An American preacher who was taken hostage by armed men while preaching a sermon in a South African township last week has been rescued in a fierce gun battle with his kidnappers, police said Wednesday.

Josh Sullivan, 45, was kidnapped last Thursday during an evening service in Motherwell, a township in Gqeberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province, the Fellowship Baptist Church said.

The South African Police Service said officers launched a rescue operation after receiving intelligence the pastor was being held by his abductors at a house in KwaMagxaki, another township in the city.

A rescue team was sent to the location, a police statement said, “leading to a high-intensity shootout” that left “three unidentified suspects” dead.

“As officers approached the house, they observed a vehicle on the premises. The suspects inside the vehicle upon seeing law enforcement allegedly attempted to flee and opened fire on the team,” the statement read.

It added that Sullivan, whom the Associated Press reported is from the US state of Tennessee, was found inside the vehicle “miraculously unharmed” and “is currently in an excellent condition.”

Tom Hatley, whom Sullivan had said on his website he was training under, also announced the rescue. “Josh has been released,” Hatley wrote in a Facebook post along with a picture of Sullivan and his family. “I just got ‘the go ahead to let it be known,’” he added while urging for privacy from the public.

“Also, PLEASE respect The Sullivans privacy and their parents. A lot of folks love The Sullivans and they love you back, but give them some time,” he said in another post.

Kidnappings are at a record high in South Africa with an average of 51 abductions every day, authorities said last year. The country also grapples with deadly mass shootings and a murder rate that is among the highest in the world.

Sullivan’s abduction comes two months after renowned Islamic cleric Muhsin Hendricks was shot dead by armed men in Bethelsdorp, also in the Eastern Cape province.

Sullivan, who describes himself as “a church planting missionary,” arrived in South Africa in 2018 with plans to “finish language school … and plant a church to the Xhosa speaking people,” he said on his website.

Prosecutors in Berlin on Wednesday charged a doctor suspected of administering lethal amounts of various medications to palliative patients under his care with 15 counts of murder.

Prosecutors are also seeking a lifelong professional ban for the 40-year-old suspect, detained since August 2024, who had been active in several German states.

The suspect, not officially named in line with German privacy laws, has not admitted the charges, said prosecutors.

He was initially suspected of being involved in four deaths last year, which prosecutors said he had tried to cover up by setting fire to the victims’ apartments. However, ongoing investigations have turned up more suspected deaths, dating back to 2021, and that number could rise even further.

An investigative team set up specifically for the case is evaluating his patient records and more exhumations are planned.

The doctor is accused of administering an anaesthetic and then a muscle relaxant to palliative patients under his care who were not actively dying and without their knowledge or consent, said prosecutors.

Before Swedish slow TV hit “The Great Moose Migration” began airing Tuesday, Ulla Malmgren stocked up on coffee and prepared meals so she doesn’t miss a moment of the 20-day, 24-hour event.

“Sleep? Forget it. I don’t sleep,” she said.

Malmgren, 62, isn’t alone. The show, called “ Den stora älgvandringen ” in Swedish, and sometimes translated as “The Great Elk Trek” in English, began in 2019 with nearly a million people watching. In 2024, the production hit 9 million viewers on SVT Play, the streaming platform for national broadcaster SVT.

The livestream kicked off a week ahead of schedule due to warm weather and early moose movement. Malmgren was ready.

From now until May 4, the livestream’s remote cameras will capture dozens of moose as they swim across the Ångerman River, some 300 kilometers (187 miles) northwest of Stockholm, in the annual spring migration toward summer grazing pastures.

Not much happens for hours at a time, and fans say that’s the beauty of it.

“I feel relaxed, but at the same time I’m like, ‘Oh, there’s a moose. Oh, what if there’s a moose? I can’t go to the toilet!’” said William Garp Liljefors, 20, who has collected more than 150 moose plush toys since 2020.

Slow TV success

“The Great Moose Migration” is part of a trend that began in 2009 with Norwegian public broadcaster NRK’s minute-by-minute airing of a seven-hour train trip across the southern part of the country.

The slow TV style of programming has spread, with productions in the United Kingdom, China and elsewhere. The central Dutch city of Utrecht, for example, installed a “ fish doorbell” on a river lock that lets livestream viewers alert authorities to fish being held up as they migrate to spawning grounds.

Annette Hill, a professor of media and communications at Jönköping University in Sweden, said slow TV has roots in reality television but lacks the staging and therefore feels more authentic for viewers. The productions allow the audience to relax and watch the journey unfold.

“It became, in a strange way, gripping because nothing catastrophic is happening, nothing spectacular is happening,” she said. “But something very beautiful is happening in that minute-by-minute moment.”

As an expert and a fan of “The Great Moose Migration,” Hill said the livestream helps her slow down her day by following the natural rhythms of spring.

“This is definitely a moment to have a calm, atmospheric setting in my own home, and I really appreciate it,” she said.

Nature in your living room

The calming effect extends to the crew, according to Johan Erhag, SVT’s project manager for “The Great Moose Migration.”

“Everyone who works with it goes down in their normal stress,” he said.

The moose have walked the route for thousands of years, making it easy for the crew to know where to lay some 20,000 meters (almost 12 miles) of cable and position 26 remote cameras and seven night cameras. A drone is also used.

The crew of up to 15 people works out of SVT’s control room in Umeå, producing the show at a distance to avoid interfering with the migration.

SVT won’t say how much the production costs, but Erhag said it’s cheap when accounting for the 506 hours of footage aired last year.

Erhag said Swedes have always been fascinated by the roughly 300,000 moose roaming in their woods. The Scandinavian country’s largest animal is known as “King of the Forest.” A bull moose can reach 210 centimeters (6 feet 10 inches) at shoulder height and weigh 450 kilograms (992 pounds).

Despite their size, the herbivores are typically shy and solitary.

“We actually don’t see it very often. You often see it when you’re out driving maybe once or twice in your life,” Erhag said. “I think that’s one thing why it has been so, so popular. And then you bring in the nature to everyone’s living room.”

Hanna Sandberg, 36, first began watching the show in 2019, though she didn’t spot any moose. She tuned in the following year, finally saw some and got hooked.

“You can watch them and be a part of their natural habitat in a way that you could never be otherwise,” she said.

Moose mega-fans

After hours of showing an empty forest, a camera captures footage of a moose approaching the riverbank. Suddenly, slow TV turns urgent.

The push alert hits SVT’s app — “Första älgarna i bild!” which translates to “First moose on camera!” — as viewers worldwide tune in. The livestream’s chat explodes as commenters type encouragement for the animal, now making its way into the water.

”I would actually like to be a little fly on the wall in every household that watches the moose migration. Because I think there is about a million people saying about the same thing: ‘Go on! Yes, you can do it!’” Malmgren said.

Mega-fans like Malmgren, who is in a Facebook group of 76,000-plus viewers, are committed to watching as many hours as possible. Some viewers on Tuesday posted photos of their dogs and cats staring at their televisions, enthralled by the moose on the screen.

“I was late to school because I saw moose and my teacher was like, ‘What, you saw moose in the city?’ And I was like, ‘No, it’s on the TV,’” Garp Liljefors said ahead of Tuesday’s showing.

Malmgren said friends and family have learned not to bother her when the moose are on the move.

“When someone asks me, ‘What are you doing? Oh, never mind, it’s the great migration,’” she said. “They know.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said he hopes Iran-backed Hezbollah can be disarmed this year, following an Israeli military campaign that left the group decapitated and significantly weakened.

“We hope that Hezbollah’s weapons will be withdrawn or that their possession will be restricted to the state in 2025, and this is what I am striving for,” the United States-backed president said during an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed published on Tuesday.

Hezbollah was formed in the aftermath of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the early 1980s, and has grown to become a formidable rival political and military force within the country. The militants have long resisted calls to disarm.

“As for Hezbollah members, they are ultimately Lebanese, and if they want to join the army, they can undergo so-called absorption courses,” Aoun said, adding that the group would not be allowed to function as a distinct unit within the Lebanese army.

He stressed however that the process could only be done through dialogue.

“We want to withdraw Hezbollah’s weapons, but we do not want to ignite a civil war,” he said.

Experts say that while Hezbollah may prefer to retain its arms, Israel’s weakening of the group and its continued attacks on Lebanon along with pressure from the Lebanese government may make the once inconceivable prospect a reality.

Until its conflict with Israel last year, Hezbollah was widely regarded as the most formidable non-state armed group in the Middle East, with tens of thousands of missiles and a well-trained military force.

Aoun said the government has yet to speak to Hezbollah about the matter, but that Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, a Shiite politician allied to the militant group, “is in full agreement” that the state should have a monopoly over arms. Berri served as the mediator between Hezbollah and the US in talks last year to reach a ceasefire with Israel.

Aoun’s ‘delicate position’

Some experts say that while Aoun is facing pressure from both Israel and the United States to quickly disarm Hezbollah, he is nonetheless wary of the precarious situation he is in.

Last week, Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said in a news conference that the group is ready for dialogue with the Lebanese government on the country’s defense strategy. Woods said that offer means that Aoun’s proposal “may not seem that confrontational.”

Asked about the failure of previous attempts to discuss Hezbollah’s weapons, Aoun said the regional situation had changed, pointing to Iran’s “developing position” toward allied militias in the region.

Hezbollah has relied on its armed struggle against Israel to burnish its popular support, Woods said. “After last year’s disastrous war with Israel, it remains unclear if the party can find a replacement source of political legitimacy.”

Aoun said he has told US officials Israel’s presence in southern Lebanon “gives Hezbollah a pretext” to remain armed, urging the US to pressure Israel to withdraw.

Lebanon’s government has repeatedly condemned continued Israeli strikes on its territory, calling them a violation of its sovereignty and a breach of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement.

Asked whether it is possible for Lebanon to engage in normalization talks with Israel should the Israeli army withdraw, Aoun said that while “anything is possible” in politics, the circumstances on the ground dictate reality.

“The Americans currently know that normalization or peace negotiations with Israel are impossible, and the key for us today is to establish long-term stability on the border,” he said.

Israel-Hezbollah war ‘not likely’

Full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah remains a possibility but is unlikely, he said, adding that Hezbollah has recently “shown a sense of responsibility despite the heavy human losses it has suffered.”

“Ultimately the possibility remains with the continuation of (Israeli) attacks,” Aoun said. “Hence, we always repeat: Let us negotiate with Hezbollah.”

Hezbollah’s disarmament could have a significant impact on regional dynamics. Just months ago, the group was seen as Iran’s most powerful regional proxy, engaging in tit-for-tat strikes with the Israeli army until an Israeli campaign killed many of its senior guard. The toppling of Hezbollah-ally Bashar al-Assad in neighboring Syria also weakened the group.

As Lebanon reels from an ongoing cross-border conflict with Israel and years of economic meltdown, Hezbollah may also face pressure from its own constituency to lay down its arms, Woods said. Disarming could remove obstacles for the delivery of post-war reconstruction aid, “which many Hezbollah supporters desperately need.”

The group’s backer, Iran, may also use this as a negotiating tool in its nuclear talks with the Trump administration, trading “its support for the group in negotiations,” Woods added.

Iran has engaged in talks with the US over its nuclear program. Delegations from both countries met in Oman last weekend, and are due to hold a second round of talks on Saturday.

Nora Aunor, who became one of the biggest stars of Philippine cinema during a career that spanned seven decades, has died.

Aunor died Wednesday, according to social media posts from her children. She was 71. No further details on the cause or place of her death were immediately given.

Filipina actor Lotlot de León said on Instagram that her mother “touched generations with her unmatched talent, grace, and passion for the craft. Her voice, presence, and artistry shaped a legacy that will never fade.”

De León said funeral plans and other details will be shared later.

Aunor, born Nora Cabaltera Villamayor to an impoverished family in eastern Camarines Sur province, sold water in a train station in her hometown in her youth.

She first gained fame in her teens as a singer in the 1960s before moving on to movies. She amassed more than 200 credits in film and television that included many classics of Philippine cinema, and won dozens of acting awards.

Memorable roles included 1976’s “Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos” (“Three Years Without God”), 1984’s “Bulaklak sa City Jail” (“Flowers of the City Jail”) and 1995’s “The Flor Contemplacion Story.”

She swept best actress awards in the country for her performance in 1990’s “Andrea, Paano ba ang Maging Isang Ina?” (“Andrea, What is It Like to be a Mother?”) and won best actress at the Asian Film Awards for her portrayal of a midwife in 2012’s “Thy Womb.”

Aunor was still acting as recently as last year, starring in the film “Mananambal” (“The Healer”) and appearing on the TV series “Lilet Matias, Attorney-at-Law.”

Aunor was named a National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts – the country’s biggest honor for actors – in 2022. In 2014, then-President Benigno Aquino III had denied her the honor because of a previous drug arrest in the US, provoking broad outcry.

Aunor’s lawyer said the 2005 arrest at the Los Angeles airport came because of a pipe found in a bag she did not pack, noting she was traveling with four assistants at the time. The charges were dropped in 2007 after she completed a diversion program, her lawyer said in 2014.

Aunor was married to actor Christopher de León from 1975 until 1996.

She is survived by their children Lotlet, Ian, Matet, Kiko and Kenneth de León.

The Maldives has banned Israeli passport holders from entering its territory, the president’s office said on Wednesday, accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza war, an allegation Israel has repeatedly denied.

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu ratified an amendment to the country’s immigration law after it was passed by parliament on Tuesday, a statement from his office said.

The amendment introduces a new provision to the Immigration Act, expressly prohibiting the entry of visitors with Israeli passports into the Maldives, it added.

“The ratification reflects the government’s firm stance in response to the continuing atrocities and ongoing acts of genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people,” the statement said.

The Israeli foreign ministry and the country’s consular office in Colombo did not respond to requests for comment.

Israel has consistently rejected any accusation of genocide, saying it has respected international law and has a right to defend itself after the cross-border Hamas attack from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023 that prompted the war.

South Africa has brought a case against it at the UN’s International Court of Justice and Amnesty International accused it of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza in a report last December, charges it has denied.

Maldives’ Muizzu initially made the call to ban Israeli passport holders in June 2024 after a cabinet recommendation, which prompted the Israeli foreign ministry to recommend that its citizens avoid the archipelago famous for its pristine beaches and plush resorts.

Tourism is a major driver of the Maldives economy, accounting for about 21% of its GDP and earning $5.6 billion in 2024, according to government data. The island nation is expecting earnings of about $5 billion this year.

Putting prisoners of war in front of reporters and news cameras is almost certainly a violation of international humanitarian law.

But Ukraine clearly felt any reputational damage it might suffer by doing so in a news conference this week would be outweighed by the fact that it featured two alleged captured fighters from China.

There was more value in giving them a platform to speak, the argument presumably ran, than protecting them “against insult and public curiosity” – something the International Committee of the Red Cross says includes protection from the media.

China has always claimed neutrality in Russia’s war on Ukraine and repeatedly tells its citizens not to get involved in foreign conflicts. All the same, as a key diplomatic and economic lifeline for Moscow, Beijing’s actions are watched closely in Kyiv.

Dressed in combat fatigues and answering questions in Mandarin, the POWs were watched over by armed Ukrainian security personnel, while a translator sat beside them.

One said he had been looking for a way to earn money after losing his job during the coronavirus pandemic. The prospect of 250,000 rubles (around $3,000) per month in Russia was more than double what he could expect to earn at home.

As someone with experience in medical rehabilitation, he said he told the recruiter he wanted to do the same with the Russian military. But when he got to Moscow, he was forced into training for a combat role.

Documents were only in Russian, which neither man said they understood. One said that he communicated mainly through hand signals.

Once they reached the battlefield, instruction there was also non-verbal. One of the men recounted the chaotic moments that lead up to their capture in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

“When we reached a forest, my captain told me, ‘Da, da, da’ (“Yes, yes, yes” in Russian), signaling me to start the attack. But I did not know where the target was. We passed many Russian positions, and I thought we were heading toward our own bunker. I thought he was joking, so I hid. Then I saw the captain of (another Russian unit) throw in a grenade, and suddenly there were (Ukrainian) drones everywhere.”

The men surrendered. They had been fighting for only three days.

The role of foreign fighters

Foreign fighters have been a part of this war – on both sides – since the beginning.

In January, Ukraine also captured two North Koreans, part of an estimated force of about 14,000 troops sent by Pyongyang to help Moscow’s war effort.

“It is unable to maintain the long front line with its own soldiers alone and is taking every opportunity to recruit whoever it can,” the source said.

Since the announcement of the Chinese men’s capture last week – which was followed by Ukraine declaring it had information on a further 155 Chinese citizens fighting for Russia – considerable interest has focused on how they were recruited and whether China’s government had played an active role in some way.

Certainly, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did nothing to tamp down such speculation when asked by reporters whether he thought the presence of Chinese nationals in Ukraine was the result of official Beijing policy.

“I don’t have an answer to this question yet. The Security Service of Ukraine will work on it,” he said last week, adding, “We are not saying that someone gave any command, we do not have such information.”

But Zelensky went on to say that Kyiv believed that Beijing was aware of what was happening.

The POWs were at pains to indicate otherwise, both saying that they were acting as individuals, pointing to slick recruitment videos posted to TikTok as the source of their inspiration.

One such clip has been circulating on Chinese social media networks for more than a year and appears to have originally been created for a domestic Russian audience, with Chinese subtitles added later.

It shows what appear to be Russian soldiers training and dressed in combat fatigues in the field. “You’re a man, be a man,” it says in Russian, alongside Chinese subtitles, which also explain the payments on offer for signing up.

It is impossible to say if the subtitles were added by an official entity or by social media users, but one of the men said the videos resonated in China, where military prowess is highly prized, but opportunities for direct combat experience are rare.

Why the timing matters

Though Ukraine has hosted news conferences with POWs previously, including one involving combatants from Nepal and several African countries, its decision to platform its Chinese POWs is still unusual.

The timing is important.

It comes amid Kyiv’s attempts to get the upper hand in its battle with Moscow for the ear of US President Donald Trump, whose administration appears to be making little headway in its efforts to convince the Kremlin to agree to a full ceasefire.

Washington has also been heavily focused on China, which some in the White House see as the United States’ main global adversary, and which the administration has been hitting with progressively larger import tariffs.

From Zelensky’s perspective, there is a clear interest in amplifying anything that suggests China’s support for Russia might be more than diplomatic and economic.

But it might not just be the US that Ukraine’s leader is sending a message to.

Anders Puck Nielsen of the Royal Danish Defence College believes Kyiv is also anxious about recent European Union overtures to China, as the two economic powerhouses look for possible joint solutions in the face of Trump’s trade wars.

“It has clearly been a political move to really emphasize this aspect (of Chinese fighters in the Russian army),” he added.

Beijing certainly saw it like that.

“We urge the relevant parties concerned to correctly and soberly understand the role of China and to not release irresponsible remarks,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said, without mentioning names.