World

Thousands of residents of southwest Iceland had their hot water supply cut off amid “severe frost” overnight – because of lava. The region’s third volcanic eruption since December sent lava flows that officials say damaged pipes that supply hot water to the area. “We don’t have any hot water because the lava field is over the pipes,” Keflavík resident Bryndis …

Iraqi officials on Thursday condemned an overnight U.S. drone strike in Baghdad that killed a senior commander of the Iran-backed militia suspected of carrying out the attack on a U.S. base in Jordan that killed three American troops. A spokesperson for the Iraqi Armed Forces called the strike a “blatant assassination” and said it was an example of the destabilizing …

Three researchers this week won a $700,000 prize for using artificial intelligence to read a 2,000-year-old scroll that was scorched in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. One expert said the breakthrough could “rewrite the history” of the ancient world. The Herculaneum papyri consist of about 800 rolled-up Greek scrolls that were carbonized during the 79 CE volcanic eruption that buried …

Grindavik, Iceland— A volcano in southwest Iceland erupted for the third time since December on Thursday, sending jets of lava into the sky and triggering the evacuation of the Blue Lagoon spa, one of the island nation’s biggest tourist attractions. The eruption began at about 1 a.m. Eastern time along a nearly two-mile fissure northeast of Mount Sundhnukur, the Icelandic …

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy replaced his top army general on Thursday in what amounts to a major shake-up of the country’s war strategy as the war with Russia grinds into its third year and Ukraine grapples with shortages of ammunition and personnel. In a social media post, Zelenskyy said he thanked Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi – a military leader popular with …

A Palestinian-American woman was pulled out of bed in her family’s home in the West Bank and arrested earlier this week. Now her family in the U.S. and the Biden administration are seeking information about her case. Israel’s military says Samaher Esmail, 46, of Gretna, Louisiana, was arrested for “incitement on social media.” Her son, who is in Louisiana, told …

Scientists say they have found a new species of Medusae — a type of free-swimming, umbrella-shaped jellyfish. The sea creature — which was first spotted in 2002 in a deep-sea volcanic structure in ocean waters south of Tokyo, Japan — has a bright red “X” on its stomach. The findings were published this past November in the scientific journalZootaxa. The …

London —A ban on American XL bully dogs came into effect Thursday in England and Wales after a spate of violent attacks. Owners now must apply for an exemption, which requires proof of neutering and liability insurance, if they want to keep their pets. All XL bullies must be muzzled and kept on a leash in public. Before 2021, there …

Paris— French farmers angry over increased taxes and European agriculture policies they say threaten their livelihoods were on the roads well before dawn Wednesday, blocking highways and access roads to Paris. The protests, now about two weeks old, brought traffic to a standstill in many places as tractors blocked lanes or entire sections of highways for miles, and 18 people …

The U.S. government has raised its travel alert level for Jamaica amid a spate of murders in the Caribbean nation, urging Americans to reconsider visiting the island “due to crime and [unreliable] medical services.” The State Department announced the change, to its Level 3 travel advisory, for Jamaica just a few days after it issued a warning about the Bahamas, …