World

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday the presence of a Russian attack submarine in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea was “very worrisome”. “That’s very concerning. Any intrusion into the West Philippine Sea, of our EEZ, of our baselines, is very worrisome,” Marcos told reporters, referring to part of the South…

Once presenting itself as one of the world’s most welcoming countries to refugees and immigrants, Canada is launching a global online ad campaign cautioning asylum-seekers that making a claim is hard. The C$250,000 ($178,662) in advertisements will run through March in 11 languages, including Spanish, Urdu, Ukrainian, Hindi and Tamil, the immigration department told Reuters. They are…

The French government is all but certain to collapse later this week after far-right and left-wing parties submitted no-confidence motions on Monday against Prime Minister Michel Barnier. Investors immediately punished French assets as the latest developments plunged the euro zone’s second-biggest economy deeper into political crisis, with serious doubt cast over whether the annual budget will be…

The White House said on Monday that President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter in part to protect him from future persecution from political opponents, but his move drew fierce criticism, with some Democrats saying it undermined public trust in the rule of law. Biden, a Democrat whose term ends on Jan. 20 when Republican President-elect Donald…

Hundreds of Iran-backed Iraqi fighters crossed into Syria on Monday to help the government fight rebels who seized Aleppo last week, but Lebanon’s Hezbollah has no plans for now to join them, according to sources. Iran’s constellation of allied regional militia groups, aided by Russian air power, has been integral to the success of pro-government forces in…

Chongqing is a Chinese metropolis with 32 million inhabitants. By surface area, it’s almost as large as Austria. In recent years, the southwestern municipality has become a viral sensation Expats, globetrotters and influencers are thrilled by the avant-garde, unusual Chinese city of Chongqing. The metropolis genuinely amazes those who visit it for the first time, or who…

AN ASPIRING actress was swept to her death by a giant wave while doing yoga at her favourite beauty spot. Kamilla Belyatskaya, 24, was caught on video moments before she was pulled into the sea on tourist island Koh Sumui in Thailand. She was then hit by the massive wave and pulled into the swirling sea –…

THIS underground tunnel is set to be blocked up for 100,000 years as Finland carries out a world first when it comes to nuclear waste. Around 4,000 generations of humans will be unable to set foot in the underground tunnel in Eurajoki, on the west coast of Finland. This is because the country has built the first-ever…

Elton John made a shocking admission over the weekend — he’s lost his eyesight. The legendary singer revealed the unfortunate news while addressing the crowd at a charity event after the Sunday premiere of the new musical, “The Devil Wears Prada” at the Dominion Theatre in London, England. Elton wrote the composition for the play based on…

After the recent revelation that Pete Hegseth had secretly paid a financial settlement to a woman who had accused him of raping her in 2017, President-elect Donald Trump stood by his choice of Hegseth to become the next Secretary of Defense. Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, issued a statement noting that Hegseth, who has denied wrongdoing, has…

Taiwan’s president visited a U.S. State Department-funded think tank and educational institution Sunday on the second day of a two-day visit to Hawaii that’s part of a Pacific island tour that has already triggered criticism from Beijing. Lai Ching-te met and exchanged gifts with the president of the East-West Center, which is on the University of Hawaii’s…

Bangladesh’s High Court on Sunday acquitted former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s son, Tarique Rahman, and 48 others, overturning their verdicts in a deadly 2004 grenade attack on a political rally. The ruling comes at a critical time as the South Asian country suffers political tension after longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country to India in…

Former world snooker champion Terry Griffiths has died aged 77, after a long battle with dementia, his family has confirmed. The Welshman became the first qualifier to win the world championship, beating Dennis Taylor 24-16 in the 1979 final. Griffiths also won the Masters in 1980 and the UK Championship in 1982 to complete snooker’s ‘Triple Crown’.…

Warning – this article contains details that some readers may find disturbing On the evening of 20 August 1989, brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez walked into the den of their home in Beverly Hills, where their parents were watching a film, The Spy Who Loved Me, and they shot them at close range with a shotgun. They…

Countries have failed to reach a landmark agreement on tackling plastic pollution after more than two years of negotiations. More than 200 nations met in South Korea for what was meant to be a final round of talks. But deep divisions remained between a group of nearly 100 “high ambition” countries calling for plastic to be phased…

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has arrived in the US state of Hawaii for a two-day visit, drawing a furious reaction from China. The trip is being billed as a stopover as part of a Pacific tour, but comes amid long-running tensions between the US and China and growing concerns about the possibility of conflict over Taiwan. After…

2024 is almost over, and it has been a year. The tech world has been shaken up a hundred times over, it seems: there was the splashy Vision Pro launch, Google being declared a monopoly, endless AI hype, a hugely consequential US election, the ongoing political ascendance of Elon Musk, and another generation of gadgets trying and…

One hundred elephants have stampeded onto Miami Beach. But don’t worry, they’re not real pachyderms. These are wooden elephants, part of The Great Elephant Migration, an art installation sharing a message about conservation and human-wildlife coexistence. The large herd is on display near 36th Street Park on Miami Beach through Sunday, Dec. 8. An international collaboration between…

Trump’s pick for FBI director has pledged to go after the president-elect’s enemies in the “Deep State” and the media As he fills out his incoming administration, Donald Trump’s nominees have ranged from absolutely unqualified to ideological nightmares. But he might have just made his scariest hire yet. On Saturday night, Trump announced he’s selected Kash Patel…

The rapid increase in satellites and space junk will make low Earth orbit unusable unless companies and countries cooperate and share the data needed to manage that most accessible region of space, experts and industry insiders said. A United Nations panel on space traffic coordination in late October determined that urgent action was necessary and called for…

Cyclone Fengal killed at least 19 people in India and Sri Lanka and caused flooding in Tamil Nadu state and the Puducherry region after crossing India’s southern coast from the Bay of Bengal on Saturday. Puducherry had been hit by the heaviest 24-hour rainfall in 30 years, India’s weather office said on social media on Sunday. The…

The United States is not considering returning to Ukraine the nuclear weapons it gave up after the Soviet Union collapsed, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday. Sullivan made his remarks when questioned about a New York Times article last month that said some unidentified Western officials had suggested U.S. President Joe Biden could…

Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), workers will go on warning strikes on Monday at plants across Germany, labour union IG Metall said, marking the first large-scale walkouts at Volkswagen’s domestic operations since 2018. The start of the strikes represents a further escalation of a dispute between Europe’s top carmaker and its workers over mass layoffs, pay cuts and possible plant…

Last year, Juliette Sartori decided she wanted to expand her social circle, so she went on a coffee date with three people she had never met before. “It went really well,” she said. “We ended up speaking for two hours and I still speak to them today. We all keep in touch.” Her friendship blind date was…

President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, on Sunday night, sparing the younger Biden a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions and reversing his past promises not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family. The Democratic president had previously said he would not pardon his son…

The death toll from the worst floods in decades in southern Thailand and northern Malaysia climbed to at least 12 on Saturday, authorities said, as tens of thousands of people were evacuated due to rising water levels in the past three days. In southern Thailand, the floods have impacted nearly 534,000 households, with the death toll climbing…

A Pakistani court approved bail for a journalist arrested this week after investigating claims of casualties in a protest march, his lawyer said on Saturday. Matiullah Jan, a critic of military influence in Pakistani politics, was granted bail by an anti-terrorism court in the capital Islamabad in a terrorism and narcotics case, his lawyer, Imaan Mazari, said…

Fifa has published a long-awaited report it commissioned into the legacy of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, but has failed to implement its key recommendation. The governing body’s sub-committee on human rights and social responsibility concluded that Fifa “has a responsibility” to contribute to compensation for workers harmed by the tournament’s preparation and delivery. “There are workers…

The memories began rushing back as Kenneth strolled through Hong Kong’s Victoria Park, once a focal point for the city’s resistance to China. As a child, Kenneth would buy calligraphy posters from pro-democracy politicians at the annual Lunar New Year fair. Then there were the protest marches he joined as a teenager, that would always start here…

The blast on Friday temporarily cut power and water supplies to the country’s cities. Eight people have been arrested after a powerful explosion in Kosovo damaged a canal, temporarily stopping power and water supplies to the country’s cities. Prime Minister Albin Kurti blamed Friday’s blast in Vrage, 37 miles (60km) north of capital Pristina, on groups supported…

But many concede they are beginning to feel that some sort of peace deal, however imperfect, may just be better than the status quo. On a freezing cold, misty day, small groups of people gather, sometimes hugging, sometimes crying, sometimes just silent. In front of them, the wall of St Michael’s golden-domed monastery in the centre of…

Behind a door deep within the lower floors of the National Library of Scotland lies a forgotten street which gives a glimpse of how Edinburgh looked centuries ago. Libberton’s Wynd, in the heart of the old city, was demolished to make way for George IV Bridge in the 1830s – but part of the street still remains.…

FIFA has been accused of an “astonishing whitewash” over Saudi Arabia’s 2034 World Cup bid, which has been given a record score in the governing body’s evaluation report FIFA are under fire for what has been labelled an “astonishing whitewash” in relation to Saudi Arabia’s bid for the 2034 World Cup. The Middle Eastern nation received a…

Smaller majority support doctor-assisted suicide, slim majority say it is moral Americans’ current views on the legality of euthanasia, a procedure in which a physician intentionally acts to end the life of a patient, are similar to what they have been during the past decade. Just over seven in 10 Americans, 71%, believe doctors should be “allowed…

The granular detail of Kim Leadbeater’s bill for England and Wales is yet to be agreed, and some MPs want reassurances before finally backing it As a few low murmurs broke out in a respectfully reflective House of Commons chamber after its historic vote on assisted dying in England and Wales, one figure in the public gallery…

Alleged victim also claims she endured sexual battery by disgraced music mogul, and that he left her in “emotional distress.” Fashion designer Bryana “Bana” Bongolan has filed a 17-page lawsuit in Los Angeles against Sean “Diddy” Combs alleging sexual battery, infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment. Combs, currently in custody in New York awaiting trial on…

Fifteen of Ukraine’s civilian airports have been damaged since Russia invaded the country in February 2022, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal was quoted as saying by local media on Saturday. Ukraine, which the state aviation service says has 20 civilian airports, has been exploring avenues to partially open its airspace. It has been completely closed since the…

Many thousands of demonstrators gathered late on Saturday in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, building barricades, breaking windows and setting off fireworks outside parliament, in protest against the government which called off talks to join the EU. Riot police responded by firing water cannon and tear gas into the crowds. The demonstrations were by far the biggest since the…

Likely most people have seen iconic footage of the Beatles performing on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” But how many have seen Paul McCartney during that same U.S. trip feeding seagulls off his hotel balcony? That moment — as well as George Harrison and John Lennon goofing around by exchanging their jackets — are part of the Disney+…

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Florida on Friday to have dinner with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club after Trump threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products. Trump threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if they don’t stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across the…

A charred lorry, empty tear gas shells and posters of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan – it was all that remained of a massive protest led by Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, that had sent the entire capital into lockdown. Just a day earlier, faith healer Bibi – wrapped in a white shawl, her face covered by…

The TRON founder previously labelled the controversial art piece “a cultural phenomenon” – an assessment that failed to stop him from eating it. A cryptocurrency entrepreneur has kept his promise and eaten a banana he bought for $6.2m (£4.9m). Justin Sun snapped up viral art piece Comedian – consisting of a single banana duct-taped to a white…

Jefferson County coroner said Burnett Jr died on Wednesday evening after nearly five weeks fighting for his life in hospital. An American football player has died a month after suffering a head-on-head collision during a college game. Medrick Burnett Jr was playing for Alabama A&M University against Alabama State University on 26 October – the day before…

The world’s last Cold War frontier now has a Starbucks cafe in South Korea where customers can get a glimpse through the heavily militarised border into the North, all while sipping a latte. Hundreds showed up on Friday for the opening of the U.S. coffeehouse chain’s newest store in an observatory near the city of Gimpo, around…

VOLODYMYR Zelensky has revealed he’s prepared to sign a peace deal even if Russia doesn’t immediately return the land it occupies. The valiant Ukrainian president says that his country must join the Nato defence alliance if it were to pause fighting with Russia. He told Sky News: “If we want to stop the hot phase of the…

Visitors must pass through a military checkpoint on the way to the Starbucks outlet FEARLESS Starbucks fans can now enjoy a cup of latte while overlooking the razor-wire fences at the world’s most militarised strip of land. The American coffee giant has opened its newest branch in an observatory that sits near the 2.5-mile-wide Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)…

Maye Musk, 76, a model and dietitian, is a frequent visitor to China, where the public is curious to know more about the woman who raised their business idol. Tech billionaire Elon Musk is already huge in China — but now his 76-year-old mother is a rapidly rising star there as well. Maye Musk, a model and…

OpenAI accused of breaking copyright by using news articles to train chatbot A group of Canadian news outlets — including CBC/Radio-Canada, Postmedia, Metroland, the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail and the Canadian Press — has launched a joint lawsuit claiming copyright infringement against ChatGPT creator OpenAI. The lawsuit was filed in the Ontario Superior Court of…

The missile fired by Russia at Ukraine last week, hailed by Putin as a new kind of experimental hypersonic weapon, was actually an application of old technology used for many years in intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), six military experts told Reuters. An examination by two of these experts of the debris recovered from the new intermediate-range ballistic…

Production company Banijay UK said the 60-year-old was “committed to fully co-operating throughout the process”. Gregg Wallace has thanked people for their “support” in a video posted on Instagram after he stepped down from MasterChef over allegations he made inappropriate sexual comments on a range of programmes over 17 years. In the short video clip, the TV…

The Polish player was ranked world number one when she provided a sample containing the angina medication trimetazidine in an out-of-competition test on 12 August. Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek has said being given a one-month doping ban from the sport was the “worst experience of my life”. The Polish player was ranked world number one…

Severe outages for one of Denmark’s largest mobile networks caused disruption for emergency services, with investigations ongoing to identify the cause. At least one hospital was forced to reduce non-critical care after one of Denmark’s largest mobile networks suffered severe outages. TDC Net said the problems were likely due to an update carried out in the past…

The doctor was originally arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, arson and attempted arson, but prosecutors said they are now treating the cases as murder. A doctor in Germany is suspected of killing eight patients and in some cases trying to cover up his alleged crimes by setting their homes on fire. The doctor, aged 40, and who…

Would you trust an “AI Jesus” with your innermost thoughts and troubles? Researchers and religious leaders on Wednesday released findings from a two-month experiment through art in a Catholic chapel in Switzerland, where an avatar of “Jesus” on a computer screen — tucked into a confessional — took questions by visitors on faith, morality and modern-day woes,…

Tom Brady spent Thanksgiving in the broadcast booth. The NFL analyst, who signed a 10-year, $375 million contract with Fox, called his first Thanksgiving Day game as a broadcaster on Thursday as his kids celebrated the holiday in Costa Rica with his ex Gisele Bündchen. During the broadcast, Brady briefly mentioned how grateful he was to be…

The movie business hasn’t had much to be thankful for in recent years, but that’s changing this holiday week as a trio of splashy new releases are bringing audiences back to cinemas in a big way. The most irresistible attraction is undoubtedly Disney Animation’s “Moana 2,” which racked up a massive $57.5 million on Wednesday, and is…

Wednesday Addams isn’t exactly a big fan of Turkey Day. Still, the pigtailed problem child is making an appearance at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, courtesy of a morbid Netflix float. Flanked by an army of lookalikes, the float features a giant Wednesday presiding over a pile of rotting food and worms, as well as her brother…

The team behind the note-taking app Craft released a new version this week, after months of beta testing and more than a year in development. It includes lots of changes, but three big ones: new ways to style your documents; a new section called Collections that lets you compile and organize related stuff; and a bunch of…

Sweden has formally asked China to co-operate with an investigation into damage to two cables in the Baltic Sea after a Chinese ship was linked to the incidents. The cables – one linking Sweden to Lithuania and the other between Finland and Germany – were damaged in Swedish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea on 17 and…

The world is getting a first look inside a resplendent new Notre-Dame as France’s President Emmanuel Macron conducts a televised tour to mark the cathedral’s imminent re-opening. Five-and-a-half years after the devastating fire of 2019, Paris’s Gothic jewel has been rescued, renovated and refurbished – offering visitors what promises to be a breathtaking visual treat. The president…

Major sanitary pad makers in China are apologising after being accused of selling pads that are shorter than advertised. It comes amid a storm of anger after viral social media videos showed Chinese women measuring the lengths of sanitary pads from popular brands – showing that most of them fell short of what was stated on their…

The volunteer civil defense force, which is 90% women, is primarily tasked with defending the skies, shooting down the Iranian-made Shahed drones that arrive nearly every night. In a snow-covered forest outside Kyiv, the “Witches of Bucha” are training to defend their city from a constant bombardment of Russian missiles and drones. The volunteer civil defense force,…

Embattled Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff said the latest attack shows Russia is ‘continuing their tactics of terror’ VLADIMIR Putin has vowed to massively increase his chilling arsenal of Oreshnik missiles as he continues to blitz his way through Ukraine. Russia’s tyrant gleefully boasted about his new hypersonic war toy in his latest rambling speech…

Anti-Israel protesters tried to ruin the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for the second year running Thursday, with cops quickly swarming in to gobble up roughly 25 arrests. The firebrands entered the parade route at West 55th Street and Fifth Avenue, stopping the Ronald McDonald balloon in its tracks around 9:25 a.m., police said — and drawing loud…

From luxury living to a grim jail cell, Waseem Khan’s Dubai dream has turned into a nightmare after being implicated in an alleged drug deal. A British crypto investor is staring down the barrel of a possible 25-year prison sentence in Dubai, having been implicated in an alleged drug deal. Waseem Khan, 22, found himself in trouble…

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has visited Donald Trump at his resort in Mar-a-Lago, further evidence of the apparent thawing in their once frosty relations. The president-elect already has a close, high-profile relationship with another of the leading figures in tech, X owner Elon Musk. Historically, though, there has been no such closeness between Trump and Mr Zuckerberg…

The boss of the company behind global fashion chain Uniqlo has told the BBC that the Japanese firm does not use cotton from the Xinjiang region of China in its products. It is the first time Fast Retailing’s chief executive Tadashi Yanai has directly addressed the contentious issue. China is a crucial market for Uniqlo not just…

A South Korean actor’s revelation that he fathered a child with a woman to whom he is not married has triggered a national debate over celebrity conduct and non-traditional family structures. Jung Woo-sung, a 51-year-old A-lister in South Korea’s film industry, confirmed via his agency on Sunday that he is the father of 35-year-old model Moon Ga-bi’s…

Seoul has recorded its heaviest November snowfall since records began over a century ago in 1907. The South Korean capital was covered with at least 16 cm of snow on Wednesday – beating the city’s previous record of 12.4cm from November 1972. It caused significant disruption across the country, with local media reporting that flights had been…

The families of two Australian teenagers killed in a suspected methanol poisoning in Laos have welcomed news that eight people have been detained during a police investigation into the incident. Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19, were among six foreign tourists who died after apparently consuming the toxic substance, which is commonly added to bootleg alcohol.…

Alyssa Sheil has what some would consider a dream job: she shops online for a living. Every day, an Amazon delivery truck pulls up to her home to drop off jewelry, handbags, desk chairs, fake plants, and transparent birdhouses that allow you to see the inhabitants make a home inside. So many packages arrive in a week…

Sean “Diddy” Combs was denied bail a third time on Wednesday, with a judge citing risk of witness tampering and evidence of violating regulations that prevent him from communicating with third parties. The decision was made by Judge Arun Subramanian after a hearing in New York that weighed the conditions of ensuring safety in the community. Council…

Alan Todd, 54, targeted his victims during a campaign of sexual abuse spanning between 2001 and 2019. A paedophile who preyed on three young girls during a campaign of sexual abuse spanning almost two decades has been jailed for 10 years. Alan Todd, 54, targeted the youngsters at various addresses in Edinburgh between 2001 and 2019. The…

The ceasefire will see an initial 60-day halt to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon but does not address the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip. After the ceasefire began, Israel imposed a sudden curfew in southern Lebanon. Israel has imposed a last-minute curfew forbidding any Lebanese from crossing into the south of the country. Starting…

Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung had been detained in China for years – with one having been sentenced to death – but will return to the US, reportedly after an agreement was reached as part of sensitive negotiations. Three American citizens who had been detained in China for years have been released, Sky’s US partner…

Lord Cameron is the first former prime minister to come out in support of the bill. He says he asked himself four questions when working out if he could give his support to the legislation – adding that he will vote for it if it reaches the Lords. David Cameron has become the first former prime minister…

The former Harrods and Fulham FC boss died last year having never been charged over allegations including rape and sexual assault. Detectives have launched a new investigation into more than five people suspected of helping Mohamed al Fayed commit widespread sexual abuse over almost 40 years. The fresh allegations against the former Harrods and Fulham FC boss,…

A 23-year-old man from China found dice stuck in his nose after experiencing persistent sneezing for 20 years. A 23-year-old man from Xian, Shanxi region in northern China, recently found the shocking cause of his constant sneezing and runny nose—reporting a two-cm dice that had been stuck in his nasal cavity for more than 20 years. The…

When a heat wave strikes, many people probably think it’s just another sign of global warming. However, a concerning new study has discovered a collection of global “hotspots,” where temperatures are becoming so extreme without warning that climate change can’t explain it. In these regions, summer heat doesn’t just creep up, it suddenly explodes into uncharted territory.…

Provisions for immunity from prosecution at the International Criminal Court apply to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the French foreign ministry said Wednesday. It said the Israeli leader was covered by immunity rules that apply to states which are not a party to the ICC. Israel is not an ICC member. “A state cannot be held to…

From luxury living to a grim jail cell, Waseem Khan’s Dubai dream has turned into a nightmare after being implicated in an alleged drug deal. A British crypto investor is staring down the barrel of a possible 25-year prison sentence in Dubai, having been implicated in an alleged drug deal. Waseem Khan, 22, found himself in trouble…

SINGAPORE – Children and teenagers cannot take their eyes off their gadgets and smartphone screens, which are fuelling a problem of addiction and increasing behavioural issues. Counsellors and social workers in Singapore say more youngsters are dealing with various forms of digital addiction, ranging from excessive use of social media and the internet to countless hours spent…

Adults are spending an average of 4 hours and 20 minutes each day online across smartphones, tablets and computers in the U.K., according to figures from Ofcom’s annual Online Nation report diving into consumer digital habits. The figure is a big jump compared to 2023, when adults over 18 spent an average of 3 hours and 41…

Less than a week after California health officers confirmed a finding of bird flu virus in store-bought raw milk, state agriculture officials descended on Mark McAfee’s Raw Farm dairy “like never before” Wednesday and began collecting samples from the farm’s two herds, creamery, bulk milk tanks and trucks, according to the owner. The visit follows a recall…

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pulled no punches on Tuesday when she sent her reply to President-elect Donald Trump’s threat of a sweeping 25% tariff on her country unless she stops illegal immigration and drug trafficking into the U.S. Sheinbaum made clear in her letter that she believes the flow of immigrants crossing illegally from Mexico into the…