The far-right frontrunner in Romania’s presidential vote has been barred from running in May’s election, in an explosive decision that sparked violence on the streets of Bucharest and came despite pressure from Washington to “listen” to voters’ demands. After a 10-4 vote, the country’s electoral bureau (BEC) said Sunday it was invalidating Calin Georgescu’s candidacy due to his “failure to ...
Warships from Iran, China and Russia kicked off their annual joint exercises in the Gulf of Oman on Monday, showing off their military ties as US President Donald Trump upends longstanding Western alliances. The “Security Belt-2025” drills, taking place near the Iranian port of Chabahar, is the fifth joint naval exercise Iran, China and Russia have held since 2019, according ...
A blonde whippet from Italy with soulful eyes and tiger-like markings won the overall prize at Crufts, the world’s biggest dog show, on Sunday. Miuccia, who is 4 years old, became the first Italian dog to win the coveted Best in Show prize at the event in Birmingham, England – an accolade that left her handler, Giovanni Liguori, overwhelmed with ...
A fake plan to attack on a Sydney synagogue using a caravan of explosives was fabricated by an organized crime network in order to divert police resources, Australian police said on Monday. Authorities in January found explosives in a caravan, or trailer, that could have created a blast wave of 40 meters (130 feet), along with the address of a ...
The Apostolic Palace in the Vatican is home to the Holy See’s Secretariat of State, the engine room of the Catholic Church’s central administration. Entering the offices on the third floor of the Renaissance palazzo, you walk past frescoes of some of the first maps of the world, a reminder that the church had a global vision and influence long ...
The seismic shift of the past fortnight is hard to digest. Ukraine and its allies hope, deeply, that the plank Kyiv has been slammed in the face with, is – to paraphrase US President Donald Trump’s presidential envoy to Ukraine – just to get its attention. That the White House is merely pausing military aid and intelligence sharing, demanding about ...
North Korea unveiled for the first time a nuclear-powered submarine under construction, a weapons system that can pose a major security threat to South Korea and the US. State media on Saturday released photos showing what it called “a nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine,” as it reported leader Kim Jong Un’s visits to major shipyards where warships are built. The ...
This follows a statement from the Vatican press office on Saturday that described “a good response to therapy” and a “gradual, slight improvement” since his episodes of acute respiratory failure on Monday. The Vatican source said that this improvement was due to the “gas exchange” in the lungs and the oxygenation of the blood. However, the risk remains of another ...
Clashes between government security forces and supporters of ousted former President Bashar al-Assad have killed at least 311 people in Syria since Thursday, according to a monitoring group that warns the actual death toll could be “much higher.” Meanwhile, militants loyal to Assad have killed a further 147 people – 26 civilians and 121 security forces – SNHR’s director Fadel ...
As US President Donald Trump ratcheted up economic pressure on China over the past week, Beijing sent back its own message: Its rise won’t be interrupted. A major political meeting taking place in the capital was the ideal backdrop for Beijing to respond. The “two sessions” gathering of China’s rubber-stamp legislature and its top political advisory body is where the ...