Fighters from the Iran-backed Houthi group have seized territory close to the Bab al-Mandab Strait in the Red Sea – a key trade gateway that links Asia and Europe. Houthis have said they pose no threat to international shipping but have reiterated their intention to target vessels from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied […]
Continue ReadingPrincess Astrid of Norway, the sister of the late King Harald V, has died at the age of 94, two days after attending his funeral, the country’s royal palace has announced. The new king, Haakon VIII, said that “throughout her long life, Princess Astrid represented the Royal House in a warm and dutiful manner”. Harald […]
Continue ReadingA Singaporean man has lost a court case to claw back hundreds of thousands of dollars that he had lavished on his ex-girlfriend while they were together. The S$468,000 ($369,200; £273,260) that Chander Agarwal attempted to recover from Felicia Lee was money he had “willingly” spent on her, the Singapore High Court ruled. Agarwal “displayed […]
Continue ReadingA dress worn by Princess Diana to a party in London hours after a documentary was televised in which the then-Prince Charles admitted to committing adultery during their marriage is going up for auction. Her dramatic arrival at the Serpentine Gallery in 1994 in a custom-made black silk evening dress by designer Christina Stambolian became […]
Continue ReadingThe plan is to resume firefighting efforts, first from the cargo hold of the ferry, which is the compartment where containers and or goods are stored, Cayabyab said. Earlier, the coastguard said preliminary interviews with the survivors suggest that was where the fire started. Some passengers were not wearing life vests, they noted. A survivor […]
Continue ReadingRepublicans gathered in Dallas for the closing day of the party’s first-ever convention held in the middle of a US presidential term, where US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance spoke to voters. The aim of the convention was to boost enthusiasm among supporters, even as protesters of Trump gathered outside. The BBC’s […]
Continue ReadingNo one can question that 9/11 was a colossal intelligence failure, or to be more specific, a failure of imagination in the US intelligence community. At the time both the CIA and the FBI were in possession of information which, if shared properly, could have prevented what happened. The 9/11 Commission Report that followed blamed […]
Continue ReadingThree Hong Kong activists who organised annual vigils commemorating Beijing’s 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square protests have been handed prison sentences of up to seven years. Two of the defendants – Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41 – were convicted last month of inciting others to subvert state power, under the city’s controversial national […]
Continue ReadingOver the summer, the number of civilians wounded by Russian attacks on the two cities increased from 70 in June to 212 in August, say Ukrainian police. Sixteen people died in June, 20 in July and 15 in August. Residential housing comes under attack as well as infrastructure, says Dyachenko, causing “very significant destruction”. The […]
Continue ReadingUS Senator Bernie Sanders recently said he intends to introduce legislation banning AI superintelligence and propose a sort of sovereign wealth fund in which the US would take a 50% stake in AI companies. Sanders, who is an independent but often collaborates with his Democratic lawmaker colleagues, would need to pass both houses of Congress […]
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