News of Pope Francis resonates across generations
As soon as white smoke appeared atop the Sistine Chapel, people across the region turned their attention to TVs and computer screens to see who would be the new pope.
As soon as white smoke appeared atop the Sistine Chapel, people across the region turned their attention to TVs and computer screens to see who would be the new pope.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday mischaracterized the circumstances of his uncle's death during World War II as he lambasted former President Donald Trump's comments about the military.
The United Arab Emirates struggled Thursday to recover from the heaviest recorded rainfall ever to hit the desert nation, as its main airport worked to restore normal operations even as floodwater still covered portions of major highways and roads. Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel, allowed global carriers on Thursday morning to again fly into Terminal 1 at the airfield. “Flights continue to be delayed and disrupted, so we urge you to only come to Terminal 1 if you have a confirmed booking,” the airport said on the social platform X.
Apple Inc plans to invest more than $250 million to expand its regional campus or operations in Ang Mo Kio, Singapore, according to a company statement dated April 17. Two buildings acquired in 2022, located across from Apple's existing offices, will undergo a major upgrade, the U.S. technology giant said. "Singapore is truly a one-of-a-kind place, and we are proud of the connection we've built with this dynamic community of creators, learners, and dreamers," Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, said in a statement.
The heavy debt weighing on developing countries can be alleviated through readily available measures, the UN's trade and development chief said, pleading for bold international action.There have been numerous efforts over the decades to resolve debt problems weighing on poor countries, but Grynspan said they have been so slow and complicated that they often act as a "deterrent".
Rescuers were removing mountains of rubble on Thursday from the site of a lethal Russian missile strike on Ukraine's historic city of Chernigiv, where at least 18 people were killed in an attack that has prompted fresh pleas for allies to boost Kyiv's overstretched air defence systems.The official death toll rose to 18 as of Thursday morning, with 77 people -- including four children -- injured, according to Ukraine's emergency services department.
The European Union's economy is falling further behind China and the United States, a major headache that will dominate leaders' talks on Thursday as they discuss how to stem the bloc's economic decline and bounce back.The EU has been put further on the back foot as China and the United States have ploughed billions of dollars of state aid to prop up their critical industries.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk is set to visit India as his businesses seek new markets in the world's most populous nation, with electric carmaker Tesla -- suffering a sales downturn in the United States -- reportedly scouting factory locations.The Financial Times reported earlier this month that Tesla would send a team to scout locations in at least three states for a factory.
An editorial in a Chinese state-controlled newspaper on Thursday admonished "two-faced" Japan for inaccurately portraying it as a regional security threat while chasing more stable bilateral ties, warning of Chinese measures if Tokyo acted recklessly. In his address to the U.S. Congress last week, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called China's military actions "an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge" to the world, and vowed deeper strategic cooperation with Washington, placing China and Russia's military actions as top threats. In an editorial on Thursday, the ruling Communist Party's official newspaper said Japan claimed to be promoting bilateral relations but was also attempting to provoke confrontation by exaggerating China as a threat, describing Japan as "typical of a 'two-faced person' with no credibility".
America stands with Japan until all the Japanese abducted by North Korea decades ago return home to end their painful separation, United States ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Thursday in Tokyo. Japan says North Korea abducted at least 17 Japanese citizens, possibly many more, to train them as agents during the 1970s and 1980s. Thomas-Greenfield began her Japan visit by meeting with families of those kidnapped.
Indonesian authorities on Wednesday ordered hundreds of villagers to evacuate following multiple eruptions of a remote island volcano, raising fears it could collapse into the sea and trigger a tsunami.
Law enforcement agencies in at least four states have reported 911 service interruptions Wednesday evening.
More than half a year after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century burned through a historic Maui town, officials are still trying to determine exactly what went wrong and how to prevent similar catastrophes in the future. The most recent is a detailed timeline of the fire that tore through the heart of Lahaina on Aug. 8, 2023, killing 101 people. Released Wednesday by Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez, it is the first phase of a three-part comprehensive investigation being conducted by the Fire Safety Research Institute, or FSRI, with more coming in the next several months.
The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers called for an immediate and lasting cease-fire in Gaza after a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, condemning the humanitarian costs of the ongoing war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi told reporters that the two countries share the same view about the importance of a cease-fire and of resolving the Palestinian problem through a two-state solution. “I am sure that China would use its influence to prevent escalation,” Marsudi said, adding that China and Indonesia "would also fully support Palestine’s membership in the U.N.”
South Africa faces an unusual national election this year, its seventh vote since transitioning from white minority rule to a democracy 30 years ago. Polls and analysts warn that for the first time, the ruling African National Congress party that has comfortably held power since Nelson Mandela became the country's first Black president in 1994 might receive less than 50% of votes. One big reason is Jacob Zuma, the former president and ANC leader who stepped down in disgrace in 2018 amid a swirl of corruption allegations but has emerged in recent months with a new political party.
A boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics during a Sydney church service might have “anger management and behavioral issues” and a “short fuse” but had shown no signs of being radicalized, a community leader said on Thursday, after authorities declared the stabbing a terrorist attack. The boy spoke in Arabic about the Prophet Muhammad being insulted after he stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and the Rev. Isaac Royel during Monday night's Assyrian Orthodox service, which was being streamed online. Jamal Rifi, a Sydney doctor and Muslim community leader, said the boy had apologized when his family visited him in the hospital on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Speaker Mike Johnson announced Wednesday he is sticking with his plan to put a series of foreign aid bills on the floor including funding for Ukraine after facing significant pressure from hardliners.
One of the most prominent figures in the far-right Alternative for Germany party is going on trial Thursday on charges of twice using a Nazi slogan, months before a regional election in which he is running to become his state's governor. Björn Höcke, 52, is the leader of the regional branch of Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in the eastern state of Thuringia and a powerful figure on the party’s hard right. While never formally a national leader of AfD, the former history teacher has been consistently influential as the 11-year-old party has steadily headed further right and ousted several comparatively moderate leaders.
Six of the eight candidates vying to be Panama’s next president laid out their plans to generate jobs and to manage the country’s water crisis in their final debate Wednesday night before the country’s May 5 election. Former government minister José Raúl Mulino, who has led in opinion polls since taking over the top place on his ticket when former President Ricardo Martinelli was sentenced to prison, skipped the event as he did the two previous debates. Another candidate, José Gabriel Carrizo, was also absent after saying he would not participate if organizers could not get Mulino there.
A suspect has been arrested for allegedly throwing a pipe bomb that damaged The Satanic Temple headquarters in Salem, Massachusetts, where investigators found a letter addressed, “Dear Statanist” at the scene last week, prosecutors announced.
Every year, Alon Gat’s mother led the family's Passover celebration of the liberation of the ancient Israelites from Egypt thousands of years ago. Gat’s sister, Carmel, and wife, Yarden Roman-Gat, were taken hostage in the Oct. 7 attack.