Pulled from the mud as an infant after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and reunited with his parents following an emotional court battle, the boy once known as “Baby 81” is now a 20-year-old dreaming of higher education.Jayarasa Abilash’s story symbolized that of the families torn apart
An Australian saltwater crocodile who starred in the hit film Crocodile Dundee has died aged 90, the reptile’s zoo said yesterday.Burt, the 5m crocodile, died “peacefully,” according to a statement from the Darwin Aquarium, where he lived in Crocosaurus Cove.“Burt’s life story is one of strength, re
‘VICTIM A’: A woman told the panel she had sex with Gaetz while she was 17 and received a US$400 cash payment, but it did not find evidence he knew her age
Former US representative Matt Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for drugs and sex in contravention of a series of House rules, included obstruction of Congress, the US House of Representatives Committee on Ethics said in a report released on Monday.The report found that Gaetz paid US$
Germany’s president yesterday said that a deadly car-ramming attack on a Christmas market had cast a “dark shadow” over this year’s celebrations, but urged the nation not to be driven apart by extremists.In his traditional Christmas address, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier sought to issue a
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow might be enough to brighten some homes this holiday season, but others are adorned with thousands of blinking lights synched to blasting music, drawing crowds and bolstering holiday and community spirit.In a cul-de-sac in Mesa, Arizona, 14 homeowners have been goi
Hong Kong today imposed bounties of HK$1 million (US$128,728) on six more pro-democracy campaigners deemed to have violated national security laws, and revoked the passports of seven others, in a continuing security squeeze in the financial hub.Hong Kong's Secretary for Security Chris Tang (鄧炳強) sai
SHARP REBUKE: Following the Slovak prime minister’s trip, the Czech foreign minister said his country has taken measures to decrease its energy dependence on Russia
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Sunday said he discussed the looming end of a natural-gas supply deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a rare visit to Moscow by a European leader. In a Facebook post, Fico said Putin confirmed that Russia was ready to continue delivering gas to the W
CONFLICT: Ankara and its allies have mounted several offensives against a Kurdish faction in northern Syria as Turkey demands that US halt support for its fighters
Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan met with Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Sunday, Turkey’s foreign ministry said, without providing further details. Photographs and footage shared by the ministry showed Fidan and Sharaa, leader of Muslim group Hayat Tahrir al-Sh
Former US Marine Corps pilot Daniel Duggan would be extradited from Australia to the US over allegations that he illegally trained Chinese aviators. Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus yesterday approved the extradition, ending the Boston-born man’s almost two-year attempt to avoid being return
Police arrested a man they said set a woman on fire while she appeared to be asleep on a New York City subway train on Sunday morning, killing her. The woman, who has not been identified, sat motionlessly aboard a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station in Brooklyn at
Social media users in Vietnam on platforms including Facebook and TikTok would need to verify their identities as part of strict new Internet regulations that critics say further undermine freedom of expression in the communist country. The law, which comes into force tomorrow, would compel tech gia
BRAZILPlane crash kills 10 A small plane on Sunday crashed into a Brazilian town that is popular among tourists, killing all 10 passengers on board and injuring more than a dozen people on the ground, the Brazilian Civil Defense Agency said. The agency in a post on X said the plane hit the chimney o
UNUSUAL APPOINTMENT: US presidents usually send special envoys to the world’s traditional hot spots such as the Middle East, and the UK is not typically a candidate
Mark Burnett, the power producer who helped reintroduce US president-elect Donald Trump to a national television audience with The Apprentice, is being tapped by Trump as US special envoy to the UK in his upcoming administration. “With a distinguished career in television production and business, Ma
TRAFFIC CRASH: After the accident, the bus, which had been headed from Sao Paulo to Vitoria da Conquista, caught fire, and at least 38 people died
At least 38 people were killed in a bus crash in southeastern Brazil on Saturday, officials said, in what Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called a “terrible tragedy.” The accident in Minas Gerais state, involving a bus that caught fire in the collision, was the worst on Brazil’s federa
Two US Navy pilots were shot down yesterday over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the US military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of US targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken a
A lightning rebel offensive early this month caught Syria’s ruling clan off guard. Then-president Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia on Dec. 8, leaving behind many of his collaborators, some of whom sought refuge in neighboring countries. According to two sources, the ousted president, who fled to Mosco
Blake Lively has accused her It Ends With Us director and costar Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment on the set of the movie and a subsequent effort to “destroy” her reputation in a legal complaint. The complaint obtained by The Associated Press, which the New York Times reported was filed on Friday
Choristers sing at Salisbury Cathedral in Salisbury, England, on Saturday.
MILITANTS TARGETED: The US said its forces had killed an IS leader in Deir Ezzor, as it increased its activities in the region following al-Assad’s overthrow
Washington is scrapping a long-standing reward for the arrest of Syria’s new leader, a senior US diplomat said on Friday following “positive messages” from a first meeting that included a promise to fight terrorism. Barbara Leaf, Washington’s top diplomat for the Middle East, made the comments after
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