World

With flickering candles and the sound of organs, hundreds of Catholics held a muted Christmas Eve mass in Indonesia’s Aceh province, the only one under ultraconservative Islamic law in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.Christmas decorations are not allowed on the streets of Aceh — the only Indonesian province to implement strict Sharia law that …

Catholics hold muted Christmas mass in Indonesia’s Sharia stronghold Read More »

Fuelled in part by the success of TV hit “Shogun”, foreign studios are hungry for quality Japanese content and local creators are adaptingto meet demand.Fans of Japanese manga and anime cartoons have often criticised foreign adaptations that are unfaithful to the original material.But “Shogun”, based on the 1975 novel by Australian-British writer James Clavell, broke …

Demand for Japanese content booms post ‘Shogun’ Read More »

From riding pillion on zooming motorbikes to round-the-clock airport stakeouts, India’s celebrity-hunting paparazzi photographers have gone from “outcasts” to becoming a key part of Bollywood’s vast film industry machine.Times have changed for celebrity snapper Manav Manglani, who scored big at the wedding of Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty in 2009 — by climbing a tree and …

As India’s Bollywood shifts, stars and snappers click Read More »

Christians gathered at the Church of the Nativity in the holy city of Bethlehem on Tuesday to mark a solemn Christmas overshadowed by war, as Pope Francis led mass in the Vatican.In Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, festive decorations were missing for a second consecutive year.The crowd of several hundred paled in comparison to …

Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war Read More »

Syria’s new leaders announced Tuesday that they had reached an agreement with the country’s rebel groups on their dissolution and integration under the defence ministry.Absent from the meeting were representatives of the US-backed, Kurdish-led forces that control swathes of Syria’s northeast. The meeting between the rebel groups and Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa “ended in an …

Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband Read More »

A leading US government agency that tracks foreign disinformation has terminated its operations, the State Department said Tuesday, after Congress failed to extend its funding following years of Republican criticism. The Global Engagement Center, a State Department unit established in 2016, shuttered on Monday at a time when officials and experts tracking propaganda have been warning …

US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down Read More »

Pope Francis opened the “Holy Door” of St Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve on Tuesday, launching the Jubilee year of Catholic celebrations set to draw more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome.The 88-year-old pontiff, who has recently been suffering from a cold, was pushed in a wheelchair up to the huge, ornate bronze door and …

On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis launches holy Jubilee year Read More »

The death toll from cyclone Chido in the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte has reached 39, according to the latest count from the island’s prefect.Meanwhile, France’s interior ministry updated the number of wounded to 4,136, of which 124 were serious cases.  “The work of identifying the victims of the cyclone continues, in coordination with …

Cyclone death toll in Mayotte rises to 39 Read More »

A rift between Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa and his deputy deepened on Tuesday as his ally-turned-adversary accused the leader of the South American nation of trying to banish her to Turkey.The claim came after a court on Monday overturned a five-month suspension handed to Veronica Abad by the labor ministry due to alleged neglect of …

Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her ‘banishment’ Read More »

NASA’s pioneering Parker Solar Probe made history Tuesday, flying closer to the Sun than any other spacecraft, with its heat shield exposed to scorching temperatures topping 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit (930 degrees Celsius).Launched in August 2018, the spaceship is on a seven-year mission to deepen scientific understanding of our star and help forecast space-weather events that …

NASA probe makes closest ever pass by the Sun Read More »