of capturing Bukavu or other areas,” where many displaced people from Goma have fled. “However, we reiterate our commitment to protecting and defending the civilian population and our positions,” it said.

Rebels have made a string of territorial acquisitions in recent weeks in the nation’s east and the group’s leader has expressed the intention of capturing more cities, including the national capital Kinshasa.

Kinshasa lies around 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) away from Goma, on the vast country’s western edge.

“We are going to fight until we get to Kinshasa. We have come to Goma to stay; we are not going to withdraw. We are going to move forward from Goma to Bukavu … up to Kinshasa,” he said.

In Goma, Van de Perre said the rebel group is consolidating control over the city and territories of North Kivu that it has already seized.

The Congolese government has not confirmed the rebels’ takeover but acknowledged their presence in Goma. Last week, a new military governor was appointed for North Kivu, which was described by the Congolese military as being “under a state of siege.”

“We remain under occupation (in Goma). The situation is still highly volatile with a persistent risk of escalation,” Van de Perre said Wednesday. “All exit routes from Goma are under their control and the airport, also under M23 control, is closed until further notice.”

“The escalating violence has led to immense human suffering, displacement and a growing humanitarian crisis,” Van de Perre said.

Nearly 2,000 civilians are sheltering at UN peacekeeping bases in Goma, she said.

Panama denied a claim made by the State Department on Wednesday that the Central American nation had agreed to no longer charge fees for US government ships to transit the country’s famous canal.

“In response to a publication released by the United States Department of State, the Panama Canal Authority, which is authorized to set tolls and other fees for transiting the Canal, reports that it has not made any adjustments to them,” the authority said in a statement, adding that it stood ready to establish a dialogue with the US.

Panama’s statement directly contradicted the State Department’s claim earlier in the evening.

“US government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the US government millions of dollars a year,” the State Department said in a statement posted on X alongside an image of a naval vessel entering the canal’s locks.

Over the past 26 years the US has paid a total of $25.4 million dollars for the transit of warships and submarines, equivalent to less than one million dollars per year, according to a statement from Panama’s embassy in Cuba.

The latest controversy came just days after President Donald Trump reiterated his vow to “take back” the Panama Canal, warning of “powerful” US action in an escalating diplomatic dispute with the Central American country over China’s presence around the vital waterway.

“China is running the Panama Canal that was not given to China, that was given to Panama foolishly, but they violated the agreement, and we’re going to take it back, or something very powerful is going to happen,” Trump told reporters on Sunday.

Hours earlier, the diplomatic stir caused by Trump’s repeated and publicly stated desire for the US to retake control of the canal had appeared to ease after Secretary of State Marco Rubio, making his first overseas trip as the top US diplomat, met with Panama’s President Raúl Mulino.

Though Mulino told Rubio that Panama’s sovereignty over the canal was not up for debate, he also said he had addressed Washington’s concerns over Beijing’s purported influence.

Panama would not renew a 2017 memorandum of understanding to join China’s overseas development initiative, known as the Belt and Road initiative, Mulino said, also suggesting that the deal with Beijing could end early.

The canal was returned to Panama under a 1977 treaty, which allows the US to intervene militarily if the waterway’s operations are disrupted by internal conflict or a foreign power. Today, more cargo than ever runs through the canal than it did during the years of US control.

Since 2000 the canal has been operated by the Panama Canal Authority, whose administrator, deputy administrator and 11-member board are selected by Panama’s government but operate independently.

Panama Ports – part of a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings – operates terminals on the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the canal. So do several other companies.

Hutchinson was first granted the concession over the two ports in 1997 when Panama and the US jointly administered the canal.

The company is publicly traded, not known to be on any US blacklists and their subsidiary Hutchinson Ports is one of the world’s largest port operators, overseeing 53 ports in 24 countries, including for other US allies such as the UK, Australia and Canada. Hutchison also does not control access to the Panama Canal.