Flights were suspended and Internet services disrupted across parts of northern Ethiopia as fighting spread and the government said it had killed 272 rebels, raising fears of a return to the brutal civil war that ended in 2022.The renewed fighting comes four years after Ethiopia signed a peace deal
LOW VOLUME ONLY: Afghan taxi driver Roeen said he sees listening to music in a country where many forms of entertainment are outlawed as a form of protest
Taxi drivers in Afghanistan are turning on the tunes in their cars, defying a ban imposed by the Taliban government despite the fear of getting caught by morality police.The music that used to flow constantly out of restaurants, cafes and shops in Kabul has been muted for five years, replaced only b
Authorities in Kazakhstan have arrested five Ministry of Defense officials, including the first deputy navy commander, a day after 17 servicemen were swept out to sea when the weather deteriorated quickly, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said yesterday.The incident happened on Thursday whe
No mountains to practice on? No problem. Yodeling fans in Austria have moved their practice sessions to an underground parking garage, since it produces echoes like those they can get in the landscapes of the Alps.“It’s not too dissimilar to the high mountains,” yodeling teacher Anna Maria Gutschi s
In a country famed worldwide for its beer, a proposed tweak to health warnings on adverts for alcoholic drinks has shaken Belgian brewers.The change stirring up their discontent comes down to cutting just one crucial word.The government wants to alter the warning from “the abuse of alcohol is harmfu
TALKS: Rubio said Kyiv and Moscow had expressed interest in a limited ceasefire that would halt attacks on grain shipments, but a Russian minister made no mention of it
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday told world leaders that Russian President Vladimir Putin is the only obstacle to ending “the ridiculous and never-ending war,” as he urged nations to pressure Putin for peace by choking the country’s revenues and impeding its war efforts.“Our targ
BAD TIMING: The disclosure of the incident, which is under investigation by at least two congressional committees, comes as Xi was to meet with Trump
The Pentagon is investigating how parts of the US’ most advanced fighter jet ended up in Hong Kong, with a news outlet on Wednesday reporting that China has obtained the F-35 equipment.The F-35 Joint Program Office said in a statement that it and the US Department of Defense are aware of “a shipment
Thai teenage guitar sensation Nene Royal on Wednesday won the US$1 million top prize on America’s Got Talent, capping a viral run that made the 16-year-old a national celebrity and drew support from across her home country.Rattikarn Amloy, better known by her stage name Nene Royal, was crowned the w
Southwestern Mexico on Wednesday braced for heavy rain and mudslides after Polo, a powerful Pacific cyclone, became a major hurricane. Forecasters also warned another system headed for Hawaii could cause catastrophic flooding later in the week.Hurricane Polo, an “extremely dangerous” storm, is expec
The discovery of a medieval church in Greenland has unveiled important clues about how Viking society on the island was organized more than 800 years ago, the National Museum of Denmark said yesterday.Probably dating back to the 13th century, the church was built when the Vikings founded a colony on
China is New Zealand’s most persistent and capable state-backed cyberthreat, as foreign actors targeted government agencies and organizations in sectors including health, education and information technology, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said in a report released yesterday.The center, p
CALL FOR ACTION: Governments can prepare with heat-warning systems, cooling centers, hydration stations, expanded hospital capacity and anticipatory financing
This year’s powerful El Nino and the record global heat it is driving, along with severe droughts, wildfires and shrinking water supplies, could lead to nearly half a million more deaths worldwide by the end of February, a research report released yesterday said.The grim warning by the University of
‘BIG DECISION’: Trump suggested he was at a crossroads in his UN address, saying he would make a deal with Iran or ‘annihilate’ it; the Iranian delegates walked out
The first shuttle talks between the US and Iran for months raised hopes yesterday that the adversaries could make some progress toward ending the Middle East war, although neither side spelled out any change in their positions.Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araqchi and US envoys Steve Wit
The Philippine Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, yesterday lowered the number of votes needed to convict Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, reducing the threshold prosecutors must clear to secure a guilty verdict.The court ruled that only senator-judges that are able to participate in th
The wife of a US expert on North Korean nuclear tests who has been imprisoned in China since late 2024 on Tuesday said the White House had assured her that US President Donald Trump would ask Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to free her husband when the pair meet this week.Rong Yufang (榮玉芳) said s
A conditional royal pardon letting former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak serve the rest of his jail sentence under house arrest has ignited a new row surrounding the US$4.5 billion 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.Critics say Najib should remain behind bars, while supporters have ra
UNITED STATESFat bear polls openPolls on Tuesday opened in the only US election that really matters: Fat Bear Week. Hundreds of thousands of people were readying to vote on animals gorging themselves in rural Alaska. In a contest that has rapidly become one of the Internet’s favorite moments, the br
‘VERY RISKY’: Belarus’ opposition leader said it was not time to deal with Lukashenko’s regime, as all the income from Belarus’ potash goes to support the Russian war machine
US President Donald Trump on Monday said he was working on a “massive” deal to buy fertilizer from Belarus, pivoting away from main supplier Canada toward an ally of Russia. Trump’s announcement on purchases of potash comes as Washington pursues dialogue with Minsk despite its repression of dissiden
MORE TIME NEEDED: Many humanoid robotics companies are struggling to find commercially viable uses for their humanoids beyond entertainment
Chinese street dancer Wu Yufei (吳宇飛) has spent most of his 13-year career performing solo, but this year, he found some new partners — a crew of robots with sleek moves. The 27-year-old Sichuan native, together with his fellow robot performers, has made it to the final of America’s Got Talent (AGT),
RSS