CULTURE WARS: Trump has also named a wrestling mogul to head education, amid promises to remove what he sees as ‘left-wing indoctrination’ in schools in the US
US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday selected Mehmet Oz, a former TV talk show host and heart surgeon, to head the agency that oversees health insurance programs for millions of older, poor and disabled Americans. He also tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be his
Brazil’s federal police arrested five people for allegedly plotting to kill Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, his vice president and a top judge as part of a 2022 coup attempt. The suspects — mainly military personnel, including a retired general — intended to prevent Lula from taking o
Former German chancellor Angela Merkel was still one of the world’s most popular politicians when she retired in 2021, but critics are increasingly questioning her legacy ahead of the release of her memoirs. Freedom, co-written by Merkel and her longtime political adviser Beate Baumann, is to be pub
DEADLY EXPLOSIVES: There has been a ‘significant increase’ of use of mines by the Burmese military around infrastructure like mobile phone towers, a monitor said
Landmines and unexploded munitions claimed more victims in Myanmar than in any other country last year, a monitor said yesterday, warning the true toll could be double or triple its estimate of 1,000 people killed or wounded. Decades of sporadic conflict between the military and ethnic rebel groups
Japanese people are the least satisfied with their sex and romantic lives, closely followed by South Koreans, a global survey by a French research firm showed. The two Asian rivals are grappling with a similar demographic crisis with their chronically — and dangerously, as authorities warn — low bir
A prominent Ugandan opposition politician was kidnapped during a book launch in Kenya over the weekend, transferred to Uganda and is being held at a military jail in Kampala, his wife said yesterday. Kizza Besigye has run against Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in four elections and lost each time
A woman wearing a mask walks across railway tracks, amid thick smog in Lahore, Pakistan, yesterday.
‘HIKOI’: While a bill to redefine the Treaty of Waitangi has little chance of passing, its introduction threatens to divide New Zealand, a former prime minister said
Booming indigenous Maori “haka” chants yesterday rang out across New Zealand’s capital, as tens of thousands rallied against a conservative push to redefine the nation’s founding treaty. More than 35,000 demonstrators poured into the harborside city of Wellington, police said, shutting down busy str
Imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi underwent a complex surgery in Iran that saw part of a bone in her right leg removed over cancer fears, but was immediately returned to prison, raising the risks to her life, rights groups said.A letter signed by more than 40 activist groups, se
WORST IS OVER? The release of water from Magat Dam worsened flooding in the north, but officials were hopeful that the water would subside as the weather eased
Floodwaters reaching more than 4m-high yesterday swamped thousands of houses in the storm-battered northern Philippines after rivers overflowed following heavy rain and a dam release.Typhoon Man-yi drenched swaths of the Philippines over the weekend, swelling the Cagayan river and tributaries, and f
As the massive trial of the “Hong Kong 47” democracy campaigners ended yesterday, an acquitted member of the group watched from the sidelines and felt the weight of his freedom upon him.Former district councilor and street dancer Lee Yue-shun (李宇信) is one of only two people to have walked away from
German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius yesterday said that damage to two undersea data cables in the Baltic Sea has to be investigated as an act of sabotage, pointing to Russia as posing a hybrid and military threat to the EU.An undersea data cable connecting Finland and Germany was cut early on
RUSSIANuclear doctrine updatedPresident Vladimir Putin yesterday approved an updated nuclear doctrine, saying that Moscow could consider using nuclear weapons if it was subject to a conventional missile assault on it supported by a nuclear power. The change follows a decision by US President Joe Bid
Dozens of prominent activists were sentenced to up to 10 years in prison today in Hong Kong’s biggest national security case under a sweeping law imposed by Beijing that crushed a once-thriving pro-democracy movement.The defendants were prosecuted in 2021 for their roles in an unofficial primary ele
G20: Keir Starmer wants a meeting with Xi Jinping to lead to closer ties with China, which he sees as key to boosting the UK’s economy, but not all lawmakers support the move
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer would become the first UK prime minister in six years to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), promising to turn the page on UK-China relations by building “a pragmatic and serious relationship.”Starmer and British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves have
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un renewed his call for a “limitless” expansion of his military nuclear program to counter US-led threats in comments reported yesterday that were his first direct criticism toward Washington since US president-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory on Oct. 6.At a confer
DEMOCRACY: Charges of subversion followed unofficial primary elections in 2020 to maximize the democrats’ chances of winning a majority in a legislative council election
A Hong Kong court this week is to sentence 45 democratic campaigners in a major national security trial, with potentially heavy jail terms poised to further damage the financial hub’s once lively pro-democracy movement, critics said.In May, 14 of the 47 democrats were found guilty of the charge of c
US and Philippine defense chiefs signed an agreement yesterday on sharing classified military information and technology, as the long-time treaty allies deepen cooperation in a bid to counter Chinese influence in the region.US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin signed the deal with his Philippine cou
Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is to make a “historic” state visit to the oil-rich Caribbean nation of Guyana this week when the two countries are expected to sign energy and defense agreements.Modi’s visit to the country from today to Thursday would be the first from an Indian prime minister
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