Author: Press Room

PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – The top prosecutor in the Dominican Republic interviewed Iowa 22-year-old Joshua Riibe at his hotel in Punta Cana for hours Saturday, personally questioning the lone publicly known eyewitness in the disappearance of Virginia 20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki.Yeni Berenice Reynoso, the Dominican attorney general, grilled Riibe in person to wrap up a week that included multiple interviews with detectives from several agencies, including La Policia Nacional, the country’s police force, and detectives from Loudoun County, Virginia, Konanki’s hometown.Reynoso’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Both Riibe and Reynoso’s entourage were seen coming and going…

A feud against a transgender competitor that resulted in forfeits and sanctions didn’t stop Columbia Bible College (CBC) from going all the way this year. CBC won the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association women’s basketball national championship on Saturday night, beating St. Mary’s University 77-70 to win the title for the first time in program history. For CBC, Elissa Vreugdenhil won CCAA championship tournament MVP, putting up 19 points with 12 rebounds in the win. Grace Park scored 20 points with six rebounds and four assists to claim player of the game honors, while Madeline Beerwald scored 20 points with eight rebounds. The win…

Dozens of children toting yellow and white balloons — many from war-torn countries — gathered outside Rome’s Gemelli hospital to greet Pope Francis on his fifth Sunday hospitalised with double pneumonia.While the Pope did not appear from the 10th-floor suite of windows, he acknowledged their presence in the traditional Sunday blessing.”I know that many children are praying for me; some of them came here today to Gemelli as a sign of closeness,” the pontiff said in the Angelus text prepared for the traditional prayer but not delivered live again.”Thank you, dearest children! The Pope loves you and is always waiting…

Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from all but a sliver of land in Russia’s Kursk region, according to military analysts and soldiers, as their monthslong campaign to seize and occupy Russian territory appears to be nearing an end in the face of Moscow’s counterattacks.At the height of the offensive, Ukrainian forces controlled some 500 square miles of Russian territory. By Sunday, they were clinging to a narrow strip of land along the Russian-Ukrainian border, covering barely 30 square miles, according to Pasi Paroinen, a military analyst with the Finland-based Black Bird Group.“The end of the battle is coming,” Mr. Paroinen said…

As Congress mulls potentially massive cuts to federal Medicaid funding, health centers that serve Native American communities, such as the Oneida Community Health Center near Green Bay, Wisconsin, are bracing for catastrophe.That’s because more than 40% of the about 15,000 patients the center serves are enrolled in Medicaid. Cuts to the program would be detrimental to those patients and the facility, said Debra Danforth, the director of the Oneida Comprehensive Health Division and a citizen of the Oneida Nation.”It would be a tremendous hit,” she said.The facility provides a range of services to most of the Oneida Nation’s 17,000 people,…

When President Trump talks about the “hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud” that Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team has uncovered in the federal government, he sometimes singles out one program with particular scorn.“Twenty million dollars for the Arab ‘Sesame Street’ in the Middle East,” the president told a joint session of Congress this month, as he laid out the case for a smaller, more efficient government free of what Republicans call “woke” ideology.But the Arabic-language version of “Sesame Street” was not just the purview of progressives. It has been supported, in its various iterations over the years, by members of…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Relations between Brazilian miner Vale and the government have improved, according to the head of one of the world’s top iron ore producers, in a boost for a group that relies on public authorities for important licences.Chief executive Gustavo Pimenta highlighted the easing tensions with the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in comments that should help settle the nerves of some investors.The leftwinger repeatedly criticised the $42bn-valued group last year over issues ranging from its investment levels and asset…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Financials myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Top art lenders have asked borrowers for more pictures as security for their loans because the value of their collateral has tumbled in an art market slowdown.Specialist lenders in the $40bn sector have issued margin calls as the value of paintings pledged against loans has fallen, asking borrowers to make up for the decline by handing over cash or swapping in more expensive artworks.Art lenders, including Sotheby’s and Christie’s, take security over artworks owned by borrowers so they can take possession and sell…

The body of a man in his 30s, which had multiple stab wounds, has been discovered at a home in Sydney’s south west.Police reported officers responded to an emergency call at about 9pm on Saturday night that said there was a concern for welfare at the home on Lakemba Street in Belmore.They discovered the body of the man with a number of stab wounds at the property. He is yet to be formally identified.A second 24-year-old man at the scene was taken to Concord Hospital under police guard and then Campsie police station where he is assisting investigators with their…

A fire tore through a nightclub in the eastern town of Kocani in North Macedonia, killing 59 people, according to the country’s interior minister. More than 100 people were also wounded in the fire early on Sunday in the “Club Pulse”, Interior Minister Pance Toskovsk said. Toskovski said the fire was probably caused by the use of pyrotechnic devices “used for light effect at the concert”. As they were set off, “the sparks caught the ceiling, which was made of easily flammable material, after which the fire rapidly spread across the whole discotheque, creating thick smoke,” he said. The establishment…