Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made.Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was
Two US marines in Okinawa, Japan, are under investigation for alleged rapes, police said yesterday, the latest in a string of assault cases that have angered residents.The US has about 54,000 military personnel stationed in Japan — mostly on the subtropical southern island of Okinawa, to the east of
PRESIDENTIAL PERIL: Moon’s bribery indictment follows convictions against two of his predecessors, while his successor, Yoon, was impeached this month
South Korean prosecutors yesterday indicted former president Moon Jae-in for bribery, making him the latest former leader of the country to face legal troubles in a case linked to the appointment of his then-son-in-law to a lucrative no-show job at a Thai airline.Moon’s indictment adds him to a long
State lawmakers across the US have introduced at least 240 anti-China proposals this year, aiming to ensure public funds do not buy Chinese technology or even T-shirts, coffee mugs and key chains for tourists. They are also targeting sister-city relationships between US and Chinese communities.After
PALESTINEStrikes kill 22, reports sayIsraeli airstrikes yesterday killed at least 22 people, including a family of six whose home was struck in Gaza City, Gaza rescue teams and medics said. The family — a couple and their four children — were killed when an airstrike leveled their home in northern G
DEMANDING ANSWERS: Kyiv has summoned the Chinese ambassador after President Zelenskiy said that Chinese citizens were working at a drone production site in Moscow
Envoys from Washington, Kyiv and European nations yesterday gathered for talks in the UK amid a new US push to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, but a planned meeting of foreign ministers was postponed.The London meeting came as US media reported that US President Donald Trump is ready to accept recognit
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs
Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965.The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime
A US federal judge on Tuesday ordered US President Donald Trump’s administration to halt efforts to shut down Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks, the news broadcasts of which are funded by the government to export US values to the world.US District Judge Ro
Gripping a paintbrush and a crayon, the artist known as Thumbelina splotches and splats with merry abandon, the one-year-old star of a Tokyo exhibition that goes on way past her bedtime.Abstract paintings by the toddler are on sale for ￥33,000 (US$232.92) at her debut show at the hip gallery Decamer
Israeli police on Tuesday scoured the Mediterranean coast for a swimmer they fear might have been attacked by a shark in an area that has long seen close encounters between marine predators and beachgoers who sometimes seek them out.A shiver of endangered dusky and sandbar sharks has been swimming c
TURKEY6.2 quake hits off IstanbulA magnitude 6.2 earthquake yesterday struck in the Marmara Sea near the western outskirts of Istanbul, officials said, with the impact felt across the country’s largest city where people rushed onto the streets. The initial quake at 12:49pm was followed by three othe
Pallbearers, next to Swiss Guards, carry the coffin of the late Pope Francis as it is transported from the chapel of Santa Marta to St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican yesterday. The pope died of a stroke, the Vatican announced hours after the death on Monday of the 88-year-old reformer who inspired
‘POINT OF NO RETURN’: The Caribbean nation needs increased international funding and support for a multinational force to help police tackle expanding gang violence
The top UN official in Haiti on Monday sounded an alarm to the UN Security Council that escalating gang violence is liable to lead the Caribbean nation to “a point of no return.”Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Haiti Maria Isabel Salvador said that “Haiti could face total chaos
A NEW LOW: A Reuters/Ipsos survey showed that Americans are wary of Trump’s power expansion efforts and few support his running for a third term
US President Donald Trump’s public approval rating edged down to its lowest level since his return to the White House, as Americans showed signs of wariness over his efforts to broaden his power, a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Monday found.About 42 percent of respondents to the six-day poll app
Russian hackers last year targeted a Dutch public facility in the first such an attack on the lowlands country’s infrastructure, its military intelligence services said on Monday.The Netherlands remained an “interesting target country” for Moscow due to its ongoing support for Ukraine, its Hague-bas
In March 2001, the Taliban shocked the world by dynamiting the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan. Two decades later, they are back in power and claim to be making strides to preserve Afghanistan’s millennia-old heritage, including pre-Islamic relics.Even months before their takeover in 2021 the Taliban calle
A Thai court yesterday convicted and sentenced two former prosecutors in connection with an alleged cover-up of a 2012 Ferrari crash involving an heir to the Red Bull energy drink fortune that killed a police officer.Former deputy attorney general Nate Naksuk and former prosecutor Chainarong Sangtho
GAZAAirstrikes kill 25: rescuersGaza’s civil defense agency yesterday said that a spate of Israeli airstrikes since dawn killed at least 25 people across the Hamas-run territory. Nine people were killed and several others wounded when an airstrike hit a house in the southern city of Khan Yunis, said
‘INFLECTION POINT’: As authorities in China, Thailand and Myanmar crack down, gangs are moving within and beyond the Asian region to South America and Africa
Asian crime syndicates behind the multibillion-dollar cyberscam industry are expanding globally, including to South America and Africa, as raids in Southeast Asia fail to contain their activities, the UN said in a report yesterday.Criminal networks that emerged in Southeast Asia in the past few year
RSS