It was the perfect feel-good story, just in time for Christmas. On December 20 last year, the United States secured from Venezuela the release of 10 US citizens – six of them wrongfully detained – in exchange for a close ally of authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro and a commitment from Caracas that it would stop detaining Americans to use as ...
It seemed like an unlikely stage for Kanye West to unveil his new music. But last month the American rapper – now known as Ye – held not just one but two sold-out “listening parties” in China, a country that imposes some of the toughest censorship in the world. Playing on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, his first concerts ...
The man wore camouflage gear, a long beard protruding below a mask. His features were hidden, but when New Zealand police saw the video showing three figures walking behind him, one name came instantly to mind. Fugitive Thomas Callam Phillips has been evading police for three years since disappearing with his children Ember, Maverick and Jayda – now 8, 9 and ...
Catherine, Princess of Wales delighted royal-watchers this week with an unexpected appearance alongside her husband, Prince William. The couple popped up in Southport, a town in the northwest of England, on Thursday, where the community is still grieving after the murders of three young girls this summer. William and Kate are thought to have spent around 90 minutes with the ...
Russia has confirmed that Donald Trump sent the Kremlin sample Covid-19 tests in the early days of the pandemic, after revelations in veteran journalist Bob Woodward’s new book raised further questions about the former US president’s relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The Trump administration “sent us several samples of test kits,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday, broadly supporting Woodward’s ...
The Israeli military is carrying out a widespread operation in northern Gaza, issuing evacuation orders and blocking food supplies, just weeks after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reported to be mulling a plan to besiege the area to starve Hamas and force it to release hostages. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) this week launched the operation following intelligence that it ...
Criminalizing marital rape would be “excessively harsh,” the Indian government has said, in a blow to campaigners ahead of a long-awaited Supreme Court decision that will affect hundreds of millions of people in India for generations. In India, it is not considered rape if a man forces sex or sexual acts on his wife, as long as she is over 18, ...
Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region is now entering its third month, with scores of settlements still firmly under its control. The operation marked the first time foreign troops entered Russian territory since World War II – embarrassing the Kremlin and proving to Kyiv’s backers and the rest of the world that Ukraine’s military was not perpetually on the back ...
Sixty-five more women have come forward with abuse allegations against the late billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, according to the BBC, following the network’s documentary that detailed testimonies of women who said he sexually assaulted and raped them. The allegations date as far back as 1977, in Dubai – eight years before Al Fayed purchased the high-end London department store Harrods, ...
Britain’s Prince and Princess of Wales made a surprise visit to Southport, northwest England, on Thursday, where they met the bereaved families of three children killed in a knife attack in July. The visit was the first public appearance for Catherine, known as Kate, since she finished her chemotherapy treatment. Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice da ...