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Hong Kong government says fire death toll rises to 65
Hong Kong's government said on Thursday the death toll from a fire that tore through an apartment complex in the city had risen to 65. "... the fire had claimed 65 lives and injured 70 people" by 8 pm local time, a government spokesperson told AFP, citing fire service figures, adding that 10 firefighters had been injured since the fire broke out on Wednesday. (AFP)
Nov. 27, 2025 -
Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau appear on state television saying they have seized power
Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau appeared on state television Wednesday saying they have seized power in the country, following reports of gunshots near the presidential palace, three days after national elections. The president told French media he had been deposed and arrested. It is the latest of several coups in recent years in West Africa. “The High Military Command for the re-establishment of national and public order decides to immediately depose the president of the republic, to suspend, until
Nov. 27, 2025 -
2 National Guard members shot in an ambush attack just blocks from the White House
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two West Virginia National Guard members who deployed to the nation’s capital were shot Wednesday just blocks from the White House in a brazen act of violence that the mayor described as a targeted attack. FBI Director Kash Patel and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said they were hospitalized in critical condition. The rare shooting of National Guard members comes as the presence of the troops in the nation’s capital and other cities around the country has been a flashpoint issu
Nov. 27, 2025 -
IMF, Ukraine reach staff-level agreement on $8.2 billion, four-year program
The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday it reached a staff-level agreement on a new four-year, $8.2 billion program for Ukraine as the country faces mounting wartime fiscal pressures. The IMF said the agreement, which replaces the existing $15.6 billion Extended Fund Facility approved in March 2023, is meant to help Kyiv maintain macroeconomic stability and strengthen public finances as the war against Russia continues to strain its budget. "The program is expected to catalyze large-sc
Nov. 27, 2025 -
Israel returns 15 more Palestinian bodies
Israel handed over the bodies of 15 Palestinians Wednesday, a day after Hamas returned the remains of an Israeli hostage. This is the latest exchange as part of a US-brokered ceasefire reached last month, whose first phase is winding down even as violence continues in Palestinian territories. The remains of two hostages, one Israeli and a Thai national who were abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel that ignited the war, are still to be returned. Hamas said it's committed to han
Nov. 27, 2025 -
Trump urged Japan PM to avoid escalation
TOKYO (Reuters) -- US President Donald Trump asked Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi avoid further escalation in a dispute with China during a call this week, two Japanese government sources with knowledge of the matter said. Takaichi sparked the biggest diplomatic bust-up with Beijing in years when she told parliament earlier this month that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger Japanese military action. That drew a furious response from Beijing, which claims democratically
Nov. 27, 2025 -
Hong Kong high-rise fire kills at least 44, still burning
The death toll from a high-rise fire in Hong Kong has risen to at least 44, officials said Thursday as the blaze still smoldered and police said three suspects were arrested. Hundreds more remained unaccounted for in the city's worst blaze in decades. The fire which started on Wednesday afternoon in an eight-building complex with 2,000 apartment units shocked the Chinese financial hub, which has some of the world's most densely populated and tallest residential blocks. The fire department raised
Nov. 27, 2025 -
Israel 'received' another set of human remains
Israel on Tuesday said it received human remains turned over by Palestinian militants and forensic experts were trying to determine if they belonged to one of the three remaining hostages held in Gaza. The handover was the latest under a fragile ceasefire that began in October and has held despite accusations by both sides of violations. The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad said it found the remains earlier this week in Nuseirat, a refugee camp in central Gaza. The ceasefire requires Ham
Nov. 26, 2025 -
Trump 'sending' envoys to see Putin, Ukrainians
WASHINGTON (AP) — US President Donald Trump said Tuesday his plan to end the war in Ukraine has been “fine-tuned” and he’s sending envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to meet with Ukrainian officials. He suggested he could eventually meet with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but not until further progress has been made in negotiations. “I will be briefed on all progress made, along with Vice President JD Vance, Secr
Nov. 26, 2025 -
Taiwan president says he will propose extra $40 billion in defense spending
Taiwan will introduce a $40 billion supplementary defense budget to underscore its determination to defend itself, with "significant" new US arms purchases planned, President Lai Ching-te said in a Washington Post op-ed essay. The move comes as China, which views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, has ramped up military and political pressure over the past five years to assert its claims, which Taipei strongly rejects. But Taiwan also faces calls from Washington to spend more o
Nov. 26, 2025 -
FBI probes congressional Democrats who warned military about illegal orders
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The FBI has requested interviews with six Democratic members of the US Congress who in a video message told members of the military they can legally refuse to carry out unlawful orders, a Justice Department official told Reuters on Tuesday. The Pentagon on Monday threatened to recall Sen. Mark Kelly, a Navy veteran and one of the six lawmakers, to active duty potentially to face military charges over what Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth described on social media as "sed
Nov. 26, 2025 -
France arrests 4 over Louvre heist
PARIS (AFP) -- French authorities Tuesday arrested four more people in the probe into last month's spectacular daylight theft of imperial jewels from the Louvre museum, the top Paris prosecutor said. "They are two men aged 38 and 39, and two women aged 31 and 40, all from the Paris region," Laure Beccuau said, following earlier charges against four others over the heist. On Oct. 19, a four-person gang raided the Louvre, the world's most-visited art museum, in broad daylight, taking just seven mi
Nov. 26, 2025 -
Neither of Sudan's warring factions has accepted truce plan, Trump adviser says
The US has presented Sudan's warring parties with a proposal for a truce but neither side has formally accepted it, US envoy Massad Boulos said on Tuesday, as the army accused its rivals of staging an attack despite declaring a ceasefire. Boulos said that while there were no objections to the content of the US-proposed plan, the Sudanese army had come back with "preconditions" he described as impossible to achieve. The army's rival in the war, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, unilaterally
Nov. 26, 2025 -
Brazil's Bolsonaro begins 27-year jail term for coup bid
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) -- Brazil's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro to begin serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a failed coup, after he exhausted all appeals. The brash former army captain who fired up Brazil's right and reshaped the country's politics is ending a divisive career jailed in a small room at police headquarters equipped with a TV, mini-fridge, and air-conditioning. Bolsonaro, 70, was convicted in September over a scheme to stop Luiz In
Nov. 26, 2025 -
Italy recognizes crime of femicide, punishes with life in prison
ROME (AP) — Italy's parliament on Tuesday approved a law that introduces femicide into the country’s criminal law and punishes it with life in prison. The vote coincided with the international day for the elimination of violence against women, a day designated by the UN General Assembly. The law won bipartisan support from the center-right majority and the center-left opposition in the final vote in the Lower Chamber, passing with 237 votes in favor. The law, backed by the conservative governmen
Nov. 26, 2025