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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 -
Trump adds Thanksgiving turkeys to his pardon list
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- US President Donald Trump pardoned two giant white-plumed turkeys named Gobble and Waddle on Tuesday, sparing them from Thanksgiving dinner tables and adding to more than 1,600 pardons he has granted this term. The birds, weighing more than 23 kilograms each, were raised on a farm in North Carolina and spent the night before the ceremony in beds at the upscale Willard InterContinental Hotel near the White House. Taking part in an annual tradition begun by then-President G
Nov. 26, 2025 -
Unknown Renoir painting sells for $2m at auction
PARIS (AFP) -- A previously unknown work by French impressionist painter Auguste Renoir of his toddler son Jean sold for 1.8 million euros ($2.08 million) at a Paris auction on Tuesday, the Drouot auction house told Agence France-Presse. The oil painting -- "L'enfant et ses jouets - Gabrielle et le fils de l'artiste, Jean" ("The Child and His Toys - Gabrielle and the son's artist, Jean") -- had never been exhibited or sold before. It belonged to Jean's godmother Jeanne Baudot, a friend and stude
Nov. 26, 2025 -
Japan PM Takaichi holds call with Trump amid China dispute
TOKYO (Reuters) -- Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and US President Donald Trump discussed China relations in a phone call Tuesday, their first talks since the Japanese premier sparked a major diplomatic bust-up with Beijing over her remarks on Taiwan. Takaichi's response to a question in parliament earlier this month that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a Japanese military response prompted a furious response from Beijing that has included a boycott on travel to Japa
Nov. 25, 2025 -
Sudan's RSF paramilitary says it will enter into ceasefire
The head of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces said late on Monday that his paramilitaries would immediately enter into a three-month humanitarian truce, after US President Donald Trump said that he would intervene to seek an end to a war that has plunged the country into famine. The US, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia -- known as the Quad -- earlier this month proposed a plan for a three-month truce followed by peace talks. The RSF responded by saying it had accepted the plan, but so
Nov. 25, 2025 -
Gaza aid company shutters operations
JERUSALEM (AP) — The US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, set up to distribute aid to Gaza as an alternative to the UN but which Palestinians said endangered the lives of civilians as they tried to get food, said Monday it would shutter operations. The foundation had already closed distribution sites after a US-brokered ceasefire took effect six weeks ago in Gaza. It announced Monday that it was permanently shutting down, claiming it had fulfilled its mission. “We have succeeded i
Nov. 25, 2025 -
US, Kyiv discuss reworked plan to end war
US and Ukrainian officials sought to narrow the gaps between them on Monday over a plan to end the war in Ukraine, after agreeing to modify a US proposal that Kyiv and its European allies saw as a Kremlin wish list. In a joint statement, Washington and Kyiv said they had drafted a "refined peace framework" after talks in Geneva on Sunday. Though there were no specifics, the dialogue received a cautious welcome from some of Ukraine's allies. Ukraine's delegation to the talks with US officials in
Nov. 25, 2025