Comment on Project to drain California reservoir a year behind schedule

MELBOURNE, Australia — More than 100 people are believed to have been killed Friday in a landslide that buried a village in a remote part of Papua New Guinea, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported. The landslide reportedly hit Kaokalam village in Enga province, about 600 kilometers (370 miles) northwest of the South Pacific island nation’s capital of Port Moresby, at roughly 3 a.m.

Singapore Airlines Ltd. has introduced tighter cabin restrictions when aircraft hit turbulence after one passenger died and scores were injured on a flight from London earlier this week. The airline said Friday it’s taking a “more cautious approach” to managing turbulence after Flight SQ321 suddenly lost altitude on Tuesday and was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — American comedian Dave Chappelle said Thursday a “genocide” is striking the Gaza Strip amid the Israel-Hamas war to cheers during his performance in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, while urging Americans to fight antisemitism so Jews don’t feel like they need to be protected by Israel. Chappelle’s comments come as Abu Dhabi has maintained its diplomatic relations with Israel even as it has increasingly criticized its conduct in the seven-month war. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Meanwhile, while pro-Palestinian marches have swept across the wider Middle East since the war began, protests and speech remains tightly restricted in the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikdoms on the Arabian Peninsula. Even before coming on stage, the full crowd at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena cheered as DJ Trauma, who accompanied Chappelle on the trip, played the song “My Blood is Palestinian” by the Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf.

Milan — A previously unknown terracotta bust of the famed early Renaissance architect who designed the Florence Cathedral dome was unveiled Thursday in the Tuscan capital, where it will be displayed permanently following restoration. The Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, the entity charged with preserving the landmark cathedral and operating its museum, called the discovery after nearly 700 years of the terracotta bust depicting Filippo Brunelleschi “exceptional.” It cited both the artistic value as well as the rarity of depictions of the renowned architect around or after the time of his death in 1446. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Art historians Giancarlo Gentilini and Alfredo Bellandi identified the sculpture as a model by Andrea di Lazzaro Cavalcanti for the marble bust of Brunelleschi in the memorial monument in the Florence Cathedral. Bellandi praised the work’s “expressive naturalism of great intensity.” Cavalcanti, Brunelleschi’s adopted son and heir, sculpted the life-like bust from a nearly solid block of clay in early 1447, before completing the monument later that year, experts said. The terracotta model was likely stored in the sculptor’s workshop for study for a period, while the state of preservation indicates it was long preserved before it “later fell into oblivion,” the cathedral’s custodian entity said. The Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore purchased the terracotta bust for 300,000 euros (around $324,000).

If the Middle East is a puzzle, it’s one that grew even harder to imagine ever clicking together as the evening of May 19 gave way to May 20. In the space of 24 hours, the President of Iran was killed, and the Prime Minister of Israel learned that a warrant for his arrest for war crimes and crimes against humanity were sought by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), who also wanted warrants for leaders of Hamas.

Britain’s royal family will postpone certain engagements in light of the general election that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Wednesday. In a Buckingham Palace statement, reported by Sky News, King Charles III and Queen Camilla said “the royal family will—in accordance with normal procedure—postpone engagements that may appear to divert attention or distract from the election campaign.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “Their Majesties send their sincere apologies to any of those who may be affected as a result,” the statement added.