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REVINGEHED, Sweden—Deep in the Scandinavian forest, Elin Forsberg’s face is planted in the grass, her arms pinned to her back by two soldiers in mock arrest. The 19-year-old high achiever is one of the newest members of Sweden’s armed forces and a product of its fiercely competitive conscription process. “It’s a privilege," Forsberg says of being chosen for military service—less than 10% make the cut.

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and other officials apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday, sparking a massive rescue operation in a fog-shrouded forest as the public was urged to pray.

U.N. experts say South Sudan is close to securing a $13 billion loan from a company in the United Arab Emirates, despite the oil-rich country’s difficulties in managing debts backed by its oil reserves

Yemen’s Houthi rebels hit an oil tanker in the Red Sea with a ballistic missile, damaging the Panama-flagged, Greek-owned vessel in their latest assault over the Israel-Hamas war

Tyson Fury has cited a bizarre reason behind his loss against Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia. While, it was a split decision that went in favour of Usyk, Fury has alleged that judges favoured the Ukrainian boxer out of sympathy for the war-torn country, as per a Fox News report. «You know, his country is at war, so people are siding with a country at war. But make no mistake, I won that fight, in my opinion, and I’ll be back. I’ve got a rematch clause,» Fury was quoted as saying by Fox News.

fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections covering 49 constituencies in six states and two UTs, and 35 assembly seats in Odisha, will be held today. This round will mark the completion of voting exercise in around 78% (427) of parliamentary seats. Voting for the remaining seats will be held on May 25 (58 seats) and June 1 (57 seats). While Arunachal and Sikkim results will be out on June 2, Lok Sabha, Andhra and Odisha results will be declared on June 4. A look at the key numbers:

Modi on Sunday said that a batch of 300 people has already received citizenship through the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and that people of West Bengal will also receive citizenship in the coming days while attacking the Trinamool Congress for opposing the CAA. «CAA is for giving citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christians who fled religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh,» Modi said. «People have lost faith in TMC...Trinamool has raised questions about the character of women in Sandeshkhali. Women will reply through votes and take every revenge against the torture through votes,» Modi said at public rallies in tribal dominated Purulia and Bishnupur today. «Trinamool came to power with the slogan 'Ma, Mati and Manush' (Mother, land and people) and today they are exploiting the Ma, Mati and Manush.»

Hamas raged across the north on Sunday as Israel's leaders aired divisions over who should govern Gaza after the war, now in its eighth month. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces criticism from the two other members of his War Cabinet, with his main political rival, Benny Gantz, threatening to leave the government if a plan is not created by June 8 that includes an international administration for postwar Gaza. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan was expected to meet with Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders on Sunday to discuss an ambitious US plan for Saudi Arabia to recognise Israel and help the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza in exchange for a path to eventual statehood. Netanyahu opposes Palestinian statehood and has rejected those proposals, saying Israel will maintain open-ended security control over Gaza and partner with local Palestinians unaffiliated with Hamas or the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.

Daily Mail. Lord Earl Louis Mountbatten, a World War II hero and second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, was India’s Last Viceroy. Hayes claimed that he, not Thomas McMahon, who was convicted of the crime in November 1979, was behind the killing of Lord Mountbatten.

90 seconds to midnight last year, up from 120 seconds in 2019. War remains an immediate existential threat. But, unfortunately, it has got overshadowed by climate change in terms of global awareness and activism.

Shogun season 2 has been one of the most anticipated shows with reports surrounding that makers FX are planning for two more installments. However, with James Clavell's novel of the same name finishing without any sequel, apprehensions are raised over the source material for second season. Limited series such as Shogun face the risk of a decline in quality if additional seasons are produced unnecessarily. Originally crafted with a specific narrative arc in mind, these series often shine due to their concise storytelling and focused character development. Extending the series beyond its intended scope can dilute the plot, weaken character arcs, and ultimately compromise the integrity that made the original series compelling. Thus, preserving the initial vision is crucial to maintaining the high standards and impact of such limited series, as per a report on ScreenRant.

Star Wars' fans. 'Star Wars: Acolyte' has a brand new trailer that has been released. The new trailer reveals the first-ever live-action lightsaber whip. This has been reported by the Screen Rant. The lightsaber extends outwards and is almost like a whip that can be used against the opponent.

Karthik Aaryan is virtually unrecognisable as a war veteran turned wrestler, who is willing to do what it takes to succeed against the odds in the trailer of his upcoming sports drama ‘Chandu Champion’. On Saturday, the ‘Bhool Bhulaiyya 2’ star unveiled the trailer of the movie, in his hometown Gwalior. The energetic, fast-paced and engaging trailer takes you through the emotional journey of the titular character across various stages and milestones of his life. The trailers showcases his life as a youth with ambitions of becoming a professional wrestler, joining the military and getting shot in the 1965 war, etc. The poster, which showed the Aaryan in a completely unfamiliar avatar, took fans by shock. In an Instagram post, director Kabir Khan praised Aaryan profusely for his dedication to transform his body without resorting to steroids. The ‘Freddy’ star had gone on a strict diet regimen, shedding his body fat. «The story of Chandu Champion is an incredibly inspiring true story but the journey that Kartik went through to become this champion is no less inspiring. I met him when he had put on weight for a role. He had 39 per cent body fat. I told him that he had to portray an international level multi-disciplinary sportsperson. He just smiled and said 'I will do it Sir'. A year and a half later with no use of steroids — something that he was adamant about — we took this photo on set. Body fat 7 per cent! I'm proud of you Kartik Aaryan,” praised the director.

Poland is investing about $2.5 billion to step up security and deterrence on its borders with Russia and its ally Belarus, the prime minister said Saturday. Donald Tusk said work on the Shield-East project which includes building proper military fortifications has already begun. Poland is on the eastern flank of NATO and of the European Union and Tusk stressed it bears additional responsibility for Europe's security. «We have taken the decision to invest into our safety and first of all, into a safe eastern border, some 10 billion zlotys ($2.5 billion),» Tusk said.

Israel's leaders over post-war Gaza's governance, with an unexpected Hamas fightback in parts of the Palestinian territory piling pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli army has been battling Hamas militants across Gaza for more than seven months while also exchanging near-daily fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah forces along the northern border with Lebanon. But after Hamas fighters regrouped in northern Gaza, where Israel previously said the group had been neutralised, broad splits emerged in the Israeli war cabinet in recent days.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday claimed that the INDIA bloc will come to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and BJP will «not cross the 200 mark» in the polls. She accused Congress, and CPI(M) of having entered into a nexus with BJP in the state to discredit the state government and asked the electorate not to vote for any non-TMC parties which will benefit the saffron camp. Addressing an election rally at Goghat under the Arambagh Lok Sabha constituency, Banerjee said «I had coined the name INDIA and at the national level we the coalition partners are all working together to resist the autocratic, demonic Narendra Modi government. TMC will play its role in installing the INDIA bloc to power.» «See what Modi is telling now — he is no more making tall '400 paar' seats by BJP. He can read the writing on the wall already. BJP will not cross even 200 tally. BJP will bite the dust,» she said.

New Delhi: India is looking to fortify its imports of LNG, a crucial ingredient in industrial applications and partly in transportation, through long-term contracts with overseas exporters. This week, state-run Indian Oil Corporation Ltd signed a long-term contract with French energy giant TotalEnergies in France for supply of LNG (liquefied natural gas), two people aware of the development said. Under the contract, TotalEnergies would supply 1 million metric tonne per annum (mmtpa) of LNG to IOCL for a period of around 10 years.

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered accelerated production to strengthen the country's nuclear force more rapidly, on the same day he oversaw a test of tactical ballistic missiles with new guidance technology, state media KCNA said on Saturday. While visiting an arms factory on Friday, Kim made the production order to bolster nuclear war deterrence, KCNA said. This way, the enemy would be afraid of North Korea's nuclear combat posture, Kim added. North Korea fired a number of short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea off its east coast on Friday, South Korea's military had said. Kim expressed satisfaction at the successful test, KCNA said.

Russia and China are interested in increasing their oil and gas trade, President Vladimir Putin told reporters in Harbin on Friday. «Mutual interest in implementation of such projects has been confirmed,» Putin said in the final hours of his state visit to China, as per a briefing broadcast by state-run Rossiya 24 TV. «We have a huge common border and nothing can interfere: neither sanctions against the tanker fleet, nor sanctions against financial institutions. We will buy and sell everything in national currencies.» Russia's relations with western nations, formerly its main energy market, are at the lowest point since the Cold War due to Putin's invasion of Ukraine. That makes Moscow increasingly reliant on oil and gas deliveries to growing Asian economies. China, the word's largest energy importer, is currently a key buyer of Russian barrels and Gazprom PJSC's natural gas.

Small groups of Israeli protesters have attacked a number of aid trucks headed to Gaza from the West Bank and Israel in recent weeks, complicating efforts by the international community to help more than two million Palestinians stuck inside the strip survive the continuing conflict. Scores of Israelis have organized protests against the delivery of humanitarian aid into the strip throughout the war, including at a southern border crossing with Israel where trucks were entering Gaza. But more recent protests have turned violent, with instances of truck drivers getting attacked.