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Child dies after being rescued off rickety boat with 59 other Syrian migrants

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Child dies after being rescued off rickety boat with 59 other Syrian migrants
  • One of the five children rescued from a boat carrying 60 Syrian migrants in Cyprus has died.
  • The deceased child suffered a heart attack and could not be revived, while two other children remain in intensive care.
  • Two adults were also hospitalized, and the rest of the migrants were transferred to a reception center.

One of the five children who were hospitalized in Cyprus after being rescued from a rickety boat carrying 60 Syrian migrants has died, officials said Thursday.

The migrants, who were rescued early Wednesday by Cyprus police, apparently ran out of food and water after the boat had engine trouble during a six-day voyage from Lebanon, officials said.

The child suffered a heart attack and couldn’t be revived, Health Services spokesperson Charalambos Charilaou told the Cypriot state broadcaster.

Charilaou said two other children, aged 3 and 5, remain in intensive care at a hospital in the Cypriot capital. Two other minors are also being treated at a hospital, but their condition isn’t as serious.

CYPRUS RESCUES 60 SYRIAN MIGRANTS FROM RICKETY BOAT AFTER 6 DAYS AT SEA

Two adults were also hospitalized, with leg fractures. The remaining Syrians were transferred to a migrant reception center on the capital’s outskirts.

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A Syrian man waves to his relatives as they sit inside a bus at a reception center in Kokkinotrimithia outside Nicosia, Cyprus, on Jan. 24, 2024. One of the five children who were hospitalized after being rescued from a rickety boat carrying 60 Syrian migrants has died, officials said Thursday. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Cyprus government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis expressed the country’s collective shock at the little girl’s death and wished for the speedy recovery of the other two girls in intensive care.

“There’s a very dark aspect to the migration issue, horrible criminal people smuggling rings that take advantage of your fellow human beings,” Letymbiotis said.

A Cyprus court on Thursday ordered a 47-year-old man into custody for eight days on suspicion of driving the boat and belonging to the smuggling ring that organized the trip. He also faces a manslaughter charge in connection with the girl’s death.

The boat had departed Lebanon with insufficient fuel and lacking GPS or any other navigational aid, not even a compass, police said according to the state broadcaster.

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Alerted by a passing ship, police found the migrants about 55 kilometers (35 miles) off the island nation’s southeastern tip.

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Authorities said the boat left from Lebanon on Jan. 18. Lebanon’s coast is about 105 miles from Cyprus.

Mohammed Sablouh, a Lebanese lawyer who follows migrant issues in his country, said the migrants were in bad shape because they hadn’t eaten for days.

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides urged Lebanon’s government on Wednesday to take action to curb departures of migrants “because we know that these are Syrians who come here from Lebanon.”

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Although overall migrant arrivals in Cyprus have significantly declined, those coming by sea almost quadrupled from 937 in 2022 to 3,889 in 2023, with almost all being Syrian, according to official interior ministry numbers.

Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said Thursday he would again call on the European Union to re-evaluate the safety of certain parts of Syria so that the migrants can be repatriated. He would also urge the EU to form a unit composed of European police, Lebanese and Cypriot officials to patrol Lebanon’s border.

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Mexico and Canada push to extend USMCA trade pact

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Mexico and Canada push to extend USMCA trade pact
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Mexico and Canada have backed extending the USMCA trade agreement for another 16 years as negotiations over its future continue. The proposal comes amid an ongoing trade dispute with the United States.

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Movie Review: ‘Masters of the Universe’ does not have the power

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Movie Review: ‘Masters of the Universe’ does not have the power

“Masters of the Universe” might not know who its audience is. Sure, yes, perhaps “everyone” is the goal. Modern blockbusters are usually aiming for those golden four quadrants that might justify spending hundreds of millions of dollars to make a movie about an old toy. But as far as beautiful, blond Mattel products go, He-Man is not and was never going to be Barbie.

It’s a character and aesthetic — bodybuilder muscles, pageboy haircuts and all — that is about as rooted in the 1980s as you can be. The toy launched in 1982, apparently an attempt to compete with Star Wars products. The animated series came the next year, and in 1987, a movie was released with Dolph Lundgren. It was a critical and box office flop, and that was around the height of its popularity.

Yes, some have reclaimed that “Masters of the Universe” as a campy cult classic, and there have been some animated series in the last few decades, but culturally speaking, He-Man seems to have stayed in that decade. It’s a relic that went the way of Saturday morning cartoons — aside from that meme set to “What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blondes, which is referenced in the new movie. But even that’s a little long in the tooth: It was made in 2005.

This “Masters of the Universe” was directed by Travis Knight, who did spin something charming off “Transformers” in “Bumblebee.” But this is a film that doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. It’s, paradoxically, a big-budget B-movie. It’s cartoony and campy, which it is also constantly apologizing for. It’s also violent enough to probably rule out the under-10 crowd. It’s aiming for something in the vein of a Taika Waititi “Thor” or a “Guardians of the Galaxy,” but it doesn’t fully commit to the thing that the HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA video understood so well: He-Man is extremely silly. Not just the character. The whole thing: the look, the names, even the phrase “by the power of Greyskull, I have the power.”

The script and story, which is laboriously credited to so many people it’s probably not worth going into, attempt to turn much of this into a one-note joke. Here, they excuse cringey names like Fisto and Ram Man as the product of a young boy’s imagination. The film sets up a world where Prince Adam (played as a boy by Artie Wilkinson-Hunt) is sent away from Eternia for his protection as the kingdom fell to Skeletor (Jared Leto). And for 15 years he’s been stranded on Earth, working a dull job in human resources, living with a roommate and obsessively looking for the Power Sword that is his only hope of getting back home. He’s also grown into a hunk ( Nicholas Galitzine ), but an extremely awkward one who isn’t shy with his origin story. Naturally, everyone thinks he’s basically crazy.

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Thankfully, our time with him on Earth is short (but perhaps not short enough in a movie that runs a bloated 142 minutes, including a Lundgren cameo) and, soon enough, he’s back on Eternia and trying to help return the kingdom to its former glory. Everyone is very dismissive of him, including his old friend Teela, who has grown into a model-y warrior (played with cool girl jadedness by Camila Mendes), until he figures out how to use the sword that instantly transforms him into a superhuman. It’s difficult to stress how not exciting or dramatic this quick fix is.

The large cast is doing the best they can. Galitzine is quite awkward and sweet, but his character is deeply underdeveloped. Idris Elba brings some goofy gravitas to a fallen warrior whose confidence was shaken. As Skeletor, Leto has gone full camp with a theatrical British accent that reminded me less of Bane and more of Paul F. Tompkins’ Andrew Lloyd Webber. This isn’t a bad thing — Leto and Alison Brie, as his abused henchwoman, seem to be having the most fun of all, like exiles from an episode of “Power Rangers” — but it does make you wonder why they didn’t just cast an English character actor in the first place. Others aren’t so lucky: Morena Baccarin is mostly there for vibes as The Sorceress, and Kristen Wiig is mostly forgettable as a warrior robot.

It also tries to weave in threads about expectations of masculinity and power, but even that is messy and confused and fails to incorporate the female characters into the dialogue.

The movie might have worked better if it had just gone full Saturday morning cartoon with fewer self-deprecating jokes. But that would have required more conviction about what everyone was making in the first place.

“Masters of the Universe,” an Amazon MGM Studios release in theaters Friday, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for “sequences of violence and action, some suggestive material and language.” Running time: 142 minutes. Two stars out of four.

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Fireworks reportedly trigger mass horse stampede through Rome streets, injuring several soldiers

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Fireworks reportedly trigger mass horse stampede through Rome streets, injuring several soldiers

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Fireworks set off without authorization in Rome reportedly triggered a mass stampede of frightened horses during a late-night rehearsal for Italy’s annual Republic Day parade, injuring multiple riders and animals.

The incident occurred late Friday near the ancient Baths of Caracalla as mounted units from Italy’s armed forces and law enforcement agencies were practicing for the June 2 national celebration, Reuters reported.

Roughly 35 horses bolted through city streets following the unexpected fireworks, the outlet said. Video captured the chaotic scene, showing numerous horses galloping along Via Cristoforo Colombo as drivers recorded the scene.

The search and recovery effort reportedly continued until dawn the next day, with the last horse recovered roughly nine miles from the scene.

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A runaway horse bolts down a road during a late-night ceremonial rehearsal in Rome around May 29, 2026. (Lucio Virzi Fotografo/REUTERS)

According to Reuters, the sudden bangs began shortly before 11:30 p.m. and triggered panic among the ceremonial horses, many of which were being escorted by Italy’s Army, Carabinieri paramilitary police, and state police.

Some riders were mounted, while others were leading horses by hand when the startled animals broke free, the outlet said.

KENTUCKY DERBY HORSE SCRATCHED AFTER THROWING JOCKEY WHILE GETTING LOADED INTO STARTING GATE

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During the chaos, a 22-year-old soldier reportedly suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung, though officials said his injuries were not life-threatening. At least 15 horses were also injured, though none required euthanasia, according to reports.

Italian outlet ANSA said the stampede injured three young soldiers from the Montebello Lancers and a 29-year-old policewoman.

Police and emergency crews station near a road as panicked horses flee down a Rome road on May 29, 2026. (Lucio Virzi Fotografo/via REUTERS)

ILLEGAL STREET TAKEOVER SHUTS DOWN BUSY INTERSECTION WITH DANGEROUS STUNTS, FIREWORKS: POLICE

Officials are reviewing how the unauthorized fireworks were ignited near the rehearsal site.

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The Rome Local Police Command said four traffic police officers were involved in the incident and were reportedly near the firecrackers when the explosion occurred, ANSA said.

Officials said one of the officers allegedly lit a battery of fireworks about 200 yards from the horses, the outlet reported. The officer was identified as a 50-year-old who joined the force after passing the most recent exam.

Video footage and witness statements suggest the explosions and the horses’ escape occurred simultaneously, according to the local report.

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The Italian Air Force acrobatic team “Frecce Tricolori” seen during Italy’s annual Republic Day on June 2, 2025. (Stefano Costantino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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Rome police commander Mario De Sclavis told Corriere della Sera that the incident “discredits the image of the Corps and its officers,” according to Reuters.

Sclavis added that the agency will take “necessary measures” to hold those responsible accountable, according to ANSA.

“Last night’s events hit us like a tsunami,” he said.

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