ON ALERT: Romania deployed four jets when a drone entered its airspace during the attacks, while Poland dispatched aircraft as a preventive measure
A large Russian drone and missile barrage killed 19 people and injured dozens more in Ukraine overnight, officials said yesterday, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Turkey for talks on finding a settlement that might end Russia’s invasion of his country.The nighttime attack hit t
It is one of the world’s most famous unsolved codes whose answer could sell for a fortune — but two US friends say they have already found the secret hidden by Kryptos.The S-shaped copper sculpture has baffled cryptography enthusiasts since its 1990 installation on the grounds of the CIA headquarter
A Gustav Klimt portrait painting that helped save the life of its Jewish subject during the Holocaust on Tuesday sold for US$236.4 million, a record for a modern art piece.Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer sold after a 20-minute bidding war at Sotheby’s in New York, where the flashiest item of t
Kissing did not begin with star-crossed human lovers but with the primate ancestors of great apes about 20 million years ago, a study published yesterday showed.Researchers from the University of Oxford and the Florida Institute of Technology wanted to examine when kissing began, given that from an
Guinea-Bissau is to elect its next president on Sunday, seeking to turn the page on a tumultuous history of coups and unrest with a vote that nonetheless lacks the country’s main opposition.About 860,000 voters are to choose between 12 candidates, including incumbent Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Si
UNITED STATESConcrete owl recoveringAn owl found partially encased in concrete after it got inside a cement mixer in southwestern Utah is expected to fly free again after it was painstakingly cleaned by animal sanctuary workers who described the bird as a “fighter.” The great horned owl was found at
Miss Estonia Brigitta Schaback competes in the Miss Universe national costume competition at Impact Challenger Hall in Nonthaburi Province, on the outskirts of Bangkok yesterday. Women representing 120 nations are competing in the 74th Miss Universe beauty pageant, which is to be held tomorrow.
China today informed Japan that it would ban all imports of Japanese seafood, media outlets reported — a decision that comes amid an escalating diplomatic dispute between the two nations.Tensions between the countries ignited after new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said this month that a Ch
POST-KHASHOGGI: The US president said he would sell F-35 jets to Riyadh, despite concerns from Israel, and push for normalization of Israeli-Saudi Arabian relations
US President Donald Trump yesterday prepared a lavish welcome for Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with the two sides expected to sign defense and nuclear deals during the latter’s first visit to the US since the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.Trump was expected to roll out
A drone yesterday struck a Turkish-flagged tanker and set it ablaze in southern Ukraine’s Odesa region, officials said, a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a deal to import US liquefied natural gas through the area.The MT Orinda was hit during the offloading of liquefied petro
Britain’s Royal Mint is celebrating Freddie Mercury with a new coin design that marks 40 years since his iconic Live Aid concert performance.The coin features an image of the Queen front man, head thrown back and holding the microphone stand midperformance. A musical stave that runs around the edge
GLOBAL CREDITOR: Beijing’s lending to wealthy nations focuses on critical infrastructure, minerals, high-tech, with the US receiving over US$200 billion for 2,500 projects
The US is the biggest recipient of China’s lending activities globally, according to a study that tracked Beijing’s credit activities and found it is increasingly lending to higher-income countries over developing countries.The report, published yesterday by AidData, a research lab at US university
A prisoner is challenging an Australian state’s ban on inmates eating Vegemite, claiming in a court suit that withholding the yeast-based spread breaches his human right to “enjoy his culture as an Australian.”Andre McKechnie, 54, serving a life sentence for murder, took his battle for the salty, st
The books of two award-winning New Zealand authors have been disqualified from consideration for the nation’s top literature prize because artificial intelligence (AI) was used in the creation of their cover designs.Stephanie Johnson’s collection of short stories Obligate Carnivore and Elizabeth Smi
The world is facing a deepening hunger crisis with resources falling far short of needs, the World Food Programme (WFP) said yesterday, citing sharp declineass in humanitarian funding.In its 2026 Global Outlook, the Rome-based WFP said 318 million people were expected to face crisis levels of hunger
LEFT AND RIGHT: Battling anti-incumbent, anticommunist sentiment, Jeanette Jara had a precarious lead over far-right Jose Antonio Kast as they look to the Dec. 14 run
Leftist candidate Jeannette Jara and far-right leader Jose Antonio Kast are to go head-to-head in Chile’s presidential runoff after topping Sunday’s first round of voting in an election dominated by fears of violent crime.With 99 percent of the results counted, Jara, a 51-year-old communist running
DEATH SENTENCE: The ousted leader said she was willing to attend a fresh trial outside Bangladesh where the ruling would not be a ‘foregone conclusion’
Bangladesh’s fugitive former prime minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday called the guilty verdict and death sentence in her crimes against humanity trial “biased and politically motivated.”Hasina, 78, defied court orders that she return from India to attend her trial about whether she ordered a deadly c
How does a person summarize the 45-year career of Tom Cruise in a four-minute speech? “Mission impossible,” director Alejandro Inarritu said on Sunday, as Hollywood celebrated the movie star with an honorary Oscar.Inarritu, who directed Cruise in an untitled film set for release in October next year
The eight huge cooling towers of the Dukovany power plant overlook a construction site for two more reactors, as the Czech Republic pushes ahead with plans to expand its reliance on nuclear energy.Mobile drilling rigs have been extracting samples 140m below ground for a geological survey to make sur
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