The day's top showbiz news and headlines including Britain's new princess is named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, "Avengers: Age of Ultron" dominates the North American box office, and the cast of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" hits the cover of Vanity Fair. Bob Mezan reports.
Palestinian hospital officials say Israeli airstrikes on the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip have killed at least five people. Among those killed in the strikes overnight and into Thursday were two children, identified in hospital records as Sham Najjar, 6, and Jamal Nabahan, 8. More than half of the territory’s population of 2.3 million have sought refuge in Rafah, where Israel has conducted near-daily raids as it prepares for an offensive in the city.
Global automakers and EV startups unveiled new models and concept cars at China's largest auto show on Thursday, with a focus on the nation's transformation into a major market and production base for digitally connected, new-energy vehicles. Toyota and Nissan both announced tie-ups with major Chinese technology companies as they strive to meet customer demand for AI-enabled online connectivity in cars, from social media apps to autonomous driving features. Electric vehicles accounted for about a quarter of all auto sales in China last year.
Equities were mixed Thursday as investors turned cautious after the past three days' sizeable gains, with Meta's warning that it will spend far more than expected this year fuelling worries that the latest tech-led rally may have gone too far.Tech titans Microsoft and Alphabet are due to report later in the day.
From the Himalayan mountains to the tropical Andaman Islands, Indian officials are using helicopters, buses, trucks, boats, donkeys, and mules to carry electronic voting machines for India’s gigantic national elections. Election officials are traveling through jungles and snow-covered mountain tracks, even wading through rivers to set up polling stations in tents, shipping containers, and school buildings in remote areas. Four donkeys lugged the voting machines to Kottur hills in the Dharmapuri parliamentary constituency in Tamil Nadu state in southern India where the first phase of voting was held Friday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Thursday on the United States and China to manage their differences "responsibly" as he went on a charm offensive ahead of expected tough talks.China has accused the United States of unfair economic coercion.
A small number of people in the United Arab Emirates have shown symptoms associated with contaminated water after heavy rains and floods, the health ministry said. There have been "a very limited number of cases that showed some symptoms of being affected by the mixed water" and they received hospital treatment, the ministry said. It did not say what the water had been contaminated with.
The blades of the Moulin Rouge windmill, one of the most famous landmarks in Paris, collapsed during the night, firefighters said on Thursday, just months before the French capital hosts the Olympics.The Moulin Rouge cabaret, with its distinctive red windmill blades, is located in northern Paris and is one of the most visited landmarks in the city.
With graduations looming, student protesters doubled down early Thursday on their discontent of the Israel-Hamas war on campuses across the country as universities, including ones in California and Texas, have become quick to call in the police to end the demonstrations and make arrests. While grappling with growing protests from coast to coast, schools have the added pressure of May commencement ceremonies. At Columbia University in New York, students defiantly erected an encampment where many are set to graduate in front of families in just a few weeks.
Diving into the darkness of the Yangon River, Than Nyunt starts another murky sortie in his months-long mission to salvage a sunken ship using the power of the moon.He says he has salvaged around 40 ships, from cargo boats to passenger ferries, since he started diving over four decades ago.
Netflix documentary “What Jennifer Did” explores the story behind a young Canadian woman, Jennifer Pan, who is accused of planning to kill her parents in a murder-for-hire plot.
Asian shares mostly declined Thursday as investors awaited a flood of global earnings reports, including updates from U.S. tech companies known as the “Magnificent Seven.” Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slid 2.1% to 37,670.50. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained nearly 0.1% to 17,215.51, while the Shanghai Composite was virtually unchanged at 3,044.41.
Taiwanese president-elect Lai Ching-te named his cabinet and security team appointees on Thursday as he prepares to take office next month.Lai named security council head Wellington Koo as his new defence minister, replacing Chiu Kuo-cheng.
Thailand issued fresh warnings about scorching hot weather on Thursday as the government said heatstroke has already killed at least 30 people this year.The health ministry said late Wednesday that 30 people had died from heatstroke between January 1 and April 17, compared with 37 in the whole of 2023.
The US Supreme Court will hear arguments Thursday on whether Donald Trump, as a former president, should be immune from criminal prosecution for acts he committed while in office.Two lower courts flatly rejected that argument but the Supreme Court agreed in February to hear the case.
Nearly 282 million people in 59 countries suffered from acute hunger in 2023, with war-torn Gaza as the territory with the largest number of people facing famine, according to the Global Report on Food Crises released Wednesday. The U.N. report said 24 million more people faced an acute lack of food than in 2022, due to the sharp deterioration in food security, especially in the Gaza Strip and Sudan.
A Philippine court has blocked the commercial propagation of genetically modified golden rice because it said conflicting scientific views gave rise to "severe" health and environmental safety concerns."By reason of the conflicting scientific views and uncertainties on the risks and effects of Golden Rice and Bt Eggplant, potential severe and grave threats to the welfare of people and the environment arise," the court said.
Poland’s Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski told parliament on Thursday that the government wants to return to the group of countries which sets the agenda of the European Union. Sikorski was describing the new direction of the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, explaining to a world audience and those at home how the new priorities have changed. WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski is to give a speech to parliament on Thursday in which he will lay out the government's vision at a historically crucial moment with war across the border in Ukraine.
For most people, sitting in court at their own criminal trial would represent a defining moment of their life.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has put on a friendly face during his visit to Shanghai, but the Washington-Beijing relationship remains broken.
North Macedonian presidential candidate Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova held a big lead over incumbent Stevo Pendarovski with votes counted from 99.03% of polling stations on Thursday, but both were short of the 50% backing needed to win outright. Siljanovska-Davkova of the rightist VMRO-DPMNE had 40.08% of votes while pro-European Pendarovski, who has the support of the Social Democratic party, stood at 19.93%, the State Election Commission said.
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