#Macron croons classic Aznavour ballad at state dinner in Armenia for the #French leader. Macron was joined by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on drums and celebrated jazz musician Vahagn Hayrapetyan on piano on Monday night in Yerevan. In addition to “La Bohème,” which was recorded by Armenian-French musician Charles Aznavour in 1965, Macron also sang “Les Feuilles Mortes” by Yves Montand.

The event at Armenia’s presidential residence on Monday night was held in Macron’s honour. The French leader was in town for a state visit that coincided with a gathering of the European Political Community and a historic European Union summit.

Pashinyan, who took office in 2018, more regularly flexes his musical prowess as part of his musical group Varchaband. It held its debut concert in Yerevan at the end of January.

The Armenian leader is also well known for posting videos of himself listening to music on Instagram, with his musical taste seemingly spanning from Taylor Swift to Travis Scott and A$AP Rocky.

Male coyote swam over 3 km to Alcatraz Island, twice as far as biologists had expected.

At the time, biologists guessed the coyote swam from San Francisco, which is a little over 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) from the fortress. But it turns out the male coyote actually made an even longer swim from nearby Angel Island, 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) away.

“Our working assumption was that the coyote made the swim from San Francisco because it is a significantly shorter distance. We couldn’t help being impressed by his accomplishment in making it to Alcatraz,” National Park Service wildlife ecologist Bill Merkle said in a Monday news release titled “Alcatraz Coyote Wasn’t a City Boy After All.”

“Coyotes are known to be resilient and adaptable, and he certainly demonstrated those qualities,” he said.

Camilla Fox, founder and executive director of nonprofit Project Coyote, said the coyote likely departed its home base in search of a mate or new territory to defend. She said coyotes, like wolves, do swim, although it’s incredibly rare for humans to spot one doing so.

“We have never, ever heard such a story of a coyote making such a long journey in a pretty challenging ocean current,” she said.

Video from early January shows the coyote paddling in the chilly San Francisco Bay and then struggling to get onto the rocky island. It was followed by a Jan. 24 visitor sighting and photograph.

Biologists found fresh coyote tracks and scat, which they sent to the University of California, Davis, for DNA analysis. Officials were stunned to learn the swimmer was part of the coyote population on Angel Island.

The park service was prepared to capture and relocate the coyote because of Alcatraz’s role as a seabird nesting habitat. But he has never again been spotted or caught on recording devices and there is no evidence the coyote is still on the island.

Alcatraz Island became a federal prison in the 1930s, designed to house the worst criminals, but it closed in the 1960s because its remoteness made it too costly to operate.

Still, 36 men attempted 14 separate escapes from Alcatraz. Nearly all were caught or didn’t survive the cold, swift current. In 1973, the island reopened as a park.

Angel Island is a state park that once served as a processing and detention center where Chinese and other unwanted immigrants were kept for a couple of days to months, even as long as two years.

It wasn’t easy for coyotes to colonize Angel Island, but they persevered, Fox of Project Coyote said. She asks that visitors to the island and other open spaces be mindful not to disturb coyote families and their dens given that it is currently pup season.

Janie Har, The Associated Press

#Alberta separatist group says it has enough signatures to trigger referendum vote on leaving Canada

The observers of the International Atomic Energy Agency (#IAEA) stationed at the #Zaporozhye nuclear power station have acknowledged the damage caused to the laboratory of external radiation control by a Ukrainian attack on May 3.

"IAEA team today (Monday - #TASS) visited #ZNPP’s External Radiation Control Laboratory (#ERCL), a day after the plant said it was targeted by a drone. Team observed damage to some of the lab’s meteorological monitoring equipment which is no longer operational," the agency said on X.

#IAEA Director General #Rafael #Grossi called for maximum restraint to avoid safety risks.

#US attacks cargo ships in Strait of Hormuz killing five people — Tasnim According to the news agency, the vessels carrying civilian cargo were traveling from the Omani port of Khasab to the coast of Iran.

Taiwo Awoniyi scores brace as Nottingham Forest beat Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, securing commanding Premier League victory with early dominance.

#Explosion traps 12 in a #Colombian coal mine.
#BOGOTA, #Colombia — At least twelve miners are trapped inside a coal mine in central Colombia, officials said Monday night, following an explosion that authorities attributed to the accumulation of gases.
Jorge Emilio Rey, the governor of Colombia’s Cundinamarca province said on social platform X, that there were 15 miners inside the mine when the explosion occurred Monday afternoon, but added that three miners were able to escape from the mine “on their own.” One of them was taken to a hospital.

The mine is located in Sutatausa, a municipality about 46 miles (74 km) outside capital Bogota and 8,200 feet (2,500 metres) above sea level.

Rescue workers and ambulances arrived at the site Monday to help the trapped miners.

Mining accidents are common in central Colombia, where dozens of small operators run coal and emerald mines.

In 2023, 11 miners were killed by an explosion at another coal mine in Sutatausa. In 2020, 11 miners died during a mining accident in Cucunuba, another municipality in Cundinamarca province.

Associated Press, The Associated Press

Inside '#Scientology speedruns,' the viral trend prompting the church to bolster security.

Buensuceso was witnessing “Scientology speedrunning” in real time, a familiar social media trend that has been sweeping TikTok for about a month — and raising security concerns for the church. She and her friend had just been talking about it earlier that day.

“I felt an adrenaline rush because I was like, ‘No way this is happening right now for me,’” she said. “I’m about to witness something that I thought that I would only see on social media.”

The trend took off in early April, with users on social media posting videos of themselves — sometimes inexplicably in costume — entering multiple properties owned or inhabited in some way by the Church of Scientology. Participants film themselves “speedrunning” through the building, or aiming to complete a task as fast as possible per the common video game slang. That task? Map out the church’s buildings and get as much information as they can about the inner workings of the organization.

The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed it has responded to multiple incidents in the past month, including the one witnessed by Buensuceso, which was investigated as a potential hate crime. The church this week removed all external door handles on its Hollywood Boulevard properties.
‘These are peaceful spaces’

While it may amuse online viewers, this is far from lighthearted fun to the church. Scientology spokesperson David Bloomberg told The Associated Press that a staff member was injured during one of the incidents and required medical attention as a result.

“These are peaceful spaces designed to welcome parishioners, visitors and members of the public,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “Turning them into targets for viral stunts is not journalism, protest or civic activity. It is trespass, harassment and disruption of religious facilities.”

The group Buensuceso witnessed consisted of mostly young boys, and she assumed most of them were either in high school or potentially even middle school, not only because of their youthful appearances, but because she considers it juvenile behavior.

Buensuceso posted a video on TikTok of her perspective of the chaotic “raid” as some online call these events. Her video shows a group of more than a dozen young people forcing their way into the church’s building on Hollywood Boulevard, which has become a common location for people looking to participate in the social media craze.

The motive behind the trend is rather unclear, but like much of Gen-Z and Generation Alpha culture, the meaning could come from the meaninglessness. Nonsensical “brain rot” content has dominated social media platforms in recent years, often led by young people and often leaving older people scratching their heads or searching for the deeper meaning of trends. One commenter on a recent TikTok video of a speedrun asked why people are doing this, and another user simply replied, “because it’s fun.”

“If you’re on TikTok at all, you can see all the different videos,” said Charley Tenorio, a 20-year-old actor who lives in Hollywood. “All the jokes in the comments that if they get to the top, you’ll find Tom Cruise.”

Scientology has a notable celebrity following and Cruise is one of its most famous practitioners. The religion consists of a system of beliefs, teachings and rituals focused on spiritual betterment. Science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard’s 1950 book “Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health” is a foundational text.

Tenorio was eating at Taco Bell across the street from the building on Saturday when he witnessed the same incident as Buensuceso.

“I saw them go inside. They passed the security guard, they passed multiple of the workers,” he recalled. “That was all I saw until a couple seconds later when they were all kicked out quite angrily by this small horde of Scientology workers.”

Ahsem Kabir, a musician who lives nearby, stopped by the building on Wednesday to check out the removed door handles. He has followed the trend, which he thinks contributes to the church’s mystique.

“I do get entertainment out of the #speedruns. I think it’s pretty funny,” he said. “I know that technically it’s not allowed, but I think it just kind of adds to the lore of this place.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Krysta Fauria And Kaitlyn Huamani, The Associated Press

One dead after car strikes crowd in #German city, police say. Two other people were severely injured and have been taken to hospital, while 20 more have been “affected,” said Axel Schuh, the head of Leipzig’s fire brigade. A large emergency service presence is at the scene, Schuh said.

Later Monday, Leipzig Mayor Burkhard Jung said in an update that a third person was also severely injured.

Meanwhile, German police said the suspected driver of the car, who is male, has been arrested and “no longer poses a threat.” The suspect is a 33-year-old German citizen, according to Armin Schuster, the interior minister of Saxony state, where Leipzig is located.

Officials suggested the incident was likely deliberate. Schuster did not rule out mental health issues as a possible contributing factor when asked by reporters on Monday.

The public prosecutor’s office has launched proceedings on two counts of attempted murder and two counts of murder, authorities said.

“A police operation is currently underway in downtown Leipzig,” police posted on X. “Please keep emergency routes clear and follow the instructions of the emergency personnel on site.”

Jung said the motive of the suspected perpetrator is unclear at this stage. “There is no further danger,” he said.

By Billy Stockwell, Benjamin Brown, CNN

#Russia may put forward new initiatives on creating a zone free of nuclear and other #weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the Middle East, Russia’s Permanent Representative to international organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov told Izvestia.

"The idea of creating the WMD-free zone in the Middle East will remain on the international agenda until fully accomplished. It is possible that Russia will come up with new initiatives on this matter should the need arise," he said.

According to the Russian diplomat, #Israel strongly rejects the idea of joining the #Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (#NPT) but, at the same time, demands that other countries of the region fully comply with the agreement.