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Israel launched an extensive ground operation in Gaza Sunday in addition to an intense air campaign that health officials in the territory say killed over 100 people overnight and shuttered the last functioning hospital in the enclave’s north. While there is some optimism around the talks, a breakthrough is looking uncertain. Israel on Sunday indicated its openness to ending the war in Gaza if Hamas surrenders, a proposition the militant group is unlikely to accept. Hamas has said it will release all of the Israeli hostages if there are guarantees Israel will end the war.

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Israel begins extensive Gaza ground operation after intense air strikes kill more than 100 overnight | CNN

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Israel launched an extensive ground operation in Gaza Sunday in addition to an intense air campaign that health officials in the territory say killed over 100 people overnight and shuttered the last functioning hospital in the enclave's north.

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Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, a former girlfriend of Sean “Diddy” Combs and a key witness in the federal sex-trafficking and racketeering trial of the music mogul, returned to the witness stand in New York City on Wednesday morning, as the high-profile trial enters its third day. Ventura, who is eight and a half months pregnant, began her second day of testimony by revisiting the hotel surveillance footage of her 2016 assault by Combs.

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Singer Casandra "Cassie" Ventura, a former girlfriend of Sean "Diddy" Combs and a key witness in the federal sex-trafficking and racketeering trial of the music mogul, will return to the witness stand on Wednesday morning, as the high-profile trial enters its third day.

Ventura, who is eight and a half months pregnant, testified on Tuesday that during her decade-long on-and-off relationship with Combs, she endured years of physical abuse, control and violence and detailed drug-fueled sexual encounters involving male escorts that she said were directed by Combs.

She described Combs as having control over nearly every aspect of her life and testified that arguments would sometimes turn violent, telling the court that Combs would "mash my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me".

Ventura, 38, filed a lawsuit in 2023 against Combs, accusing him of physical and sexual abuse. Though the two settled that lawsuit for an undisclosed sum, it prompted a federal investigation that led to Combs's arrest in September 2024.

Combs faces charges including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and denied all allegations.

Over the course of her several-hour testimony on Tuesday, Ventura became emotional at moments, pausing to take deep breaths or to cry. She dabbed her eyes with a tissue and periodically rested her hands on her pregnant stomach.

Ventura recounted the multi-day drug-fueled sex sessions, known as "freak-offs", which she claimed Combs directed and "choreographed".

Ventura testified that she did not wish to engage in the encounters that involved a male escort, and that each time she would take drugs, often MDMA or ecstasy, which she said Combs supplied, that would help her stay awake, and also for her to "disassociate", she said.

The "freak-offs", Ventura told the jury, made her feel "horrible", "worthless" and "humiliated". But, she said that she was young and in love with Combs, and felt obligated to participate in them because she didn't want to make Combs "angry".

"I wanted to make him happy," she said. "I didn't know what 'no' could turn into."

At one point during testimony, she told the court: "Make the wrong face, and the next thing I knew, I would get hit in the face."

Ventura also recounted when she first met Combs in 2005 when she was 19, describing him as a "larger-than-life entrepreneur, musician". She told the court how she went on to sign a 10-album deal with Combs's record label, Bad Boy Records, but only ended up releasing one album.

Just before Tuesday's court session adjourned, prosecutors began questioning Ventura about a critical piece of evidence in the case: a 2016 hotel hallway surveillance video showing Combs kicking and dragging Ventura.

Ventura testified that she, Combs and a male escort had been engaged in a "freak-off" in the hotel room when at some point Combs hit her, and so she grabbed her things and left the room.

Ventura will continue her testimony on Wednesday, with cross-examination to follow.

The trial, expected to last at least eight weeks, is not being televised.

If convicted, Combs, who has been jailed since his arrest last year, could spend the rest of his life in prison.

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Cassie Ventura to resume testimony in Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex-trafficking trial

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Former girlfriend says she endured years of physical abuse, control and violence at music mogul's hands

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last week was a photograph of 15-year-old Inca girl appearing in the press a beautiful and unblemished teenager. She sacrificed more than 500-years-ago on top of 22,000ft volcano in the northern argentina. Her mummified body was found by the archaeologists in 199.

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These children [to be sacrificed to the mountain and other gods] would be collected from all over the land and would be carried in litters together ... They should be very well dressed, paired up female and male. Juan de Betanzos, 1551 Human nature would not allow them to kill their own children ... if they did not expect some reward for what they were doing or if they did not believe that they were sending their children to a better place. Bernabé Cobo, 1653
The Incas were an ethnic group of superlatives: although never numbering more than 100,000 individuals, they nevertheless created the largest native empire in the New World, 2,500 miles long, from what is now southern Colombia to central Chile and across some of the world's most mountainous and difficult terrain.

The Incas' breathtaking mastery of their natural environment was acutely brought home to me this weekend as I climbed 2,000ft up a cloud forest trail in south-eastern Peru to Machu Picchu, a royal retreat built for an Inca emperor that clings to a mountain spur 8,000ft up in the Andes. As I wandered about the cloud-wreathed city of gurgling fountains, sacrificial altars, celestial observatories and exquisitely fashioned buildings of white granite blocks - some of which weigh more than 50 tons - I couldn't help but reflect on the sheer genius the Incas obviously possessed.

Although their empire existed for a scant 100 years before being cut short in 1533 by the arrival of the Spaniards, the Incas managed to create 26,000 miles of roads, ruled an empire of 10 million people and imposed their language and culture from one end of the Andes to the other. In a very real sense, the Incas were the "Romans" of the New World and, like the Romans, they were excellent administrators and empire builders. Like the Romans, however, they borrowed many aspects of their culture - from metallurgy and warfare and architecture to agriculture and animal husbandry and astronomy - from other, previous cultures.

They also appropriated, transformed and incorporated elements of many other South American religions, including animal and human sacrifices. Last week the photograph of a 15-year-old Inca girl appeared in the press, a beautiful and unblemished teenager who was sacrificed more than 500 years ago on top of a 22,000ft volcano in northern Argentina. Her mummified body was found by archaeologists in 1999 and is now on display for the first time in a museum in Argentina. Drugged with coca leaves and plied with alcohol, the girl was left to freeze to death high in the Andes, a seemingly senseless death to modern readers. The revelation of the girl's untimely death raises an obvious question: why did the Incas, despite being one of the most powerful, sophisticated and accomplished cultures in the New World, feel the need to sacrifice their children on mountain tops?

The answer can be found in a strange melange of Inca religious beliefs, natural catastrophes, and the sheer difficulty of trying to survive amid the frozen heights of one of the most volatile mountain chains in the world.

Credit: Observer graphics

The Incas arose in western South America, one of only six areas in the world where state-level societies arose (the others are Mesoamerica, China, Mesopotamia, the Indus valley and Egypt). The Incas were only the latest of a multitude of civilisations that had arisen in western South America and had borrowed from earlier cultures such as the Chimú, Moche, Nazca and Tiwanaku. The Incas began their sudden surge to power in the early 15th century, led by an emperor called Pachacutec, "overturner of worlds".

Through threat, negotiation, or bloody conquest, Pachacutec and his successors began to subjugate nearby provinces, determining the number of taxpaying peasants and installing local Inca governors and administrators before their armies moved on. If co-operative, local elites were allowed to retain their privileged positions and were rewarded for their collaboration. If uncooperative, they were exterminated, with their supporters.

Like other agriculturally based empires, Inca rule was built on reciprocity between the Inca elite and peasants, who were expected to pay taxes in the form of goods and labour; in return, the state was expected to provide the empire's citizens with security, laws and administration and also with emergency relief in times of famine or natural catastrophe.

The Incas constructed huge storehouses filled with foods and goods. If one area of the empire suffered drought or some other form of calamity, the Incas withdrew food and supplies from the storehouses and replaced them when local production increased again. If another area was attacked by marauding tribes, Inca armies soon arrived to repel the attackers and restore order. Through their labour tax, a succession of Inca rulers built new cities, constructed networks of roads, marshalled vast armies, erected and filled storehouses, and enlarged their empire.

Although the Incas created a finely tuned imperial state with engineers who could convert rugged rainforest mountains into well-ordered stone cities such as Machu Picchu, even they came up short when it came to the natural calamities that repeatedly struck western South America. The Inca empire straddled the Andes, a mountain chain formed by the continuing collision of a giant tectonic plate called the Nazca plate that slowly smashed into the South American plate, whose western edge also forms the western edge of South America. The Incas thus built their empire within the Pacific's "ring of fire" where volcanoes periodically erupt. Because of the colliding plates, violent earthquakes are common, destroying cities and towns. In addition, the empire was beset by the climatic havoc wreaked by El Niños every seven years, resulting in savage floods that disrupted food supplies.

In response to such natural phenomena, the Incas resorted to religion. In the Inca world, lightning, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, rain, weather and fertility were controlled by a panoply of gods. To survive in an unpredictable world, the Incas sought to form reciprocal relationships with their gods, just as they formed reciprocal relationships with one another, or with other tribes.

The Incas' primary god was the sun god, or Inti, which made agriculture possible. The Inca ruler himself was considered to be the son of the sun god, thus Inca emperors were worshipped and considered divine, inhabiting the apex of a vast theocratic state. To create and maintain relationships with their gods, the Incas gave them a variety of offerings. These ranged from simple prayers, food, coca leaves and woven cloth to animals, blood and, in the ultimate sacrifice, human beings. In especially uncertain times, such as when an emperor died, or when volcanoes erupted or severe earthquakes or famine struck, priests sacrificed captured warriors or specially raised, perfectly formed children to the gods. The Incas believed in an afterlife and that the children they sacrificed would inhabit a better, and more abundantly provided for, world.

Although the Spanish invaders did their best to exterminate Inca religion, the Incas were not the first culture to resort to human sacrifice in times of great stress or need. The Celts of Ireland and Britain frequently made human sacrifices to their gods. Mongols, Scythians, early Egyptians and various Mesoamerican groups all made human sacrifices, for one reason or another. Closer to home, the Greek author Homer wrote of how Iphigenia was set to be sacrificed by her father Agamemnon to ensure success in the Trojan war (he ultimately sacrificed a deer instead). And in the Hebrew Bible, when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, an angel stopped Abraham at the last moment. Abraham sacrificed a ram instead, but only after "learning to fear God".

The Incas did their best to fathom what, at the time, was unfathomable - the violent, unpredictable catastrophes of nature which, in some cases, had ended cultures that preceded them. To their credit, the Incas did their best to ensure the survival of their people and empire by paying close attention to nature and doing their best to use every means at their disposal, including human sacrifice, to gain control over it.

The irony is that, more than 500 years after the Spaniards put an end to perhaps the most spectacular empire in the New World, not only are Andean and worldwide glaciers shrinking at unprecedented rates as the Earth heats up, altering and damaging native ecosystems, but the new cultures that have replaced the Incas seem apathetic, at best, in making any kind of sacrifice in order to gain control over a potentially self-created environmental disaster.
Kim MacQuarrie is a multiple Emmy-winning documentary film-maker, writer and anthropologist who lived for five years in Peru. His most recent book is The Last Days of the Incas, the story of the conquest of the Inca empire

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Why the Incas offered up child sacrifices

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These children [to be sacrificed to the mountain and other gods] would be collected from all over the land and would be carried in litters together ... They should be very well dressed, paired up female and male. Juan de Betanzos, 1551 Human nature would not allow them to kill their own children ...

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Nottingham forest striker Talwo Awoniyi, was induced in a coma from playing in a premier league game over the weekend. He has to get a surgery for a serious abdominal injury. The team avoided commenting on the event. He received a lengthy treatment on the pitch but continued to say he was okay to keep playing.

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Premier League striker reportedly placed in an induced coma after 'urgent' surgery on serious abdominal injury | CNN

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Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi has reportedly been placed into an induced coma following "urgent" surgery for a serious abdominal injury suffered during a Premier League match over the weekend.

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Yoda is one of Star Wars' most loved characters, mostly because of his voice. Have you ever thought about why his voice was so strange? George Lucas says there’s a valid reason why Yoda speaks so strangely. Lucas commented on Yoda's voice in an interview where he explained that it came about in order to ensure that the little alien’s usually profound messages really landed with audiences.

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George Lucas says there’s a valid reason why Yoda speaks so strangely | CNN

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Yoda is one of the most cherished extraterrestrial characters in movie history, and part of that has to do with the peculiar way in which he speaks.

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7 dead and 20 seriously injured in a attack on a hospital in south Sudan. MSF said "helicopter gunships dropped a bomb on their pharmacy and fired on the town for 30 minutes." The pharmacy burned to the ground and all medical supplies were lost in the attack, destroying the last remaining hospital in the area. “This attack has severely compromised our ability to provide lifesaving care in Old Fangak – the only hospital serving over 110,000 people in the area,” MSF said.

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Hospital bombing kills 7 amid fears South Sudan is returning to civil war | CNN

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At least seven people were killed and 20 injured in an attack on a hospital and market in South Sudan on Saturday, a medical charity has said, as worries mount that the country could return to all out civil war.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers, led by Donovan Mitchell, were eliminated from the NBA playoffs by the Indiana Pacers despite their strong regular-season performance. Mitchell scored 39 points while playing through an ankle injury, but Indiana's still ended up beating Cleveland with a 114-105 win. Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam led the Pacers to their second consecutive conference finals appearance. Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied in the second half to defeat the Denver Nuggets 112-105, despite Nikola Jokić’s dominant performance. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 31 points, pushing them to a 3-2 series lead.

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NBA playoffs: Mitchell says Cavs ‘let the city down’ as Pacers eliminate No 1 seed

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The Pacers advanced to the East finals for the second straight year with a 114-105 victory over Cleveland on Tuesday, eliminating the top-seeded Cavs in five games

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As Canada prepares for a season of extreme wildfires, the United States is starting to prepare to see lots of smoke in the air. It's not confirmed wether or not the smoke and fires are going to spread over the border into America, but it is very likely and possible.This could end up affecting The States air quality and may lead to a lot of polution in the air. The wildfires occuring right now are explained to be "violent" and "spreading rapidly". They have also appeared to have already spread over lots of land.

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Three climbers dead after falling 400 feet from the Washington North Cascades mountains. One cliber did survive the fall and made the hike in the dark back to his car. He then drove to a pay phone to call for help. He did suffer head trauma and internal bleeding from the fall. The anchor that was holding there ropes was torn from the rock which is what caused them to fall.

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3 climbers fell 400 feet to their death. 1 climber survived and drove to a pay phone | CNN

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A rock climber who fell hundreds of feet descending a steep gully in Washington’s North Cascades mountains survived the fall that killed his three companions, hiked to his car in the dark and then drove to a pay phone to call for help, authorities said Tuesday.

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Erik and Lyle Menendez have been resentenced to 50 years to life in prison, which makes them immediately able to get out of prison.The brothers said they committed the murders in self-defense after years of abuse by their father.At the conclusion of Tuesday's resentencing hearing, Judge Michael Jesic granted them a new sentence of 50 years to life in prison. It could take months before Erik and Lyle Menendez are assigned a parole date for the resentencing case. 

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Menendez brothers win resentencing fight: What’s next for their case?

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Erik and Lyle Menendez were resentenced on Tuesday to 50 years to life in prison, which makes them eligible for parole.

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diddy is on trial in new york for sex trafficking and abuse. the prosecutors say he forced women into drug-filled events called “Freak Offs” and used violence to control them. The defense admits he was abusive but says the events were consensual and the women are after money. there was a video shows him beating ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016 and if he is found guilty, he could go to prison for life.

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Lauren del Valle, Nicki Brown, Eric Levenson, Kara Scannell

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Takeaways from Day 1 of testimony in the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial | CNN

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Coercion or consent? That is the central question posed to a federal jury Monday on the first day of testimony in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ racketeering and sex trafficking trial in New York City.

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The MLB just lifted the lifetime ban on Pete Rose and 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson. This ruling not only removed these two players but also 16 more for the ban. With these two being unbanned, they are now eligible to be in the Hall of Fame. The earliest this could happen would be 2028, as they need 12 out of 16 votes to be inducted. This was and still is a very controversial topic for many people, as they are both all-time greats.

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Major League Baseball ends lifetime bans for Pete Rose, ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson

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Two of baseball’s greatest hitters, both given lifetime bans for gambling, have been removed from MLB’s permanently ineligible list

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A rock climber named Anton Tselykh, fell off of a cliff in the North Cascades mountains in Washington state. Tselykh survived the fall while his three friends did not. Tselykh walked to his car in the dark and drove to the nearest pay phone for help. Tselykh had suffered internal bleeding and head trauma, and it took him hours to make it to a phone.

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3 climbers fell 400 feet to their death. 1 climber survived and drove to a pay phone | CNN

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A rock climber who fell hundreds of feet descending a steep gully in Washington’s North Cascades mountains survived the fall that killed his three companions, hiked to his car in the dark and then drove to a pay phone to call for help, authorities said Tuesday.

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Dangerous floods have cause issues in multiple states, but in Maryland boat rescuers are on search for a 12 year old boy swept by the waters. The boy was caught by the waters at around 5:30pm Tuesday night, and was confirmed to be found around 8:45am the next day. This now found boy has been identified as Jordan Sims. At the elementary school nearly 150 students at 50 adults had to be evacuated using these boats.

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200 rescued from flooded Maryland elementary school using boats amid heavy rain | CNN

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Rescue boats were used to evacuate an elementary school in Allegany County, Maryland Tuesday as heavy rains brought flooding to the region, the county’s emergency services department said.

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A few days ago the NBA draft lottery happened and the main teams that were predicted to get the #1 overall pick were the worst teams in basketball. These teams will get at highest a 14% chance to land the first pick.(Jazz, Pelicans, Wizards) The Dallas Mavericks had a 1.8% chance of getting the number 1 overall pick and they were predicted to get the 12th or 13th but against all odds they got it. This comes after their GM Nico Harrison traded their franchise all star Luka Doncic in a very suprising trade. This now allows them to draft the most sought after player in this years upcoming draft, Cooper Flagg.

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Mavs win draft lottery and chance to pick Cooper Flagg No 1 after Dončić saga

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The Mavericks won the NBA draft lottery on Monday night, giving them the No 1 pick in next month’s draft – and the first chance to take Cooper Flagg

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The Cleavland Cavaliers were going into the playoffs as the team to beat, and yesterday they lost to the Indiana Pacers. Donovan Mitchell had very high hopes of getting into a Conference Finals for the first time in his career. He got hurt after halftime in Game 4 and his teammate Darius Garland was hurt for majority of the series. The Cavs lost in five games as the Pacers head to the Western Conference finals against most likely the Knicks.

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NBA playoffs: Mitchell says Cavs ‘let the city down’ as Pacers eliminate No 1 seed

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The Pacers advanced to the East finals for the second straight year with a 114-105 victory over Cleveland on Tuesday, eliminating the top-seeded Cavs in five games

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During the meeting, Trump proposed that Sharaa take a series of measures, including normalization with Israel, expelling foreign and Palestinian “terrorists,” and helping the US to prevent the resurgence of ISIS, according to the White House.

Bringing Syria in from the cold gives a lifeline to the country’s fledgling regime and its president, who pledged in an interview with CNN last year that Syria’s armed opposition ultimately plans to form a government defined by institutions and a “council chosen by the people.” But it also presents an opportunity for Gulf Arab states and Turkey, which also pushed for sanctions to be lifted, to expand their influence in Syria and profit from it after decades of being left out of the country.