In one of the world’s hottest cities, fresh and filtered water can quench the searing onslaught of climate change — but US President Donald Trump’s foreign aid freeze threatens its vital supply, an NGO says.

The sun-parched city of Jacobabad sometimes surpasses 50 degrees Celsius in increasing heatwaves causing critical health problems like dehydration and heat-stroke.

In 2012, USAID committed a $66 million grant to uplift Sindh’s municipal services, including the flagship renovation of a plant pumping and purifying water from a canal 22 kilometres away.

But Pakistani non-profit HANDS says Trump’s aid embargo has blocked $1.5m earmarked to make the scheme viable in the long-term, putting the project at risk “within a few months”.

As one of the last female-run stations in the country is silenced, a former broadcaster gives an inside view of the crackdown on women working in the media

Germany's interior ministry on Friday warned of a Russian disinformation operation attempting to influence the country's federal election campaign with fake videos spreading on social media in Hamburg and Leipzig.

The ministry said there were indications that the campaign was linked to the so-called "Storm-1516," a pro-Russian influence operation previously observed in the 2024 U.S. presidential election that was investigated by U.S. authorities.

Hamas said on Friday it was investigating a possible error in identifying human remains handed to Israel under a ceasefire deal as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened retaliation for failing to release the body of hostage Shiri Bibas.

Hamas was due to hand over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons Kfir and Ariel on Thursday along with the remains of a fourth hostage under the ceasefire deal that has halted fighting in Gaza since last month.

Four bodies were delivered and the identities of the Bibas boys and the other hostage, Oded Lifshitz, were confirmed.

But Israeli specialists said the fourth body was that of an unidentified woman and not Bibas, who was kidnapped along with her sons and her husband, Yarden, during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The remains of the youngest and one of the oldest captives seized by Hamas during the attack that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip are expected to be returned on Thursday, an Israeli official said Wednesday.

The handover, part of the ceasefire agreement that has paused the fighting in Gaza, will include the bodies of a mother and her two young children whose fate was uncertain and a retired journalist in his 80s, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

It was the first Israeli confirmation that the bodies of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were 4 years old and 9 months old when they were taken captive on Oct. 7, 2023, were being returned along with their mother Shiri. A grassroots forum representing hostage families also confirmed the names.

Huawei on Tuesday held a global launch for the industry’s first tri-foldable phone, which analysts said marked a symbolic victory for the Chinese tech giant amid U.S. technology curbs. But challenges over pricing, longevity, supply and app constraints may limit its success.

Huawei said at a launch event in Kuala Lumpur that the Huawei Mate XT, first unveiled in China five months ago, will be priced at 3,499 euros ($3,662). Although dubbed a trifold, the phone has three mini-panels and folds only twice. The company says it’s the thinnest foldable phone at 3.6 millimeters (0.14 inches), with a 10.2-inch screen similar to an Apple iPad.

A man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the attempted murder of Japan's former prime minister Fumio Kishida in 2023.

Ryuji Kimura, 25, hurled a pipe bomb at Kishida as the country's leader approached a crowd for a speech during an election event in the city of Wakayama.

Although Kishida was unharmed, the explosion of the homemade device caused minor injuries to a police officer and a member of the public.

Actress Kim Sae-ron's death in an apparent suicide has renewed criticism of South Korea's entertainment industry, which churns out stars but also subjects them to immense pressure and scrutiny.

Kim - who was found dead aged 24 at her home in Seoul on Sunday - had been bombarded with negative press coverage and hate online after a drink-driving conviction in 2022. Police have not provided further details about her death.

Experts found the circumstances leading to it depressingly familiar. Other celebrities also ended up taking their lives after careers upended by cyberbullying.

As Kim was laid to rest on Wednesday, analysts say they are not optimistic her death will lead to meaningful change.