BIG Wrap

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Al-Shabab fighters have battled Somali troops and allied forces for control of a strategic army base in southern Somalia, according to the government and a military official. Capturing the base in Wargaadhi town in the Middle Shabelle region, which houses soldiers, special forces and clan fighters, would enable the al Qaeda-linked group to sever a crucial road between the capital Mogadishu, 200 km to the southwest, and the central Galmudug State...

(BBC News) The US will ban eight commonly used artificial food dyes in a bid to help Americans "know what's in their food," Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr announced on Tuesday. Officials said two petroleum-based synthetic dyes would be phased out in the coming weeks, and others by the end of 2026. Experts have linked the dyes — which are found in dozens of foods, including cereals, candy, snacks and beverages — to neurological problems...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Armed men opened fire on a group of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, killing at least 26 people, according to Indian police, in one of the deadliest attacks there in recent times. Police said multiple tourists received gunshot wounds in the “terror attack” on Tuesday while they were visiting Baisaran meadow, some 5 km from the disputed region’s resort town of Pahalgam. “This attack is much larger than anything we have seen directed...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, has died aged 88, the Vatican says. His death on Monday came shortly after a bout of double pneumonia that kept him hospitalised for five weeks at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. Just a day earlier, the pontiff made what would be his final major appearance as he greeted thousands of Easter worshippers from an open-top Popemobile in St Peter’s Square and...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has suspended the political party of former President Joseph Kabila and ordered the seizure of his assets, accusing the 53-year-old of high treason over alleged ties to the Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group. In a statement late on Saturday, the country’s Interior Ministry said Kabila’s People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) was suspended for its “ambiguous attitude” towards the M23’s occupation of DRC territory. The...

(BBC News) Donald Trump has said the US will "take a pass" on brokering further Russia-Ukraine talks if Moscow or Kyiv "make it very difficult" to reach a peace deal. The US president told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that he was not expecting a truce to happen in "a specific number of days," but he wanted it done "quickly". His comments came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the...

(BBC News) A US judge has ruled tech giant Google has a monopoly in online advertising technology. The US Department of Justice, along with 17 US states, sued Google, arguing the tech giant was illegally dominating the technology that determines which advertisements should be placed online and where. This is the second antitrust case Google has lost in a year, after it was ruled the company also had a monopoly on online search. Google said it would appeal...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Astronomers have found the clearest evidence yet that life might exist beyond the solar system, from the atmosphere of a planet 124 light-years away from Earth, setting off rare excitement – tinged with caution – in the global scientific community. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, researchers led by astronomers at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom have found chemical signatures of two compounds that on Earth are only...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has held talks in Damascus with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in his first official visit to Syria, in an effort to recalibrate relations between the two nations, which have been strained for decades. The diplomatic shuttle on Monday marks the highest-level Lebanese delegation visiting Syria since Beirut’s new government took office in February, following the ouster of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad by opposition forces.   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/14/lebanese-pm-visits-syrias-president-to-reset-years-of-strained-relations

(BBC News) At least 34 people have been killed and 117 injured, including 15 children, after a Russian attack on the centre of Sumy, according to Ukrainian authorities. Two Iskander-variant ballistic missiles struck at around 10:15 local time (08:15 BST), both hitting the area around Sumy State University and its congress centre. Images and videos of the aftermath show bloodied bodies scattered in the streets around the impact of the missiles. At least two children were...