A huge chunk of a glacier in the Swiss Alps broke off on Wednesday afternoon, causing a deluge of ice, mud and rock to bury part of a mountain village evacuated earlier this month due to the risk of a rockslide, authorities said.

One person is currently missing, officials said.

Drone footage broadcast by Swiss national broadcaster SRF showed a vast plain of mud and soil completely covering part of the village of Blatten, the river running through it and the wooded sides of the surrounding valley.

“We’ve lost our village,” Matthias Bellwald, the mayor of Blatten told a press conference after the slide. “The village is under rubble. We will rebuild.”

Stephane Ganzer, an official in the canton of Valais where Blatten is located, told Swiss media that about 90% of the village was covered by the landslide.

“An unbelievable amount of material thundered down into the valley,” said Matthias Ebener, a spokesperson for local authorities in the southwestern canton of Valais.

One person was missing, Ebener said. Officials gave no further details on the person during the press conference.

Officials said millions of cubic metres of rock and soil have tumbled down since Blatten was first evacuated this month when part of the mountain behind the glacier began to crumble, sparking warnings it could bring the ice mass down with it.

A video shared widely on social media showed the dramatic moment when the glacier partially collapsed, creating a huge cloud that covered part of the mountain as rock and debris came cascading down towards the village.

Experts consulted by Reuters said it was difficult to assess the extent to which rising temperatures spurred by climate change had triggered the collapse because of the role the crumbling mountainside had played.

Christian Huggel, a professor of environment and climate at the University of Zurich, said while various factors were at play in Blatten, it was known that local permafrost had been affected by warmer temperatures in the Alps.

The loss of permafrost can negatively affect the stability of the mountain rock which is why climate change had likely played a part in the deluge, Huggel said.

The extent of the damage to Blatten had no precedent in the Swiss Alps in the current or previous century, he added.

The rubble of shattered wooden buildings could be seen on the flanks of the huge mass of earth in the drone footage.

Buildings and infrastructure in Blatten, whose roughly 300 inhabitants were evacuated on May 19 after geologists had identified the risk of an imminent avalanche of rock and ice from above, were hit hard by the rockslide, Ebener said.

SRF said houses were destroyed in the village nestled in the Loetschental valley in southern Switzerland.

Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter expressed her solidarity with the local population as emergency services warned people the area was hazardous and urged them to stay away, closing off the main road into the valley.

“It’s terrible to lose your home,” Keller-Sutter said on X.

Earlier this year, Hungarian lawmakers passed new legislation which outlaws Pride events in the country and allows authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify those attending any events that go ahead despite the ban.

But officials from at least six groups of the European Parliament are planning on attending Budapest’s annual Pride march anyway, according to a spokesperson for Kim van Sparrentak, the co-president of the European Union’s Intergroup.

The Intergroup describes itself as an “informal forum for Members of the European Parliament (MEPS) who wish to advance and protect the fundamental rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.”

Budapest Pride has remained determined in the face of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government, which has previously said it is outlawing the parade and other LGBTQ gatherings in the country due to “child protection” issues.

Organizers have vowed to hold the event anyway, and have called on “international allies, activists, and friends” to join the Pride parade though Hungary’s capital on June 28.

“Pride is a protest, and if Orbán can ban Budapest Pride without consequences, every pride is one election away from being banned,” she continued.

Angel said that he will be “defending the right to assemble as a fundamental European right,” adding that he hopes to “show Hungarians who believe in democracy and in Europe that they are not alone.”

On Tuesday, a group of 20 countries in the European Union signed a letter urging Hungary to revise its “anti-LGBTIQ+ legislation,” calling on the European Commission to “expeditiously make full use of the rule of law toolbox at its disposal” if this doesn’t happen.

Angel suggested that some of these mechanisms could include stopping EU funding to Hungary and enacting an infringement procedure against the country for failing to implement EU law.

In Tuesday’s letter, the foreign ministries of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden said that they are “deeply concerned” by Hungary’s recent law changes.

The use of facial recognition software to identify people attending banned events was also condemned, with the countries saying that they “are concerned by the implications of these measures on freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly, and the right to privacy.”

“Respecting and protecting the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people, including LGBTIQ+ persons, is inherent in being part of the European family. This is our responsibility and shared commitment of the member states and the European institutions,” the letter read.

The homicide trial of Diego Maradona’s medical team for alleged malpractice was declared invalid by an Argentine court on Thursday.

The decision comes after one of the three judges overseeing the case was removed due to a possible lack of impartiality and for allegedly authorizing the filming of a documentary during court hearings.

The trial, which started on March 11, must now start from scratch.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Israel has accepted the new proposal for a ceasefire with Hamas from US envoy Steve Witkoff, according to an Israeli official.

Meanwhile, Hamas on Thursday said it “was reviewing the new Witkoff proposal” and was “responsibly studying it in a way that serves the interests of our people, provides relief, and achieves a permanent ceasefire.”

According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the hostage families earlier in the day that he had accepted Witkoff’s proposal.

During her briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that “special envoy Witkoff and the President submitted a ceasefire proposal to Hamas that Israel backed and supported” and that discussions are ongoing.

“We hope that a cease fire in Gaza will take place so we can return all of the hostages home and that’s been a priority for this administration from the beginning,” Leavitt added.

Earlier on Thursday, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalal Smotrich said accepting the proposal would be “sheer madness,” writing on social media that he “will not allow such a thing to happen. Period.”

But Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the proposal “publicly and immediately.” He said he would support the government, even if its far-right members abandoned it.

Bahbah, who led the group “Arab Americans for Trump” during the 2024 presidential campaign, has been working on behalf of the administration.

Catalina, a 23-year-old US citizen, confidently drives to her job as a nanny and earns a fair wage. Yet her mother – an undocumented immigrant from Peru – has worked in the shadows for 30 years.

The Obama administration focused on curbing interior deportations (as opposed to deportations at the border) and, especially in its later years, on so-called “quick returns” of recent border arrivals who were perceived to have fewer ties in the US.

“A lot of people told her nothing would happen, and indeed, nothing did,” Catalina says, explaining her mother ultimately decided to stay.

However, the harsh immigration policies of Donald Trump’s administration paint a bleaker picture for both. The 23-year-old fears her mother could be detained when she drops off the children of a family she cares for every afternoon to support her own family.

“She’s a single mom. I’m the oldest daughter, so if something happens to her, I’d have to take care of my siblings,” Catalina says. “She had to sign a paper leaving everything to me, just in case: what to do with my siblings, her things, her money. It’s awful to think about, but she feels prepared.”

‘An invisible workforce’

Catalina’s mother has raised her children alone and dedicated part of her life to childcare, a sector facing a deep staffing crisis—one that has worsened in recent months, as experts say immigrants are essential to sustaining it.

According to a report from the National Women’s Law Center, 20% of early educators in the US – an umbrella term encompassing preschool teachers, home-based childcare providers, teachers aids and program directors – are immigrants. Women make up “a significant percentage” of the workforce in this sector nationwide.

“Care work is the work that makes all other work possible and enables all families to thrive,” the report says. However, caregivers face low wages, lack of benefits, vulnerability to exploitation, and job insecurity. Undocumented workers, for their part, also lack basic labor rights and protections.

Although she has lived in the US for years, Catalina’s mother does not have access to work benefits like health insurance or social security.

“She gets paid in cash or by check, but no benefits. Nothing,” Catalina says of her mother’s working conditions.

Every year, undocumented immigrants living in the US pay billions of dollars in taxes even though they know they won’t be able to enjoy the benefits unless their status is regularized.

Additionally, the constant threat of being reported limits her even when accepting jobs. “If a job comes from an American family, I don’t think she’d take it. She’s afraid that if something happens, someone will call the authorities.”

According to Cervantes, immigrant childcare workers “are often an invisible workforce.” Despite their crucial role in the early education of an increasingly diverse child population, they are not sufficiently recognized.

“One thing that often goes unrecognized is that these workers are among the few who are bilingual and culturally competent, particularly in the formal sector, which is highly sought after. Many families want their children in bilingual education programs, and these workers are essential for serving an increasingly diverse child population,” adds the CLASP director.

A childcare system under threat

Beyond the numbers, the tightening of immigration policies under Trump’s administration has directly impacted the reality of thousands of families like Catalina’s.

A few weeks after Trump took office, his administration announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents could now make arrests near places like schools, churches, and hospitals, ending a longstanding policy that prevented them from operating in so-called “sensitive locations.”

“And now, in some states where there is greater cooperation with local police, a nanny simply driving to work could be arrested, deported, and separated from her family,” Cervantes notes.

Catalina’s mother experiences that anxiety firsthand every day when she gets in the car to pick up the children she cares for in the afternoons. “When she arrives, there are always police officers managing traffic. Sometimes she hides in the car, doesn’t get out. She waits for the kids to get in the car. It’s awful,” Catalina says. “If I meet her at the school, she feels a little better. But if she’s alone, she doesn’t.”

Without protective policies in place, like the “sensitive locations” policy, it is much harder for nannies to serve families and feel safe continuing their work, Cervantes warns.

“The way immigration enforcement measures are being applied across the country is happening with very little oversight and accountability. More people are becoming vulnerable to deportation because there is no longer prosecutorial discretion, for example, for parents or people with humanitarian reasons not to be deported. There’s no way to prioritize who should or shouldn’t be deported. Everyone is a priority. Therefore, everyone without status is in danger,” adds the CLASP director.

Catalina is currently studying, hoping to build her mother a house in Peru in case she decides to return one day. “Here my mom has no one, no family, no sisters, no mother. Nothing. She’s alone,” she says, but insists she doesn’t want to leave her alone either. “She worries more because she says, ‘My daughter will be left alone.’”

Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s growing push to advance its mass deportation plan could further harm the US childcare system.

“If we lose immigrant workers, especially those who care for our children, as a country we will suffer. If deportations continue at the current pace, if this budget proposal passes Congress—which would allow the administration to further increase its enforcement measures—and if we keep seeing more people lose their immigration status, then this will have a very negative impact on the workforce overall, making it harder for all working mothers and fathers to find childcare and go to work,” Cervantes says.

This is the invisible role of Catalina’s mother: she is the one who allows others to work while their children are cared for. Without her and many like her, the United States would be a very different country.

China will not send its defense minister to this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue, shunning a chance for a high-level meeting with US and Asian counterparts as tensions simmer with Washington.

China announced Thursday it will instead be represented by a delegation from the People’s Liberation Army National Defense University, marking the first time in five years a high-level delegation from Beijing will miss Asia’s largest defense and security summit.

The United States will be represented by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the event, which often provides opportunities on the sidelines for rare face-to-face meetings between top generals and defense officials from the US and China.

Last year then-US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Minister of National Defense Adm. Dong Jun on the sidelines of the event and the two pledged to continue a US-China dialogue amid simmering military tensions over Taiwan and Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.

Beijing’s decision not to send Dong this year throws into question whether there will be any meeting between the US and China at a time of heightened tensions between the two.

China has railed against America’s efforts in recent years to tighten its alliances and defense posture in Asia, while economic frictions rose to historic levels earlier this year after US President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on China sparked a tit-for-tat between the two countries that saw duties rise to more than 100% on each other’s goods.

While the two sides announced a temporary tariff truce earlier this month, tensions flared against this week. On Wednesday, two days before the forum’s opening, the US aimed a shock double punch targeting software exports to Chinese tech companies and study visas granted to Chinese students, risking a fragile trade war truce between Washington and Beijing.

At a Chinese Defense Ministry press conference on Thursday, a spokesperson ducked a question on why Beijing was not sending its defense minister to the Singapore forum, expected to be attended by defense chiefs from around Asia, including many more closely tied to Washington than Beijing.

China was “open to communication at all levels between the two sides,” a ministry spokesperson said when asked about a potential sidelines meeting with the US delegation.

“They’re torqued at us,” the official said.

“It’s a signal that they are concerned about the level of engagement, specifically with the United States, to send a message that everything is not completely normal within that and there’s probably some other underlying reasons about just uncertainty about what Shangri-La is intended to accomplish,” the official said.

China has traditionally had few friends at Shangri-La and its speakers face real-time, unscripted questioning from journalists and academics attending the conference.

Last year, Defense Minister Dong faced tough questions after, in a Friday note keynote speech, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. denounced illegal, coercive and aggressive actions in the South China Sea in an apparent allusion to China.

China’s military has also been in the spotlight in recent years as its top ranks have been roiled by a sweeping corruption purge, with more than a dozen high-ranking figures in China’s defense establishment ousted since 2023.

Analysts said the absence of a high-level Chinese delegation at the defense summit may signal Beijing is emphasizing economics and trade over military relations in its foreign affairs at this time.

“While surely security engagements such (the Shangri-La Dialogue) … do matter in the broader scheme of geopolitics, at this juncture it seems regional governments are perhaps even more concerned about the tariff impact on their economies,” said Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore

US is ‘here to deter adversaries’

Ahead of the weekend conference, much attention has focused on how US-led alliances across the region that grew during the Biden administration would hold up under Trump’s second term.

There was broad consensus among analysts that unlike the turmoil Trump has caused in Europe – with threats to pull back from NATO and abandon Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion – the US role in Asia has largely been consistent, centered on a policy to counter Chinese influence and back Taiwan.

Hegseth’s first trip to Asia as Defense Secretary began in the Philippines – on the front lines of China’s increasingly aggressive posture in Asia – where he said the US would work with allies to “reestablish deterrence” to counter “China’s aggression” in the Indo-Pacific.

On Friday, during an early morning workout with sailors aboard a US Navy ship in Singapore, he had a similar message:

“We send the signal to our allies and partners, hey, here in the Indo Pacific, America’s here, and we’re not going anywhere. We’re here to deter adversaries who would seek us harm.” Analysts noted that US-led military exercises, especially those involving key allies Japan, Australia, the Philippines and South Korea, have continued or even been bolstered in 2025.

But while increased US involvement is welcome by those participating in such exercises, Washington must be careful they don’t aggravate China so much that new tensions threaten the security of regional nations that are not US treaty allies, said Evan Laksmana, editor of the 2025 Asia Pacific Regional Security Assessment compiled by the International Institute of Strategic Studies.

“The deepening of US security engagement is welcome but not so far on the strategic side that it raises tensions,” he said.

On Thursday, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang said China “attaches great importance to the military relations” with the US, but warned Washington against “conjuring up a powerful enemy for itself whether intentionally or unintentionally.”

“Such imagination is not rational and extremely dangerous,” Zhang said.

A burgeoning new sporting trend inspired by the biggest and hardest full contact hits in American football and rugby has proved deadly, and there’s now calls for it to be banned.

Branded by an organized league as “the world’s fiercest, new collision sport,” Run It Straight games see two people sprint directly towards each other for a high-impact collision, with no protective gear. Whoever dominates wins.

Tens of thousands of dollars are offered up as prize money in organized events in New Zealand and Australia and the game has become a social media craze with teenagers trying it out at home, with fatal consequences.

Ryan Satterthwaite died in hospital on Monday after a backyard challenge went tragically wrong in the small city of Palmerston North. New Zealand Police said the 19-year-old suffered a serious head injury.

Pete Satterthwaite said when he saw local news reports about Run It, he thought the game was a “stupid idea” and instinctively knew that “someone is going to get seriously hurt.”

He just wasn’t expecting it to be his own nephew.

“The ultimate aim is to hurt your opponent, run over the top of him … you’re leading with your shoulder, leading with your head,” he said. “Regardless of whether they have medical staff on site and everybody has a test, it’s still the most stupid thing I’ve ever seen.”

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon urged people not to take part in the tackling game, calling it a “dumb thing to do.”

“You’re hearing the advice from police, from the medical fraternity, from government, from principals saying don’t do it,” Luxon told local media on Friday, adding that organizers of formal events should stop them.

“To the adults that are involved in more formal organization of it and are influencing it and leading this out on social media, I think you need to stop and I can’t be any clearer,” Luxon said.

Following calls for the tackling game to be banned, New Zealand’s sport minister Mark Mitchell said on Friday he had sought advice on what measures the government can take to crack down on what he labelled “unregulated activities that pose a significant level of risk.”

‘Built to break limits’

The Run It Straight game combines elements of American football and rugby – two sports that have tackling in common but with distinct rules to protect players.

Footballers wear a helmet and thick padding to withstand high-impact tackles on the whole body except the head and knees. Rugby players take the field without helmets and with no, or little, padding, while tackles are only allowed below the shoulders.

The new game has been popularized in part by by a company called RUNIT Championship League, which says the game was “born to go viral” and claims to have “taken social media by storm with tens of millions of views.” CEO and owner Charizma, whose real name is Christian Lesa, says the concept started when he was hospitalized and struggling with mental health, according to an interview with Australian public broadcaster ABC.

Lesa said he was inspired by YouTuber Donald De La Haye, nicknamed “Deestroying,” a Costa Rican-American professional football player who would pit players 1-on-1 for viral clicks. He replicated the concept in Australia and the tournament-like event has spread across New Zealand and the Pacific islands.

As followers and subscribers grew on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, RUNIT began hosting championships where participants bull run into each other and the last one standing takes home a cash prize.

The finals of the RUNIT league were scheduled in June with 200,000 New Zealand dollars (around $118,800) up for grabs.

‘Risk of death’

Run It Straight-type collisions are more than five times the force of a rugby tackle, according to Professor Patria Hume from Auckland University of Technology, who warned there was a high risk of brain injury or death.

“Ryan’s death was preventable. It was a backyard copycat of the Runit events which have been designed for social media impact,” Hume said.

“Runit lacks the structure, safety protocols, and purpose of traditional sports. While rugby, boxing, and MMA are inherently physical, they are governed by rules designed to minimize harm and protect athletes.”

“It’s not about the head hitting the ground, it’s the impact,” she said.

A RUNIT Championship League spokesperson said in a statement that it does not encourage “any copying of the sport” saying it should only be done under “strict conditions.”

Alarm bells had already been ringing about the game before the death of Ryan Satterthwaite. Two men were knocked unconscious, with one of them going into a seizure, during a Runit league event at Auckland’s Trusts Arena last week.

“Safety of all participants at our venue is paramount and we therefore made the decision not to allow any future Runit events to take place at The Trusts Arena.”

High-contact sports like rugby and rugby league are hugely popular in New Zealand and the death of Satterthwaite has put pressure on sporting bodies to take a stronger stance on the Run It Straight trend.

New Zealand Rugby issued a statement warning people “not to take part in Run It Straight games or competitions as they carry significant risk of serious injury.”

“Those wanting to play contact sports should register for a school or club team and learn in a controlled and safe environment how to tackle safely and the art of evasion,” the statement said.

A number of New Zealand schools have moved to ban students from playing the game on school grounds and it has also been banned from some public parks in the country’s biggest city, Auckland, by a local council board.

David Bovey, rector of Palmerston North Boys’ High School which Ryan Satterthwaite attended several years ago, said he had been planning to warn his students about the risks of playing Run It Straight on campus before he heard about Ryan’s death.

“It’s an absolute tragedy… you can almost say something like this was almost going to happen,” Bovey told RNZ, adding he received the news just 20 minutes before he was due to address the students on Monday.

“Teenage boys are terrible at thinking about consequences and they never think anything is going to happen to them and so, you know, something like this I think really hit home in terms of the message we are trying to give the boys – ‘this is something I shouldn’t be doing.’”

When Nigerian American actor-singer Rotimi and Tanzanian pop star Vanessa Mdee first met in 2019, it was the beginning of a love story that neither of them expected.

That first encounter six years ago could be straight from a rom-com. They had both just performed at the Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans and ended up at the same Spotify afterparty – neither one particularly eager to be there. But fate had other plans.

“She was sitting on a pool table,” Rotimi laughs. “The lights were glowing and beaming, and I just thought, ‘Yo, who is this?’”

A friend of Rotimi made the introduction, which led to several hours of deep conversation. Within days, they were inseparable. A long-distance relationship began – Vanessa in Tanzania, Rotimi in Atlanta, Georgia, in the US – and she came to visit not long after. “I never left,” Vanessa says with a grin.

Love in lockdown

While the Covid-19 pandemic forced much of the world into stillness, for Rotimi and Vanessa, it became a sacred time. “I really thank God because he was creating an environment for us to really dive deep into getting to know each other on a very intimate and spiritual level,” Vanessa reflects.

At the encouragement of Rotimi, she booked a flight to the US for a mini vacation, but it became an extended stay due to travel restrictions.

“If I had been a day late, we wouldn’t have been able to see each other for the period of nine-plus months during which the borders were locked,” she says.

The lockdown forced them both into a much-needed break.

“I came onto the scene at the age of 18 years old, so I had been working well into my 30s at this point and I had never taken time off,” Vanessa adds.

The timing was also divine for Rotimi, who had just released the hit “In My Bed.”

“For me, during that time, if the world was open and my record ‘In My Bed’ had just come out, I would have been moving around touring for the whole run of that song, still doing what I needed to do, and my mind wouldn’t have been on anything else,” he says.

That time off allowed something deeper than fame to grow, the couple says, sparking a journey toward faith, family and purpose.

“God wanted me to sit down and heal a lot of things,” Rotimi adds, “and He blessed me with the opportunity to learn this woman.”

From fame to faith

Vanessa, once one of East Africa’s biggest music stars, made headlines when she walked away from the industry at the height of her career in 2020. But the decision wasn’t impulsive – it was deeply spiritual.

“For me, (the music industry) was depleting my mental, spiritual, emotional and physical health in many ways. I turned to many different vices that were not good for me as a person,” she says.

“It got to a point where the music industry became extremely toxic for me. I’m not saying it’s everybody’s story; it’s my story.”

Today, she co-leads “For The Better,” the couple’s faith-based wellness app and community, where she mentors women across the globe through Bible studies, prayer circles, and now a women’s conference.

“I just want every time I step out and do something to be meaningful, purposeful, and effective,” she adds.

Rotimi, whose real name is Olurotimi Akinosho, has embraced a life beyond the spotlight, although he continues to build his career with his current role as Pastor Charles on the Showtime series “The Chi” while releasing new music.

“The job is to be a vessel,” the 36-year-old says. “God works in mysterious ways; it’s not a cookie-cutter approach – it’s more of a roundabout way.”

A ‘kingdom marriage’

Their love is both bold and deeply rooted. Married in 2021, they refer to their relationship as a “kingdom marriage,” grounded in their shared faith.

“We’re not perfect,” Vanessa says. “But we know who’s at the center of it all: God.”

Together, they are raising two children and navigating a blended cultural household where Yoruba, Swahili and American traditions harmonize.

“(The children) know they’re 50% Tanzanian and 50% Nigerian, and they can champion that,” Rotimi says. “It’s about giving our kids roots and wings.”

“Building a strong foundation for our children requires a lot of time, commitment, and being very present – like playing with the kids, nurturing their skills, and honing their crafts while giving them a strong foundation in Christ,” adds Vanessa.

From love-centered music and wellness apps to Bible studies, it’s clear Rotimi and Vanessa feel they are on a mission that reflects a deeper calling. However, when asked if ministry was in their future, the couple was uncertain.

“It would be foolish for us to say no, but it’s too early to say yes,” Rotimi says.

“I just know that whatever we do, it’s going to be for His glory,” Vanessa adds.