Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday blessed a giant new tower at Barcelona’s famed Sagrada Familia Basilica after celebrating mass inside what is now the world’s tallest church. A fireworks and light show illuminated the exterior of the temple at the end of the ceremony, bathing the unfinished basilica in shi
Scientists have discovered communities of marine life — including jellyfish, tubeworms and brittle stars — thriving on a whale graveyard.The graveyards form when whale carcasses fall to the sea floor, becoming a sustaining snack for nearby critters. This one, which is up to 7km below the surface of
Bill Gates on Wednesday said that he made a “grave error in judgement” by meeting with Jeffrey Epstein, but denied any wrongdoing as the Microsoft cofounder faced hours of questioning from lawmakers about his relationship with the disgraced financier.In an opening statement, Gates said he “should ne
WEST BANK: Amnesty International’s head said that the ‘abuses are not the result of a few bad apples,’ but are a core component of a state-sanctioned campaign
Amnesty International on Wednesday accused Israel of carrying out a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank with the intention to annex the territory.The accusation came in a new, 149-page report alleging that the forced displacement of West Bank Palestinians resul
The number of forcibly displaced people dropped for the first time in a decade last year, as more opted to return home, the UN said yesterday.At the end of last year, 117.8 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced from their homes, a decline of 5.4 million compared with a year earlier, the U
SOLOMON ISLANDSChina pact kept secretThe contents of a secretive security pact between China and the Pacific island nation are to remain undisclosed due to legal restrictions, the new government told reporters yesterday. The deal struck in 2022 rattled Washington and Canberra because of concern that
Debris is strewn across a property after it was damaged by rough seas ahead of the arrival of Tropical Storm Cristina in Iztapa, Guatemala, on Wednesday.
PHILIPPINES TOLL: The main earthquake has been followed by more than 2,100 aftershocks, while a body was pulled from a supermarket, lifting the toll to 46
Dozens of rescuers in hard hats yesterday scrambled out of a partially collapsed supermarket in a southern Philippine city as it was rattled by an aftershock from a powerful earthquake that left at least 46 people dead and 17 missing in the region.A safety officer blew his whistle and others screame
XI JINPING VISIT: ‘The countries further deepened the revolutionary friendship and close comradely relationship,’ and their will to develop the ties, KCNA reported
North Korean leader Kim Jung-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) adopted a “far-reaching blueprint” for bilateral ties during Xi’s recent visit to Pyongyang, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said yesterday.Xi visited North Korea on Monday after hosting a series of world leaders,
In April Last year, lawmaker David Taupiac wrote to the French Ministry of Justice warning about major staffing and operational issues at the Auch prosecutors’ office in his southern Gers constituency.“The lack of resources and personnel is increasing citizens’ sense of abandonment in the face of a
A coalition of civil rights groups on Tuesday asked a New York State judge to order one of its largest suburban counties to stop its deployment of nearly 600 license plate readers, calling it a warrantless and “indiscriminate surveillance system” that violates the state constitution.The class action
The Central African Republic (CAR) has become an organized crime hub due to corruption, the state’s fragility and its alliances with criminal networks, a new report said yesterday.The report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) highlighted in particular the role pl
PAPUA NEW GUINEAPumice hampers activityThick rafts of volcanic pumice ejected by an undersea eruption in the Bismarck Sea have blocked boats, damaged fishing grounds and fueled fears of food shortages, the leaders of communities on Manus Island said. The eruption, still under way, began on May 8 abo
IMAGE ‘DAMAGED’? Ted Tseng, who emigrated to the US from Taiwan, was concerned the espionage case would deepen animosity against Asian Americans
In 2024, voters in the Southern California city of Arcadia elected the first all-Asian city council in the city’s history. Now, one of those politicians has pleaded guilty to being an illegal agent of the Chinese government. Former Arcadia mayor Eileen Wang’s (王愛琳) plea, entered in federal court on
Beneath a busy flyover in India’s financial capital Mumbai, a row of pastel-colored shipping containers houses an unlikely school serving some of the city’s most marginalized children. Despite laws guaranteeing free schooling for children aged six to 14, poverty and migration continue to keep many o
France and Germany on Monday said they had agreed to abandon a joint fighter jet program due to disagreements between the companies involved, in a blow to European efforts to boost defense cooperation. The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program was launched in 2017 to replace France’s Rafale jets a
The US on Monday issued an updated list of Chinese companies that it believes are aiding the country’s military — including e-commerce giant Alibaba, search engine provider Baidu and electric vehicle maker BYD. The US Department of Defense unveiled the designations just weeks after US President Dona
TOO CLOSE TO CALL: Peruvians braced for days and perhaps weeks of uncertainty, as the first-round presidential election result took more than 30 days to complete
Leftist Roberto Sanchez on Monday pulled ahead in Peru’s presidential runoff, overtaking conservative Keiko Fujimori for the first time since counting began. With 18 million ballots counted from Sunday’s poll, Sanchez was ahead by about 15,000 votes, and the race was still much too close to call. Ma
Pope Leo XIV delivers a speech at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on Monday.
RSS