Grotesque makeup, menacing props and intimidating costumes are just one part of a Michigan haunted house’s 25-year-old formula to terrify guests.It starts by educating the actors looking to provide the most horrifying experience to its visitors. At Scare School, they learn all the tricks of the trad
Australian police foiled an alleged organized crime hit by a so-called kill team near a Sydney daycare facility, authorities said yesterday.New South Wales police on Tuesday swooped in on two cars after learning three men were preparing to carry out the alleged killing in Revesby, a suburb in the ci
TECH COMPETITION: Sales to Chinese firms from top equipment suppliers did not break the law, but could have profound implications for human rights, a report said
US lawmakers are calling for broader bans on chipmaking equipment to China after a bipartisan investigation found that Chinese chipmakers had purchased US$38 billion of sophisticated gear last year, including from European giant ASML.The US House of Representatives’ Select Committee on the Strategic
Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Tuesday escaped injury after his car was attacked by a crowd throwing rocks, in what a top minister said was an assassination attempt that had left signs of bullet damage on the vehicle.Ecuadoran Minister of Environment and Energy Ines Manzano, who filed a formal
Top UK security officials are to face questions over an aborted China spying case brought by its chief prosecutor, which collapsed at the same time that the UK is seeking to rebuild economic ties with the country.A government spokesperson denied a report in the Sunday Times that it was the interfere
SPAINBodies recovered in collapseEmergency services have recovered the bodies of four people from beneath the rubble of a six-story building that collapsed in central Madrid while being refurbished into a hotel, local authorities said yesterday. The victims have been identified as three men aged 30
ENERGY SHIFT: A report by Ember suggests it is possible for the world to wean off polluting sources of power, such as coal and gas, even as demand for electricity surges
Worldwide solar and wind power generation has outpaced electricity demand this year, and for the first time on record, renewable energies combined generated more power than coal, a new analysis said.Global solar generation grew by a record 31 percent in the first half of the year, while wind generat
FRUSTRATIONS: One in seven youths in China and Indonesia are unemployed, and many in the region are stuck in low-productivity jobs, the World Bank said
Young people across Asia are struggling to find good jobs, with many stuck in low-productivity work that the World Bank said could strain social stability as frustrations fuel a global wave of youth-led protests.The bank highlighted a persistent gap between younger and more experienced workers acros
A South American trade bloc on Monday ruled that Peru is failing to meet its commitments to curb illegal gold mining and mercury trafficking, siding with indigenous groups who say their Amazon rivers and food supply are being poisoned.The decision by the Andean Community — which includes Peru, Colom
Crews used large nets, water-filled containers and box trucks to relocate hundreds of river otters, sea turtles, manatees, penguins and sharks to their new home: Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium.Over the past couple of months, the marine animals were removed from the hard-to-reach island and reloca
Twenty-five years after a landmark UN resolution demanded equal participation for women in all efforts to promote peace, women far too often remain silent, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said yesterday.At the same time, sexual violence against women and girls is on the rise and 676 million wo
UNITED NATIONSHouthis detain nine moreUN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday denounced the arbitrary detention of nine more UN workers in Yemen by Houthi rebels, along with the seizure of assets and facilities in areas under Houthi control. “Most recently, the Houthi de facto authorities de
EXCHANGE: Negotiations would focus on setting a date for a temporary truce and conditions for the return of Israeli hostages and release of Palestinian detainees
Delegations from Hamas, Israel and the US were yesterday due to convene in Egypt for talks, with US President Donald Trump urging negotiators to “move fast” to end the nearly two-year war in Gaza.Both Hamas and Israel have responded positively to Trump’s proposal for an end to the fighting and the r
A limestone pharaonic painting has gone missing from Egypt’s famed Saqqara necropolis, becoming the latest artifact to disappear in a country known for its rich and lengthy history.The painting was in the tomb of Khentika in the Saqqara necropolis outside Cairo, Supreme Council of Antiquities secret
DEADLOCK: After being lambasted by the party’s base for caving during the previous shutdown, Democrats might dig in this time, while Trump repeatedly blamed them
The bitter tribalism that drove the US into a government shutdown is putting compromise out of reach, analysts said — and threatening to turn a staring contest between the Democrats and US President Donald Trump’s Republicans into a protracted crisis.As the nation enters its second week with federal
Rescuers were helping hundreds of hikers trapped by heavy snow at tourist campsites on a slope of Mount Everest in Tibet, Chinese state media said.About 350 hikers had reached a meeting point in Tingri Country and rescuers were in contact with another 200, state broadcaster China Central Television
Police in Western Australia have seized guns and revoked or suspended firearms permits from dozens of owners linked to what investigators describe as sovereign citizen ideologies, or views that reject government authority.Officials linked the crackdown on firearms users believed to hold such views t
UNITED STATESNational Guards blockedA federal judge late on Sunday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from deploying any National Guard units to Oregon at all, after a legal whirlwind that began hours earlier when the president mobilized California troops for Portland after
INJUNCTION: A White House official said Oregon’s leaders were conducting a ‘terrorist attack’ on the government as a judge blocked an attempt to send troops to Portland
US President Donald Trump authorized deployment of troops to Chicago after a federal agent shot an allegedly armed motorist there on Saturday, while a judge blocked Trump’s attempt to send the military into Portland, Oregon, another Democratic-run city. The escalating crisis across the country pits
RSS