World

Violent winds toppled power lines Friday as a tropical cyclone inched towards Australia’s eastern coast, sparking evacuation orders and leaving more than 50,000 homes without electricity. Tropical Cyclone Alfred was 165 kilometres (100 miles) east of Brisbane city on Friday morning, crawling towards the densely populated coastline at “walking speed”, government forecasts said. Some four million people …

Australians told ‘prepare for worst’ as tropical cyclone nears Read More »

President Donald Trump on Thursday renewed doubts over his commitment to the NATO alliance, saying countries that are not spending adequately on their militaries do not deserve defense.”If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.Trump has frequently questioned whether the United States — by far the …

Trump again casts doubt on his commitment to NATO Read More »

EU leaders shaken by the prospect of US disengagement agreed to boost the bloc’s defences at a crisis summit Thursday, as Washington said talks with Kyiv were back on track to secure a ceasefire with Moscow. Rallying around Ukraine after Volodymyr Zelensky’s White House blow-up with President Donald Trump, European countries greenlit a plan to “re-arm …

EU leaders agree defence boost as US announces new talks with Kyiv Read More »

President Donald Trump responded Thursday to growing criticism over unprecedented cuts to the US government overseen by his billionaire advisor Elon Musk, saying they should be carefully targeted.”We say the ‘scalpel’ rather than the ‘hatchet,’” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social.The president’s message represents the first move to rein in the power …

Trump says Musk should use ‘scalpel’ not ‘hatchet’ in govt cuts Read More »

President Donald Trump boasts he has brought illegal border crossings into the United States to record lows, but experts say the reasons for the drop go beyond his hardline anti-immigration stance.”Within hours of taking the oath of office, I declared a national emergency on our southern border. And I deployed the US military and Border …

Drop in US border crossings goes deeper than Trump Read More »

Unprecedented direct talks between the US and Hamas are a sign of dysfunction in fraught negotiations to prolong a truce in Gaza, analysts said Thursday.Washington revealed it held talks with Hamas, which it designates as a “terrorist” organisation, amid a standoff between Israel and the Palestinian militant group over how to proceed with the ceasefire, …

US-Hamas talks complicate Gaza truce efforts: analysts Read More »

South Korea’s Air Force said Thursday that one of its fighter jets had accidentally dropped eight bombs in the wrong place during a training exercise, resulting in civilian injuries. “Eight MK-82 general-purpose bombs were abnormally released from an Air Force KF-16 aircraft, landing outside the designated firing range,” the Air Force said.The incident occurred around 10:00 …

South Korea air force jet accidentally drops bombs, injures civilians Read More »

A Frenchman’s donation of vintage conflict photographs to China offers insight into the 1930-1940s Sino-Japanese War — even if some images are not the unique family heirlooms he believed them to be.Marcus Detrez landed in Beijing last month with a leather briefcase that he said contained hundreds of his grandfather’s pictures from the conflict, which …

Frenchman’s mislabelled war photos donation sparks China controversy Read More »

Lithuania on Thursday quit an international convention banning cluster bombs, citing security concerns over neighbouring Russia in a move that has drawn criticism from human rights groups.The formerly Soviet-ruled Baltic state of 2.8 million people has also signalled its intention to leave another international treaty prohibiting the use of anti-personnel land mines.NATO member Lithuania has …

Lithuania quits cluster bomb ban treaty despite outrage Read More »

New Zealand will sack its top diplomat in London after he made a “deeply disappointing” remark questioning Donald Trump’s grasp of history, the foreign minister said Thursday.High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Phil Goff questioned whether the US president “really understands history” during a panel discussion about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The comments were “deeply disappointing”, …

New Zealand to sack senior diplomat after Trump jibe Read More »