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Reuters  —  A South African mother and two accomplices were sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday for trafficking her then-6-year-old daughter, in a case that gained nationwide attention since the child went missing last year. Kelly Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno Van Rhyn were convicted of kidnapping and trafficking the girl, Joshlin Smith, after she disappeared from a small town in the Western Cape. In a trial that shocked the country, a witness said Kelly Smith told her that she had sold her daughter to a sangoma, or traditional healer, for 20,000 rand ($1,100) and that…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Washington  —  United Airlines and JetBlue Airways announced an agreement Thursday morning to share frequent flier benefits and sell tickets on each other’s websites. If approved by regulators, the deal, called “Blue Sky,” would allow United’s MileagePlus members and JetBlue’s TrueBlue members to earn and redeem miles on “most” flights operated by the other airline, according to a statement from the carriers. Frequent flyer benefits, including priority boarding, free baggage and preferred seats will be offered when passengers travel on the other airline’s aircraft. More details will be announced later this year, the statement notes. Both…

CNN  —  Inside Vatican City, the home of Pope Leo, lies a vast collection of Indigenous artifacts that some people say shouldn’t be there. The collection includes thousands dozens of colonial-era objects, including a rare Inuvialuit sealskin kayak from the western Arctic, a pair of embroidered Cree leather gloves, a 200-year-old wampum belt, a baby belt from the Gwich’in people and a beluga tooth necklace. They are relics of a time of cultural destruction, critics say, taken by the Roman Catholic Church a century ago as trophies of missionaries in far-off lands. Pope Francis promised to return the artifacts to…

CNN  —  Jesús Velázquez still has his old John Starks jersey at home. He remembers the New York Knicks going to the NBA Finals in 1994, Patrick Ewing’s infamous “finger roll” in 1995 and all the on-court fights with the Miami Heat. Last Friday night, Velázquez was one of hundreds of fans who waited in the rain to watch Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers in Central Park. Velázquez has fond memories of the good times in the ’90s but also remembers the bad, which defined the team for most of the last 25 years. As bad as those times…

TOKYO – Japan doesn’t tend to interest global investors very much — until something here goes really, really wrong.Exhibit A: Japan’s US$7.8 trillion government bond market, which is suddenly sending sizable shockwaves around the globe. Ten days ago, Japanese government bonds (JGBs) were the usual snooze fest with ultra-low yields, sluggish liquidity flows and trading hours when most masters of the investment universe are switched off.Yet a disastrous May 20 bond auction quickly thrust Japanese debt into the center of the global financial discourse. And for that, investors have Donald Trump and his tariffs to thank.Japan is starting to wobble…

Beijing CNN  —  A one-two punch from the United States risks shattering the already fragile trade war truce between Washington and Beijing, with Chinese tech companies and students both dealt shock blows by the Trump administration Wednesday night. Viewed from within China, things had been looking up after the world’s two largest economies agreed to dramatically roll back steep tariffs – a conciliatory step in a trade war that had threatened the entire global trading system. Factories started whirring again. Long-delayed shipping containers began leaving Chinese ports, destined for the US. Chinese media celebrated the agreement as a national victory,…

CNN  —  Russia dramatically intensified missile and drone attacks across Ukraine this month in an effort to sap Ukrainians’ morale – but it is also stepping up ground attacks in many areas along the long frontline, according to Ukrainian officials and analysts. Some of those attacks have succeeded, with Ukrainian units in Donetsk and the north falling back from some positions, while some rural areas in the south have also been lost. But Ukraine’s own enhanced use of drones, deployed in several layers on the battlefield, has helped Kyiv inflict heavy losses on the opposing forces with minimal casualties among…

CNN  —  All season long, the Oklahoma City Thunder displayed dominance unlike any other team and that all culminated with their first trip to the NBA Finals in 13 years. The Thunder blew out the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-94 to win the Western Conference Finals in five games and will play for the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the first time since 2012. Besides a major Game 3 blip – where Oklahoma City lost by an astounding 42 points – the Thunder maintained total control in the series which was on complete display Wednesday at the Paycom Center. OKC opened the game…

CNN  —  A hungry crowd of Palestinians broke into a United Nations warehouse in central Gaza on Wednesday, resulting in at least two deaths and multiple injuries as famine conditions worsen in the Strip. “Hordes of hungry people broke into the WFP’s Al-Ghafari warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, Central Gaza, in search of food supplies that had been pre-positioned for distribution,” the World Food Programme (WFP) said. “Initial reports indicate two people died and several were injured in the tragic incident.” It is unclear what caused the deaths and injuries. WFP said it is working to verify the exact circumstances, but…

New York CNN  —  Hailey Bieber’s beauty brand rhode sold to budget makeup powerhouse e.l.f. Beauty for $1 billion on Wednesday. It’s e.l.f.’s largest acquisition to date, eclipsing its $355 million purchase of skin care brand Naturium in 2023. Founded in 2022, Bieber’s brand racked up $212 million in net sales in its last fiscal year, which ended in March. And earlier this year, rhode announced that its products will be seen in-stores at Sephoras in North America and the United Kingdom. Bieber will serve as rhode’s chief creative officer and head of innovation, the company said. She’s the company’s…